Steve Ruddy
New member
Welcome Mathew, May your reef keeping bring you much happiness and rewards.
New to the Hobby
- Thread starter SR_Matthew
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SR_Matthew
New member
Thank you. I am off to a slow start though. Ordered the starter kit IM Nuvo Fusion 20 gallon from Bulk Reef Supplies. However, it came broken. Bulk Reef was great and sent a replacement right away. I should have it next Monday and get it set up. Can't wait to start cycling!
swk
New member
Oh man - that must've been frustrating! A handful of sand can be an excellent jump start to cycling, but not without risk.
How are you planning on cycling? Using live rock? Dry rock?
SR_Matthew
New member
The kit comes with 20 lbs of reef saver rock and 20 lbs of live sand. Also 100ml of bio-spira. so I am just going to try phantom feeding with the bio-spira to get the cycle started. Maybe toss in a piece of shrimp? At least that is the plan.
Completely open to all advise! Since I am brand new at this, I can use all the help I can get! Thanks!
gonzalez78
New member
Have not been on here in a long time since have been so busy with work but if I'm still part of the club then I'd like to welcome you as well. There are a lot of starter corals you can use like leathers, mushrooms and some zoas just keep them concentrated in a small spot so they don't spread all over your tank once you decide you want to move on to much harder corals. Trust me some are like weeds and you will find yourself pulling out your own hair trying to get rid of them. Always dip your new corals and if possible get a quarantine tank set up so you don't introduce any pests into your display tank. Keep up on water changes and maintenance if possible set up a few hours on a set day for your cleaning. Get a cuc (clean up crew) once you start adding corals and fish so they can help with the waste. And always have fun and enjoy this great and expensive hobby that I truly miss and can't wait to get back into just waiting until I can find a place to rent before I set up a new one. Until then I'll keep busy with my pdf.
SR_Matthew
New member
Thank you for the tips. I will definitely do things slowly so that I do not end up with livestock I don't want in the end. I am beginning to see how this hobby can get out of hand in terms of expenses very quickly. I think I will try to resist stocking the tank too quickly and only put in things I really want.
Are there other LFS around Santa Rosa besides Caesar's? Where to you guys get your fish and corals?
gonzalez78
New member
No problem and yes take your time stocking your tank and don't overstock it or you will run into problems that way as well. Make sure the livestock you put in are compatible with each other and won't fight or compete, also that the rank is adequate to the requirements of the livestock you don't want to put any tangs in a nano tank.
As for lfs I have stayed away from Caesar's since I had a few bad experiences with them so as far as lfs I recommend fishpros in Cotati. Their stock has been getting better and looking a bit more healthy the last few times I have gone in just to check out what they have and what they can get for my poison dart frogs.
mav3rick478
Premium Member
Fish Pros in Cotati is where I like to go, like said above their livestock has gotten better and they sell RO/DI water and sea water. I haven't bought anything from Caesar's in a long time but last time I was in it looks like they are trying to stock more frags of zoas.
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SR_Matthew
New member
Thanks for the information. Too bad about Caesar's. I live very close to it. I will definitely check out Fish Pros. Thanks again.
SR_Matthew
New member
I finally got my Nuvo Fusion 20 and set it up! Made sure everything was running and filled it up with salt water. It's been running for about 24 hours and I tested the parameters. Salinity 1.026, Temp 77F, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrate and 0 nitrite. I just gave it some fish food and hoping for the cycle to begin! I have a bottle of Bio Spira, should I add that now or wait till there is ammonia in the tank first?
mav3rick478
Premium Member
You're supposed to add it right away but also keep ghost feeding and constantly test everyday for the ammonia spike and subsequent nitrite and nitrate spikes. In the beginning I tested everything everyday since you get so many tests in the kit and usually after you've cycled your tank you never touch the ammonia or nitrite kit unless total disaster happens.
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SR_Matthew
New member
I will dump that in tonight when I get home and will keep up with testing the and feeding. Thanks!
Dragonvale
New member
Always had great results with Dr Tims "One and Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria".
SR_Matthew
New member
Thanks for the tip. I got the bio spira as part of the starter kit so I dumped that in. I will keep your tip for future use. I checked the water parameters again and the ammonia has increased from 0 to 0.2. I guess it's going in the right direction. Now I know what everyone means by being patient during this stage!
