ECLS Reefer Posted April 12, 2019 Author Share Posted April 12, 2019 35 minutes ago, Ratvan said: You dose pure ammonia back up to 2 and see if it's gone in 24 hrs. If it has cycle complete Okay that makes sense, and that's what I guessed. Tells you the bacteria really are doing their job. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted April 14, 2019 Author Share Posted April 14, 2019 Ammonia- 4 Nitrites- 5 Nitrates- 15 Out of curiosity should I put more fish food in there and ghost feed again? The bacteria haven't been given any outside fuel in about 7 days I think. Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted April 18, 2019 Author Share Posted April 18, 2019 Ammonia- 4 Nitrites- 5 Nitrates- 20 Getting there slowly. 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted April 19, 2019 Author Share Posted April 19, 2019 Skipped tonight for testing parameters, but the good news is- THERE'S ALGAE IN THERE!!! Yay!! I'll test tomorrow to see where I am, but I feel like I'm in the homestretch finally! 3 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 6 hours ago, Dirté Sanchez said: Skipped tonight for testing parameters, but the good news is- THERE'S ALGAE IN THERE!!! Yay!! I'll test tomorrow to see where I am, but I feel like I'm in the homestretch finally! Yay!!! 2 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted April 20, 2019 Author Share Posted April 20, 2019 So tonight got some interesting levels: Ammonia-0.25 (I'm calling it a bit high actually-the level was between 0 and 0.25, so almost not even there) Nitrites- 5 Nitrates- 10 If I read stuff right I'm still waiting on the nitrates to get higher and nitrites to go away before doing a water change. So will have to test again tomorrow when I get home from work. It's really moving along!! 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share Posted April 22, 2019 Today’s parameters: Ammonia- 0!!!! Nitrites- 5 Nitrates- 160 okay, so how much longer might it take for the nitrites to drop so I can do the water change? I thought when the ammonia dropped out to zero the nitrites would follow. The jar is almost there- I just need to know what to do to get it the rest of the way! Quote Link to comment
Ratvan Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 I'd say you were halfway with the cycle. If it were me I would do a large water change (90%) and check Ammonia and Nitrites. If they're still high-ish I would do partial water changes daily (10-50% depending in levels) until they were contained. Do you know what temp your tank is? I find anything under 70F is SOOOOOOO slow with cycling. Are you dosing with anything to speed up the cycle, I've found in the past certain dosing additives only bind the Nitrites and not break them down into Nitrates. It's what I did to my contest tank before leaving it, hope it's still good Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share Posted April 22, 2019 5 hours ago, Ratvan said: I'd say you were halfway with the cycle. If it were me I would do a large water change (90%) and check Ammonia and Nitrites. If they're still high-ish I would do partial water changes daily (10-50% depending in levels) until they were contained. Do you know what temp your tank is? I find anything under 70F is SOOOOOOO slow with cycling. Are you dosing with anything to speed up the cycle, I've found in the past certain dosing additives only bind the Nitrites and not break them down into Nitrates. It's what I did to my contest tank before leaving it, hope it's still good I have a cobalt mini heater in there and it doesn’t keep the temp completely stable- it swings from 75 to 80 because of room temp, even with a controller. I was dozing with MicroBacter 7 after starting the tank with Dr Tim’s one and only. When I hit the two week mark I stopped dosing the MB7 daily and went to weekly like it says on the bottle. Thats good to hear about the water change time- I have been wondering when to do the first one. 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted April 23, 2019 Author Share Posted April 23, 2019 Didn’t test tonight because I’m exhausted, but I did the first water change since I had some left over from changing the water on the big tank. God- so much quicker of a change!! But then, there’s less than 2 gallons of water in there 😂 3 Quote Link to comment
This guy is extra salty Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 You need a little cabinet or controller board to hide that inkbird Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted April 23, 2019 Author Share Posted April 23, 2019 5 hours ago, This guy is extra salty said: You need a little cabinet or controller board to hide that inkbird Why? Does being exposed make it not work right? Quote Link to comment
Ratvan Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 15 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said: Why? Does being exposed make it not work right? It's more of an Aesthetic thing to hide the cables and controls, looks a bit more managed to hide it. 2 Quote Link to comment
This guy is extra salty Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 2 hours ago, Dirté Sanchez said: Why? Does being exposed make it not work right? Why would you want to have this rats nest of cords next to your beautiful tank? Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted April 23, 2019 Author Share Posted April 23, 2019 30 minutes ago, This guy is extra salty said: Why would you want to have this rats nest of cords next to your beautiful tank? Oh. Well, the jar is sitting on a bookcase, so the cords are behind and to the side, and the outlet is just beside and close to the bottom of the bookcase. So the cords and the Ink Bird are fairly hidden- I can’t see them from where I sit in my room and I can’t get to them easily, so that’s good for me! The big tank- well that looks about like that picture you shared. Haven’t had a chance to think about how to fix that mess yet. 3 Quote Link to comment
This guy is extra salty Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 57 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said: Oh. Well, the jar is sitting on a bookcase, so the cords are behind and to the side, and the outlet is just beside and close to the bottom of the bookcase. So the cords and the Ink Bird are fairly hidden- I can’t see them from where I sit in my room and I can’t get to them easily, so that’s good for me! The big tank- well that looks about like that picture you shared. Haven’t had a chance to think about how to fix that mess yet. One of the big tanks lol 😂 yeap I have it in a cabinet. Out of sight out of mind. until I have to refill my dosing container once a month (6gallons) 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted April 23, 2019 Author Share Posted April 23, 2019 34 minutes ago, This guy is extra salty said: One of the big tanks lol 😂 yeap I have it in a cabinet. Out of sight out of mind. until I have to refill my dosing container once a month (6gallons) Hey man. Going from 13.5g to 50g display and what- maybe 10g in the sump? That’s big for me. Especially since I’m trying to break the thing in as fast as possible. 2 Quote Link to comment
This guy is extra salty Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 7 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said: Hey man. Going from 13.5g to 50g display and what- maybe 10g in the sump? That’s big for me. Especially since I’m trying to break the thing in as fast as possible. Skimmate from a buddy’s skimmer or dirty (water change) water from your LFS Will break it in quick. 😂 I’m using brightwell xport mini cubes that have been sitting in my sump for a month. 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted April 23, 2019 Author Share Posted April 23, 2019 36 minutes ago, This guy is extra salty said: Skimmate from a buddy’s skimmer or dirty (water change) water from your LFS Will break it in quick. 😂 I’m using brightwell xport mini cubes that have been sitting in my sump for a month. I used their own seasoned water and live rock when I moved them to the big tank, but that didn’t work out well. The Pico jar is about done cycling, thankfully. 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted April 24, 2019 Author Share Posted April 24, 2019 And just like that, the jar is cycled!!! Ammonia- 0 Nitrites- 0.125 Nitrates- 0 Ordered some Dr Tim's ammonia to test the tank with, and ordered it's new CUC and a yellow clown goby with a candy cane pistol shrimp. Now I have something to watch to distract myself from homework while hiding from my kids in the bedroom 😂 4 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted April 24, 2019 Share Posted April 24, 2019 Just now, Dirté Sanchez said: And just like that, the jar is cycled!!! Ammonia- 0 Nitrites- 0.125 Nitrates- 0 Ordered some Dr Tim's ammonia to test the tank with, and ordered it's new CUC and a yellow clown goby with a candy cane pistol shrimp. Now I have something to watch to distract myself from homework while hiding from my kids in the bedroom 😂 Yay!!! 3 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 Today was a big day for the Jar!!! Did its second water change of 100% and prepared for its new inhabitants. Livestock: 1 yellow clown goby (it's ITTY BITTY!!!) 1 electric blue crab (although I'm a bit concerned about him-he seems not to have made the cross country trip well) 10 dwarf blue legged hermits 2 nerites The goby is the cutest thing ever!! And already quite a little character perching on his rocks and watching me watching him from my bed (and not doing homework 🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️) So far I have only seen one nerite moving around the glass, but I know I put two in there. They are pretty tiny though so the other is probably in a rock hole. The dwarf blues have made themselves at home already. Pretty happy with my little jar at the moment!!! Except for the few Dinos I spotted this afternoon 😬. Maybe the nerites and crabs will munch on them.... 5 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 8 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said: Today was a big day for the Jar!!! Did its second water change of 100% and prepared for its new inhabitants. Livestock: 1 yellow clown goby (it's ITTY BITTY!!!) 1 electric blue crab (although I'm a bit concerned about him-he seems not to have made the cross country trip well) 6 dwarf blue legged hermits 2 nerites The goby is the cutest thing ever!! And already quite a little character perching on his rocks and watching me watching him from my bed (and not doing homework 🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️) So far I have only seen one nerite moving around the glass, but I know I put two in there. They are pretty tiny though so the other is probably in a rock hole. The dwarf blues have made themselves at home already. Pretty happy with my little jar at the moment!!! Except for the few Dinos I spotted this afternoon 😬. Maybe the nerites and crabs will munch on them.... He’s so cute!! 😃 2 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 https://www.instagram.com/p/BwvRrT0n9xI3jANaYPVzmYWepBcjm6FbAKCOAs0/ 3 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 The Jar has been functioning well since last week! When I tested the parameters Sunday they were all perfect and no water change was needed, thought it had only been half a week anyway. I assume that will need to be done most likely tomorrow. The little clown goby is the cutest to watch and he likes to watch back. The crabs have been busy since they went in the Jar and the two tiny nerites have been working furiously. Today the tiger pistol for the goby arrived and my husband put him in the Jar while I was at work. I can already see he's completely remodeled the sand floor of the jar with tunneling. But he's evidently about 3 or 4 times bigger than the little clown goby, so I dearly hope they don't ever get crossways. Anyway, it's coming along!! 4 Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.