Newbie Here to the Saltwater Hobby.

[Quip]

Greetings all. I heard great things about this forum and recently have been trying to educate myself on starting a saltwater aquarium. 

 

Pulled the trigger on a Nuvo Abyss Panorama 20 gallon tank. 

 

So far I’ve added RODI water, sand and live rock and I’m a bit confused as to what I should prep for next.??? 

 

I know patience is a virtue when it comes to this hobby so I’m by all means trying to learn. 

 

As for now, do I just monitor levels and wait for the cycle to complete? Should I have added any equipment to my setup to help with the cycling? I keep hearing about skimmers and different pumps other than what came with the tank itself. 

 

Any input is greatly appreciated. 

[Daniel91]

Well - by RO/DI water you mean saltwater right?

 

If so, have you introduced ammonia to the tank? (Ghost feed, clean ammonium etc)

 

Whats your rock source? Were they dry prior to going in your tank or did they come from another aquarium? 

If yes to the latter, then you might not have to wait as long as you think - may be an instant cycle.

 

nonetheless, monitor your levels and take your sweet time researching as much as you can - skimmers are not needed on nano tanks. 

[seabass]

to Nano-Reef.com!

 

9 hours ago, Quip said:

As for now, do I just monitor levels and wait for the cycle to complete?

If it's live rock from the ocean, then yes.  I wouldn't add ammonia as it can poison beneficial non-bacterial life on the rock.  And ghost feeding adds organics and nutrients to the tank and water.

 

However, if the rock was dry rock, then building up the biofilter with an ammonia source (I like using ammonium chloride) is recommended.

http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/fishless-cycling

 

9 hours ago, Quip said:

Should I have added any equipment to my setup to help with the cycling? I keep hearing about skimmers and different pumps other than what came with the tank itself.

The stock pump is all that's needed to cycle.  However, a heater should help speed up the process.  For a fairly typical mixed reef, it's normally recommended that an additional powerhead is used to increase total turnover to about 30 times per hour (although this isn't required for cycling).  As Daniel91 stated, a protein skimmer is optional equipment.

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, seabass said:

to Nano-Reef.com!

 

If it's live rock from the ocean, then yes.  I wouldn't add ammonia as it can poison beneficial non-bacterial life on the rock.  And ghost feeding adds organics and nutrients to the tank and water.

 

However, if the rock was dry rock, then building up the biofilter with an ammonia source (I like using ammonium chloride) is recommended.

http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/fishless-cycling

 

The stock pump is all that's needed to cycle.  However, a heater should help speed up the process.  For a fairly typical mixed reef, it's normally recommended that an additional powerhead is used to increase total turnover to about 30 times per hour (although this isn't required for cycling).  As Daniel91 stated, a protein skimmer is optional equipment.

+1

[Quip]

26 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

+1

 

Awesome advice everyone. The rock I added was live rock so for now I’ll just sit back, wait and plan out my aquascape. 

[seabass]

After ammonia becomes undetectable, do a large enough water change to bring nitrate down between 5 and 10ppm.