New 115 gallon tank! cycling in progress

[tropicalreefnewb]

Hi guys, im very new to reefing i live in Indonesia where , i just started cycling my tank, it has been a few days now, used purple up too, let me know what you guys think abt my build!

tank specs:

Dimensions: 1.2metres x 60cm x 60cm
Light: Matrixx Dimtec 6x36 (2blue 2 purple 2 whites)
skimmer: H&S 150 f2001
pump: fluval sp 4 and fluval sp 2
chiller : yes maintained at 24-26 celcius

So far i am cycling the tank for a few days now, added purple up and waiting for the coralline to grow. What do you guys think in terms of reef and fishes to get and the setup! all comments is gladly appreciated thanks!

1. is purple up a good way to promote coralline growth?
2. My tank seems to be high in phosphate, will this contradict coraline growth ?

 

[KJ]

Welcome to R2R Nice looking tank.

 

[GoVols]

As @KJ said,
Welcome to Reef 2 Reef and hope you feel at home.
Your rock scape is truly beautiful.
As far as "Purple Up" goes. It's really just calcium with a binder to help it stick to rock work.

I understand that your new to the hobby and the key is to do your home work and having a lot of patients.
Some reefs have a ton of Coralline and some do not. You need to at least seed it with a piece of live rock that already has it.
Some reefers shut their pumps off for awhile and scrape coralline into dusting's and let it settle in their dry rock. Light also plays a factor if coralline grows or not.

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If it were myself I would not be worried about coralline at this point. I'd just focus on getting a really good deep and complete cycle.
I would not use Purple UP, it's just calcium. I would use a complete dosing system like the Red Sea "Reef Foundation" program.

After the cycle you need to test for and strive to keep these parameters in balance and these are the test kits that I like.
Calcium - Red Sea Pro
Alk - Hanna alk checker
Mag - Salifert
Nitrates - Salifert
Phosphates - Hanna Phos. checker

Here's a water chemistry guide that maybe helpful for your success.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

Regards, GoVols

 

[dbl]

Welcome to R2R. As said above, patience is key in this hobby. The coralline can be seeded with a piece of live rock and will come with time. Maybe even in spots you don't want it...lol.

 

[tropicalreefnewb]

Hi guys thank you for all your response, this helps alot!

currently im cycling my tank without a skimmer and a refugium. So water only passes through my filter which has Bacteria rocks and a cotton filtration (i have used 4 vials of artificial bacteria on it though).

I plan to have the skimmer and refugium set up next week. The current cycle has lasted for around 6 days and here are my readings which are quite weird???!:

Alk: 6.888
Salinity: 1.025
Calc: Over 500 (Might be due to purple up which i have been dosing 1 cap every other day)
PH: 8
Nitrate: 25 (funny cause i have no living organisms yet, might also be due to not having my skimmer installed?)
Phosphate: 1.16 (Might be due to a lack of skimmer? and i have been using mostly dead rock ??)

Tank has shown some coralline algae growth in a few locations.

 

[Brew12]

Nice looking setup!

Odds are that the phosphates are leaching out of your rock. Another possibility is that there was plant growth or other organic matter that had decayed inside the rock and is breaking down. That would explain both the NO3 and PO4 numbers.

Adding a skimmer should help with that. It would be very surprising if you had coralline algae growing already. I've never used purple up so it may work better than I would expect, but normally it takes at least a few months for coralline to take hold in a tank.

 

[GoVols]

Nice looking setup!

Odds are that the phosphates are leaching out of your rock. Another possibility is that there was plant growth or other organic matter that had decayed inside the rock and is breaking down. That would explain both the NO3 and PO4 numbers.

Adding a skimmer should help with that. It would be very surprising if you had coralline algae growing already. I've never used purple up so it may work better than I would expect, but normally it takes at least a few months for coralline to take hold in a tank.

Brew,
I've used "Purple Up" in the past years with no complaints. It does have a chalky feel that makes in bind to rock and glass and when you dose it you can see the film on your glass. Instead of just dosing to the bottle per gallon it would be better to dose it to your actual cal. intake with good test kits.

I can't say it's better than regular 2 part cal but there could be something to it in the way it binds to your rock work with the film layer.

Thanks, Freddie

 

[Brew12]

Brew,
I've used "Purple Up" in the past years with no complaints. It does have a chalky feel that makes in bind to rock and glass and when you dose it you can see the film on your glass. Instead of just dosing to the bottle per gallon it would be better to dose it to your actual cal. intake with good test kits.

I can't say it's better than regular 2 part cal but there could be something to it in the way it binds to your rock work with the film layer.

Thanks, Freddie

When you have used it have you seen coralline algae in a tank under a month old? That just seems a bit early to me but again, I haven't used the product.

 

[GoVols]

When you have used it have you seen coralline algae in a tank under a month old? That just seems a bit early to me but again, I haven't used the product.

I have not.
When setting up a new reef I only focus on the nitrogen cycle and I personally do not focus on the big 3 until the cycle is complete.
I do not put coralline growth and a very young reef in my thought process.
With untreated dry rock, I'd expect the ugly's coming from leaching before coralline.

 

[tropicalreefnewb]

Okay guys, its been awhile since i posted, around 4 mths im guessing. Well so far i have been adding and adding corals, seems like an addiction now. I'll post a few images of my tank a few days ago, layout might change again tomorrow though, have 3 new acantophyllia coming in. Let me know which layout you guys like best ! Please follow my insagram @chasingcorals for daily update on my tank appreciate all comments and recommendations!