4 gal. Pico build

[karisma]

Been lurking for a while. Finally decided to make a post as i havent had a reef tank in a few years. Its a four gallon all in one. Asta 20 led light. Started with live sand live rock and pre cycled water. I want to know if this way of starting up will speed up the cycle. And also can i keep a baby clown in there for a while till it out grows the tank?

[karisma]

[karisma]

Forgot to mention. I am cycling without a heater for now until i can buy one on payday. Is this ok? Its warm in my apartment so i figure it will be ok. What do you all think?

 

[Ratvan]

You could keep a baby clown in there, but you'll probably want to start setting up the upgrade tank fairly quickly.... 

 

As long as it doesn't get too hot I would think it shouldn't affect the cycle, maybe slow it down slightly? 

[karisma]

58 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

You could keep a baby clown in there, but you'll probably want to start setting up the upgrade tank fairly quickly.... 

 

As long as it doesn't get too hot I would think it shouldn't affect the cycle, maybe slow 

Someone else said the same thing about the colder water slowing the cycle down i will get a heater asap and warm up thewayer before adding a cuc. 

 

So what do yiu think aboit the cycle process since i jabe used live sand and rock and cycled wayer from another tank

58 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

 

 

 

[Ratvan]

5 minutes ago, karisma said:

Someone else said the same thing about the colder water slowing the cycle down i will get a heater asap and warm up thewayer before adding a cuc. 

 

So what do yiu think aboit the cycle process since i jabe used live sand and rock and cycled wayer from another tank

 

What temperature is the water currently? I ran that light during the Pico contest and it warmed my water well, the pump will also heat a small amount. You may only need a little preset or something. 

 

I'm sceptical about "live rock" and "live sand" I can only talk from my personal experience that it is in fact seeded dry rock and not real live. Regardless only real way is to test your parameters. 

 

What do you mean Cycled water? Old water from water change? That will help certainly 

[karisma]

12 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

What temperature is the water currently? I ran that light during the Pico contest and it warmed my water well, the pump will also heat a small amount. You may only need a little preset or something. 

 

I'm sceptical about "live rock" and "live sand" I can only talk from my personal experience that it is in fact seeded dry rock and not real live. Regardless only real way is to test your parameters. 

 

What do you mean Cycled water? Old water from water change? That will help certainly 

 Yes i mean old water from a cycled tank. Im thinking the cycle process will not be an issue. Ill test the wayer before adding fish.

4 minutes ago, karisma said:

 Yes i mean old water from a cycled tank. Im thinking the cycle process will not be an issue. Ill test the wayer before adding fish. Temperature is like 75 i believe.

 

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, karisma said:

Someone else said the same thing about the colder water slowing the cycle down i will get a heater asap and warm up thewayer before adding a cuc. 

 

So what do yiu think aboit the cycle process since i jabe used live sand and rock and cycled wayer from another tank

 

Was the rock dry when purchased?

 

Livesand and the water from another tank does very little for cycling. It's all about the rock.

 

 

 

If it was dry rock(which it looks like from lack of coralline or life on it) then you need to add a source of food to produce ammonia to build the biological bacteria.

 

Cleanest and most accurate way is ammonia and bacteria dosing.

Then there is ghost feeding and shrimp method(creates more waste, nutrients, and isn't as precise)

 

If the rock was wet and from an established tank, there should be no cycle, possibly mini cycle.

 

A baby clown should be fine in there. Clowns don't grow that rapidly.

[karisma]

1 hour ago, Clown79 said:

Was the rock dry when purchased?

 

Livesand and the water from another tank does very little for cycling. It's all about the rock.

 

 

 

If it was dry rock(which it looks like from lack of coralline or life on it) then you need to add a source of food to produce ammonia to build the biological bacteria.

 

Cleanest and most accurate way is ammonia and bacteria dosing.

Then there is ghost feeding and shrimp method(creates more waste, nutrients, and isn't as precise)

 

If the rock was wet and from an established tank, there should be no cycle, possibly mini cycle.

 

A baby clown should be fine in there. Clowns don't grow that rapidly.

Hair algae count as live?

[karisma]

Anyone know if the rock was live by just the hair algae? No coraline...

 

[Clown79]

2 hours ago, karisma said:

Anyone know if the rock was live by just the hair algae? No coraline...

 

When you purchased it was it wet? 

 

What kind of tank did it come from?

 

Have you tested the water?

[TatorTaco]

Is this a Lifegard tank (from Amazon)?  I have one setup as a pest tank.  Unless it's a baby clown, a fish would be a pretty bad idea once you consider how much rock the water is displacing. 

[karisma]

24 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

When you purchased it was it wet? 

 

What kind of tank did it come from?

 

Have you tested the water?

Yeah it was wet. Came from a salt setup. 

Havent tested water. What should i test for?

[karisma]

14 minutes ago, TatorTaco said:

Is this a Lifegard tank (from Amazon)?  I have one setup as a pest tank.  Unless it's a baby clown, a fish would be a pretty bad idea once you consider how much rock the water is displacing. 

Not a lifeguard tank. The clowns at my lfs that he just got in are babies like half an inch. I hear you about the rock taking away from "swimming" room. Thanks for the input.

[Ratvan]

51 minutes ago, karisma said:

Yeah it was wet. Came from a salt setup. 

Havent tested water. What should i test for?

As a minimum Ammonia and Nitrate, you will want phosphate at some point (not yet) 

There are lots of test kits around, however for me I get mine tested at LFS for a couple of pounds (£1.99) makes more sense for me to do it that way

[karisma]

12 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

As a minimum Ammonia and Nitrate, you will want phosphate at some point (not yet) 

There are lots of test kits around, however for me I get mine tested at LFS for a couple of pounds (£1.99) makes more sense for me to do it that way

Good idea man. I am a five min walk from my lfs so maybe ill have them test the water and get those three kits too.

 

Thanks for your help my friend.

[Clown79]

For cycling, ammonia and nitrate tests.

 

 once you start adding corals to the tank you should be testing alk, ca, nitrate, and phos.

 

For phos, a good kit like salifert or hanna is recommended as api is a high range tester, for reefs low range is needed. 

[karisma]

On 1/17/2020 at 4:23 PM, Clown79 said:

For cycling, ammonia and nitrate tests.

 

 once you start adding corals to the tank you should be testing alk, ca, nitrate, and phos.

 

For phos, a good kit like salifert or hanna is recommended as api is a high range tester, for reefs low range is needed. 

Gotcha thanks for the good info.

[karisma]

Nothing new yet. Getting mb7

[karisma]

Anyone know if i should be running my lights? Im getting green algae on the rock

[karisma]

21 hours ago, karisma said:

Anyone know if i should be running my lights? Im getting green algae on the rock

Anyone? 

[Clown79]

15 hours ago, karisma said:

Anyone? 

Not during cycling

[karisma]

3 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Not during cycling

Thanks for the information ....

[karisma]

Ok. So i sort of skipped the cycle by adding live sand, Rock, bio balls, and even water from a running system. I left my lights on during the day ( blues only ) but im getting green algae now on the sand and rock. Is this normal does anyone think?

[karisma]