Next Steps?

[DSparks]

Tank Specs

10 Gallon

Closed Loop w/ SCWD

96 Watts Power Compact Lighting

15 pounds live rock

2 inch live sand from a bag

RODI water

Temp @ 78

SG @ 1.023

Trates @ <5ppm

Trites @ 0ppm

Ammonia @ 0ppm

PH @ 8.3

 

Current Situation

I've been cycling for 2 weeks now. I run my lights only about 2 hours in the evening, long enough to enjoy it. The LFS guy told me to not run my lights very much at all. I've heard conflicting opinions on that topic here on the boards. I also haven't done any water changes, again at the advice of the LFS guy. All my corraline has bleached white. I've read about that here, and seems to be normal. No algae growth, and I've only seen one critter (a tiny fanworm).

 

Question

What would you do next in this scenario? I want to do this right so if the answer is "Keep waiting" then I'm satisfied. Should I drop in a few snails and hermits, even though I don't see anything for them to eat? Should I increase my photoperiod? I'm definitely not thinking it's time for any corals or fish, it just feels way to early for that.

 

Your help is, as always, appreciated!

[Christopher Marks]

Your cycle should be pretty much through. I would start running the lights on a normal light cycle first. Then in a few days do a partial water change and add your clean up crew (assuming your water parameters still show the cycle as being over).

 

At that point you could add a hardy coral or two.

[Aiptasia]

Time to bump the bioload, so i'd go ahead and add the janitor pack of snails/crabs and put your lights on a longer light cycle. This will encourage a higher rate of metabolic processing through added ammonia imputs (crabs/snails) and get your algae (specifically corraline and attractive macro-algaes) growing. Run the tank on anything from a 10/14 to 14/10 cycle and use a good two part additive (seachem reef essentials pack, b-ionic, c-balance) to keep the pH stable and the calcium level up.

 

Then let it run for another 2-3 weeks. If you have an algae bloom of diatom/green/cyanobacteria, the reef janitors will keep it under control for you. Once the tank re-adjusts to the new biomass, you'll be ready to add hardy corals to the tank, one or two at a time, and let the tanks re-adjust for 2-3 weeks before adding new ones.

 

Patience is key. Add your fish last. In a tank that size, i'd go with one fish, so make it something little, hardy and attractive. I'd suggest a blenny (neon, bicolor), a damselfish (any) or a clownfish. Remember, just because it's a clownfish doesn't mean you need an anemone for it (in case you didn't want a bubble tipped anemone). The clown will do fine without one.

 

Once the reef janitors go in and algaes are growing, you've got to start changing 10% of the water every week at a minimum. Growing things are going to use up the trace elements in the sea water, and burn up a lot of calcium while they grow. The water changes help replenish this as well as removing buildup of harmful nitrate, turpines, etc.

[DSparks]

Excellent feedback! I appreciate the help.

 

So is it normal not to see any pods yet? I'm hearing from others that within days they started to see pods and other life in the tank.

[DSparks]

Update, all those little specks that I've been trying to FILTER are actually pods. I'm such an idiot. They are all over the place, so I'm guessing I'm in better shape then I thought.

 

I've upped the photoperiod to 10 hours starting tomorrow. Sometime in the next week I'll get some crabs and snails. Any suggestions on variety? I've heard so many differing opinions it's hard to know what to buy.

[Empty]

MAYBE get a few scarlet or red legged hermits. Yes they are OK detrivores but nassarius are better on the sand and won't walk over/steal food from your corals. I would go for the following (and wish I had :-/):

 

6-7 nassarius snails(these guys are *cool*)

4-5 nerith snails

1-2 emerald crabs

2-4 spotted conch(if you can find em- 2-4 astrea otherwise)

 

~Empty

[DSparks]

That many for a 10 gallon? Also, do you have any suggestions on where to find the conch's online?

 

I've heard good and bad about emerald crabs. I'm a little worried about them eating coral and terrorizing my tank overall.

[Empty]

I don't have any spotted conch, unfortunately. They are supposed to be great algae control critters because they actually scrape algae off instead of just sucking off loose algae (like an astrea does). Apparently they even eat cyano. They also apparently breed like rabbits... I am hoping to find some in my local aquarium club.

 

My emerald crab(5g) has been no trouble at all. He likes eating flesh when I feed the tank, but I have not seen him go for anything alive.

 

~Empty