Coralline Experiment

Red_Beard · Mar 22, 2023

I have some dry rock that I have rebuilt an aquascape with to replace my existing scape in my 4 year old 75G. Before i place it in the tank I was going to see if I could get them covered with coralline algae and cycled to minimize the impact of replacing the rock structure.
I have that all in a 40b tank with some powerheads and a heater and intend to dose it with Arcreef's pink/purple helix (and neonitro/neophos for N and P). Would any of you be interested in a write up and some time-lapse photos? If yes i will put in the effort to document and share that process and if it works. Webpage says it has some nitrifying bacteria in it. They also state that it is fine to add to a "new tank" how new we shall see... but i have used it before with success.

dkelley · Mar 22, 2023

Yep, I'm cycling a tank now and would love to get that started right.

Red_Beard · Mar 22, 2023

dkelley said:
Yep, I'm cycling a tank now and would love to get that started right.

nice! how far are you into it? I put these rocks in water saturday night, so they are preeetty new.

dkelley · Mar 22, 2023

Tank has been cycling 8 days with Dr Tim's and NO fish but it does have dosed ammonia. Doesn't actually seem to be moving along much in 8 days still plenty of ammonia going but Tim's said it could be 14 days with live sand use and that's what I ended up using. 175g DT+Sump.

MoshJosh · Mar 22, 2023

Definitely interested. How will you be lighting cycling tank?

Red_Beard · Mar 22, 2023

i

dkelley said:
Tank has been cycling 8 days with Dr Tim's and NO fish but it does have dosed ammonia. Doesn't actually seem to be moving along much in 8 days still plenty of ammonia going but Tim's said it could be 14 days with live sand use and that's what I ended up using. 175g DT+Sump.

yah, that does take some time to settle out and grow the bacterial population big enough to really see quick changes in ammonia. I wish i had a 175...lol that is awesome and good luck!

Red_Beard · Mar 22, 2023

MoshJosh said:
Definitely interested. How will you be lighting cycling tank?

The cycling tank will be lit with a 39 inch AI Grow bar.

dedragon · Mar 22, 2023

I would increase to at least 2 bars, coralline algae like a good amount of light

dkelley · Mar 22, 2023

Red_Beard said:
i

yah, that does take some time to settle out and grow the bacterial population big enough to really see quick changes in ammonia. I wish i had a 175...lol that is awesome and good luck!

It's 140g display with a 35g sump. That's a decent difference in size but still not to bad.

Looking forward to this.

Red_Beard · Mar 22, 2023

dedragon said:
I would increase to at least 2 bars, coralline algae like a good amount of light

one will have to do, at least until i get it into the new tank. two was not in the budget for cycling rock, lol. i do have a 24 inch 2 bulb t5 i can add should 1 Grow not be enough.

dedragon · Mar 22, 2023

should be fine to start off growth with just one, but thinking it could be a bit faster with the extra light. I would just throw on the t5, might as well if you already have it. You might even need to start dosing 2 part so stay up on alk, calcium and good luck

Red_Beard · Mar 22, 2023

dedragon said:
should be fine to start off growth with just one, but thinking it could be a bit faster with the extra light. I would just throw on the t5, might as well if you already have it. You might even need to start dosing 2 part so stay up on alk, calcium and good luck

Thank you! i hope it grows quick enough for 2 part lol. i did order another set, my last set is about gone.

Red_Beard · Mar 22, 2023

So, UPS says that the AI light is due tomorrow, and the purple/pink helix is due today, so it may even spend a day in natural light. Once that all gets delivered i will start a new thread with pictures and explanations of things/ water parameters and whatever else you all are curious about.