Let the cycling begin!

[Astrivian]

Here we gooooooo......... The beginning of cycling my hex for a FO marine tank. Oh, i was wrong about the size, i said 15, but it is more like 9. TY for the input about why not to cycle using damsels. I dig your points. Besides, with 20 lbs of live sand and 9 lbs of live rock, i think it will cycle okay without fish. It looks cluttered at the moment, i am trying to get the water to the right temp so i can hide the heater without knocking everything over. Incidentally, this is a TR tank! I am building it using advice from the forums and podcasts (so if it crashes...... just kidding) Well not everything is from the forums etc., i do know about some stuff already But TY for all the advice so far, all of you have been a great help.

Some details:

DSB of live sand about 5 inches deep
9 lbs of live rock (figi and the other stuff)
no skimmer yet, but i will get one (do you like the Midiflotors?)
no HOB filter (since it broke 1 week after i bought it )
50w heater
airator in the back, which i would like to use with a skimmer actually (will post about this later)
cannot do a refugium or sump, not enough room

Fish plans (all tank bred, i really don't dig on catching wild fish and stuffing them in a glass box):

Two clowns
Two or three small hermits
Two snails (the ones that burrow in the sand and pop out for feeding, i keep forgeting the name)

Lastly, i will not be purchasing fish until the first week of September; so this thing will have quite some time to cycle.

[PSH]

Most clown fish need a minimum of 30 gallons when full grown. One clown may be fine for a 9 gallon tank but 2 may push your bioload too high. Unless you have killer flow and a good skimmer and/or a huge sump. Here is a cool link to some great nano fish. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/s...fm?pCatId=2124

[V]

hey astro, just another heads up in the oxygen exchange department! ur going to need the surface to be broken frequently!

hey Q, didn't one of the nano guys in your comp do a hex tank with the overflow spilling over the outer lip & into a catchment tank below? i never saw the final result, but he had a great idea there! & the thing was it didn't take up heaps of space!

[Astrivian]

Yes V, i forgot to mention that i was going to grab a powerhead for the tank as well and aim it up a bit to break the surface. PSH: i forgot female clowns got so big You have a point there about the gobies and blennies. But, thinking in terms of gobies instead of clowns, what is the max load for a 9 gal tank (pre-skimmer and post-skimmer)?

[RocketSeason]

Welcome to the hobby! (or should I say, welcome to the addiction.)

Max load for a 9 gallon would probibly be two fish. One Clown would be great, and a bottom dweller would work as well. Perhaps a shrimp golby and a pistol shrimp.

Any more than that would be too crowded I would think.

[gwen_o_lyn]

I would either get a pair of clowns (small) or one fish like a goby. The clowns will stick together and once they are hosting don't need much room, but that area the one clown is in will be one less spot for other fish to swim.

[Astrivian]

Hmm, interesting that the talk relates to room, i was concerned about bioload at first. My LFS has a good HOB venturi skimmer rated for 70 gallons that they use on their nano reef in the store. I am saving up for it, at $200 it is a bit beyond my reach right now.

I really like the yellow headed jawfish, and my sandbed should be deep enough at about 5 to 6 inches. Would that and a small clown, or maybe a small goby or firefish be okay do you think? Also, do you count snails and hermit crabs in the load?

Ty for all the suggestions. This is great info to be gathering during the cycling phase. As rob said in his "Selecting fish" cast, plan what you want to do before adding stuff.

[Astrivian]

Diatoms!! I have diatoms! We are on our way now! Watch out you master reefers the Astrivian is comming

[RocketSeason]

haha! great!

[Amphibious]

Originally Posted by Astrivian

I really like the yellow headed jawfish, and my sandbed should be deep enough at about 5 to 6 inches. Would that and a small clown, or maybe a small goby or firefish be okay do you think? Also, do you count snails and hermit crabs in the load?

Ask yourself this question and answer it, too. Do hermits and snails poop? That's your answer to the question.

I personally would advise you to stay away from the Yellow headed Jaw fish. They need much more care and consideration than a DSB. They also are considered a touchy fish to keep.

[Astrivian]

PODS! I have pods!

One thing i detested about my office, which is turning out to be quite fun, is the total lack of windows. Today i turned out the lights in the room and just watched the glowing tank for a bit. And, behold there were amphipods! They are all over the glass. At first i thought they were just tiny air bubbles, but then i noticed they were moving against the current. After taking a much closer look, i could see they were more or less like tiny tiny rice-shaped critters.

Rob: I fully support your comment in episode 50 about being able to watch the tank mature. This is truely fun. Do i really need fish?

[CarmieJo]

Originally Posted by Astrivian

Rob: I fully support your comment in episode 50 about being able to watch the tank mature. This is truely fun. Do i really need fish?

It took me a while to add fish but [IMAGINE THIS] I have found that I really enjoy them! Of course I still sit in front of the tank after lights out with my red headlight and spy on the night critters!

[Rob]

Originally Posted by Astrivian

Rob: I fully support your comment in episode 50 about being able to watch the tank mature. This is truely fun. Do i really need fish?

fish??.. bah.. who needs fish...lol..

[Stevej72]

What are fish?

[CarmieJo]

Fins, scales, swim around but you can't frag them...