TinyOcean Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 8 minutes ago, Jrkrouse13 said: How much fish food should I add? The tank has been running just about a week. That definitely isn't long enough for a cycle because you want to establish enough BB. So I would add a pinch of fish food every other day and keep testing your water every other day as well. The best food to use is usually a sinking pellet like new life spectrum or something for marine fish. It's also important not to do a water change until ammonia reads 0 Nitrite 0 and you only have nitrates. Link to comment
Jrkrouse13 Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 9 minutes ago, chipmunkofdoom2 said: Keep an eye on the rock from That Fish Place. I've been having major phosphate issues with it. StinkyBunny has some rock from there as well and has had some of the same issues. I actually just checked my phosphates and they are at 0ppm at the moment. The rock looks pretty good but I can see how that could happen with the way their LR set up is. Link to comment
TinyOcean Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I forgot to mention that I love your scape! I like rock arches. Very cool! Link to comment
Jrkrouse13 Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 29 minutes ago, TinyOcean said: I forgot to mention that I love your scape! I like rock arches. Very cool! Thank you! I have since adjusted a little bit but I like it a lot. I put about a pinch in the tank of hikari pellets I have for my freshwater tank. What kind of cycle numbers am I looking for? Is it totally bad that I don't have a large cycle? My ammonia at its highest so far was .5 ppm Link to comment
TinyOcean Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 4 minutes ago, Jrkrouse13 said: Thank you! I have since adjusted a little bit but I like it a lot. I put about a pinch in the tank of hikari pellets I have for my freshwater tank. What kind of cycle numbers am I looking for? Is it totally bad that I don't have a large cycle? My ammonia at its highest so far was .5 ppm Well I would try to get the ammonia up to at least 1ppm to make sure you have a proper cycle. Now that you are adding fish food that shouldn't take too long. Once you are reading at least 1ppm and nitrites a little higher then your cycle has started. Keep adding the fish food until ammonia and Nitrite read 0. It's pretty much the same thing as fw. Link to comment
Jrkrouse13 Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 Any thoughts on adding a coralline algae supplement while the tank is cycling? Is it worth it to supplement that at all? Link to comment
Jrkrouse13 Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 One week in and still no spike in ammonia at all but no sign of nitrites either. Nitrates have hovered around 10-15ppm. Was advised to remove the Hester from a horizontal position but now I am lacking a heater. Does anyone have suggestions on this? Also I am wondering if my sand bed is too deep now. I out approximately 40lbs of Bahamas polite live sand in which equates to just under 2" of sand bed in most spots. Link to comment
Clown79 Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 if its dry reef rock you used the best method for cycling is ammonia dosing. Fish food is ok for cycling but you have no idea how much ammonia is being produced therefore the processing isn't always accurate. Its also a much slower cycling process. It also produces a lot of nutrients in the tank. if you are using api phos test, by the time you get a reading, its already very high. Api is not a low range kit, you need the salifert kit. all you need is pure ammonia from a hardware store, one without solvents/perfumes to start the cycle. Link to comment
Jrkrouse13 Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 So I just put about a quarter cup of flake food in the tank to try and jumpstart the cycle. I also added one more small piece of rock that was actually pretty cured from my lfs. I am hoping this does the trick to get things going. I did notice once the rock made it into the tank that there is some aiptasia on it as well. Link to comment
Jrkrouse13 Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 Does anyone know if I should be topping off the tank with freshwater during the cycle? I'm not sure if it will mess with the cycle or not. Link to comment
Jrkrouse13 Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 Also just put the ace hardware ammonia in using a calculator to base how much is required for my tank. I tested the ammonia afterward and it is now around 8ppm. Is this too high? I did end up adding water to hopefully lessen the ammonia in the tank slightly as well. Link to comment
Jrkrouse13 Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 Did a 2.5g pwc to hopefully even out the ammonia level to 4-5ppm. Hopefully this will solve the high ammonia level. Also siphoned about half of the flake food that was put in last night. Link to comment
Jrkrouse13 Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 Tested ammonia after the pwc and still looks high perhaps less than 8 but more than 4. Should I whip up more sw and do another change to drop it? Link to comment
Jrkrouse13 Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 Looking for some input on an ac50 vs ac70. I feel as if the 70 might be too big for the tank. Would either of these produce enough flow in the tank paired with my koralia nano 425? Link to comment
Jrkrouse13 Posted March 1, 2017 Author Share Posted March 1, 2017 My first livestock purchase. A frag of GSP. I also purchased 2 astrea snails, and one nassarius snail. So far everything looks wonderful! I also purchased an ORA ocellaris clown. Link to comment
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