PDA

View Full Version : need advise



ken0504
01-15-2010, 06:17 PM
Hi everyone, I got my 90 gal. running, 100lbs of marco rock,140 lbs, marco sand, added about 10 lbs. of live rock and sand about a week ago for cycling. I am testing water everyday and amn. is slowly going up. I have no filtration going, but a closed loop and vortech for water movement. My ATS is almost complete just some plumbing. Couple things first. When should I start running my ATS. 2nd, a film has begun to form on the surface What should I do? 3rd, I am researching clean up crew, Should I skale down the amount in the crew because of the ATS. My ATS is horizontal, made with black acrylic, 13"x19" with screen 12x18. there are two boxes, one with the screen and flow the other with 4 CFL 27 watts each. The two boxes are stackable for easy access. The flow is gravity fed from 3/4 line going to two 1/2 loc line with flare nozzle which will drain into a sump with sand and rock. I have a skimmer that I do not want to use. Any help or comments would be great.

kcress
01-15-2010, 08:47 PM
I would scale down the CU crew until you see a need for them.

Your turf scrubber won't do much until you get some nitrate going. I'd probably not bother to light the the scrubber until you get measurable nitrate.

Remember that once the ammonia falls it's because your tank is converting it to nitr ite. Then the same will have to happen on the way to the nitrate. What waste is there in your tank to drive all this? What's the original source for ammonia?

Some people toss in a piece of shrimp to rot. More effective would be something pureed even that piece of shrimp. Some skip directly to dosing with bottled ammonia.


Some might say, 'run the scrubber from the start', but I'd rather see some nitrate so I know where I'm starting from. Then as the nitrate falls with developing turf you know things are working out correctly.