Uk-matt Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Hi, just starting out again after long break. Picked up a second hand tank on eBay with intank baskets 1 and 2 and Fluval wavemaker. Have given it a clean with water and got some salted RO, live rock and bacteria balls to get the cycle started. Not sure how best to use the chambers and baskets at the moment. Have some LR in display and LR rubble in basket 1 to get water through it and at the bottom of chamber 2 to hopefully act as semi-safe place for critters. Have a a few weeks before fish so have time to set up ready for them. Any guidance / suggestions will greatly received, Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Welcome to the community @Uk-matt! 👋 When you say bacteria balls, do you mean those little plastic balls with many slots cut into them? If so, I'd advise against using them, your live rock will be sufficient for biological filtration and bio balls may collect detritus buildup over longer periods of time. Quote Link to comment
Uk-matt Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 I’ve added pure reef balance on the guidance of LFS, they dissolve over a couple of weeks, thanks for the tip on the plastic balls - I do have some of those, but not using at the moment 1 Quote Link to comment
Joeymclovin Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 I used the ”seachem stability” it’s basically the beneficial bacteria in a bottle and my tank cycled in about three weeks, I also added my clean up crew and two little “blue/green reef chromis” about a week into getting the tank just to have something live in there to get everything going. The chromis were about $4 each and I’ve heard it’s a popular way to get the tank going, I went with those because they are very cheap but also they do help the tank cycle a lot quicker than just waiting the traditional way. Quote Link to comment
Joeymclovin Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Another option would be to throw a feeder shrimp in there to rot over a week or so then take it out. Haven’t tried this myself but came across it on a youtube video. Quote Link to comment
Uk-matt Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 Thanks, I asked the LFS about the shrimp method to help start off and they said no, have read about it though so people must do it, there’s probably so rotting from what was LR, currently dry rock! Will test the water at the weekend, in the meantime just thinking about how to use the chambers and baskets Quote Link to comment
Uk-matt Posted March 11, 2019 Author Share Posted March 11, 2019 Added some bits of seasoned live rock, and another old piece of LR, water tested good, so picked up 2 clownfish yesterday, at first they hung out by the glass, probably lonely now they are not with 10 or so buddies! Today they are swimming all over, but not in between rocks, just around them, Quote Link to comment
Uk-matt Posted March 12, 2019 Author Share Posted March 12, 2019 Thanks Mattbaar! I tried not to over think it, and pretty much moved them so the fitted like jigsaw pieces. When I was keeping fish BK (before kids) I was forever moving the rocks around. Older, wiser and have less time for that now! The rocks have the look of a head from the narrow end, so my youngest tells me, do you have a fluval? Quote Link to comment
Uk-matt Posted March 17, 2019 Author Share Posted March 17, 2019 Picked up a bicolour blenny a couple of days ago, and already making himself at home, seems to like picking off the rocks, think he finds flakes and pellets missed by the clowns! Quote Link to comment
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