Hybrid Ken
Active Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2019
- Messages
- 120
- Reaction score
- 213
A good day to all. I have been keeping fish for 40 some odd years and reefs for 35 or better years now. My last tank was a 125 gallon reef with a plenum that I had up for many many years, then life happens and a coast to coast move occurs and I had to leave two beautiful and fully established tanks behind (the 125 reef and a 110 fresh) knowing that it would be a long time before I could set them up again. Lets face it, moving a big tank is a pain and cross country even worse.
So here I am again starting over and amazed at the leaps the tech has taken with lighting (I had VHO and metal halides), pumps, dosing and even the tanks themselves. I am a firm believer in reading up and asking questions and knowing that there is more then one way to achieve a desired result and that each case/person has a way of doing things. That being said with some of the new tech and new livestock available to us I will be doing a lot of research on some things.
Now onto the tank.....I am currently in the first few weeks of a fishless cycle of an office 24 gallon rear sump tank. It has Carib Sea Life Rock with Carib Sea Hawaiian Black substrate. I plan on it being a mixed reef starting with s few softies at about the 4 month mark and progressing from there if things look good.
The method I have had great success with the cycle is to act like its a living fully stocked tank in the aspects of good habits. I have put in bacteria and a ammonia source (piece of shrimp) and pretty much let things go with daily top off of the tank and salinity check. Weekly PH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate checks and even though it might increase cycle time a bit a 6 gallon water change. No lights on at this time and normally I wont turn them on until I hit about the 3 or 4 month mark and only if the nitrates are low enough I don't have to be to concerned about an algae explosion. Fish go in at the 1 1/2 to 2 month mark if the water parameters are good and from there the first corals a few weeks after I start the lights on the intended schedule. This has led to a very short ugly stage and on two occasions I completely passed the ugly stage but had to fight to get nitrates up to support coral growth.
Well here goes another journey with a tank. Updates to follow on both the success and the oh crap that didn't come out the way I exspected.
So here I am again starting over and amazed at the leaps the tech has taken with lighting (I had VHO and metal halides), pumps, dosing and even the tanks themselves. I am a firm believer in reading up and asking questions and knowing that there is more then one way to achieve a desired result and that each case/person has a way of doing things. That being said with some of the new tech and new livestock available to us I will be doing a lot of research on some things.
Now onto the tank.....I am currently in the first few weeks of a fishless cycle of an office 24 gallon rear sump tank. It has Carib Sea Life Rock with Carib Sea Hawaiian Black substrate. I plan on it being a mixed reef starting with s few softies at about the 4 month mark and progressing from there if things look good.
The method I have had great success with the cycle is to act like its a living fully stocked tank in the aspects of good habits. I have put in bacteria and a ammonia source (piece of shrimp) and pretty much let things go with daily top off of the tank and salinity check. Weekly PH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate checks and even though it might increase cycle time a bit a 6 gallon water change. No lights on at this time and normally I wont turn them on until I hit about the 3 or 4 month mark and only if the nitrates are low enough I don't have to be to concerned about an algae explosion. Fish go in at the 1 1/2 to 2 month mark if the water parameters are good and from there the first corals a few weeks after I start the lights on the intended schedule. This has led to a very short ugly stage and on two occasions I completely passed the ugly stage but had to fight to get nitrates up to support coral growth.
Well here goes another journey with a tank. Updates to follow on both the success and the oh crap that didn't come out the way I exspected.
