Cycling tank

[natalie_0612]

Hello all!
I just joined today and I'm hoping to get some advice on cycling and what to do next. I know that I need to have patience which unfortunatly I lack in that department. Once upon a time I had a 75 gallon tank but it was pretty much monitored by my ex fiance although I did pick up a few things on the way, for the most part he had all the knowledge about starting and maintaining a saltwater tank( I just pretty much picked out the pretty corals to add to the tank )The tank I have now is much smaller and unfortunatly I dont have the room for a sump, I'm going to try to make due with the two hang on filters I have. For lights I have a set of maxspect razor leds and a vortech mp40. The tank itself is only 30 gallons with about 2 inches of live sand and about 30lbs of live rock. All except one piece of the live rock was given to me by an acquaintance who has had their tank running for about 8 years. The live rock from my local pet store started off white but it now has brown dusty looking algae on it as of today. The other live rock from the 8 year old tank has some purple algae on it. I've been checking my levels every other day and on monday my specific gravity was 1.024 according to my refractometer, pH was 8.2, ammonia was 0, nitrate and nitrite were both 0 as well. Today when I checked my levels the specific gravity was 1.024, temp was 77° F, pH was 8.2, ammonia looked like it was 0.5 and the nitrate and nitrite were both 0. I also started to test the phosphate level today and it also read 0. My question is, does it sound like my tank is in the middle of cycling? Can I start adding a cuc once the ammonia level goes down? When should I do my first water change? Any advice would be great.
TIA- A NOVICE FISH KEEPER ❤

 

[Goomba_BC]

Welcome to reef2reef.
I was impatient as well. A fellow reefer suggested Prodibio start-up which accelerated the cycling process for me.
Good luck.

 

[Silent]

Welcome to our little gathering spot.

 

[Daniel92481]

Welcome to R2R! Yea, sounds like you might be in the middle. If you’re seeing brown dusty stuff (diatoms), you should be able to add a CUC. I would do your first water change once you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, with a positive reading for nitrates.

 

[stanleo]

How are you adding ammonia to the tank? With live rock from an established tank your cycle should move along fairly well and I would add a cuc when you start to see a good amount of green algae. Turn the whites on and leave the blues off and that brown stuff might look green. (that shocked the crap out of me) If it doesn't then it is likely diatoms. Perfectly normal and expected in a new tank.

What test kits are you using for each parameter? When you see 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite and some nitrate you should be cycled. Do a water change and you can put one small fish in there. Continue testing, wait a month and if those numbers are stable, add another fish. keep doing this until you are where you want to be with fish. Please pay attention to the tank size requirements for the fish you want. If you are planning for corals, wait till you go through all the ugly phases, ie green algae and brown algae and cyano. Took mine about 4 months till I was comfortable adding a leather and green star polyps. The more patient you are at this stage, the better your tank will be in a year.

Welcome to the forum and good luck!

 

[MERKEY]

Welcome!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Welcome to the R2R community and glad you joined us. You did two great things already !!
- You recognized the need for patience
- You’re asking questions

Were here to help and will help you enjoy this exciting concept of reef keeping .
A turkey baster should loosen some of this brown matter.

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

Welcome to R2R where you will meet lots of darling people. From your post I wouldn’t really say your a newbie lol but bob is definitely your uncle.

Personally it’s a question that you may get 40 answers on. On my 240 gallon I let it cycle for six weeks and made sure parameters were good. Then I added a pretty good cuc, but I also started with 200 pounds of live rock and 200 pounds of live sand. So I went through all three uglies but it’s normal and every tank is different. I didn’t add any fish until about 90 days in, which at the time my Naso tang from my other tank. I then added my blue hippo, etc all the next day to avoid a pecking order. But again each tank varies so some take awhile some take 30 days etc. I would not suggest adding chemicals to speed it up, I would suggest maybe using a product called seed, which can help the good bacteria cycle.

I wouldn’t worry about skimming right now because it’s not going to have anything to combine with. You definitely want 0 ammonia before you do anything. Having 0 phosphates and 0 nitrates is not ideal either. I definitely would suggest you actually plan what fish and corals you want prior. This will determine what level of nitrates etc to keep. Keep in mind and this is from my own tank, (again each tank varies greatly), but if you start your tank with for example 20ppm nitrates and .25 phosphates and start bring coral in, they will adapt to it. The same goes if you run 2ppm nitrates and .10 phosphates etc the corals will adapt. You want consistent water parameters, 1.025 I’d say is better for a mix reef etc. Also if you run low nutrients keep alk around 7-8 max, cal around 420. If you run higher nutrients you can push alk to 8-9 and calcium 440-460 ish. Keep magnesium around 1390.

Resist using chemicals to solve problems, it’s a bad idea. Yes I use nopox to keep my nitrates low, but for example my tank is no officially addicted to it. I highly suggest you Find the problem then solve the problem naturally if possible.

Yes there needs to be a very slow speed in this hobby. Take time to read and learn about things. I even blame myself for things I should absolutely know by this time and some one tells me and I am like well now I need to polish up on this or that because I want the best for my tank. I have had very little issues with disease until recently and I have to (panic lol and come here which is great).

Your lights are more than good enough to grow whatever you want. The mp40 will work but I would turn it down, that’s a bit much for that size of tank. I would get a skimmer that can easily handle a heavy bioload and still hangs on the back. Two if necessary and I highly suggest a uv steralizer.

Touching on the last part of your post I personally (this is just me) wouldn’t do a water change. It’s too new and your getting rid of some of that good bacteria that you just created. I would probably add seed first to see if that drops your ammonia, if not you could wait a tad longer and see what happens, but you can also use prime to neutralize it. If you used only 2 live rocks to start your tank and the other dry, it’s gonna have some long ugly phases and you may have an issue with algae further down the road with those base rocks. Again try not to use chemicals, (I don’t consider prim a chemical per say), but again let the tank sort itself out. Another common thing is what works lol For example my tank technically is 2 years old roughly but I just moved 60 days ago and had to set it up again. (By the way moving a tank really really is such a painful experience I don’t suggest it specifically if your over 200 gallon tank lol). Before I broke it down I was starting to have some issues with hair algae. Because I had to use about 80 gallons of new water and sand bed was all stirred up etc I added seed to help my existing bacteria stay there. In the process it wiped out all my green hair alage (which wasn’t much), but it worked Well, and other corals in my tank started to bounce back faster. Will this product do the same for you, possibly, but it may also be a demise. get to know your tank and know what normal for it looks like.

this is a hobby and there are so many ways to be successful at it. Some spend lots of money on brand items and super neat corals etc. others spend hardly any, and my point is, you don’t have to do either, all you have to do is create the tank you want. If you choose to spend tons of money well okay, and if not okay the only thing that matters is you like your tank. I definitely can’t wait to see pics of it and updates on it as well.

cheers
Sarah

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello,

Welcome to R2R where you will meet lots of darling people. From your post I wouldn’t really say your a newbie lol but bob is definitely your uncle.

Personally it’s a question that you may get 40 answers on. On my 240 gallon I let it cycle for six weeks and made sure parameters were good. Then I added a pretty good cuc, but I also started with 200 pounds of live rock and 200 pounds of live sand. So I went through all three uglies but it’s normal and every tank is different. I didn’t add any fish until about 90 days in, which at the time my Naso tang from my other tank. I then added my blue hippo, etc all the next day to avoid a pecking order. But again each tank varies so some take awhile some take 30 days etc. I would not suggest adding chemicals to speed it up, I would suggest maybe using a product called seed, which can help the good bacteria cycle.

I wouldn’t worry about skimming right now because it’s not going to have anything to combine with. You definitely want 0 ammonia before you do anything. Having 0 phosphates and 0 nitrates is not ideal either. I definitely would suggest you actually plan what fish and corals you want prior. This will determine what level of nitrates etc to keep. Keep in mind and this is from my own tank, (again each tank varies greatly), but if you start your tank with for example 20ppm nitrates and .25 phosphates and start bring coral in, they will adapt to it. The same goes if you run 2ppm nitrates and .10 phosphates etc the corals will adapt. You want consistent water parameters, 1.025 I’d say is better for a mix reef etc. Also if you run low nutrients keep alk around 7-8 max, cal around 420. If you run higher nutrients you can push alk to 8-9 and calcium 440-460 ish. Keep magnesium around 1390.

Resist using chemicals to solve problems, it’s a bad idea. Yes I use nopox to keep my nitrates low, but for example my tank is no officially addicted to it. I highly suggest you Find the problem then solve the problem naturally if possible.

Yes there needs to be a very slow speed in this hobby. Take time to read and learn about things. I even blame myself for things I should absolutely know by this time and some one tells me and I am like well now I need to polish up on this or that because I want the best for my tank. I have had very little issues with disease until recently and I have to (panic lol and come here which is great).

Your lights are more than good enough to grow whatever you want. The mp40 will work but I would turn it down, that’s a bit much for that size of tank. I would get a skimmer that can easily handle a heavy bioload and still hangs on the back. Two if necessary and I highly suggest a uv steralizer.

Touching on the last part of your post I personally (this is just me) wouldn’t do a water change. It’s too new and your getting rid of some of that good bacteria that you just created. I would probably add seed first to see if that drops your ammonia, if not you could wait a tad longer and see what happens, but you can also use prime to neutralize it. If you used only 2 live rocks to start your tank and the other dry, it’s gonna have some long ugly phases and you may have an issue with algae further down the road with those base rocks. Again try not to use chemicals, (I don’t consider prim a chemical per say), but again let the tank sort itself out. Another common thing is what works lol For example my tank technically is 2 years old roughly but I just moved 60 days ago and had to set it up again. (By the way moving a tank really really is such a painful experience I don’t suggest it specifically if your over 200 gallon tank lol). Before I broke it down I was starting to have some issues with hair algae. Because I had to use about 80 gallons of new water and sand bed was all stirred up etc I added seed to help my existing bacteria stay there. In the process it wiped out all my green hair alage (which wasn’t much), but it worked Well, and other corals in my tank started to bounce back faster. Will this product do the same for you, possibly, but it may also be a demise. get to know your tank and know what normal for it looks like.

this is a hobby and there are so many ways to be successful at it. Some spend lots of money on brand items and super neat corals etc. others spend hardly any, and my point is, you don’t have to do either, all you have to do is create the tank you want. If you choose to spend tons of money well okay, and if not okay the only thing that matters is you like your tank. I definitely can’t wait to see pics of it and updates on it as well.

cheers
Sarah

Very Good advice Sarah !!!!

 

[Mikedawg]

Hello all!
I just joined today and I'm hoping to get some advice on cycling and what to do next. I know that I need to have patience which unfortunatly I lack in that department. Once upon a time I had a 75 gallon tank but it was pretty much monitored by my ex fiance although I did pick up a few things on the way, for the most part he had all the knowledge about starting and maintaining a saltwater tank( I just pretty much picked out the pretty corals to add to the tank )The tank I have now is much smaller and unfortunatly I dont have the room for a sump, I'm going to try to make due with the two hang on filters I have. For lights I have a set of maxspect razor leds and a vortech mp40. The tank itself is only 30 gallons with about 2 inches of live sand and about 30lbs of live rock. All except one piece of the live rock was given to me by an acquaintance who has had their tank running for about 8 years. The live rock from my local pet store started off white but it now has brown dusty looking algae on it as of today. The other live rock from the 8 year old tank has some purple algae on it. I've been checking my levels every other day and on monday my specific gravity was 1.024 according to my refractometer, pH was 8.2, ammonia was 0, nitrate and nitrite were both 0 as well. Today when I checked my levels the specific gravity was 1.024, temp was 77° F, pH was 8.2, ammonia looked like it was 0.5 and the nitrate and nitrite were both 0. I also started to test the phosphate level today and it also read 0. My question is, does it sound like my tank is in the middle of cycling? Can I start adding a cuc once the ammonia level goes down? When should I do my first water change? Any advice would be great.
TIA- A NOVICE FISH KEEPER ❤

Yep, looks like your cycle is progressing and soon, when your ammonia and nitrites test 0 and you most probably have 2-5 nitrate and .1 phosphate, you will be ready to add in some cuc (assuming they have enough to eat) and do a small water change. I think many reefers would add some bacteria in a bottle to speed up the cycling process, enhance biodiversity, etc., at this point if you haven't already done so.
Seems like you're off to a good start and you might want to begin making out a fish/coral/invert list; sure many on this blog would be glad to share their experiences and opinions as to compatibility, interesting behavior, etc.

 

[Sabellafella]

Hello all!
I just joined today and I'm hoping to get some advice on cycling and what to do next. I know that I need to have patience which unfortunatly I lack in that department. Once upon a time I had a 75 gallon tank but it was pretty much monitored by my ex fiance although I did pick up a few things on the way, for the most part he had all the knowledge about starting and maintaining a saltwater tank( I just pretty much picked out the pretty corals to add to the tank )The tank I have now is much smaller and unfortunatly I dont have the room for a sump, I'm going to try to make due with the two hang on filters I have. For lights I have a set of maxspect razor leds and a vortech mp40. The tank itself is only 30 gallons with about 2 inches of live sand and about 30lbs of live rock. All except one piece of the live rock was given to me by an acquaintance who has had their tank running for about 8 years. The live rock from my local pet store started off white but it now has brown dusty looking algae on it as of today. The other live rock from the 8 year old tank has some purple algae on it. I've been checking my levels every other day and on monday my specific gravity was 1.024 according to my refractometer, pH was 8.2, ammonia was 0, nitrate and nitrite were both 0 as well. Today when I checked my levels the specific gravity was 1.024, temp was 77° F, pH was 8.2, ammonia looked like it was 0.5 and the nitrate and nitrite were both 0. I also started to test the phosphate level today and it also read 0. My question is, does it sound like my tank is in the middle of cycling? Can I start adding a cuc once the ammonia level goes down? When should I do my first water change? Any advice would be great.
TIA- A NOVICE FISH KEEPER ❤

Welcome! Since you started with live rock, that gives you some leverage with the whole cycling process. I wouldn't add any shrimps or anything, but a couple of hermits and snails won't hurt. That's if you have algae growing to supply them with food, so I wouldn't go ham on the amount you add.

From advice and personal experience, you can start water changes right away with using live rock. You may have some die off from the setup process, you may not want to have that nasty stuff lingering about. Its also the best routine to get into, so just make sure water changes aren't a hassle.

 

[BayouReefer]

your already getting some great advice.

 

[natalie_0612]

Yep, looks like your cycle is progressing and soon, when your ammonia and nitrites test 0 and you most probably have 2-5 nitrate and .1 phosphate, you will be ready to add in some cuc (assuming they have enough to eat) and do a small water change. I think many reefers would add some bacteria in a bottle to speed up the cycling process, enhance biodiversity, etc., at this point if you haven't already done so.
Seems like you're off to a good start and you might want to begin making out a fish/coral/invert list; sure many on this blog would be glad to share their experiences and opinions as to compatibility, interesting behavior, etc.

Thank you for the great advice . I already have an idea of what I want to put in the tank but I dont know if the fish I want would be happy in such a small tank. To start I think I'll probably put 2 clowns hopefully if all goes well I could start adding the next fish which would take longer to acclimate. I would love to convert either a green spotted puffer or a figure 8 to marine, my ex and I did this in the 75 gal. Ive heard that they can be picky and sometimes take a liking to nipping at the cuc, the one I had in the past was content with blood worms and brine shrimp hopefully if I can add one to this tank he will be happy with the same. Eventually when my tank is more established I would to have a green mandarin, I know they can be tough fish to keep if you dont have enough copepods.
For coral I was thinking of starting with the easiest that I know of, and put a xenia frag in there. If that's successful maybe a Kenya and a toadstool leather and maybe a couple of mushrooms. I dont want to go too crazy with adding corals I want the fish to be happy and have enough room to swim around. I'm trying to stick to the motto less is more.

 

[MERKEY]

Sounds like you have a plan which is a good start!

 

[Mikedawg]

Thank you for the great advice . I already have an idea of what I want to put in the tank but I dont know if the fish I want would be happy in such a small tank. To start I think I'll probably put 2 clowns hopefully if all goes well I could start adding the next fish which would take longer to acclimate. I would love to convert either a green spotted puffer or a figure 8 to marine, my ex and I did this in the 75 gal. Ive heard that they can be picky and sometimes take a liking to nipping at the cuc, the one I had in the past was content with blood worms and brine shrimp hopefully if I can add one to this tank he will be happy with the same. Eventually when my tank is more established I would to have a green mandarin, I know they can be tough fish to keep if you dont have enough copepods.
For coral I was thinking of starting with the easiest that I know of, and put a xenia frag in there. If that's successful maybe a Kenya and a toadstool leather and maybe a couple of mushrooms. I dont want to go too crazy with adding corals I want the fish to be happy and have enough room to swim around. I'm trying to stick to the motto less is more.

For puffers, I think the Figure 8 might be a better choice given its maximum size is around 3" I believe. My experience is that they may become fin nippers especially in a small tank, but are usually easy to feed and care for. I have read different opinions about their compatibility with snails. With so many choices for fish, you might also want to consider something that you haven't kept before - maybe a fish with colors contrasting with your clowns, one that swims in a different part of the tank, has interesting behaviors, etc. Guess I should have said early on that I am a dottyback fan and a purple or neon/Arabian are species you might want to consider.

Your lights will be sufficient for a broad range of corals and I would also suggest you consider some of the beautiful lps which are readily available such as favias, acans, etc. You have had enough experience to give them a try - I would buy coral species that I wanted to keep for a long time and would grow out on the aquascape to give it a more natural look.

Just some thoughts; good luck.

 

[bearsfish]

I am excited to follow your journey. it sounds like you have a great start!!

 

[BeejReef]

Welcome!

quick thought. with that much live rock, don't kill yourself trying to get to 2ppm ammonia, unless you plan on simply dosing it. You can ghost feed til the cows come home and your ammonia will never get that high with fully cycled rock in the tank. You'll just make a nitrate soup

 

[Sarah24!]

Thank you for the great advice . I already have an idea of what I want to put in the tank but I dont know if the fish I want would be happy in such a small tank. To start I think I'll probably put 2 clowns hopefully if all goes well I could start adding the next fish which would take longer to acclimate. I would love to convert either a green spotted puffer or a figure 8 to marine, my ex and I did this in the 75 gal. Ive heard that they can be picky and sometimes take a liking to nipping at the cuc, the one I had in the past was content with blood worms and brine shrimp hopefully if I can add one to this tank he will be happy with the same. Eventually when my tank is more established I would to have a green mandarin, I know they can be tough fish to keep if you dont have enough copepods.
For coral I was thinking of starting with the easiest that I know of, and put a xenia frag in there. If that's successful maybe a Kenya and a toadstool leather and maybe a couple of mushrooms. I dont want to go too crazy with adding corals I want the fish to be happy and have enough room to swim around. I'm trying to stick to the motto less is more.

Hello,

Sounds like you have a well established plan which is a good thing. I’d advise that if your keeping a puffer (they are) typically not reef safe. They would be fine with softies (with what you mentioned), but they may nip at some lps, and definitely sps.

Being female and where my five gallon jugs weigh literally half of me, water changes are kind of a pain to me. I have found that Tonka trucks work great for moving them from point A to B. Another item is try and make it where water changes are done by schedule.

Do to my job, (i work 24 hour shifts), it can take toll on you so I have my tank where I can minimize water changes. With that said, I’d prefer water changes over what I do now, but I have limited time. I also dose and do everything manually. This will be something you can decide on. I trust my self much more than a dosing pump. My system is very basic, and works well, and that will depend on if your tech savvy. Once the tank is going I recommend that you try and keep hands and off and leave it alone as much as possible. I have in my experience the more we mess with it, well usually ends badly, unless it’s action we must take.

So can I ask when do we get to see pics of your amazing tank .

 

[AdamB]

Welcome to R2R! Looks like you have gotten a ton of advice and support ! That’s what I like about this forum . It’s very helpful in not making the same mistakes we made at first in reefing. Very addictive needless to say. Enjoy!