Well, I have finally set up my tank. I have followed alot of the threads on talkingreef and they have been so helpful. I am sure I will continue to have lots of questions and problems that you can all help me with. I used Marco Rocks and some lr rubble from PA. I bouught 15 lbs of MR and 5 lbs of lr rubble but I couldn't get it all in the tank. Oh well, I am going to take the extra MR to my lfs and show them what [B]good[B] base rock looks like. :p I am enclosing a pic because I need your guys input. Do I have too much rock in my tank? I looked at quite a lot of pic on line and my wife tells me she thinks it is too crowded. What do you think?

Here's your pic.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff37/wvfisher/wvfisher003.jpg

It does look a little crowded to my eye, but it's really personal preference.

Well I took my wife's and your advice and changed my aquascape. My wife helped me this time so I know it will be better. It always is if I follow her advice!! Here is another pic, what do you now think?

I think the cycle is starting:

Temp 79
Ammonia .5
Nitrite .25
PH 8.8

The PH is high but I think that is the rock. Should I do a water change, or add Proper PH to lower to 8.2?

Looks better IMO. Sounds like your cycle is on it's way. That pH is a little high, but I don't think I'd sweat it at this point.

I have nothing in my #1 Chamber and lr in #2 and heater and pump in #3. I want to add chaeto and light to #1 later. How soon should I wait before adding chaeto?

I didn't set my fuge up until the tank had been running for a while, but I don't see why you couldn't add the cheato as soon as you start seeing nitrates.

Thanks for the info. I just ordered some chateo from ebay.

Yep, your cycle sounds like it is on the way. I would not worry about even measuring pH at this point. It will continue to swing as your cycle continues. That Marco Rock has lots of volume for its weight. I like the second aquascape.

Thanks Carmie, I was really impressed with the Marco Rock. I am going to take a piece to my lfs. They haven't heard of it! I told them they need to get out to some of the forums.

I like the second aquascape as well. It'll be much easier to clean the glass on the sides now. I'm gonna stay tuned to this one, I'd love to get myself one of these!

Well my cycle is really working now.
Ammonia: 3.0 ppm
Nitrite: 4.0 ppm

The tank is really starting to clear up. I got my lights for my fuge in #1 Chamber today. I will get the chaeto in a couple of days. If I put it in too early will it kill the pods in the chaeto? I am going to have the lights for the fuge on a opposite cycle with my other lights. I think that will stop any PH swing.

If possible, I would indeed wait until the ammonia and possibly the nitrite are back down to 0.

I have another question for all of you. Is the following CUC too much for my tank?

8 Nerite Snails
4 Cerith Snails
5 Nassarius Snails
5 Dwarf Whiteleg Hermits
4 Blueleg Hermits
1 Red Bristle Starfish
1 Fighting Conch

Does the CUC raise the bioload in the tank, if so, should I add some of these things at a time or all at once? Also I don't have any decent lfs in my area. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good place to get my CUC? Thanks everyone. I decided that since I was always picking your brains I may as well go ahead and start supporting the team. By the way, next month I will have a headphone w/mike so that I can join in for the live show.

That seems like an aweful lot to me. I'd deffinitely cut down those numbers and leave out the star and conch all together. In my 12, I have 2 turbos, 1 blue leg and a pepermint shrimp, and they do just fine cleaning. Yes, the CUC adds to the bio-load, and in a nano, should be added gadualy. What are your plans fish-wise?

My local club just ordered a big CUC group order from reeftopia.com. Top flight operation as far as that order went.

I am relatively new to nanos but that is a bigger CUC than I have in my 24. Is a Red Bristle Starfish a kind of brittle star? If so it will not be a good choice for a nano. Mini brittle stars like these Family Ophiactidae sp. #2 mini brittlestars (Difficult) - Project DIBS Forums (http://www.projectdibs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23) are good choices. I don't have them but you can probably find a TR member that has them breeding in their tank and who would send you some if you pay shipping.

While the cleanup crew does exactly that they also contribute to the bioload and I feel they should be added piecemeal. If you are buying them by mail order it may not be economically feasible to pay to have them shipped in batches. If that is the case you will have to monitor your parameters and do water changes to keep them in check.

Thanks for the info. That CUC is what Reef Scavanger.com recommends for a 5-15 gal tank! I thought it was a lot. I'm not ready yet but I was just planning. Phurst, I only want a couple of fish. My granddaughter(5) tells me we have to have "Nemo" but I don't know what else. Any suggestions? I would like to have lots of color and be very active.

Well a clown is a good choice then. You could probably add somthing else small. Maybe some kind of goby or blenny, or maybe a firefish. or a colorful invert like a skunk cleaner, or blood shrimp.

Colorful and active? A sixline wrasse! Their eyes are soo cool, and they're always swimming around, very colorful and active. Also, I love my purple firefish goby Spike, he's usually out and about as well

Thanks Mike, I have thought about a wrasse. Will have to wait for awhile. I just got my chaeto and I don't know whether I should put it in tank or not.

Ammonia is 0 but nitrite is 2 and nitrate is 20. I don't want to mess up my cycle. What do you think?

I think you'd be OK to add it now. Ammonia is by far the worst, and after all, pods survive full cycles in rocks, so I think they'll be fine.

Here is my new list for my CUC:
2 Nerite Snails
3 Cerith Snails
2 Nassarius Snails
2 Dwarf Blue Leg Hermits
2 Dwarf White Leg Hermits
1 Red Leg Hermit

I would still like to have a fighting conch. Do you think it would be too big for my 14?

Here is another picture of my tank. As you can see, the live rock is a different color than the Marco rock. The lr looks like it has a brown algae on it. The parameters are doing great.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite -1
Nitrate - 10
PH 8.4
Temp 79

That brown on the rocks wouldn't be a diatom would it? ;)

As the base rock becomes live, a process that doesn't take long, it will all blend in and look the same. The brown stuff could be diatoms. Was it there when you got the LR? Is there any on the sand?

Definitely a brown diatom bloom - start of a healthy cycle - nothing to worry about here. This is a good thing as the good bacteria that you want for your biological load is growing and will soon eat all the brown diatoms that you see. Right on schedule:up:

Thanks for the info and Carmie yes it is starting on the sand today. Yea!!! I can't wait.

Here is a tank shot taken this afternoon. I have a small CUC and I hope to get some more later this week. I have ordered some zoas from Mr, Coral and will get them sometime next week. He offers free shipping for our area. You can't beat that. I have a question for everybody. Should I be feeding my hermit crabs any extra? If so, what? I have put a small piece of seaweed salad in but i don't know if thats enough.:wall:

I'd just give them a couple of pieces of flake food until you have fish. After yuo have fish the hermits are on their own as far as food goes. :)

Here are a few pictures taken today. I have a question, does coraline algae come in lime green? If you look at a couple of these pictures especially the top down you can see something growing on a couple of the Marco Rocks and I don't know what it is. It doesn't look like HA.

It does come in green, but I'm not sure that's what this is. What does it feel like? Can you scratch it? How fast is it growing? I wouldn't expect coralline to start at the top, right under the lights, but I would expect some form of algae to start there. That's a Marco rock, right? It was dry base rock, correct? I think we're looking at algae here.

It might be algae but its not slimy and it doesn't scratch off easy. There is a snail sitting right on it and it doesn't seem the least bit interested.

Was it there when you added the rock?

Was it there when you added the rock?

No, I don't think so but now I have a full blown green algae bloom. Glass is covered. Slime on top of water and a good bit of algae in water. I think this is part of the normal process. Should I do a water change. All my chemical parameters are at 0. Salinity is 1.024 Ph is 8.2 and temp is 79. Thanks for the help. :)

I don't think I'd call that much algea "normal", but it's nothing to freak out about. I think I'd start changing some water now, and keep changing it regularly now. Did you get around to adding a cleanup crew? Assuming there are no corals or other photosynthetic creatures in there, you might keep the lights out for a while too. Algae is normal, but it's still somthing you shouldn't let get out of hand.

Yes, I have a clean-up crew.7 hermits and 9 snails. I think I will need some more snails. I hope to get some zoas this week some time. I will do a water change tomorrow. I hope that will help.

It should help. You may want to hold of on the zoas until things get under controll, especialy if you have to go without lights for a while.

They are already ordered....

Well it has been over a month since I set up my tank and everything is going well. I have a royal gamma, featherduster, coralbanded shrimp and of course my CUC. I have a couple of zoas and I would like to add some more. I was talking to my LFS and he suggested a clam. I wonder if it would do well with my standard lighting. Any comments? Also I would like to put in a clownfish, really I would love to put in a mated pair but I don't think my tank is big enough. Do you? As far a corals are considered. I want my reef to look "natural" so I don't want to just dump a lot of frags in. I want to put in some nice pieces but am not sure what will do well with my lighting. Here are a few new pictures to show you how it is doing. I had just fed some reef plankton to get everyone to come out. That is why the tank looks so dirty.

I've never kept clams but I think that they need more light than the stock lighting. I am conservative when is comes to stocking, I have 2 fish in my 24 and I think that 3 in a 14 would be too much.

As far as corals go, mushrooms and xenia would do fine. Pocillopora and digitata do OK under PC's.

Well here is my latest update with pics. I have received a couple of corals from a friend and also bought a toadstool coral and a yellow polyp coral. I also got my last two fish. A pair of clowns. I am not going to put anymore fish in tank. I want to put some more corals but I want to wait for awhile.

its coming along nicely bud. plenty of swimming area, & growth potential.
just make sure your glass cleaner is properly sealed if your leaving it in the tank.

Thanks Veriann for that reminder, I never thought anything about it. I will check. I am having a problem with crytobacteria right now. I don't think my water parameters are out. Everything is zero. I don't have a phosphate test kit. I don't know for sure what is causing it. I have been really careful about not over feeding. Are there any CUC that will work on this? I was wondering about an Emerald Crab or a Fighting Conch? Any suggestions?

Increased flow, more frequent water changes (siphoning up the cyano), and decreased nutrients all help control it. I did not go back & read your whole thread, are you using RO/DI water?. Frozen foods often include phosphate in the binder. So, if you are feeding frozen I recommend thawing it in a strainer and then rinsing with RO.