New tank questions

[BrianW89]

I read that last thread last night 😉 I was going to go with chiller solutions. I found there website last night and I plan on ordering the install kit for it as well. Well right now I have my heater unplugged and I'm at 79.7° I just have to wait till payday

[banasophia]

A guy in the Facebook Biocube group posted a pretty sweet looking fan install that he did on his lid that he said has been working... just checked to see if I screenshot it, but I can’t seem to find it... he said it was only like $40 to do it. 

[BrianW89]

Yeah I'd rather just spend the extra money on the chiller to be safe.

[Tired]

You should generally add your cleanup crew before your fish, and all those critters on live rock are what help get the tank mature in the first place. Part of a mature tank is having things living everywhere, having a nice population of microfauna and things to clean up in the gaps that your cleanup crew can't get. You'll definitely want to add a bunch of copepods once you have some algae going, so they can start multiplying. 

 

I don't know why that guy thought you should have a mature tank before adding critters. Was there coral growing on the other rock, by chance? Maybe he meant THAT should only go in a mature tank, because that's about the only thing I can think of that would make sense. But even then, that works. Hell, I got some really nice live rock with corals on it, and the coral was fine because the tank was cycled instantly. Zoanthids and starlet corals. 

 

I'd still very much suggest getting some good, active live rock. A few pieces of rubble with some algae and pods would have a minimal chance of bringing anything nasty, and would help get things properly started. 

[banasophia]

@Tired so many people start new tanks every day... if someone is starting their tank a different way, if they say they want pest free rock, why do you feel the need to continue to pressure them to do it your way? You stated your recommendation no need to drill it in like this like your way is right and their way is wrong. 

 

There are parasitic pods and pest algae so IMO I would not do what you suggest; I would add known beneficial organisms to my tank. 
 

You can add your cleanup crew before or after fish... neither way would actually be wrong to do. Since he used cured liferock, there’s probably not much for the cleanup crew to eat yet so it’s totally reasonable to hold off for a little bit. 
 

Sorry to argue Tired, but I’m gonna have to stand firm here since my tank is a Biocube 16 and I use Caribsea Liferock and promote starting a tank exactly how the OP is doing it. I’m tired of people pushing their way like it’s the only right way... your way is not wrong, but it’s not the method this person chose to go with. 

[BrianW89]

From what I've read is that, that stuff will come in time or can be added later. So that's why I decided to go this route.

 

I'm in no rush to add fish or a cleanup crew in especially until the chiller comes and I can provide a more stable environment for everything.

 

My ammonia being high still concerns me since I haven't added anything to tank, ghost fed, or ammonia dosed. 

Nitrates were a smidge higher today too though so I guess that's a good thing. 

[DISQUALIFIED-QQ]

12 minutes ago, BrianW89 said:

From what I've read is that, that stuff will come in time or can be added later. So that's why I decided to go this route.

 

I'm in no rush to add fish or a cleanup crew in especially until the chiller comes and I can provide a more stable environment for everything.

 

My ammonia being high still concerns me since I haven't added anything to tank, ghost fed, or ammonia dosed. 

Nitrates were a smidge higher today too though so I guess that's a good thing. 

Let the tank run it's course. If you feel like you need to give it a push, an inoculation of Bio-Spira, Seachem Stability, Dr. Tims One and Only could do the trick. (Bio-Spira and Dr. Tim's OaO are probably the relative same product as Dr. Tim worked for Instant Ocean's microbiology department while he was working on his PhD...so the legends say.)

 

Something I've noticed about my aquarium is that it kinda doesn't matter how you skin the cat. I got fish first. I probably need snails to eat my diatoms but I like my brown and green diatoms as they're really simple to control, and it's also the sign of the first simple life forms in any oceanic environment, phytoplankton. (Okay, I'm ignoring bacteria and viruses so sue me).

 

If I had to do my tank all over again I actually would have gone bottom of the food chain up. We're creating a whole ecosystem from the bottom up, so why not go from simplest species (microbes) to complex?

 

But eh I don't think it's a make or break, but I do save and record my procedures in my journal here on this website. The link to my journal is in the signature below, first link. I update on a weekly basis or more.

[BrianW89]

Well I appreciate everyone's help and opinions! All of you have helped me tremendously so thank you!

 

I managed a pet supplies plus for 7 years and I have kept mainly South American cichlids for the past 15 years. But this is a whole different animal. 

 

I've learned more in 2 days here than I would hunting on random websites all day for a month. 

[WV Reefer]

4 minutes ago, BrianW89 said:

Well I appreciate everyone's help and opinions! All of you have helped me tremendously so thank you!

 

I managed a pet supplies plus for 7 years and I have kept mainly South American cichlids for the past 15 years. But this is a whole different animal. 

 

I've learned more in 2 days here than I would hunting on random websites all day for a month. 

The tank looks good so far. 😊  If you’ve kept cichlids then you can definitely run a reef. 

[Tamberav]

Nice start and welcome.

 

There are many ways to run a reef. I started with dry because it was cheap but now use ocean live rock because it's awesome. 

 

Lately I have been reading books on reefing and finding them really Interesting to see how some of the most long and successful tanks and different methods people use. 

 

I would recommend:

https://www.amazon.com/Avant-Garde-Marine-Aquarist-60-Year-history/dp/1692558358#mediaMatrix_secondary_view_div_1589340746026

 

And The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner. He recently passed so the newer edition has skyrocketed in price but the original is still full of good information and is inexpensive.

[BrianW89]

Went and got my first addition today! Seems to be doing great hopping around and exploring.