onefang Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 What I did, YMMV, is take a cube of mysis(didn't feel like going to the store to buy 1 raw shrimp), and put it in a media bag. I left it in the tank for a week until the mysis started looking pretty funky. Tested for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and if you see zeros on Ammonia and Nitrite you are good. If there is a little Nitrate present, even better because then you know the buggies are working I may have missed it on my way through your thread, but did you do anything aside from add water to the bucket when you were cycling your rocks? If not, then there is probably very little bacteria established as they will multiply based on "food source". You will have to add some type of bioload to get them pumped and ready for action. I am paranoid, so even after my cycle completed I have continued to dose BW Microbacter7 just to be safe.. Link to comment
kimberbee Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 What I did, YMMV, is take a cube of mysis(didn't feel like going to the store to buy 1 raw shrimp), and put it in a media bag. I left it in the tank for a week until the mysis started looking pretty funky. Tested for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and if you see zeros on Ammonia and Nitrite you are good. If there is a little Nitrate present, even better because then you know the buggies are working I may have missed it on my way through your thread, but did you do anything aside from add water to the bucket when you were cycling your rocks? If not, then there is probably very little bacteria established as they will multiply based on "food source". You will have to add some type of bioload to get them pumped and ready for action. I am paranoid, so even after my cycle completed I have continued to dose BW Microbacter7 just to be safe.. When I changed my filter floss from my other tank, I would swish/squeeze it into the rock bucket hopefully getting bacteria in there. Link to comment
Sancho Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Quick question on your RO unit. How much waste are you seeing vs production? We get our RO from a LFS and I was recently given a RO unit, but it seems to have insane waste. I'm still tinkering with it though. Also, what TDS meter did you go for? Thanks! You can add a second ro membrane. You run the waste to the 2nd membrane doing so cuts your waste down to 2:1. Additionally you double your production. It was easy to do although as others have pointed out if you have low water pressure you should invest into a booster pump. Link to comment
onefang Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 When I changed my filter floss from my other tank, I would swish/squeeze it into the rock bucket hopefully getting bacteria in there. This helps get the bacteria into the tank, but for them to adjust and multiply to the numbers required for fish bioload you would need some type of food source to keep the nitrogen cycle going. Basically(sorry if you already know this ) you are looking to strike a balance between Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter(and some others), where they harmoniously convert nitrite(nitrosomonas) into nitrate(nitrobacter). If a food source is interrupted, these bacteria can go dormant or die which upsets the balance. They will still both be present, but possibly out of balance. For instance with a lack of food source, the Nitrosomonas may stop producing nitrite and go dormant. The Nitrobacter may then starve and die off a bit before going dormant. When ammonia is then again present due to something like a newly introduced fish, etc, then the Nitromonas wake up and start pumping out Nitrite like a boss.. but there aren't enough Nitrobacter present to reduce the Nitrite to Nitrate as fast as the Nitrosomonas are dishing it up. In short, you basically want to keep ammonia levels as constant as possible to allow all the bacteria to reach equilibrium. When you add a fish and stop forcing a cycle, then the buggies will die back to keep up with whatever bioload your fish currently provide. Aquariums are a trip.. Link to comment
SgtBhaji Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 You can add a second ro membrane. You run the waste to the 2nd membrane doing so cuts your waste down to 2:1. Additionally you double your production. It was easy to do although as others have pointed out if you have low water pressure you should invest into a booster pump. I'll be honest... I have no idea what I'm doing with this thing. It had a tank, a water polisher and tap and a permeate pump on it. I've removed all that now and just have the waste and product lines coming out of the membrane now. That seems to have speeded up production and reduced the waste by a little. This thing was gifted by somebody local moving out of state, so no clue yet of what's coming out, what needs to be replaced or if I'm just buying a new unit. Sorry for thread hijacking btw. Link to comment
owenj Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 How much is a bottle of ammonia from Ace? I would really have no other use for it, other than to make sure my cycle is complete. Or is it safe to start adding stuff? I'm leaning towards "maybe, but probably not" as I don't see any algae at all. Perhaps I need to get a light on there to start getting some? IIRC mine was like...$3? & I have a ton leftover Link to comment
kimberbee Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 IIRC mine was like...$3? & I have a ton leftover I don't use ammonia to clean. Just like I don't keep bleach. Messy, dangerous chemicals like that news to stay away from me! I tend to be clumsy and have bleached too many nice shirts! Link to comment
onefang Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 I don't use ammonia to clean. Just like I don't keep bleach. Messy, dangerous chemicals like that news to stay away from me! I tend to be clumsy and have bleached too many nice shirts! My house is this way too. No ammonia, bleach, etc. We are hippies. My wife uses distilled white vinegar to clean almost everything. Our house after cleaning always makes me want fish & chips for some reason. As an added benefit, my wife doesn't complain when I do silicone work inside because the curing silicone smells just like her cleaner. A cube of Mysis shrimp in a fine media bag will give you all the ammonia you need for cycling. I've done this a couple times now, and it works well. Link to comment
kimberbee Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 I got Dr. Tim's over the weekend. Expensive, but the LFS guy gave me a discount. Love going there! I'll be adding some tonight! Link to comment
kimberbee Posted April 24, 2015 Author Share Posted April 24, 2015 Been dosing Dr Tims. Still waiting on my light. I go through a gallon of water every 3 days cause of evap on this one... Much more than I expected. Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Been dosing Dr Tims. Still waiting on my light. I go through a gallon of water every 3 days cause of evap on this one... Much more than I expected. Maybe time to save for and invest in an ATO! Link to comment
owenj Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Been dosing Dr Tims. Still waiting on my light. I go through a gallon of water every 3 days cause of evap on this one... Much more than I expected. Yea, I was shocked at the evap on my Fusion 20. Salinity went to 1.029 in a day or two and stressed my corals out big time. Link to comment
kimberbee Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 Maybe time to save for and invest in an ATO! I have one, I just need to set it up!! Yea, I was shocked at the evap on my Fusion 20. Salinity went to 1.029 in a day or two and stressed my corals out big time. I'm going through a gallon every 3 days. Yikes! Link to comment
Kijho Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I didn't notice you started up a Nuvo 20!! This is SUPER epic I can't wait to see more.... but I probably shouldn't see more as my wallet will jump from my pocket and over to the LFS...... Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I was thinking you had an ATO but then I wasn't sure when I read about how much evaporation you were having. I am sure you will get everything done, one thing at a time, right? Link to comment
owenj Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I have one, I just need to set it up!! I'm going through a gallon every 3 days. Yikes! 3 gallons, whoa. I minimized a lot of evap by putting two pieces of acrylic over the top as "lids." They warp from the heat & have to be flipped over every day/other day but I haven't found a good glass equivalent yet Link to comment
kimberbee Posted April 28, 2015 Author Share Posted April 28, 2015 3 gallons, whoa. I minimized a lot of evap by putting two pieces of acrylic over the top as "lids." They warp from the heat & have to be flipped over every day/other day but I haven't found a good glass equivalent yet Yeah I was thinking of making some sort of top for this other than just the mesh, but haven't figured out what yet. Maybe plexiglas? Link to comment
kimberbee Posted April 29, 2015 Author Share Posted April 29, 2015 Tested the water last night: Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 0 Ammonia: 0 Well then... But... I HAVE BUGS!! Tiny little things crawling around on the glass near the sand line! I took an empty shell and marble sized rock from my bio cube that were covered in coraline and plopped them in. Just cause I can. Still no light from Dave, so I took my plant light that I use in winter and have it resting on the top of this tank. It's a florescent Sylvania light bulb specifically for plants and aquariums. Figure it can't hurt. Link to comment
D Z Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Yeah I was thinking of making some sort of top for this other than just the mesh, but haven't figured out what yet. Maybe plexiglas? If you do this, you will want to go with lexan, at least 1/8" thick but preferrably 1/4" to avoid bowing. The lexan holds up better than acrylic when it comes to the light and heat put off by your lights. I'm using a piece of 1/8" lexan on my tank right now and like it. It bows a little in the middle, but that is because the false wall of my tank is shorter than the front/sides. If it were supported evenly along the back wall, I think it would work perfect. I keep meaning to make a support piece to fill the gap, but that takes time, and time is money, blah blah blah.... Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 O man, when I saw in your thread title that you had bugs I thought,"O no!" because I was thinking pest bugs, not good bugs. Congratulations on good bugs! Link to comment
DurocShark Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 As long as it's not this kind of bug: Link to comment
kimberbee Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 As long as it's not this kind of bug: nooooooo! Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 ? nice - good sign of the tank doing well Link to comment
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