Drew's Biocube 14 Build !
- Thread starter drew_l
- Start date
drew_l
New member
So finally I received my refractometer in the mail today !! First I calibrated the device, only took a small turn, then I balanced out my salinity - which was 1.016. Corrected it by taking out water and adding high salinity salt water with a large washed yogurt container. I took a really cool photo with my cell phone camera looking down the eye-piece of the refractometer.. It actually turned out and shows my current salinity !!!!!!!!!!
Tomorrow morning I'm going to take some baseline water parameter tests and then finally submerge the LR! The two blue-legged hermits are alive and well in my LR bucket.
Would it be ok to add them to the tank as well???
Thanks!!!!
Here are some pics:
Came with Refractometer, eye-dropper, calibrating screw-driver, wiping cloth, instruction manual, and sturdy plastic case insulated with foam.
And here is the pic with my cellphone looking down the eyepiece!!
Tomorrow morning I'm going to take some baseline water parameter tests and then finally submerge the LR! The two blue-legged hermits are alive and well in my LR bucket.
Would it be ok to add them to the tank as well???
Thanks!!!!
Here are some pics:
Came with Refractometer, eye-dropper, calibrating screw-driver, wiping cloth, instruction manual, and sturdy plastic case insulated with foam.
And here is the pic with my cellphone looking down the eyepiece!!
drew_l
New member
Did some baselines tests
Did some baselines tests
March 26/11:
Did some baseline tests before adding LR.
> pH - 8.2
> Salinity - 1.024 gonna boost it up a bit
> Ammonia - 0.50 ppm ?? Before LR ?? is that right?
> Nitrates - 0.00 ppm
> Phosphates - 0.25 ppm
Put the chemipure and purigen into the media basket together, didn't think it was going to fit but it squeezed in.
Did some baselines tests
March 26/11:
Did some baseline tests before adding LR.
> pH - 8.2
> Salinity - 1.024 gonna boost it up a bit
> Ammonia - 0.50 ppm ?? Before LR ?? is that right?
> Nitrates - 0.00 ppm
> Phosphates - 0.25 ppm
Put the chemipure and purigen into the media basket together, didn't think it was going to fit but it squeezed in.
drew_l
New member
Added LR!!!
Added LR!!!
So I finally got to adding the LR and aquascaping!! I'd like to say I have an eye for this kind of thing because it only took me 5-10mins to scape. Let me know what you think. Water is still pretty cloudy, i'll take some more shots when things clear up. I've been meaning to upgrade from my cellphone camera to something better, bare with me!
Also, The upper bridge portion is quite unstable, I've heard there is a "glue" you can use to attach rocks together??? Thanks!!!
Here are some pictures.
First FTS with LR.
Close-up FTS
R side
L side
top-down -- was never a fan of these shots - but nonetheless! :strange:
Added LR!!!
So I finally got to adding the LR and aquascaping!! I'd like to say I have an eye for this kind of thing because it only took me 5-10mins to scape. Let me know what you think. Water is still pretty cloudy, i'll take some more shots when things clear up. I've been meaning to upgrade from my cellphone camera to something better, bare with me!
Also, The upper bridge portion is quite unstable, I've heard there is a "glue" you can use to attach rocks together??? Thanks!!!
Here are some pictures.
First FTS with LR.
Close-up FTS
R side
L side
top-down -- was never a fan of these shots - but nonetheless! :strange:
Man, I have 16 lbs of rock in my tank and it seriously looks like twice as much as you have!
You can use the same stuff you would use with coral frags, some well placed gel superglue where the rocks touch each other, or small wads of epoxy putty would be more friendly since your rock is already submerged. The superglue would start to set instantly underwater, the epoxy would give you a little time to mold and get just right.
You can use the same stuff you would use with coral frags, some well placed gel superglue where the rocks touch each other, or small wads of epoxy putty would be more friendly since your rock is already submerged. The superglue would start to set instantly underwater, the epoxy would give you a little time to mold and get just right.
cmac23
New member
I had this same set-up in my 29BC. Worked great
So long as you didn't have any major dieoff on your liverock, and it was already cycled/cured by the place you bought it, you may never even see a huge ammonia/nitrite spike, the initial cycle could very well already be over for what you are working with in that tank. I'd give it one more round of tests tonight, and I venture to guess you'll like the results.
drew_l
New member
Yeah I tested it this morning... Looked to me like the ammonia was still at 0.25... But i've always had difficulty interpreting the test results in the test-tubes...
How long should I be waiting before I can add a couple of zoos and a hammer coral that have been sitting in a friends tank for several weeks?
drew_l
New member
What would be considered Hardy?
drew_l
New member
OK, i've done some reading and I am a little aprehensive to say my tank is finished with the cycle at 0 ammonia/nitrate ppm. My reasoning for this (and I could be wrong - please advise) is that since Friday, I've added live rock that has been sitting in a bucket (with circulating water) for a few weeks. I don't feel that this rock has a significant source of beneficial bacteria. Just because my amm/trates are reading zero, I don't think there is an appropriate colony of bacteria that exists at this point!
Should I provide an ammonia source (cocktail shrimp) to facilitate a cycle to increase bacteria populations?
Is there a best way to move forward from here???
Today i did tests - ammonia still at 0.25, trite/trate 0ppm.
Nickles
New member
It depends on where your ammonia present in the tank right now is coming from. If you're having some die off from your live rock, that might be enough to culture the bacteria you need. Like you said, if your rock has been sitting for a long time there may not be much in the way of lifeforms to die off. You need to make sure there is a source of ammonia in order for the cycle to take place. A little piece of shrimp or some food tossed in to decompose will do the trick, I'm not sure how much ammonia is good to get the cycle going. If what you've got in there now is enough then just let things go on their own. If you build up your beneficial bacteria this way you'll need to be careful that when you start adding your bio-load you've adequately prepared the tank, and watch for little mini cycles if you've increased it more than the current microbes can handle. You should be fine so long as you take it slow and space out your additions by a couple of weeks.
drew_l
New member
I'm thinking i'm going to go the ammonia source route.. as far as a pieces of shrimp, My hermits will dominate that very quickly, is that ok? is the shrimp to be raw? how big?
If I go the food route, how much is necessary? once? or on a routine?
These are little things I've just looked over the past few years of reading cycling tank threads, but not since I am doing it, I need to know the details!!
If I go the food route, how much is necessary? once? or on a routine?
These are little things I've just looked over the past few years of reading cycling tank threads, but not since I am doing it, I need to know the details!!
Similar threads
