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the start of our first nano reef


gabe&chrissy

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CollegeNano

Look like some pretty cool rock you have in there. I do have a suggestion or two though.

 

The rock on the right of the tank seems to be propped up against the glass. You probably want to keep an inch or so between rock and glass for easier cleaning.

 

Also, are those snails in the tank? If it's three days old it probably hasn't cycled and you would want to remove any livestock until you ammonia is at least at 0 for a few days. Check out the API liquid test kit if you haven't purchased one already, they work quite well for a good price.

 

Good luck and welcome!

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gabe&chrissy

We ended up moving that piece of rock last night, for different reasons, but I never thought about ease of cleaning.

 

There are snails in there already, our main concern is them starving... the tank is pretty well cycled, but is supporting it's first bioload, so I guess it could go either way.

 

Thanks for the input, we haven't purchased a test kit yet for the sole fact that we've been in and out of the LFS so much lately, we've just been having them test our water (they do it for free, and at this point, anything free is fabulous). They tested it before they sold us the snails too, and said we should be ok, so hopefully they'll make it.

 

Does anyone know if we should be considering up grading the stock lighting? I think we are going to do mainly soft corals and what not, but haven't been able to find a ton of information on lighting for these things. They are stock with the coralife lights...

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We ended up moving that piece of rock last night, for different reasons, but I never thought about ease of cleaning.

 

There are snails in there already, our main concern is them starving... the tank is pretty well cycled, but is supporting it's first bioload, so I guess it could go either way.

 

Thanks for the input, we haven't purchased a test kit yet for the sole fact that we've been in and out of the LFS so much lately, we've just been having them test our water (they do it for free, and at this point, anything free is fabulous). They tested it before they sold us the snails too, and said we should be ok, so hopefully they'll make it.

 

Does anyone know if we should be considering up grading the stock lighting? I think we are going to do mainly soft corals and what not, but haven't been able to find a ton of information on lighting for these things. They are stock with the coralife lights...

 

How is the tank "pretty well cycled" it's only 3 days old as you have stated? I think the LFS may be telling you everything is ok just to get you to buy more from them. I think it would be best if you picked up an API test kit from another store and did your own tests :) Also, realize that your tank will not cycle in 3 days regardless. It's a natural process that takes time. Sure it may take less time in smaller tanks or tanks where you used cured live rock etc, but it won't be a couple of days.

 

I don't know the exact lighting specs of your system off hand, but i'm pretty sure the stock lights would be sufficient for a majority of soft corals.

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gabe&chrissy

Ok firstly thanks for all your input. As previously stated we are new to this and im sure the lfs realized this. What he explained to us was that since cleaner organisms i.e. snails and hermits did not count as bioload b/c all they did was clean and such. That it would be fine to add. and watching them it appears that they are cleaning the rocks and whatnot. i guess now what im asking is since they are already in there will they be ok or is it going to create a problem for us. We just dont want a crash within the first month.

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constantocean
Ok firstly thanks for all your input. As previously stated we are new to this and im sure the lfs realized this. What he explained to us was that since cleaner organisms i.e. snails and hermits did not count as bioload b/c all they did was clean and such. That it would be fine to add. and watching them it appears that they are cleaning the rocks and whatnot. i guess now what im asking is since they are already in there will they be ok or is it going to create a problem for us. We just dont want a crash within the first month.

 

If they die before your cycles over you'll probably have a problem.

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Greetings, and welcome to NR! I hope you'll have a smooth ride on the Nanotrain- it's a great trip.

 

While snails and hermits don't add much (they still add a bit) to the bioload, they can still die from the ammonia cycle that -always- happens with a new tank. Even if it's a little bobble in your ammonia->nitrite->nitrate readings, it does happen. CUC are usually really hardy, but it's a bit mean (and harder on the 'ole pocketbook) to subject them to the rigours of a cycle.

 

If they die, just fish 'em out and give them the porcelain sendoff. As long as the corpse doesn't rot in the tank, it'll be ok.

 

While lots of people on this site will tell you to wait a month or more for a cycle, that's erring on the -very- safe side. A typical cycle is usually over in 2-3 weeks; buy your own test kit so you can get used to testing and getting a feel for how different changes to your tank affect your water parameters. Keeping a log is handy too, since as total n00bs, you want as much info to keep your expensive new hobby going strong.

Good luck, and again, welcome!

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I've followed several articles in this order and all corals growing like crazy so far:

 

Cycled with liverock-almost month. Cycle means ammonia spike (mine was off the chart for a while), you will see brown diatoms early in cycle and will slowly disappear. Nitrite spike (also off the chart for a while), then you should see some nitrates next, mine was 20 for while and I started seeing some heavy algae growth. Then Ammon, Nitrite will go to zero, in my case, Nitrate went to almost zero I added chemipure, a few snails, a few crabs, and cleaner shrimp after 50% water change (waited a couple of days to check salinity, ph, etc. and made sure no additional spikes.)

 

Snails took care of all algae in a few days. Left them in for almost 2 weeks, so I'm almost 6 weeks in added some corals, waited 1 week added some more, waited 1 week added 1 fish, waited 1 week added another and a few more snails and crabs.

 

Check everything once/week: Ammon, Nitrite, Nitrate, PH, phosphorous, calcium, dKH, salinity

 

~15% Water change weekly

 

Top off with distilled water daily

 

Feed coral frenzy every other day, <half recommended

 

Feed snails 1/8th sheet of dried seaweed 1/week

 

Feed fish every other day freeze dried brine shrimp, frozen mysis shrimp, and some flakes

 

Supplimental hand feed shrimp every other day just because it's fun.

 

So far so good....

 

I would say if you aren't testing, you don't know where you are in cycle, and certainly shouldn't add anything until you know.

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