Jorgies first nano tank!

[aviator300]

It's hard to grasp that someone started his tank only a little over a week ago and is already talking about adding live animals to a tank he thinks is almost cycled.

 

I have to agree with Kijho who said " Don't put any livestock in that tank yet mate!!

Cycling a marine tank is not an event that is over in a week or two or even three (no matter what your test kit says).

 

At first, I was like every other beginner and started testing after 2 or 3 days. I was frustrated when it looked like no cycle was starting and then frustrated not knowing when it ended. I guess i was obsessed with testing and trying to determine EXACTLY where my tank was in the cycle process.

 

After listening to some good advice, here is what I do now.

 

I start with live sand and live rock and only floss in the filter/fuge. I then just let it run lights off for about 3 weeks while not testing at all except for PH and spgr and of course topping it off with fresh water when needed.

 

At that point, I will resist temptation to add anything at all to the tank or change water. I will then wait one more week for good measure while still not testing and then

THERE, THE TANK IS CYCLED whether you tested daily or not at all and (assuming you used live rock and sand), ammonia and nitrites should test zero and nitrates should be high.

 

Then do a large water change two 2 days in a row to reduce the Nitrates and you're good to go.

 

BOY, ARE THESE YOUNGINS IMPATIENT

[Jorgie7]

Alright here are the results from today's water check!!!! If I'm reading this right then I am just about done with my first major cycle(keep in mind the lighting makes everything look darker than it is ... Ammonia has been at zero for about three days now) And for reference here is a picture of my diatom bloom!

[Jorgie7]

It's hard to grasp that someone started his tank only a little over a week ago and is already talking about adding live animals to a tank he thinks is almost cycled.

 

I have to agree with Kijho who said " Don't put any livestock in that tank yet mate!!

Cycling a marine tank is not an event that is over in a week or two or even three (no matter what your test kit says).

 

At first, I was like every other beginner and started testing after 2 or 3 days. I was frustrated when it looked like no cycle was starting and then frustrated not knowing when it ended. I guess i was obsessed with testing and trying to determine EXACTLY where my tank was in the cycle process.

 

After listening to some good advice, here is what I do now.

 

 

I start with live sand and live rock and only floss in the filter/fuge. I then just let it run lights off for about 3 weeks while not testing at all except for PH and spgr and of course topping it off with fresh water when needed.

 

At that point, I will resist temptation to add anything at all to the tank or change water. I will then wait one more week for good measure while still not testing and then

THERE, THE TANK IS CYCLED whether you tested daily or not at all and (assuming you used live rock and sand), ammonia and nitrites should test zero and nitrates should be high.

 

Then do a large water change two 2 days in a row to reduce the Nitrates and you're good to go.

 

BOY, ARE THESE YOUNGINS IMPATIENT

 

Thanks for the advice! I will defiantly wait this out a while longer ... With that said I do take everything with a grain of salt and although that's one way of cycling, if there is anything I have learned from the forums and seeing what's works with my own eyes is that there is defiantly more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to this. And yes these youngins sure are impatient.

[Jorgie7]

Just a quick update here are today's water perimeters

[Gooburz]

Just a heads-up: LED's, in my experience, do not grow coralline algae so if you are looking for coralline, get a PC bulb. Corallife has a 20w screw-in 50/50 bulb you can put in a desk lamp that works well for growing coralline. I went on 12 hour light cycles, though.

I have 2 PAR38 bulbs and they grow coralline just fine in my tank and just about everyone else who uses a decent LED. If you use something like ebay low end led then yes you will not grow coralline. 12 hour light cycels without a dimmer can cause MAJOR algae growth. You are best to stick with 8-10 hours max if you have no dimmer.

 

Hey just posting a update I have decided to take the plunge and bought a T5 light fixture... Now the fixture has an acrylic lens over the lights does this mean that I shouldn't use a glass canopy on. The tank?image.jpg

I would keep the lid on the tank to help with evaporation, glad to see you upgraded to a T5, those marineland LED's are ok for freshwater for a light but won't grow corals. Good job at taking your time with the tank and love the rock scape you have!

[Paul3x16]

Nice tank, I like your landscape. How is it going so far

 

I have 2 PAR38 bulbs and they grow coralline just fine in my tank and just about everyone else who uses a decent LED. If you use something like ebay low end led then yes you will not grow coralline. 12 hour light cycels without a dimmer can cause MAJOR algae growth. You are best to stick with 8-10 hours max if you have no dimmer.

 

I bought this current USA orbit marine LED I seen great reviews about it!!

[Jorgie7]

Nice tank, I like your landscape. How is it going so far

I have 2 PAR38 bulbs and they grow coralline just fine in my tank and just about everyone else who uses a decent LED. If you use something like ebay low end led then yes you will not grow coralline. 12 hour light cycels without a dimmer can cause MAJOR algae growth. You are best to stick with 8-10 hours max if you have no dimmer. I bought this current USA orbit marine LED I seen great reviews about it!!

Hey I hope you got them from dr. Foster and smith cause they have them on sale for like $100 with free shipping!

[Paul3x16]

I hope you got them from dr. Foster and smith cause they have them on sale for like $100 with free shipping!

 

i bought a used one from ebay for $80 bucks

[zdes]

My LED's are far from cheap... If the PAR38's grow coralline, it must be something else that I'm missing like a specific part of the light spectrum. I have red/green/royal blue/blue/white. Just to show an example, I had a cheap starter 10g with an incandescent bulb and a 50/50 20w coralife mini cfl. Same salt (Reef Crystals), less flow, water quality not as good. It grew coralline like mad.

[Jorgie7]

Hey so I just got home for the day and I noticed that a lot of the diatoms are gone ...is this normal ... They were covering most of my rock and some sand but now it's like they are disappearing is this normal? Pics included for comparison with other posts

[zdes]

It is normal for diatoms to gradually disappear. What I do when I cycle my tank, to make sure the bacteria stays at the levels you will need with livestock, is to feed it as though I had my target livestock were in the tank. The waste will be about the same when you actually add the livestock.

[Jorgie7]

S

It is normal for diatoms to gradually disappear. What I do when I cycle my tank, to make sure the bacteria stays at the levels you will need with livestock, is to feed it as though I had my target livestock were in the tank. The waste will be about the same when you actually add the livestock.

So my ammonia and nitrites are at zero but nitrates are pretty high. Does that mean that I do a large water change and then I can add a small clean up crew

[zdes]

You should be able to do a clean up crew. They are pretty good with small ammonia spikes. Keep an eye on your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate as you add livestock and make sure to keep feeding the tank, or the nitrifying bacteria will die off and your cycling will almost start over. Just keep in mind consistency and changes over time (patience) in all of your decisions, and you really can't go wrong

[anizato]

Keep them lights off. Give it another two weeks before yout ouch the tank. Just stay on top of your DAILY topoffs. No water changes yet. Once Nitrites are ZERO and Ammonia is undetectable, only then are you cycled. Wait another week, test again, then do WC 50%.

I would also recommend a higher powerhead. I run a 425 and am still thinking of adding the 250 for my sps, but that is a BIG maybe.

[Stakins]

You do understand that once you buy the CUC, addiction is truly established. Next, you need fish and coral. Then dosing, better lights, more coral, QT tank, dips, more filtration, more coral, different foods, more coral, second mortgage, more coral.

 

YOU SHOULD RUN NOW while you still have a chance. Unplug it and run.

 

(true testimony from someone considering the second mortgage)

[Jorgie7]

You do understand that once you buy the CUC, addiction is truly established. Next, you need fish and coral. Then dosing, better lights, more coral, QT tank, dips, more filtration, more coral, different foods, more coral, second mortgage, more coral.

 

YOU SHOULD RUN NOW while you still have a chance. Unplug it and run.

 

(true testimony from someone considering the second mortgage)

You should be able to do a clean up crew. They are pretty good with small ammonia spikes. Keep an eye on your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate as you add livestock and make sure to keep feeding the tank, or the nitrifying bacteria will die off and your cycling will almost start over. Just keep in mind consistency and changes over time (patience) in all of your decisions, and you really can't go wrong

" Zdes awesome advice and this is what I did I added two red tip hermits and a large snail and boy have they been at it!!! I also had my first death ... You see about two days ago my local Shop had a special on clown fish. So I picked one up 14 bucks he was awesome curious little guy but he was a little too curious today I came home and I noticed that my filter pump wasn't working correctly and Buddy the fish was nowhere to be seen turns out he got sucked right in it's my fault really I was planning to buy prefilter sponge this weekend because the idea had occurred to me that this could happen. I ended up throwing out the old filter and I ordered an Aquaclear 20. Should be arriving tomorrow or Saturday

 

Stakins I think it's too late the cuc is already in!!!! And I've already upgraded lighting and started to make my own food.

[Jorgie7]

I am happy to announce the newest member to my tank! His name is sunny.

[zdes]

Very cool! Any personality yet?

[Jorgie7]

 

Very cool! Any personality yet?

It. Has definitely taken him a couple days to get acclimated to the tank. But he's definitely comfortable now he settled in and found little borough and started digging and hes eating like a pig. On another note a friend of mine gave me a free coral frag be picked up had a swap but he has no idea what is but here's a pic a text maybe some of you guys can help me identify it. Looks like candycane maybe?

[kalireefer]

I used the wavepoint 12" blue/white 16 w clip-on LED for mine with a similar setup. Worked just fine with AGA rim and my frogspawn/condy anemone did great. Stay away from the LED snobbery

 

Just a heads-up: LED's, in my experience, do not grow coralline algae so if you are looking for coralline, get a PC bulb. Corallife has a 20w screw-in 50/50 bulb you can put in a desk lamp that works well for growing coralline. I went on 12 hour light cycles, though.

 

Keep in mind that in a nano, fish jump. I had a clown that went carpet surfing. Do yourself a favor and get a roll of replacement screen like for sliding patio doors/windows. It cost me like $10-$15. You can cut it to size and whatever shape you want. Everyone will tell you to do weekly water changes as well. I did a 2 gallon change every 2 weeks or so, when my nitrates were higher than comfortable, or when the algae grew too much and I wanted to scrub the rocks with a toothbrush. The more you can keep your hands out of the tank, the better, though.

I can't say the same. I have been using LED lighting on my tanks for the last 3 years and have massive coralline growth, its actually kind of a nuisance now, my heaters pumps and glass are under constant attack of being caked in thick pink coralline, something I desired to have when I first started the hobby, not so much now.

[zdes]

It looks kinda like a candycane but I can't tell for sure from the picture. Thanks for the info, Kali. I'm wondering what's different in my experience with LED's. I seriously do the same exact thing in a tank without LED's (for example, the one with incandescent and 20w 50/50 screw-in fluorescent bulb) and it grows coralline like crazy.

[Jorgie7]

I think it's just different set ups can tend to put out slightly different waves of light and intensities. Some times they just hit that proverbial sweet spot.

[cuber14]

Please take this small advice and toss the cheap plastic hydrometer and buy a refractometer to check salinity. Personal experience has taught me that the plastic ones are known to be inaccurate.( microbubbles can effect them along with improper cleaning between uses and BAM!! problems. Just my 2 cents . the tank is coming along nicely will follow.

[zdes]

I agree with Cubey. Refractometers are easy to use and are cheaper than you might think. I have been using mine for a year and have had no issues with it yet. It is listed on amazon for $19.50. Let's face it, we all buy stupid gimmicky stuff for our tanks, but this is honestly one of the best (and cheapest) investments you can make.

[anizato]

When messing around with a nano tank, not only do you want precise gravity readings, but you want them OFTEN! Your water evaporates like crazy! Maybe a pint per day on my 10 gallon. So I am constantly using that little device.