Captain Fantastic Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 It was with great anticipation I started up my nano 12g deluxe yesterday. Contents: (14)Lbs. of Fiji LR (14)Lbs. of Carib Sea Arag-Alive - Live Aragonite reef sand (8) Gallons Nature's Ocean Nutri-Seawater Hardware: Rio 180 Power head supplimenting NC std. pump Stealth 50w heater in chamber 3 Carbon and Ceramics in chamber 2 Standard NC sponges in chamber 1 Settings: Temp 80-81 degrees F Salinity 32 pH - unknown ammonia - unknown nitrates - unknown nitrites - unknown calcium - unknown Results after 24 hours: I am happy with the aquascape so far but am having several issues related to hitchhikers and general concerns after my first day. 1. When should I bother doing an full water test ? Now to baseline it ? 2. I am seeing several Aiptasia, and black and white starfish popping in and out of the LR. I ordered some of the Juice for the aptasia, but I continue to see on many of the LR specimens (which were harvested from different tanks at a LFS) a variety of small micro-sized anemones, not wide spread mind you ... but every LR seems to have one here or there. Can't tell if they are Aiptasia or not ... these look very white by comparison. Concerned .... ? 3. Several of the LR were heavily covered in nice purple growth, but some have started to show a weakening of this coloration already. 4. What am I suppose to do with this magnet thing that comes with the NC ? Is that for cleaning the algae out of the inside of the tank ? 5. How hot should I let it get ? I have been lifting the hood if it goes up to 81 degrees. 6. I probally have about 160 gph of flow in the tank at the moment which is about 20x ... is that too heavy for cycling ? Occasionally it blows the substrate a bit which is the bimini pink and very fine. Any help would be great, as I am completely new to reefing and aquariums in general. Thanks, CF Link to comment
tinyreef Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 you can begin testing immediately since the LR is so fresh. you should try to save the hitchhiking fauna (except for the aiptasia) by keeping the readings low, i.e. soft cycling. most cycling articles/advice is "hard cycling" where they advise you to let the water readings go up until the bacteria stabilizes. the drawback to this is anything that came on the rock is typically wiped out by the cycling process. read up on the FAQ under the "Information" link at the top of the page. there are some very good step-by-step threads, e.g. Lgreen's or steelhealr's threads here in the beginner's sub-forum. Link to comment
Captain Fantastic Posted August 26, 2006 Author Share Posted August 26, 2006 you can begin testing immediately since the LR is so fresh. you should try to save the hitchhiking fauna (except for the aiptasia) by keeping the readings low, i.e. soft cycling. most cycling articles/advice is "hard cycling" where they advise you to let the water readings go up until the bacteria stabilizes. the drawback to this is anything that came on the rock is typically wiped out by the cycling process. read up on the FAQ under the "Information" link at the top of the page. there are some very good step-by-step threads, e.g. Lgreen's or steelhealr's threads here in the beginner's sub-forum. Thanks Tiny, I will defintely read those over tonight. As far as cycling goes.... pH = 8.2 Ammonia = 0.5 Nitrates = trace Nitrites = trace kH = 11 Calcium = 460 Temp = 81F Salinty = 32 Thats 36 hours in ... Link to comment
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