Newbie with questions

Katie24

Katie24

New member
Hi everyone! Newbie here and I was hoping for some help. First off I have a 32g biocube. It is 1 week old & I bought it at a LFS. It has 20 pounds of live reef rock and live sand. LFS also had me use "seed".
After reading and reading, watching youtubes, and talking to LFS, I feel more confused than ever. What do you add first? I've seen so many different opinions. How do you know your tank is truly cycled? Do I have enough live rock? If I add more, does the cycle start all over? Thank you for any and all help or opinions!
Today's parameters:
pH- 8.4
Ammonia- 0.25
Nitrite-0
Nitrate- 5
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Truly cycled when it tests zero for ammonia and nitrites. You added live rock and live sand or just regular rock and dry sand? Makes a huge difference in how long it takes to cycle. I would throw in a dead shrimp or something to get it to start cycling. Kind of like lighting a match.

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Do you have 20 pounds of live sand and 20 pounds of live rock? General rule is 1.5 pounds of live rock for every gallon of water

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Once its completely cycled you can then add Fish like a clown . I would wait at leas a couple months before adding any coral. You can also add cleanup crew with fish such as hermits and snails. Kind of coral you can add depends on your lighting. Not sure how powerful your lights are but with standard bio cu be lights probably not strong enough for SPS corals. For corals, start with some zoas or green star polyps. Those are pretty hardy and don't require too much light. Once you can keep them alive for a while you van move up the difficulty ladder.

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Thank you so much for replying to me!! So in your opinion- a couple clowns and some clean up. Do you think this tank could do a sand sifting star?
I made a mistake. It's 23.7 pounds of real reef rock and 20 pounds of live sand.


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Katie24 said:
Any advice in regards to my questions or concerns? Thanks.


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I don't think you have enough sand for the sand-sifting star. And, a week is definitely not enough time for a cycle. Maybe 3 weeks with live sand and live rock, seeded with either bacteria or something of that nature. I had an incredibly short cycle with my 26 gallon. A few weeks and I was good to go. But that's not normal. These things take time. Welcome to the hobby though, and to reefcentral. You will find the people here very helpful.
 
Valentini89 said:
I don't think you have enough sand for the sand-sifting star. And, a week is definitely not enough time for a cycle. Maybe 3 weeks with live sand and live rock, seeded with either bacteria or something of that nature. I had an incredibly short cycle with my 26 gallon. A few weeks and I was good to go. But that's not normal. These things take time. Welcome to the hobby though, and to reefcentral. You will find the people here very helpful.
Click to expand...



Thank you for the welcome. I know a week is short, I was just wondering how you know when your cycle is truly done. I understand it takes time. I definitely know mine isn't ready. I just want to make sure that I am taking care of the tank properly. Are there any books or recommended sites you know of? I have so many questions and not sure of the very best way to find answers.


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Katie24 said:
Thank you for the welcome. I know a week is short, I was just wondering how you know when your cycle is truly done. I understand it takes time. I definitely know mine isn't ready. I just want to make sure that I am taking care of the tank properly. Are there any books or recommended sites you know of? I have so many questions and not sure of the very best way to find answers.


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If you're seeking answers to general questions about fish, liveaquaria.com is the place to go. Pretty much anything else you have a question about, you can post your question in the appropriate forum section here on reefcentral and someone is sure to answer. There are alot of people here and we all just want to help each other grow and attain more knowledge in the hobby. :)
 
Cool! I haven't heard of that one. Thank you for your help! I appreciate it!


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Katie24 said:
Thank you for the welcome. I know a week is short, I was just wondering how you know when your cycle is truly done. I understand it takes time. I definitely know mine isn't ready. I just want to make sure that I am taking care of the tank properly. Are there any books or recommended sites you know of? I have so many questions and not sure of the very best way to find answers.


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Click to expand...
You should watch 52 weeks of BRS TV on YouTube. Really good for beginners

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If its truly live sand and live rock it probably won't take longer than me so weeks to cycle.

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