Hexadron's Nitoralis [Retired]

[Mstefa1]

Hey J, are you using an Aquarium Mat? If so, which kind? I've been looking around for one but not sure where to get it.

 

Assuming your stand is all but perfect, I'd recommend a 1/8'" yoga mat and cut it with a straight edge and a razor knife. Plus you will have extra if you screw up your first cut. If your trying to cover up flaws in your stand (which I don't recommend anyway) then you will need more protection like either a 1/4" mat or many people prefer the hard insulation foam.

 

Not to hijack but my thread has a few good pics of the mat under my tank if your looking for ideas.

[BadCrab]

Nice, thanks guys. I'm going to have the tank on my computer desk ( http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30116872/ ) so I think I can get away with the 1/8" Yoga mat

[Hexadron]

Hey J, are you using an Aquarium Mat? If so, which kind? I've been looking around for one but not sure where to get it.

 

I am using a Con-Tact brand drawer liner. Not the one with holes, but a solid black one. I don't have any pics as I used pretty much all of it up, but it's VERY thin. My desk is also an Ikea one, and it's perfectly level. Like literally. So I just used it in case there were any imperfections in the wood as well as a nice cushion to prevent any surface scratches

 

I got mine from home depot, super cheap and works really well.

 

Really anything will work as long as your surface is level.

[Deckoz2302]

J.....live aquaria has male and female tail spots in stock.. both from cebu.. just fyi

Ii don't read my own thread

[Hexadron]

 

J.....live aquaria has male and female tail spots in stock.. both from cebu.. just fyi

> Ii don't read my own thread

 

 

LOL. Ugh Sorry I missed it! Doesn't matter really as they will not ship to Canada. Thanks for keeping an eye out though

 

Some good news though is I received the Ammonium Chloride today! I will start dosing that tonight to get this dang cycle done! For those starting with absolutely no Live Rock, I strongly suggest Ammonia. I didn't want to go the decaying shrimp route as I don't want any stinkyness (this is in my bedroom)

 

I'll keep you guys posted as things progress.

 

Work has been insane lately. I am doing two courses right now, planning a trip, and have to fly out for work for another course... Ugh.

[Deleted User 4]

What do you do for a living?

[Hexadron]

What do you do for a living?

 

I'm in Finance. I do mostly investments for High Net Worth clients right now.

[Deckoz2302]

My bad dude....####ing americanos wont ship to canadia....bastards

[Hexadron]

My bad dude....####ing americanos wont ship to canadia....bastards

 

LOL, I know! It's actually pretty frustrating. Luckily StevieT was able to help me out with some equipment which saved me some serious $$$

 

It's not so bad for LiveStock as I have a few pretty good choices here for LFS that aren't too far and have nice selection of fish and corals. It's a bummer with some rarer items though.

[Deckoz2302]

That bites balls. Is it any different for me? Like if I were to overnight to Canada. ...?

[Deleted User 4]

I'm in Finance. I do mostly investments for High Net Worth clients right now.

 

I see. Making bank eh?

[Mstefa1]

Shall I send you some?

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/320393-my-custom-pico-weve-got-live-rock-fellas/?p=4250474

[Hexadron]

That bites balls. Is it any different for me? Like if I were to overnight to Canada. ...?

 

Well i'm not sure how it works with Livestock. I know Canada has pretty strict laws regarding importing "Genetically modified" corals so we can't legally import ORA corals for instance, but their fish are fine.

 

Not too sure, but I should be okay for Livestock.

 

I see. Making bank eh?

 

Well not quite yet.

 

Shall I send you some?

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/320393-my-custom-pico-weve-got-live-rock-fellas/?p=4250474

 

Ooooh tempting. It looks really nice. I'm going to have to sit down and read through all your updates tonight! Great progress BTW.

 

Well happy news, I received my API test kit and Ammonium Chloride today! I added approx. 10drops which should equate to 1ppm of Ammonia, and guess what?! it did! Here's mu previous and updates Params.

 

 

So I tested Ammonia with both the API and my ELOS test kits, and API gave me 1, while ELOS showed 0. I suspect my ELOS one was toast and not reading correctly. this especially makes sense considering if you look at the parameters above, besides 0 Ammonia, it looks like your typical Nitrification process. Given that my nitrates are high right now, I think I did have somewhat of a cycle, but now I get to be sure

[BadCrab]

Even your charts are pretty

[Deckoz2302]

Lol....thats funny...now you get to watch it go really fast. I say 3 days max before 0 NH3 & NO2....lol

 

Btw what charts do you use??

[Hexadron]

Even your charts are pretty

 

Haha thanks!

 

Lol....thats funny...now you get to watch it go really fast. I say 3 days max before 0 NH3 & NO2....lol

 

Btw what charts do you use??

 

I'll probably test every other day, but I'll keep stats here.

 

I use the ones on www.aquarist.me The site is pretty sweet for keeping a tank journal. I like it mostly for the Parameters so I can access it anywhere and share unlike an excel spreadsheet.

 

So I can't take total credit

[eitallent]

Well i'm not sure how it works with Livestock. I know Canada has pretty strict laws regarding importing "Genetically modified" corals so we can't legally import ORA corals for instance, but their fish are fine.

 

As far as I have read ORA corals from orafarms.com in Florida are aquacultured corals they obtained from captive stock not wild. Where did you read they are genetically modified? I did not even know that anyone is taking the trouble to genetically modify corals. I would love to read about that. Would you post links or resources please? Thanks!

[Hexadron]

As far as I have read ORA corals from orafarms.com in Florida are aquacultured corals they obtained from captive stock not wild. Where did you read they are genetically modified? I did not even know that anyone is taking the trouble to genetically modify corals. I would love to read about that. Would you post links or resources please? Thanks!

Sorry, I should have clarified a bit further. It falls under the "category" of Livestock and Corals together. Basically all under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)

 

ORA won't ship directly into Canada, but if a LFS or online seller has special CITES in place, they may be able to. The only thing with that, which in have inquired in the past is it is very expensive, and only worth it to the company if they are importing extremely large quantities (which usually isn't the case).

 

Also from their Aquaculture facility in Floria, it is said that the corals don't contain the proper CITES information for required for shipping, which causes issues for importing to Canada. This mostly related to anything but Soft Corals, as laws seem to be a little more lax for those, as long as they aren't affixed to Live Rock.

 

Basically if everything isn't done properly, there are fines upwards of $25,000 and up to 6 months in jail. Probably not worth the risk for most companies to take.

[Mstefa1]

I've considered on my old tank and once again on my new tank graphing data unfortunately you need to test consistently to find the data useful which I don't always do. Mostly I test Alk as that changes more than the other parameters. And since I have the Apex PH probe on my other tank I've noticed that the PH falls when ALK is low. Since I do weekly water changes, CA doesn't normally get low enough that I need to dose unless I'm currently dosing MG. So if I'm dosing MG for Bryopsis it throws everything out of wack.

 

Once you get past your cycle, you won't need either of those test kits. You will need Ca, Alk, & Mg because they must remain in balance. I would also recommend a Phosphorous Hanna Checker (not a phosphate one) since you won't be running GFO. I don't have one yet as I run a GFO reactor in my other tank but I will probably be getting one soon for this tank with no reactor.

 

Anyway, if you continue to log the data then great for you!

 

I don't do anything unnaturally to force a cycle like dosing ammonia or the dead shrimp routine. But I've always used live rock so that may change things. Are you seeing any signs that your cycle is progressing or nearing completion? Normally once Ammonia drops I always see an explosion of pods. I guess you won't because you are using dry rock but what about diatoms? At the end of the cycle I've always gotten the explosion of diatoms which clears up naturally in a few days once the silica is used up.

 

These are a few of the signs I look for.

[Hexadron]

I've considered on my old tank and once again on my new tank graphing data unfortunately you need to test consistently to find the data useful which I don't always do. Mostly I test Alk as that changes more than the other parameters. And since I have the Apex PH probe on my other tank I've noticed that the PH falls when ALK is low. Since I do weekly water changes, CA doesn't normally get low enough that I need to dose unless I'm currently dosing MG. So if I'm dosing MG for Bryopsis it throws everything out of wack.

 

Once you get past your cycle, you won't need either of those test kits. You will need Ca, Alk, & Mg because they must remain in balance. I would also recommend a Phosphorous Hanna Checker (not a phosphate one) since you won't be running GFO. I don't have one yet as I run a GFO reactor in my other tank but I will probably be getting one soon for this tank with no reactor.

 

Anyway, if you continue to log the data then great for you!

 

I don't do anything unnaturally to force a cycle like dosing ammonia or the dead shrimp routine. But I've always used live rock so that may change things. Are you seeing any signs that your cycle is progressing or nearing completion? Normally once Ammonia drops I always see an explosion of pods. I guess you won't because you are using dry rock but what about diatoms? At the end of the cycle I've always gotten the explosion of diatoms which clears up naturally in a few days once the silica is used up.

 

These are a few of the signs I look for.

I don't think I will test all the time, but like you mentioned in the future, it will probably be Ca, Mg and Alk. I personally need to do more research regarding those parameters though. I was actually planning to get the Hannah checkers for future testing, and decided on the Phosphorous one as well due to the extremely low level it can detect, and converting to Phosphate is easy peasy.

 

I wonder if the Hannah Calcium checker is reliable now, or if they are still having issues...

 

As for signs of a completed cycle, I have seen literally three spots of small clusters of Diatoms, but no explosions. I have a feeling I had very little ammonia from my ghost feedings, and still don't have the proper nitrifying bacteria present.

 

Later on, maybe with my fish purchase, I am planning on buying some pods to fill 'er up with

[Polarcollision]

 

I don't think I will test all the time, but like you mentioned in the future, it will probably be Ca, Mg and Alk. I personally need to do more research regarding those parameters though. I was actually planning to get the Hannah checkers for future testing, and decided on the Phosphorous one as well due to the extremely low level it can detect, and converting to Phosphate is easy peasy.

 

I wonder if the Hannah Calcium checker is reliable now, or if they are still having issues...

 

As for signs of a completed cycle, I have seen literally three spots of small clusters of Diatoms, but no explosions. I have a feeling I had very little ammonia from my ghost feedings, and still don't have the proper nitrifying bacteria present.

 

Later on, maybe with my fish purchase, I am planning on buying some pods to fill 'er up with

You know, that decaying shrimp method worked out pretty well for me. If your cycle is dragging, maybe it is worth giving it a go? I left it in until it was goo and didn't smell anything nasty escaping from the water. Tank cycled in about two weeks (also used caribsea live sand). One benefit easy to overlook since we don't see them is the added diversity of bacteria introduced with the shrimp. Anyway, since my cycle was so quick, I didn't trust it completely and just started slow with a hardy coral and waited aonther week or two to get a fish.

 

Curious about this Hanna phosphate tester. It's supposed to have pretty fine resolution so we can confirm that phosphates are below the .03 range recommended for SPS, but then the precision range is +/- .04. Seems to me that makes the super-fine resolution meaningless at the precision level we need. Yet everyone on NR seems to really like them. I dunno what to make of that.

 

I'm also finding the Red Sea testkit for iodine, iron and potassium to be useful in getting trace elements dialed in. Helps with coral colors. :-)

[Hexadron]

You know, that decaying shrimp method worked out pretty well for me. If your cycle is dragging, maybe it is worth giving it a go? I left it in until it was goo and didn't smell anything nasty escaping from the water. Tank cycled in about two weeks (also used caribsea live sand). One benefit easy to overlook since we don't see them is the added diversity of bacteria introduced with the shrimp. Anyway, since my cycle was so quick, I didn't trust it completely and just started slow with a hardy coral and waited aonther week or two to get a fish.

 

Curious about this Hanna phosphate tester. It's supposed to have pretty fine resolution so we can confirm that phosphates are below the .03 range recommended for SPS, but then the precision range is +/- .04. Seems to me that makes the super-fine resolution meaningless at the precision level we need. Yet everyone on NR seems to really like them. I dunno what to make of that.

 

I'm also finding the Red Sea testkit for iodine, iron and potassium to be useful in getting trace elements dialed in. Helps with coral colors. :-)

Yup, it seemed like my cycle was indeed dragging. I ended up going with Ammonium Chloride to add directly. Really in the end whichever route you go with, you end up with ammonia... I was thinking of trying the shrimp method, but was worried about the smell. I'm glad you had positive results!

 

Well I am officially turned off of ELOS test kits... I am really happy with the quality of the API one believe it or not! It's simple, easy to read and priced well. I would like to have test kits on hand for a few additional params, but am still deciding on which ones to go with. API seems to be the go-to standard for most.

 

Anyone care to chime in on their experiences?

 

I am definitely going Hannah Checker for Phosphorus (Phosphate) and Alk for my SPS testing, any suggestions on Calcium and Mag?

[shaner014]

I think the Salifert stuff is the standard decent kit. Most people seem to bash on the API pretty hard.

[eitallent]

I have a hannah pH digital meter. I do not like it. It is off by -.3 units. If I get a reading of 7.5 I know it is really a 7.8. I may have gotten a Friday model but it was too late to return it by the time I realized it was the Hannah pH meter and not the tank. I use the API pH tester to confirm the Hannah meter.

I like the Salifert and the Red Sea kits. I really do not have anything negative to say about API except that the colors are sometimes too close to call (like in the Ammonia test).

[BadCrab]

Jordon, what don't you like about the Elos kits? Those are the kits I was planning on transferring to after my API kits run out, so interested in hearing your thoughts.