Guest WoodstockReefer Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 November 15th Picked up Biocube 16 from layaway. Bought instant ocean and made saltwater using tap water. 😡 paid for that mistake Tank began cycle after adding frozen shrimp to let rot.. 2-3 weeks of impatience led to hermit crabs being introduced. RIP hermit crabs. Early December. Frustration built and corals began being bought along with clownfish. Late December. Bad diatoms or Dinos(wasnt sure which) took over tank. Unsightly. Finally figured out LED timing settings. Water temp was 78°. Read way too many different opinions from other reefers and mixed a collection of differant chemicals as a hopeful cure all. Took sample of water to LFS to have it sampled. Very knowledgable manager said tank was established. Read somewhere(of course) that hydrogen peroxide can kill bad algae...if measured properly. Didnt understand the extremely confusing dosages and overdosed my tank. Killed bad algae...and everything else except the corals miraculously. Fiance's tank is keeping the corals alive and healthy. Early January. Nearly gave up. But decided to remove water, sand, rock, filter, biomedia and bought all new of everything. January 4th Put new items into tank and let it run. Have put zero chemicals in tank but live sand has alot of bacteria as said on bag. Now that i have basically reset the whole thing i would like to ask what yall would advise my next move. I wanna figure this out and learn the hobby. Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 25 minutes ago, WoodstockReefer said: November 15th Picked up Biocube 16 from layaway. Bought instant ocean and made saltwater using tap water. 😡 paid for that mistake Tank began cycle after adding frozen shrimp to let rot.. 2-3 weeks of impatience led to hermit crabs being introduced. RIP hermit crabs. Early December. Frustration built and corals began being bought along with clownfish. Late December. Bad diatoms or Dinos(wasnt sure which) took over tank. Unsightly. Finally figured out LED timing settings. Water temp was 78°. Read way too many different opinions from other reefers and mixed a collection of differant chemicals as a hopeful cure all. Took sample of water to LFS to have it sampled. Very knowledgable manager said tank was established. Read somewhere(of course) that hydrogen peroxide can kill bad algae...if measured properly. Didnt understand the extremely confusing dosages and overdosed my tank. Killed bad algae...and everything else except the corals miraculously. Fiance's tank is keeping the corals alive and healthy. Early January. Nearly gave up. But decided to remove water, sand, rock, filter, biomedia and bought all new of everything. January 4th Put new items into tank and let it run. Have put zero chemicals in tank but live sand has alot of bacteria as said on bag. Now that i have basically reset the whole thing i would like to ask what yall would advise my next move. I wanna figure this out and learn the hobby. Research. That’s the next move. Particularly the Nitrogen Cycle. 2 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 And welcome to NR....... just saw it was your first post. 🙂 Quote Link to comment
Guest WoodstockReefer Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 3 minutes ago, WV Reefer said: And welcome to NR....... just saw it was your first post. 🙂 Yes. I figured this forum post seems to have the most members and valuable discussion so i decided to join on. So thanks ya👍 Quote Link to comment
Slim64684 Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 What kind of rock did you use on Jan. 4th? Also do you have test kits? You are probably going to need to complete another cycle. 1 Quote Link to comment
Guest WoodstockReefer Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 (edited) I chose the purple rock. I believe its called fiji. Dry live. The kit is the ATI saltwater test kit. I was advised the ATI kit sucks when asking the LFS manager. He recommended the red sea tester but i dont need it just yet. I plan on getting one though. It looks like a kaleidoscope Edited January 10, 2019 by WoodstockReefer Quote Link to comment
Slim64684 Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Ati kits will work to test for a cycle. And since you used dry rock you are going to need to recycle your tank. I would recommend using either pure ammonia or dr. Tim's ammonium chloride to dose the tank to start the cycle. Using one of those products allows you to dose to a known concentration. 2 Quote Link to comment
Guest WoodstockReefer Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 1 hour ago, Slim64684 said: Ati kits will work to test for a cycle. And since you used dry rock you are going to need to recycle your tank. I would recommend using either pure ammonia or dr. Tim's ammonium chloride to dose the tank to start the cycle. Using one of those products allows you to dose to a known concentration. Would you recommend dr tims over a raw shrimp? Quote Link to comment
ReefGoat Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 1 minute ago, WoodstockReefer said: Would you recommend dr tims over a raw shrimp? Absolutely. 1 Quote Link to comment
ReefGoat Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 And as far as asking what to do now. WAIT and be patient. My tank is almost 4 months old and is just now starting to go through the ugly stage it was gorgeous all the way up until then. I'm doing constant clean up and letting the CUC do what I cant get to. Changing out floss everyday and upping water changes to power through it. I'm SOOOOO happy I didn't pack this thing with expensive coral in month 2 and 3 because I'd be way more freaked out right now. I only have 4 pieces of montipora in the tank right now and two fish. 2 Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Here ya go https://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/fishless-cycling Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Welcome. The first piece of advise Research, then research more. Nitrogen cycle, lighting, reef chemistry, corals, maintenance. Knowledge is the key to success. Research actual articles not just on forums. Be patient and don't rush things. Anything you read, research it. There are bandaids and treatment methods, all should be fully researched and done properly...like peroxide treatments. Go through journals, get an idea of what others do(the common methods that work) The rock you used, its dry rock(live is different than dry rock) Api test kits are fine for cycling(ammonia and nitrite) All else salifert, hanna, or red sea(I prefer salifert or hanna) 3 1 Quote Link to comment
Guest WoodstockReefer Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 3 hours ago, Clown79 said: Welcome. The first piece of advise Research, then research more. Nitrogen cycle, lighting, reef chemistry, corals, maintenance. Knowledge is the key to success. Research actual articles not just on forums. Be patient and don't rush things. Anything you read, research it. There are bandaids and treatment methods, all should be fully researched and done properly...like peroxide treatments. Go through journals, get an idea of what others do(the common methods that work) The rock you used, its dry rock(live is different than dry rock) Api test kits are fine for cycling(ammonia and nitrite) All else salifert, hanna, or red sea(I prefer salifert or hanna) Thats some good advice man Quote Link to comment
Guest WoodstockReefer Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 3 hours ago, ReefGoat said: And as far as asking what to do now. WAIT and be patient. My tank is almost 4 months old and is just now starting to go through the ugly stage it was gorgeous all the way up until then. I'm doing constant clean up and letting the CUC do what I cant get to. Changing out floss everyday and upping water changes to power through it. I'm SOOOOO happy I didn't pack this thing with expensive coral in month 2 and 3 because I'd be way more freaked out right now. I only have 4 pieces of montipora in the tank right now and two fish. Yea the patience is the hardest part. It was cycled and the peroxide killed everything Quote Link to comment
Slim64684 Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 2 minutes ago, WoodstockReefer said: Yea the patience is the hardest part. It was cycled and the peroxide killed everything Just don't look at the tank for the next 4 weeks. 1 Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 38 minutes ago, WoodstockReefer said: Thats some good advice man That's some good advice "girl" 😉 2 2 Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 3 hours ago, Weikel said: That's some good advice "girl" 😉 Lol. Yuppers I'm a girl but it's all good😉 2 Quote Link to comment
Guest WoodstockReefer Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Im gonna figure it out yall. But when i have questions im coming to yall. Im interested in dr tims Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 22 minutes ago, WoodstockReefer said: Im gonna figure it out yall. But when i have questions im coming to yall. Im interested in dr tims Definitely ask questions, no question is stupid. Quote Link to comment
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