Cycling aquarium

[Luckyduck]

So macro is in the tank. This is where we are today. Might have to move some around but am going to watch them.over the course of the next week or so and see what happens. Hopefully all will be happy.

Awww dude wow!! That looks so cool! Are you thinking about putting any inhabitants in it? Are you dosing anyting to the algae? I can't remember if we talked about that in earlier posts.

 

[mrjohnreed]

So I will be adding a few inhabitants into the tank little by little. Still putting together a stock list. As far as dosing I am still working on a dosing strategy. Been looking on line to see what seems to be the best method of dosing.

 

[Luckyduck]

So I will be adding a few inhabitants into the tank little by little. Still putting together a stock list. As far as dosing I am still working on a dosing strategy. Been looking on line to see what seems to be the best method of dosing.

So I swear by Brightwell Aquatics. That's all I run and I have A LOT of additives from them. I have over 20 of their products. Might I suggest using Ferrion which is an Iron only supplement and in addition from Borghtwell; Restore which has Zinc, Manganese, Cobalt and a small amount of extra Iron. Iron and Manganese are both very important for the growth and health of Macro algae. There may be more things that are important so if you find anything let me know cuz I love to learn that stuff. You could also try out just one product - ChaetoGro which has Iron & Manganese in it but I've heard it's not nearly as effective as the Ferrion on its own and that's what I chose was the Ferrion over the Chaeto grow. I believe a company ATI makes pure manganese but I really think you would be good getting the products from Brightwell Aquatics. Check out their website. https://www.brightwellaquatics.com/products/ferriont.php I have been told by Randy the Chemist on here (on a Reef2Reef post) that it's pointless to test for Iron and almost impossible to read because it's in our tank in such small amounts but I'm inclined to buy the Hanna Ultra Low Iron tester. I have an Iron test kit from Red Sea which I can read Iron on but it's difficult to read in between colors(if you've ever done a Red Sea test you'll know what I'm talking about). I just like to be able to test what ever I'm dosing so I don't over do it. What's the flow like in your tank? What about Seahorses or pipe fish? That's their natural habitat in Marco algae beds or find a really cool fish that lives in those areas. You pretty much have a specific habitat environment all set up that you could probably find something really cool to put on there! Keep me posted man! And fire away with any questions. I'll let you know if I end up getting the Iron tester from Hanna and how it works if I do. I really wanna help you get that outlet figured out. I have 4 of them and they all work great. It did take me a few trys to get it to work though!

 

[Luckyduck]

So I will be adding a few inhabitants into the tank little by little. Still putting together a stock list. As far as dosing I am still working on a dosing strategy. Been looking on line to see what seems to be the best method of dosing.

Here's a pic of my tank durring the day and my refugium at night when the grow light is on. Hey also what kind of light are you running over that Macro tank? And what size is the tank?

 

[mrjohnreed]

Nice looking tank. I am still going through info on dosing and I had picked up a bottle of Kent's Essential Elements but then I saw it had copper in it and I know that copper.is bad so I haven't dosed with it yet. It was the only thing that my local.fish store had as far as saltwater dosing chemicals. I'm gonna continue to look around for Brightwells or I'll have to order it online. Have you used ARC corralle algae to promote corralline algae?

 

[Luckyduck]

Nice looking tank. I am still going through info on dosing and I had picked up a bottle of Kent's Essential Elements but then I saw it had copper in it and I know that copper.is bad so I haven't dosed with it yet. It was the only thing that my local.fish store had as far as saltwater dosing chemicals. I'm gonna continue to look around for Brightwells or I'll have to order it online. Have you used ARC corralle algae to promote corralline algae?

Thanks for the compliment! Yeah I was reading that in some other posts earlier this weekend about there being copper in certain chemical additives. I believe it kills off the zooaxanthelle which is horrible because that is one of the organisms that helps the coral grow in addition to photosynthesis. Not really sure why they would put copper in any additives. I like Brightwell products because they state right on the bottle exactly what is in them. I have not tried ARC coralline but I know in Brightwel'ls coralline accelerator additive that there is calcium strontium and potassium which are all elements I already dose on their own. That's why I like being able to read what's in any of the additives to make sure I'm not already dosing it as I don't want to double dip. I have ordered all of my Brightwell products either off of Premium Aquatics which is free shipping if you spend over $30 or right from Amazon Prime.

 

[mrjohnreed]

Thanks for the info. Ill be ordering that here shortly.

 

[Luckyduck]

Thanks for the info. Ill be ordering that here shortly.

I really think you'll be pleased with their products. If you ever have any questions about them I just shoot them a message on Facebook Messenger and they always get right back to me. I just added Koralle VM 2 my dosing regiment it has a lot of nutrients, vitamins and antioxidants that I really supposed to help Coral health. I also added Restore which I add right in to my Coral food when I Target feed. Feel free to reach out to me if you ever have any questions as well.