My 140 Gallon Build

[rajkovich207]

IMO I would pull the shrimp now, if you're worried about another cycle let it dot for a week and add a fresh piece of shrimp, let that cycle out remove and let the tank sit like that another week or so. Then you can add your cuc and macro. Again let it hang out a week or so after that. Then you should have a bullet proof cycle and be ready for a fish maybe 2. Then after that I wouldn't add more than one fish every 2 weeks. And remember peaceful fish first aggressive last. I did a similar cycle style and used Dr.Tim's one and only. I messed up and froze Tue cycle but when I got it going again it went very fast, and haven't had a problem since then. Good luck!

 

[rajkovich207]

Sorry I'm on my phone and just reread and found some mistakes lol. If you are worried about another cycle, you can add a fresh shrimp a week or so after you pulled the first one. After ammonia builds up take it out and continue from there. You can also go to ace hardware and get the ace brand janitor strength ammonia and use that. That's what I use. But if you go that route before you buy it shake it real good. If there are bubbles at the top than it has surfactants and those are bad. Also the Tue at the end of my first post should be a the.

 

[zibba]

So another round of tests and Ammonia is almost gone, nitrite is almost gone, and Nitrate is slowly dropping. I'm thinking that in the next 2 weeks I will be ready for something other than the dead shrimp. To that end I have some questions. I want to add some macroalgea, copepods, and some clean up crew before the fish but I'm concerned that there isn't enough waste to support them without the fish. Is there an order to adding these items? Should I have a couple fish first and then the rest? Also with regards to the dead shrimp, when should I remove it...or should I leave it in and let the cuc take care of it?

Well, I'm jealous, your cycle went much faster than mine! I wouldn't go out and by a full blown CUC for your tank for the reasons you stated, but you can go ahead and start with a small CUC along with the macro/pods. I'd add the macro/pods now that your ammonia/nitrite levels are at zero. I'd wait a few more days and add a small CUC (leave the shrimp in, the bacteria and CUC will take care of it). Then, I'd do a water change and add in your first (few) fish. If you have a QT, which I'd recommend, you can probably get the fish started in there now. Have you made a decision on stocking yet?

 

[Jonathan G]

Not sure about stocking yet, I do want a variety so it's going to be a community tank. Probably going to start with some chromis, some cardinalfish, and most likely a hippo tang as I've always wanted one. My wife and son would like a pair of clownfish and my wife really likes flame angels so possibly one of those. I'm also hoping to get a mandarin but I know that will be many months away. I have an assortment of snails and a couple hermits coming next week as well as macroalgae for the refug. Added 4 lbs of live sand late last week and now I have thousands of copepods all over. At least i think they are, they look like grains of rice but much smaller and I see them on the glass, rock and scurrying around the sand. Also my wife finished the canopy and I got it and the lights installed.

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

WoW remarkable job. looks awesome. thats a pretty nice stock list you have going.

 

[Jonathan G]

Been awhile since I've posted an update. First fish and corals are in the tank and things are going well, no major issues. Setup seems to be doing well although I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to change out my light, the 27" maxspect razor just isn't long enough for the tank, thinking about swaping it out for 2 Radions. I've been going slow with adding livestock and so far water params haven't moved at all, except calc which has actually moved up from 440 to 460 in past 2 weeks. Below are some pics.

 

[Jonathan G]

 

[nanoman]

Absolutely gorgeous tank! Can't wait to see how the tank progresses and the corals grow.

 

[Quinn123]

I have the same tank, but with dual overflow made by oceanic

 

[Jonathan G]

Newest Members of the tank, sorry for the bad pics. New Canon camera is coming so hopefully I can get some better closeups. It only took the foxface 2 days to totally inhale all of the ulva I had growing in the display tank. Not a big deal as thats what it was there for but his appetite took me by suprise. The hippo tang could just barely keep up with the new growth.

 

[skinz78]

Nice! I need to get me a Rabbit fish.

 

[Jonathan G]

Thought I'd post some more pics. Pretty much done stocking for now, I still want a mandarin but I'm gonna wait until my pod population has time to really get going. Added lots of coral and I'm going to reposition a lot once my new lights get here. Picked up 2 of the 16" reefbreeders Photons to replace the maxspect. Should be here next week.

 

[Jonathan G]

 

[Jonathan G]

 

[Jonathan G]

 

[mrpillow]

I've never seen a tank of that design before, very cool. And some great looking fish!

 

[Zero Nitrates]

Great tank! I like the shape.

 

[Jonathan G]

Some new pics.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Tank is looking great!

 

[Jonathan G]

Coming up on a year that tank has been running and so far so good. Had a couple of losses over the past year but overall it's been very good. Just re-scaped the left side to add more rock and space for coral. Here are some pics