Thank you for your replies!
Let me put things into perspective.
It's been 5 years since I shut down my previous SW tank. I rushed it and things went south pretty quickly. I'm not making the same mistake again.
Last year I went back to basics, setting up a FW planted tank. I thought that if I could do this right, then I could move on to a reef tank. I'm not saying a FW is the same as a reef tank. But I had to start somewhere. Anyway, after a lot of research and posts on forums I set up a 30 l planted tank using Tropica's Aquarium soil and 2-3 pieces of rock; and followed the Dark Start method. I added Tetra SafeStart bacteria with Dr Tim's ammonium chloride, covered it completely and forgot about it. The nitrogen cycle was complete in about 3-4 weeks. But I kept it in the dark for 2 more months. Then I added a light, a few fish, an Amano shrimp and filled it with plants. It cruised through the ugly stage in 3-4 weeks. First came the diatoms, then the hair algae and last was the cyano. All of them disappeared as fast as they came, except for the cyano. It went away in 2 weeks after I added some sediment from a river spring and Fritz 360. Run without any issues after that. Then I wanted to see if the tank could stay balanced without any maintenance. So I abandoned it completely for 8 months. No water changes, except topping up the water, no trimming. I didn't even clean the glass or the canister filter. The only thing I was doing was feeding the fish and dosing CO2 and fertiliser. Agains all odds, the nano tank stayed balanced. The funny thing was that the only time I cleaned the glass was one week after the cycle and it stayed clean ever since. I thought that was a success and I understood a few things about the biology of an aquarium. The most important: an established bacteria population will keep any intruders at bay.
Now I'm trying my luck with a 60 lt (around 50 lt net) reef tank following the same method. I set it up 10 days ago using Caribsea Arag-Alive sand and a combination of Marco and dry/dead reef rock. Hooked up an Aquael heater (75W) with an Inkbirrd ITC-308Wifi, a Seachem Tidal 35 and a Jebao RW-4. I added Fritz Turbostart 900 with Dr Tim's Ammonium Chloride (60 drops) and covered it up, so that's in complete darkness. A week ago a fellow hobbyist gave me a piece of live rock (which I put in the DT) and some bio balls (which I put in the filter). I spotted a couple of Micro Brittle Stars and a Bristle Worm in the rock; and a few Copepods on the DT glass. There was some algae on the rock, but it's gone now.
I'm using a Seachem Ammonia Alert to keep track of the ammonia. These are today's readings:
Salinity: 1.016 (Refractometer)
Temp: 27.5-27.8 C (Inkbird)
pH: 8 (Salifert)
NH3: 0.05 ppm (Seachem Ammonia Alert)
NO3: 50 ppm (Salifert)
I gather the nitrogen cycle is complete. Probably has been for the last couple of days. I'm doing a 50% WC today. I plan to add a Black Molly tomorrow and keep the tank covered for 2 more months. Then add the light, a bunch of soft corals and increase the biodiversity by adding a small amount of sand from the sea or AF Life Source. I'm going to dose phytoplankton and add more copepods, amphipods and isopods as well.
As you've already noticed I'm not rushing it. I do believe though that the only thing that helped keep my FW nano tank balanced, I dare say "pristine", was the sediment from the river, or Fritz 360, or a combination of the two. I live in England and the nearest clean beach is 1,5 hours away by car (according to
this website).
I just thought that, what I did with my FW tank could, up to a point, be applied to my reef tank as well.
Cheers!
