what now?

[rschneid]

I have a 75 gl tank w 30 gl sump. I am at day 25. Amoni/Nitrates/Nitrites are still 0. I have 90lbs of live rock and 30 lbs of live sand and I am guessing they survived with enough bacteria to eliminate the visible signs of the cycle. What I do have is stable water parameters as per my Apex (8.1PH, 34.1ppm, 79 temp)
I also have a robust cleanup crew (reefcleaners 75gal pckg) of roughly 80+ snail category things. I have Trillions upon trillions of copepods. Its a veritable snowstorm in there. I have a couple of hitch hikers (tine fan worms (2x) , tiny crab, 3 or 4 very small starfish). I have lots of green hair algae growing everywhere which the CUC seems to be enjoying. I think I have a fair amount of coraline algae (but I don't know enough to tell if its dead or alive). So I have lots and lots of life.

My question now is whats the next smartest thing to add? Should I worry about the zillions of copepods? Should I be adding something just to eat them?

Or as is frequently the answer around here should I "do nothing - be more patient"?


Rich S.

 

[mcgyvr]

So you basically had sufficient live rock/sand and your tank quickly cycled.. (or your test kits are broken or being used incorrectly.. I find it a bit hard to believe that there are NO nitrates.. might want to take a trip to the local fish store and have those results double checked just to be safe)
To me seeing the critters like copepods/mini brittle stars/chiltons,etc.. are more entertaining than anything. why kill them?
You don't need to do anything except start stocking..Slowly though while continuing to monitor your initial parameters (amm/nitrite/nitrate) for a bit longer just to make sure.

Its also time to start looking at beginning testing for phosphates/alk/cal along with continuing testing nitrates.. Just all part of the job.
Have fun.. Happy reefing.

 

[m0nkie]

the pods population will die off and stabilize eventually. the # will depend on how much food there is. plus they are free fish food.. my clowns, royal gramma and wrasse all seem to pick at it.

you can add fish to quarantine now. they will be in there for a month anyways. in the mean while, let your CUC do their work.

 

[DrBoxedWine]

Yeah the no nitrates thing I feel is unlikely...

 

[shesacharmer]

The clean up crew should live alone in your tank for a month. Their bio waste contributes to your tank stability. Now is a good time to quarantine your first fish or two. Please research tank size appropriateness and work up a fish stocking list before you start buying any on impulse. There are several factors to consider including aggressiveness, full size, bio niche for each fish, how much tank they need to swim, etc. You will be much happier in the long run with fish which get along and are happy in your tank.

 

[rschneid]

ok well I will take a sample of water to my LFS and get them to check it.
I am using Red Sea's kit.
PROCESS: 5 ml in a jar/5 drops of a, mix for 10s/ one scoop of b, mix for 60s/ one scoop of c, mix for 10s/ wait 9 min, look for pink color on the chart..... its stayed clear.
I am new to this maybe I am missing something. At this point I have run this test 9x
I also have APEX PH/Salinity/two temp sensors, which are all about where they are suppose to be.

The red sea foundation kit shows Mg and CA slowly rising.... Mg and CA currently at 370 and 900 respectively. I am the first one to admit that figuring out when its the right blue is a very fuzzy thing....Seems like there would be a more definitive measuring tool for all of this.

Thank you everyone for your advice and comments!
Rich S.

 

[Sk8r]

I don't know what scale your tests are using, but ordinary salt water contains about 1200 mg and 420 calcium from the start. I recommend Salilfert tests, which do not rely on color comparison.