setting up new tank

[Mostly Rock]

that's fine, it's on the low end of the acceptable scale, but it still works. Just remember to wait till the nitrates drop before adding live stock. After the nitrates start dropping you may want to move a little LR over, then test for a couple of days, before you start moving livestock.

[V]

Carmie, love you and all, but respect and thank you points are meant to refer alittle more than said posting.
Hard loving is the back bone of reefers, old mate is no exception. As much as I love old mate mind you!
So in future ~ you get the sh^t end of the stick just like the rest of us..lol

[CarmieJo]

Carmie, love you and all, but respect and thank you points are meant to refer alittle more than said posting.
Hard loving is the back bone of reefers, old mate is no exception. As much as I love old mate mind you!
So in future ~ you get the sh^t end of the stick just like the rest of us..lol

LOL, I'm glad you are back!

[SaltyDawg]

Being as quiet around here as it's been....every post deserves a thanks..lol

[V]

Well read me some poetry or something. Actually i'll rescind that request, we're trying to keep the wheels turning, not totally snuff out the flame.
Show me how you can juggle your reagent testers instead.

[bobboman]

hmmm i have another question. during the tank cycle, am i suppose to be adding phytoplankton, or should i wait and just target feed after i start moving corals to the tank. the coral food i am using is phytofeast.

[Mostly Rock]

Adding phyto during a cycle is a huge waste of phyto. Just wait till the cycle is 100% complete and you start moving corals, and then be sparing with it until all of your LR (and there needs to be a lot of it) is done with it's conversion. I'm actually getting ready to purchase a 24 gal nano to use as a gravity drain refugium for my DT, and I will have to go through all of that mess before I actually tie it in with my DT.

[bobboman]

my ammonia and nitrite levels have stayed the same for about 10 days now.

ammonia is .50ppm
nitrite is 0.25ppm

i haven't seen any change and the tank has been cycling for 2 weeks now. i was just wondering if this is normal or the reason it is taking so long for the ammonia to decrease and nitrite to increase because of the way i am setting up the tank.

[Mostly Rock]

You can go ahead and pull out the shrimp now, if you haven't already. That was what you are looking for. Now you just wait and test. It may take a week or so, but you'll see the ammonia and nitrite dropping. When you hit zero ammonia and zero nitrite. You may want to add a cup of water (water and substrate is even better) from a buddies marine tank to help form your bacteria culture. Some LFS's even sell bacteria cultures in little vials, and live sand should have some as well... not a lot, but some.

[bobboman]

i removed the shrimp a week ago because the ammoina was at .50ppm. ok, so i guess i just need to be patient.

im so excited, today my aquatic life 250w fixture with 2 36w florescent lights arrived today.. i was suppose to be studying for an exam, and then the lights showed up.. i did not studying today.

i did add 10 lbs of live rock just to help the cycle along, and today when the lights were on i saw a few critters. i seem to have some kind of bristle starfish and a bristle worm. i also found a snail

[SaltyDawg]

Wont be long now. Lets see some pics as the build continues

[CarmieJo]

Yes, with the LR in the tank your numbers should start to decrease. +1 on pics!

[bobboman]

not much has changed since i set up the tank thats why i havn't posted any pictures. i will post some in a few days.

[bobboman]

i believe the tank cycle is almost done, ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, and nitrate 25ppm. is it time to add the CUC.
i cycled the tank with the lights off, and i barely see any algae growing in the tank. im afraid the CUC will not have enough to eat in the tank. also, before i add the CUC should i water change until the nitrate goes down to 0ppm?

[CarmieJo]

Yes! It is time to add a small CUC, maybe a couple of snails or hermits. At this point in time I would not buy one of the packaged CUC, they will be too much for your tank. You could also add a couple of hardy corals. Unless your tank is highly unusual the algae will show up.

I would do a 10% water change now that the cycle is complete. The purpose is not to necessarily get the nitrates down but just to remove some of the old water and replenish the trace elements that may have been used up.

[bobboman]

Can i add a fish right now? like a watchmen gobie. i was thinking 3-4 snails, and 3-4 hermit crabs for right now as well.

[CarmieJo]

If they were tiny 3-4 snails would be OK but I would not add more than 1 hermit to start out with. They are omnivores and if you aren't feeding fish there will be very little for them to eat. Cerith, nassarius, trochus and Astraea snails are all good choices. The Astraea can't turn themselves right side up if they get flipped upside down. Avoid Mexican turbo snails and Margarita snails as they come from temperate water and will not survive long at reef temperatures. Avoid bumblebee snails, they are carnivores and will eat the critters in your sandbed. Also avoid Ilyanassa Obsoleta which are sometimes sold as nassarius snails. If they are on eBay, you are getting a ton of them and the seller is on the east coast they are probably Ilyanassa Obsoleta. They can carry a fluke (parasite) and they are carnivores.

I would add the skeleton CUC and wait a week while monitoring the parameters. As long as you don't see any spike in ammonia or nitrite you could go ahead and add a fish. After that you could either add a bit more CUC or another fish. Three or four small fish are all I have ever put in my NC24.

[bobboman]

thanks Carmiejo. the tank is actually a 50g tank. the info you just posted will really help me out a lot.

[Mostly Rock]

even with a 50, I recommend following Carmie's advice to the letter. The only thing in this hobby that happens fast is a disaster. Slowly is key.

[SaltyDawg]

I know there is something new in there by now. C'mon...show us some eye candy.

[Mostly Rock]

I agree. What's happnin!?

[bobboman]

so about 2 weeks ago i added 2 hermits and 5 astrea snails. i tested the water everyday and all my parameters stayed pretty good. nitrite stayed 0 and ammonia stayed at 0 so i felt pretty safe adding 3 small blue/green chormis to the tank to see if my water parameters would change. so far its been a week and a half and my nitrite is still 0 and ammonia is still 0. nitrates were high a couple weeks ago, but since i have done 2 5 gal water changes the nitrates are almost down to 0. after they reach 0 i will start moving coral from my nano to the new tank.
also, since my ammonia and nitrite stayed at 0 for about 8 days with the crhomis in there im going to add a small yellow tang, i know they grow pretty large, so a friend of mine will take it once it outgrows my tank.

my water parameters are:
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5.0
calcium 450ppm
kh 179 ppm
ph 8.2
salinity 1.025

here is a full tank shot.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[V]

Howd'y Doodie Time.

[CarmieJo]

Thanks for the update!

[bobboman]

ugggg, starting to get algae blooms, how big of a CUC should i get. so far all i have is 5 snails and 2 hermits