powerhead advice and nitrite help!

[NoobSalt]

Does anyone have any advice on how strong a powerhead for a 12 gallon tank? also, its been 3 weeks into the cycle now, and it doesnt seem like nitrites are going down, at all, even after a small water change. why?! Ammonia is at 0 though! haha my one small victory.

[chrisfont23]

MaxiJet 1200/900.

[Original Fin]

That's par for the course on cycling...pefectly normal.

[chrisfont23]

+1 w/ Fin. Dont rush it

[NoobSalt]

def not rushing it, but i thought by now the nitrites would be dropping a little! I guess not! when should I start to see a drop (typically??) its still testing about 5.0ppm. also, the guy at the lfs said that 175 gph would be too strong for a 12 gallon, which i was kind of surprised that a) he didn't just say yes to get a sale, and b) that that's too strong of a powerhead? The stock one now is 106 gph, so if I add one that is 150 or above, is that too much? Ideally, I want 2 powerheads to avoid any dead spots right? Like 2 powerheads pointed kind of at each other towards the center of the tank? I want to add the additional ph to try and help rid of some of the brown diatoms growing all over my sand. At least I think its brown diatoms, its like a brown thin paper like film on top of the sand, and glass (not so thick to where I cant see in) and then like small little strands of brown like coming off the top of my sand. I put a video up on youtube cuz i noticed the picture didn't do much justice. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o_TpWtP1RQ

You guys rule, thanks for all the tips and reassurance haha, its hard to know when you're doing something right or wrong when you really don't know what you're doing at all! I'm learning though!

[chrisfont23]

I disagree. I suppose you could go with a Nano. I did. I regret it as I am replacing my Nano with a Maxi Jet 1200 for a total of two in a 29 g. So do the math - you're about 1/2 the size of my tank. I can't be that off. Its all about disturbing the surface of the water. The rest of the tank will follow.

[NoobSalt]

wait im confused, you disagree with what? If i add another powerhead? How does this one look? http://www.amazon.com/Hydor-Koralia-...pr_product_top

[Original Fin]

I think hue disagrees with your LFS that it's too much ow for your tank. I also disagree with that.
Rule of thumb on reef flow is 10-20x gal/hr turnover. 175 in a 12 is bit less than 15x so that should be just fine. More than 2x is not necessarily harmful, but it may be wasteful. Too little is a problem though.

[chrisfont23]

Saw vid. Algae is not that bad - really. Mine was much worse than that and I did nothing. Literally. What I did was wait about 2 months for the tank to completely cycle. There was hair algae EVERYWHERE - my wife thought we were raising an algae tank. When it was cycled I added:

5 x Turbo Snails
10 x Cerith Snails
10 x Red/Blue Legged Hermits
1 50% water change.

All the algae was gone within a week, tops.

I disagree with the LFS guy, but what do I know. About the Nano. I bought one and I personally do not like it. I feel it is not enough flow for my 29. I have a single Maxi Jet 1200 now, and actually bought another one a few days ago to replace the Nano. So that will be about 25 x turnover an hour. It's a little high, but also about placement and surface agitation. I scrapped the Nano and am now using it to mix my seawater

[chrisfont23]

Also... Some Koralias use a "dispersed flow" where as a Maxi Jet is a straight blast. Read up on both.

[NoobSalt]

hmmm, good stuff. Thanks, I'll read up on the powerheads.

Re: Algea, is that hair algea or brown diatoms??

[Chasman]

Does anyone have any advice on how strong a powerhead for a 12 gallon tank? also, its been 3 weeks into the cycle now, and it doesnt seem like nitrites are going down, at all, even after a small water change. why?! Ammonia is at 0 though! haha my one small victory.

You said in your earlier post you set up on March 15th. That's not even two weeks ago! Give it some time. Late April you should be asking these questions. And don't change the water! Let it CYCLE!!!!!

[NoobSalt]

The more knowledge the better, I ask because I am learning. My questions are of no timeline what I am doing, I'm asking for advice and tips so I can learn. I started the tank March 12th, I haven't put any fish in there and I am letting it cycle. I'm learning and trying and doing by all the things I read, we all were new to this at one point.

Any actual advice on the things I asked?

[chrisfont23]

+1 on changing water during a cycle. If u have no creatures, there is no need to,

[NoobSalt]

I think my cycle is near complete! I checked my params today, Ammonia 0 and Nitrite from 5.0 to >.25! Im gonna let it run for another week or so and keep testing to make sure things stay in line, and then do a small water change before adding my first fish...sounds good right? This is what I have been waiting for this whole time