image's 28g nano cube diary
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Hey all,
I'm new to the hobby, but thought it would be nice to document my experience, as others have done I'll use this thread as a diary and am open to any and all suggestions along the way.
2/27/2012 - Filled tank with RO/DI and Reef Crystals salt mix. I know that sometimes people advise against mixing in the display, but it seemed easiest. Water changes in the future will be mixed separately.
3/2/2012 -
Measurements:
Salinity: 1.024
PH: 8.2
Calcium: 480
KH: 11°
3/3/2012 - Got live rock (liveaquaria.com: 45 lb premium fiji) and placed it in the tank
3/5/2012 - Ammonia levels are... well... let's just say there's plenty of food source for nitrifying bacteria. Still appear to be pest free (yay!) and mostly all hitchhiker free (boo... we all hope for cool hitchhikers, don't we?). I do have some orange and yellow spots which I'm guessing are just coraline. A bit different from the purple that I've seen, but I wouldn't be sad if it survives.
Current To-Do:
-Add substrate
-Wait (this one is hardest... but you all knew that already)
I'm new to the hobby, but thought it would be nice to document my experience, as others have done I'll use this thread as a diary and am open to any and all suggestions along the way.
2/27/2012 - Filled tank with RO/DI and Reef Crystals salt mix. I know that sometimes people advise against mixing in the display, but it seemed easiest. Water changes in the future will be mixed separately.
3/2/2012 -
Measurements:
Salinity: 1.024
PH: 8.2
Calcium: 480
KH: 11°
3/3/2012 - Got live rock (liveaquaria.com: 45 lb premium fiji) and placed it in the tank
3/5/2012 - Ammonia levels are... well... let's just say there's plenty of food source for nitrifying bacteria. Still appear to be pest free (yay!) and mostly all hitchhiker free (boo... we all hope for cool hitchhikers, don't we?). I do have some orange and yellow spots which I'm guessing are just coraline. A bit different from the purple that I've seen, but I wouldn't be sad if it survives.
Current To-Do:
-Add substrate
-Wait (this one is hardest... but you all knew that already)
Considering it was at least partially informed by your setup, this doesn't surprise me
Thanks! :beer:In looking at the other threads, I'm starting to think I've got way too much rock. Well... not every tank has to be the same I guess. And I can always take some out later if I need to. I'll continue with it like this, because I like the arch and cave idea, and can't realistically see doing it with much less rock.
Whysoserious
New member
^ I got plenty of rock in my tank, but thats because it came with it.. lol. But I will be modifying it. Gotta be different!
But good start!
And thanks for the water level info on the other thread
But good start!
And thanks for the water level info on the other thread
ComponentFault
New member
Looks like a great start!
Your equipment list is moving along a bit more smoothly than mine is, but our tanks are really close in age. It'll be great to see them develop!
Your equipment list is moving along a bit more smoothly than mine is, but our tanks are really close in age. It'll be great to see them develop!
Well, I'm still waiting for my live rock curing / tank cycling to finish. Ammonia has spiked (and when I say spike, I mean it!) and come back down. Currently getting off the chart readings for nitrite and nitrate, so biding my time waiting for the nitrite to come down.
Some details about my cure period:
-I am running my skimmer (I've found arguments for and against, but with my levels... I'm not stalling anything)
-I'm running a limited photo period (6 hours). I've read arguments for this and for complete darkness... don't know why I chose this way... but I did
-I'm planning on adding substrate, chaeto in the fuge, and clean up crew after nitrites come down
Probably because of my light choice, I've started to get algae growth over the last few days. I'm not too worried about it at the moment, and I'm viewing it as food for the clean up crew. I've got what appear to be 4 different varieties. Green stringy (green hair algae), purple fuzzy spots (no idea, I don't think it's cyano...), green fuzzy spots (no idea... maybe also gha?), brown fuzzy areas (no idea).
I'm including pics just in case anyone wants to inform me that I have a plague of epic proportions (gods I hope not...) or reconfirm my "nothing to worry about" zen (please! )
Some details about my cure period:
-I am running my skimmer (I've found arguments for and against, but with my levels... I'm not stalling anything)
-I'm running a limited photo period (6 hours). I've read arguments for this and for complete darkness... don't know why I chose this way... but I did
-I'm planning on adding substrate, chaeto in the fuge, and clean up crew after nitrites come down
Probably because of my light choice, I've started to get algae growth over the last few days. I'm not too worried about it at the moment, and I'm viewing it as food for the clean up crew. I've got what appear to be 4 different varieties. Green stringy (green hair algae), purple fuzzy spots (no idea, I don't think it's cyano...), green fuzzy spots (no idea... maybe also gha?), brown fuzzy areas (no idea).
I'm including pics just in case anyone wants to inform me that I have a plague of epic proportions (gods I hope not...) or reconfirm my "nothing to worry about" zen (please!
)
john miller
New member
Looks like a pretty normal new tank algae bloom to me.
ComponentFault
New member
I'm including pics just in case anyone wants to inform me that I have a plague of epic proportions (gods I hope not...) or reconfirm my "nothing to worry about" zen (please!
This is quite tame compared to what my tank went through. I had brown diatoms everywhere. Stick with the program, and the nitrites will fall pretty soon and if your nitrates are still high you can run a water change and get the cleanup crew in. I have a mix of astrea, nassarius, and cerith snails in mine (along with an emerald crab) and the tank is looking clean again.
Off-hand, I'd say you're in great shape!
ange062
New member
Considering it was at least partially informed by your setup, this doesn't surprise me
LOL, well thanks for the "indirect" compliment! Glad to see your cycle is coming to an end and look forward to stocking and future progress.
NMC
New member
Your a little ahead of me. I don't have any amonia or nitrites or nitrates or algea. Annoying. Also getting ready to tear down my rocks and do it over. I'm going for a little less rock and more open sand, plus I want to build some underground condos for jawfish or gobies. If you want to change your scape, I think it would be easier to do it now than later. You should have it how YOU like it. Popular now is a more open design with what they call "negative space," which is a fancy term for space with nothing in it. No right or wrong, just matters what appeals to your own eyeballs.
Cycle complete! I got my first nitrite free reading last night and added my substrate. I'd update my pics, but my hair algae is... embarrassing It's nothing too bad, just longer than the pics above. Clean up crew is on order and will be added on Thursday. I'm super excited
I was glad to see that my nitrates are also low. I'm not entirely sure why this is, but I assume it's from the algae eating the nitrates?
Now that the cycle is complete, I've done a few other things for nitrate control. Chaeto on the way, will be added to the fuge on Thursday. I also added a bag of purigen. My plan is to run the purigen all the time, but I'll adjust if need be.
It's nothing too bad, just longer than the pics above. Clean up crew is on order and will be added on Thursday. I'm super excited I was glad to see that my nitrates are also low. I'm not entirely sure why this is, but I assume it's from the algae eating the nitrates?
Now that the cycle is complete, I've done a few other things for nitrate control. Chaeto on the way, will be added to the fuge on Thursday. I also added a bag of purigen. My plan is to run the purigen all the time, but I'll adjust if need be.
Full battery of tests tonight in celebration of the fact that I can soon put living things in the tank:
Temp: 78.8° (24 hour avg)
PH: 7.94 (24 hour avg)
Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
Phosphate: 0
KH: 9°
Calcium: 440
Magnesium: 1410
PH is a bit low, and I've had to add sodium carbonate anhydrous (baked baking soda) once (5g) to increase it and my KH at the end of the cycle. From what I've gathered reading online, the last phase of the cycle (nitrate -> nitrogen) creates an acidic byproduct and can drive KH and PH down. Where it is now I'll just monitor and pull it up with water changes, but if it dips into the 7.80 range, I'll dose again.
Temp: 78.8° (24 hour avg)
PH: 7.94 (24 hour avg)
Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
Phosphate: 0
KH: 9°
Calcium: 440
Magnesium: 1410
PH is a bit low, and I've had to add sodium carbonate anhydrous (baked baking soda) once (5g) to increase it and my KH at the end of the cycle. From what I've gathered reading online, the last phase of the cycle (nitrate -> nitrogen) creates an acidic byproduct and can drive KH and PH down. Where it is now I'll just monitor and pull it up with water changes, but if it dips into the 7.80 range, I'll dose again.
Well... the cleanup crew is really working on the algae, and the GHA is almost completely gone. A LFS had a sale yesterday and I decided it was time to put my first non-CUC stock in the tank. I decided on 2 maxi mini carpet anemones, one green and one purple. I've heard good things about these in that once they find their spot, they pretty much stay there, and people haven't had much trouble keeping them with other corals. They are in the tank, but pretty hard to photograph, at least so far. I'm hoping once they get over the stress of moving and stretch their leg (so to speak), I'll be able to get some good shots of them.
