Grantp611 Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 Hey everyone, So I’m wondering if I got a little too crazy and put too much coral in my tank. I’m not a beginner so to speak as I grew up around reefing/breeding growing up, but this is the first tank I am caring for on my own in my apartment. The setup: -10 gal jbj rimless aquarium (Set up peninsula style) -ac30 filter running the filter sponge, chemipure blue and floss -hipagaro 30w LED clamp on light -live sand and caribsea life rock -50w heater -koralia 240 powerhead livestock: -2 gladiator clownfish -1 yellow clown goby -variety of zoos -variety of acans -cinnamon polyps -war coral -Branching duncan -2 rock flower nems -gsp (on sand) -frogspawn -neon toadstool -red and teal blasto Merletti -red chalice -ora bird of paradise -mushrooms/ricordeas -candy cane -bizarro cyphastrea -Xenia (on separate rock) -skunk cleaner shrimp -firework clove polyps I have only had the tank for 3 months now but am under the assumption that the life rock and live sand gives an almost instant “cycle” from the bacteria in the sand and rock allowing you to add livestock almost immediately. I do a 2 gal water change every week which I assume to be 25% or so with the rock and sand taking away room for water. My question is if I keep up the weekly water changes will I be ok with all the bioload from the coral and fish? I don’t have any algae issues other than a little on the sand and glass from time to time and my coral seems to be growing at a fast rate other than the chalice. I just want to make sure it’s possible to continue what I’m doing and have a stable tank in the long run. Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment
sadie Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 Nice looking tank. Having live rock and live sand does not give it an almost "instant" cycle. I started with both and it still took a month to cycle my tank. There are other methods with additives that people do, but I don't know anything about that. But, your tank does look good, and I would assume that after 3 months it has cycled already. The coral doesn't add to your bio load, only fish and maybe CUC, but not sure about CUC. If you keep doing the water change your doing you should do great. What is your feeding schedule for fish and coral? Quote Link to comment
Grantp611 Posted February 21, 2019 Author Share Posted February 21, 2019 12 minutes ago, sadie said: Nice looking tank. Having live rock and live sand does not give it an almost "instant" cycle. I started with both and it still took a month to cycle my tank. There are other methods with additives that people do, but I don't know anything about that. But, your tank does look good, and I would assume that after 3 months it has cycled already. The coral doesn't add to your bio load, only fish and maybe CUC, but not sure about CUC. If you keep doing the water change your doing you should do great. What is your feeding schedule for fish and coral? Thanks for the fast reply! Right now I have a dozen blue legs and started with a dozen astrea snails but I saw the blue legs eating one of the snails so I’m not sure how many snails I have left, at least 6 or 7. I’m feeding frozen mysis cubes once a day probably 1/4 cube and every week or 2 coral frenzy to my corals. I haven’t had a noticeable cycle yet but then again I don’t test the water so I’m not positive, probably should get a test kit lol Quote Link to comment
Coinee Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 Usually if you have a bad parameter swing, the coral should alert you. When I had a rise in ammonia and nitrites my GSP completely hid until I did a water changed. Give your water a test anyway and see what "normal" is. With your feedings, I'd expect some nitrates. Quote Link to comment
Grantp611 Posted February 21, 2019 Author Share Posted February 21, 2019 1 hour ago, Coinee said: Usually if you have a bad parameter swing, the coral should alert you. When I had a rise in ammonia and nitrites my GSP completely hid until I did a water changed. Give your water a test anyway and see what "normal" is. With your feedings, I'd expect some nitrates. What would I do if the water tests high for nitrate? More frequent water changes? If my corals are open and reproducing, should I even worry if the nitrates are high? Quote Link to comment
Coinee Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 11 minutes ago, Grantp611 said: What would I do if the water tests high for nitrate? More frequent water changes? If my corals are open and reproducing, should I even worry if the nitrates are high? If you have high(er) nitrates and no issues, then I wouldn't bother with worrying too much, just keep an eye on it and if something is unhappy then you can just do a quick water change. Basically, if everything is happy, leave it alone lol. Quote Link to comment
Grantp611 Posted February 21, 2019 Author Share Posted February 21, 2019 2 minutes ago, Coinee said: If you have high(er) nitrates and no issues, then I wouldn't bother with worrying too much, just keep an eye on it and if something is unhappy then you can just do a quick water change. Basically, if everything is happy, leave it alone lol. Understood lol ok I’ll definitely get a test kit and see what it’s at. Thanks for the help! Quote Link to comment
Coinee Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 35 minutes ago, Grantp611 said: Understood lol ok I’ll definitely get a test kit and see what it’s at. Thanks for the help! Just so you don't worry too much, remember test kits aren't 100% accurate and with hobbyist error, they are even less accurate. What matters more is when there is a problem you can track trends since they give a reasonable ballpark figure more or less. The general trends of data are what matter more, so keep a simple log book of your tests with the dates. For example if you had normally 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 20 ppm of nitrates every time you tested and everything was healthy and fine, then that's your baseline "normal". Now, if you test and suddenly you had an increase in ammonia or nitrites, you know something may have died in your tank or something else may have happened, so you can keep an eye on it (after you do a water change and appropriate investigation). Quote Link to comment
Grantp611 Posted February 21, 2019 Author Share Posted February 21, 2019 10 hours ago, Coinee said: Just so you don't worry too much, remember test kits aren't 100% accurate and with hobbyist error, they are even less accurate. What matters more is when there is a problem you can track trends since they give a reasonable ballpark figure more or less. The general trends of data are what matter more, so keep a simple log book of your tests with the dates. For example if you had normally 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 20 ppm of nitrates every time you tested and everything was healthy and fine, then that's your baseline "normal". Now, if you test and suddenly you had an increase in ammonia or nitrites, you know something may have died in your tank or something else may have happened, so you can keep an eye on it (after you do a water change and appropriate investigation). So it’s pretty much just to be prepared to know what exactly is out of whack if (and when) something goes awry, got it 👍 thanks again Quote Link to comment
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