burntmac Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 So i've been lurking here for a month or so doing a lot of reading and looking at everyones tanks.. pretty cool stuff and a great repository of info.. so thanks for that guys.. I have a 55g fresh water with a few inhabitants.. but i wanted a small salt water tank for another room in my house.. so i did some searching and ended up with a aquapod 12g to start with.. I've got a 20g square thats empty.. but i'm going to see what kind of damage i can do first on a smaller scale... so here goes Aquapod 12g Bagged live sand 10lbs of cured live rock premixed water to start running the sponge and a bag of ceramic rings in the back chambers.. tank has changed a bit since the murky water cleared.. live rock has turned a bit brown which i understand is normal. i caught a few random specs of creatures floating around.. nothing larger then a good size grain of sand.. not sure what they're called.. and brown chunks are now laying around in front of the LR.. also the LR has a good collection of short hair algae on it... but its been about.. 6 days as of today.. and I haven't gotten any solid amount of Ammonia, Nitrite, or Nitrate.. So i'm wondering whats going on.. Day 3 showed what I interpruted as .5ppm of Ammonia... but now its back to normal and I never saw an increase in the other levels.. I was told by my LFS that i should let it go for a week and then I should be good to add a fish or 2.. i see thats kind of a debatable issue.. (fish first) but i was hoping to atleast add something to the tank this weekend.. but don't want to kill it off with a delayed ammonia spike... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated... if i neglected to supply some integral info.. let me know.. some pretty empty tank pics below :] So i'm kind of expecting the be patient thing.. so if thats what i need to do.. so be it.. I don't mind waiting it out.. just like an idea of whats going on :] Link to comment
reefone Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 since u got cured rock u will have a minimal cycle. thats why u only seen a small spike in perams. id go ahead and add a small cuc to start and see how they do. Link to comment
Clayton07 Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 I personaly would add more rock, then wait for the amonia spike. That rock looks super clean. Then do a small water change. I think you may starve a CUC. I dont even see any diotoms on the sand LOL You may want to break (cut) that large peice of Tonga branch and do somthing else with it. It looks odd laying on the sand like that. just my opinion. Also I would move that heater (?) and the thermometer into the back chambers. Link to comment
burntmac Posted June 6, 2008 Author Share Posted June 6, 2008 yah moving the heater and thermometer would make sense wouldn't it.. thanks for pointing that out. what kind of recommendations for a cuc? my overall goal is to have 2 black clowns and some soft coral.. if that makes a difference... maybe a shrimp? snail? hermit crab? Link to comment
121a Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 first off spend the money on a decent heater. I had the same one and it worked on and off. Get like a 50w visi-therm, those have thermostats on them. Get more live rock, the rule of thumb for me at least is 1lb-1.5lbs per gallon. Also be skeptical of LFS info, they are a business trying to make money selling you things you might not need. good luck and Link to comment
burntmac Posted June 7, 2008 Author Share Posted June 7, 2008 yah thats a good idea on the heater.. the tank was actually pretty high on the first day of setup because the room was super hot.. heater was plugged in and the light was on like it was active despite the high temp of the tank.. so its been unplugged since and i've just been keeping an eye on it since.. stays about 80 degree without a heater.. i definitely need one though.. and the live rock.. I guess i'll do that too this weekend.. i skimped on the first time thinking 10 would be enough.. but i'll get another good sized chunk.. thanks for everyones input.. super appreciative.. Link to comment
HankB Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 We started with LR, LS and water from our dealer's tanks. We never saw ammonia or nitrites. At about a week we saw the first bit of diatom and 'pods. At two weeks we added our CUC which consisted of cerith, astrea, trochus and turbo snails and 6 hermit crabs (for a 4 gallon Red Sea Max.) At the same time we added come corals to go along with the mushrooms that hitched in on our rock. I would go with a mix of snails and (maybe) hermits. Our hermits seem lazy but they probably work hard when we're not looking. We'll add some fish in another week or two - as long as water parameters remain OK. I wouldn't add the CUC until you have some healthy algae growth. to N-R and good luck with your tank! -hank Link to comment
herranton Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 Take the ceramic rings out of the back chamber. It will be very difficult to keep junk from collecting on them, and in that little space it will be difficult to clean. You will also need to rinse out that sponge one a week so it doesn't collect too much gunk. [edit] Oh yeah, on the clean up crew issue; I think that you could add one or two snails but thats it. when they get overwhelmed with their duties, add some more. Eventually, you will have the perfect CUC for your tank Link to comment
burntmac Posted June 7, 2008 Author Share Posted June 7, 2008 Got a bit of brown.. going to find some critters today.. thanks for everyones help and advice! Link to comment
burntmac Posted June 7, 2008 Author Share Posted June 7, 2008 picked up 4 hermit crabs and a snail.. they seem to be enjoying themselves.. i wanted a shrimp but was unsure if that would jive with the tank being so fresh and all.. any ideas? Link to comment
Pseudocheilinus hexataenia Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Like herranton said, take the ceramic rings out of the back. The same with those plastic balls if you've got them in there. For a clean up crew, I would go with 6 - 8 blue-legged hermits, a nassarius snail and maybe two other snails both of different variety. On the issue of the shrimp, wait a bit. Shrimp are highly sensitive invertebrates and changes in tank parameters (as is common in newly established tanks) can be dangerous for them. I'd say after a month or two of the tank cycling it should be fine to add a shrimp. Cleaner shrimp seem to work the best, but Blood shrimp or Fire shrimp are nice too. Blood or Fire shrimp are cryptic dwellers meaning you'll rarely see them if they can have anything to do with it. Oh! Also, the brown algae is known as diatoms and is common after cycling. This algae will clear out on its own without a clean-up crew. There should be enough algae growing by this point anyways to support the small clean-up crew you've got in there now. Link to comment
burntmac Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 ceramic rings and bioballs being pulled today. thanks.. I'll let the crabs do their job for a bit and find a couple more next time i'm at my lfs.. I'll wait it out on the shrimp.. the carbs i've got are pretty interesting.. they seem to be enjoying their new home :] Link to comment
distantfire Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Crabs grow pretty fast in 30 day's. They will eat your snails just to get the shells. If you don't have larger shells in the tank for them to move into. The evil little crabs also knock coral frags over in the tank. But they are fun to watch. Link to comment
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