I gotta weigh in. (it's all good though)
I had a very difficult part 1 cycle. Ammonia at most times seemed to approach 2.5 plus (no, even more than that, I was just too scared to admit it) and I changed water aggressively to get it down. It didn't seem to work though (or so I thought, I went through 200 gallons in a week and even had to drain the hot tub
, The tank and the house stunk like a piling at lowtide. It was 10 days of the most maximum stress and lower back pain but the balance finally found itself (seemingly not through my intervention, I might add). It was like old Sol shining again after an extended eclipse. Nature's amazing and so was the cycle in retrospect. I guess you've got to earn your day in the sun (or under the T5s to be exact)
Part 2 was an incredible, reaffirming breeze though. The ammonia really never went over .25 and that's with a whole lot of stuff going in the tank all at once. If there was ever a time for the bioload to act up, this was it. Everything opened up right away and has stayed that way through what seems to have been a very gentle cycle. The tank's inhabitants were happy from the get-go. I did have one of the orange tree sponges go south after a week. It was looking bad and a smell of it's base confirmed it (gag, there's nothing subtle about the smell of a puking sponge, the top part of the sponge smelled OK though, interestingly enough).
I've got 1 mantis shrimp captive (who IMHO, is the best of the lot. They are very interesting critters) and at least 3 others loose in the tank (those hated hitchhikers). I don't fret though. Everything's looking fantastic. The fans and gorgonians are extended all the time. The lobe coral is in full bloom and pulsates like a xenia. Feather dusters, other worms and tunicates have made their appearance and add to drama.
There are beautiful yellow encrusting sponges on one rock that had some die off during acclimatization, but now they exhibit an open pore pattern that seems to show that they're really happy (I dare say, they're even spreading). The Condi anenomes look flourescent under the actinics. One green, one blue and another violet. (where the red one went, I don't know) They and the rock anenomes love a piece of shrimp every few days. The kids love feeding the inverts and now roll their eyes when their friends ask "When are you getting fish?"
I'm so glad I went this route. It makes sense to have the whole system working together (rock, sand, CUC, light and skimmer) in one step as opposed to adding elements piecemeal. I don't think I would ever have bought the quantity of snails and hermits that came with the package all at once otherwise. They sure are busy. The snails took care of a brown and red diatom bloom (normal in a cycle, I was told) in the tank tootsweet, cleaning the powerheads,return tubes, rocks and glass.
The serpent stars show themselves as soon as piece of shrimp is accidentally dropped. They look like the tripods in "War of the Worlds. I haven't seen the peppermint shrimp at all since they were added, though I did find a shed of the pistol shrimp after a day or so and now he hangs out, bigger and better, upside-down under one of the ledges. The cukes stay busy and visible too.
Hang in there Sun777. I was sooo nervous during part 1. The tank is really what I hoped it could be (and most important of all, my wife loves it now). I plan on keeping things moving ahead slowly and watch what I have grow and evolve. It's hard to resist adding stuff though, but I don't want to screw with a good thing yet. (A tridachna's on my chrismas list)
TBS shepherded me through the whole process with quick responses to my distressed emails and gave me the assurances I needed. Richard told me he hasn't had a customer fail yet and I would guess that even if they stumbled, through a fault of their own, he would still make good and get them straight. I've failed miserably and dramatically before in this hobby for one reason or another and I think it will be different this time.
oh and troymans postes r the best who needs punctiation or good sppells wen you have that expeririense :rollface:
