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sir_dudeguy
Active member
lol its all good i've had that happen before.
mario-thanks so much for that! i know my amonia is at 0 now...only my rock couldnt have been cured when i got it..nasty lookin.
mario-thanks so much for that! i know my amonia is at 0 now...only my rock couldnt have been cured when i got it..nasty lookin.
sir_dudeguy
Active member
correct. id even venture to say you wont see a cycle. just give it about a week now, and if still nothing...i'd say its done. Oh, and i heard from bertoni that one way to tell is to put some flake food in...if it causes amonia...the cycle is obviously not done...but if nothing happens (well the nitrates might go up but thats normal) then the cycle should be done.
natep206
Blenniella chrysospilos
not sure if any one has told you this. but your going to need to mix your water for atleat a day before adding it to your tank. for you you can get a 5 gallon bucket, a small power head and a little heater( do you have one for your tank?). keep the heat at the same temperature of your tank and the sg the same. the power head will mix the water. you have to mix it for at least over night.
once your cycle is done you can add a clean up crew (some hermits and snails) maybe 3 hermits and 1 turbo snail. wait a week then you can get one fish and one invert of your choice. (not anemones, urchins or sea stars you cant have any of these till you hit the 6 monthe mark.) so like a shrimp,cuke,crab or feather duster.
then after that you can get about 1 invert per week. and one fish every monthe. youll only have 2 fish tops so yeah haha. oncw you hit the one monthe mark you can start adding corals!
let us know if you have any more questions!
nate :beer:
once your cycle is done you can add a clean up crew (some hermits and snails) maybe 3 hermits and 1 turbo snail. wait a week then you can get one fish and one invert of your choice. (not anemones, urchins or sea stars you cant have any of these till you hit the 6 monthe mark.) so like a shrimp,cuke,crab or feather duster.
then after that you can get about 1 invert per week. and one fish every monthe. youll only have 2 fish tops so yeah haha. oncw you hit the one monthe mark you can start adding corals!
let us know if you have any more questions!
nate :beer:
Thanks for the info on the mixing I will definately do that when the water change comes around.
I do not have a heater in my tank right now, I wasn't informed to buy one, should I make that my next purchase? and does it have to be a speciall heater? or any old one that I use in my freshwater tanks.
I do have a powerhead so I'll throw that in the bucket when mixing.
I'll wait a few weeks before adding anything to the tank, I want to see what is going to grow out of the liverock.
I noticed today this little guy crawling ont he glass, not sure what kind of snail he is, but Im pretty excited. He's maybe 1mm long.
Thanks,
Mario
I do not have a heater in my tank right now, I wasn't informed to buy one, should I make that my next purchase? and does it have to be a speciall heater? or any old one that I use in my freshwater tanks.
I do have a powerhead so I'll throw that in the bucket when mixing.
I'll wait a few weeks before adding anything to the tank, I want to see what is going to grow out of the liverock.
I noticed today this little guy crawling ont he glass, not sure what kind of snail he is, but Im pretty excited. He's maybe 1mm long.
Thanks,
Mario
HaKs310
Forever Learning
Aim for a temperature range of 78-80. I als0 highly suggest getting a small Coralife Thermometer or something like it opposed to those temperature reading strips. You can find them for around 7 dollars.
sir_dudeguy, wheres Rocky Point? I just moved here from Cali and I hear people here and there talking about it.
sir_dudeguy, wheres Rocky Point? I just moved here from Cali and I hear people here and there talking about it.
sir_dudeguy
Active member
yeah...and not yes at the same time...IDEALLY you want to airate/circulate for around 24 hours like i said earlier. But depending on the salt i think, you can add it minutes after its been mixed...advisable? no, not really...waiting 24 hours is best...but in emergencies you can add w/in minutes. Most of the good salts say that now i think. This was something i've looked into myself on the newbie boards a while back...and i'm basically relaying my answer to you, which i got from a few very creditable people here.
HaKs...where at in queen creek are you, and when did you move into the valley?
Rocky point is about a 3 and a half hour drive from phoenix (well...if I drive...then prolly only 3 lol...if my dad drives...4
)Its down south of here...in mexico...not too far over the border, maybe an hour or so?? Its on the sea of cortez...right where baja cali meats w/mexico basically (the main part of mexico that is).we had never gone untill this summer, because the summer is their slowest time of year, so we got 3 days for the price of 2 at the condo we rented. We had also heard everyone talk about it, but never gone, and finally due to such low cost and getting tired of other people go on about it...we went lol. All i have to say is that the town is pretty old and not bad, but not nice...really dusty...but then once you go 2 minutes out of the town and to the coast...BEAUTIFUL! The beach was amazing, and the water was SO blue. Nothng like in cali (we always go to san diego and sometimes more north). The water was around 83 or so, so when i went snorkeling it wasnt cold at all. This is probably the wrong time and too off topic to discuss it here tho lol, so if you'd like to know more on how our trip went and everything, feal free to PM me...i had a blast in the water tho...nicest water ever (well...so far that i've been in)
sir_dudeguy
Active member
hows it coming? find anything new? what are the latest test results?
Hey,
Everything seems ot be going great. The SG was a little high today but I evened it out, besides that everythings good.
I noticed there was 2 snails in my tank, was pretty happy to find the other guy. He's twice the size of the first one.
I also noticed 2 more Feather Dusters, they seem to be very shy, everytime the camera comes out they go into hiding. I'll get a pic of them sometime sooner or later.
Meanwhile there's a few things Im curious about in my tank. There's some kind of jelly thing growing out fo the side of one of my rocks. It's in the picture below, see if it's anything.
Anyone knwo if that purple stuff above is anything? I noticed it growing in several parts of my tank.
I also purchased a heater today to keep the water temp at 80 degrees.
A quick question, will the heater harm any of my live animals in the tank once I get some?
And I see some condensation inside the heater, do you think it might be cracked somewhere, or is this normal?
Besides that Im just waiting for my very first water change coming this sunday, hopefully all my parameters are good and I can start assembling a cleanup crew.
Mario
Everything seems ot be going great. The SG was a little high today but I evened it out, besides that everythings good.
I noticed there was 2 snails in my tank, was pretty happy to find the other guy. He's twice the size of the first one.
I also noticed 2 more Feather Dusters, they seem to be very shy, everytime the camera comes out they go into hiding. I'll get a pic of them sometime sooner or later.
Meanwhile there's a few things Im curious about in my tank. There's some kind of jelly thing growing out fo the side of one of my rocks. It's in the picture below, see if it's anything.
Anyone knwo if that purple stuff above is anything? I noticed it growing in several parts of my tank.
I also purchased a heater today to keep the water temp at 80 degrees.
A quick question, will the heater harm any of my live animals in the tank once I get some?
And I see some condensation inside the heater, do you think it might be cracked somewhere, or is this normal?
Besides that Im just waiting for my very first water change coming this sunday, hopefully all my parameters are good and I can start assembling a cleanup crew.
Mario
Ah Ha! Cought him out of his tube. Not the clearest shot but it'll do!
As you can see it's got a band around it, not sure what kind of feather duster this is, but im really excited about it being in the tank.
If anyone can Id any of the above that would be awesome.
Thanks guys,
Mario
As you can see it's got a band around it, not sure what kind of feather duster this is, but im really excited about it being in the tank.
If anyone can Id any of the above that would be awesome.
Thanks guys,
Mario
Ah great to hear, then it was 2 hermit crabs that I saw. Thanks for the ID nate.
Yes I went out and bought a heater today. I have the temperature set to 80.
I also bought a extra heater for when I do water changes, and I have a old powerhead I'm going to use to move the water around.
As I asked above, will the heater hurt anything in my tank? Maybe when I get fish?
And can anyone identify anything else thats in te pictures aove?
Thanks,
Mario
Yes I went out and bought a heater today. I have the temperature set to 80.
I also bought a extra heater for when I do water changes, and I have a old powerhead I'm going to use to move the water around.
As I asked above, will the heater hurt anything in my tank? Maybe when I get fish?
And can anyone identify anything else thats in te pictures aove?
Thanks,
Mario
natep206
Blenniella chrysospilos
the last picture is a very small feather duster.
if the heater has any moister in it its cracked. not good. electicity+water+your hand/fish=bad news. get a new heater and try to return the heater thats broken. the heaters i use are marine lands stealth heaters. you would get a 25wtt. good up to 8 gallons. they are plastic. and have a temperature dial at the top for easier programing. theyre also all black. so if you have a balck background (which you might also want to look in to. it blends right in.
nate :beer:
if the heater has any moister in it its cracked. not good. electicity+water+your hand/fish=bad news. get a new heater and try to return the heater thats broken. the heaters i use are marine lands stealth heaters. you would get a 25wtt. good up to 8 gallons. they are plastic. and have a temperature dial at the top for easier programing. theyre also all black. so if you have a balck background (which you might also want to look in to. it blends right in.
nate :beer:
kass03
New member
Make sure you get a good submersable heater for saltwater.
Your salinity was 1.031? how did you lower it and what is it now?
Well ok I know how you lowered it lol but it needs to be lowered slowly over time. You should'nt just change it quickly although you don't have alot of live animals in there yet. It can kill them if done too quick.
I keep mine at 1.024 always have. That way it allows for evaporation or if my hydrometer is wrong I figure. Yes I just use the cheapo seatest one. I have since they came out with them lol.
Most of my reefer friends have refractometers and say the seatest are off though. I should really test mine and see how far off it is.
get a coralife difital thermometer. Temp is important and just cuz the heater says 78 don't mean the tank is 78 lol. I usually have to set all my heaters lower than they say.
I mix my salt and use it right away sometimes but it is'nt recommended. It's better to premix.
Yes in a pinch you can use tap water but please add something to get rid of chlorine and chloramines. The stuff is like 2 bucks lol.
Calcium should be around 400. Otherwise so far you havent cycled it does'nt look like. And no that doesn't mean dump a bunch of kalkwasser or calcium in there to raise it lol you HAVE to do things SLOWLY in a reef. I'm not sure why yours is that low as saltmix should be higher than that. I would test it again.
Read up on calcium as theres many ways to raise it.
Also PH can change from when the lights are on and off because of photosynthesis.
Keep testing the ammonia if you do cycle that will be the first to go up followed by nitrites.
I gave you the hitchhiker page above you can look things up on there.
You could also get a turkey baster ( I use mine every day) and blow off those bubbles on your rock.
kass
Your salinity was 1.031? how did you lower it and what is it now?
Well ok I know how you lowered it lol but it needs to be lowered slowly over time. You should'nt just change it quickly although you don't have alot of live animals in there yet. It can kill them if done too quick.
I keep mine at 1.024 always have. That way it allows for evaporation or if my hydrometer is wrong I figure. Yes I just use the cheapo seatest one. I have since they came out with them lol.
Most of my reefer friends have refractometers and say the seatest are off though. I should really test mine and see how far off it is.
get a coralife difital thermometer. Temp is important and just cuz the heater says 78 don't mean the tank is 78 lol. I usually have to set all my heaters lower than they say.
I mix my salt and use it right away sometimes but it is'nt recommended. It's better to premix.
Yes in a pinch you can use tap water but please add something to get rid of chlorine and chloramines. The stuff is like 2 bucks lol.
Calcium should be around 400. Otherwise so far you havent cycled it does'nt look like. And no that doesn't mean dump a bunch of kalkwasser or calcium in there to raise it lol you HAVE to do things SLOWLY in a reef. I'm not sure why yours is that low as saltmix should be higher than that. I would test it again.
Read up on calcium as theres many ways to raise it.
Also PH can change from when the lights are on and off because of photosynthesis.
Keep testing the ammonia if you do cycle that will be the first to go up followed by nitrites.
I gave you the hitchhiker page above you can look things up on there.
You could also get a turkey baster ( I use mine every day) and blow off those bubbles on your rock.
kass
sir_dudeguy
Active member
why do you say that? are you making that judgement by the picture? i hope not, because you cant tell if a tank is cycled or not just by looking at the picture.
sir_dudeguy
Active member
whew! lol ok, i was just checking. I read stuff weird sometimes...like i wont read it how it was supposed to have meant. So when i saw that, i'm thinkin "how in the heck..??" lol.
anyways...one way that i've heard you can see if it really is cycled is to throw in some flake food. If amonia and or nitrites show up in a couple days or 3, then you're just starting the cycle.
anyways...one way that i've heard you can see if it really is cycled is to throw in some flake food. If amonia and or nitrites show up in a couple days or 3, then you're just starting the cycle.
sir_dudeguy
Active member
hey, what are the last test results showing?
