Can of worms, open here!!

[9501gle]

Tank started 8/23/12. No live rock, no live sand. Fish added 8/25. I did use some smart start complete upon start up and switched to MB7 on 9/5. Granted I am not a rookie and have had a very sucessful sps tank before, feel free to pile on, as I have now also added my first sps frag as of 9/8. Have not lost any fish nor have any fish shown any signs of stress. Fish list is 3 yellow tangs, 7 chromis and 1 tomato clown. I might add the sps frag looks better now than it did in the LFS.

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[9501gle]

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[aFs]

Nice looking tank, what are your parameters at this point? I personally wouldn't put any SPS if you have had them before then you would know that it is going to struggle as your parameters flux up and down. I am not jumping on ya or anything like that, I can see by the equiptment, lighting ect.... that this isn't your first tank. Your system looks sweet and those yellow tangs are rockin I have always wanted to put multiple tangs in a system and will when I finish my 4 foot cube.

what made you choose to use dry sand and rock? if you where wanting to stock it so quickly?

 

[StaghornE]

I used dry Rock when I set my tank up. With just a few small pieces of live rock to seed Flora and Fauna. It takes a little longer for the rock to look good but the fact that your saving $4-$7 per pound makes it worth it IMO. You also avoid the pests associated with live Rock. Looks good.

 

[RebelReef]

Just curious... are you not expecting an ammonia or nitrite spike that will be stressful to your livestock?

 

[pstank1]

Depending on how he cured the dry rock, you can build a solid bacteria base on the rock before it's ever introduced to the tank and avoid most of the cycle.

 

[dvanacker]

The cycle is something that is constantly happening basedon the nutrient load and present bacteria....when they are in balance things are good.

If he stared with very clean and nutrient free (ammonia,po4 etc) rock, it is possible to have a very small to no noticable cycle spike where bacteria is playing catch up. If this the case you can stalk the tank safely very early....you just have to go relatively slow as the bacteria need to catch up with the load.

 

[9501gle]

Current params.
cal. 460
KH stable at 7.6
sal 1.024
Po4 0.0 with hanna checker
nitrate 3ppm with red sea (which is the best nitrate kit I have owned so far)
Stro. 16mg/L
Potassium 380ppm
copper 0
PH 7.95 to 8.2
Temp 77 to 79
I dont test for amm. or nitrite as after the cycle this isnt really needed.

I didnt cure the rock. Kind of an interesting story here. After my last tank crash in early 2009 I left all equipment running for about 6 months. Then shut everything down, let the tank set till 8/19/12.With all water rock and sand still in tank. Now you would think this would cause a huge stink right. Well there was never any foul odor emitted. And when I drained what water didnt evaporate and removed the rock and sand they had no smell at all. So I figured what the heck. Power washed the rock, got new sand (tropic eden reef flakes) filled the tank up and threw them in.

As I stated in my op I did use start smart complete (which they claim cycles the tank in 24 hrs) and I truthfully didnt think it would work. But maybe it does. Anyway thats another can o worms.

IMHO the reason I believe I'm having sucess so far is 3 fold. Large water volume, lots of good equipment and good husbandry. Of course previous experience dosent hurt.

dvanacker makes a very good comment and I agree. I add bacteria and feed them.

aFs. If u want mutiple yellow tangs the best way to do that is by some that have been together at ur LFS for awhile. If u cant do that get them all the same size and add them at the same time. Do not try to add another one later.

Thanks for looking, and thanks for the comments. Happy reefing.

 

[CHSUB]

you can have perfect params, the best equipment, and advanced knowledge, but you tank is going to react and cycle in ways that you can not prevent. the fish might live, and the coral to, but it will be several weeks before you will know. i hope i'm wrong but it seems like you are setting yourself up for hardships. i suggest you sit tight for about a month.

 

[9501gle]

Yep. Not gonna add anything else for a while. I'm only planning on keeping sps this time around. Thats why I added the small frag. Just a barometer you might say. Looks like thats gonna be a nice setup CHSUB. Good luck. And happy reefing to ya.

 

[djsmallz]

Just keep some makeup water handy for water changes, like you said you have a large volume of water there which could work in your favor. Good luck

 

[StevenPalaci]

You also avoid the pests associated with live Rock. Looks good

 

[Jay uk]

Nice setup good luck