Tips for cycling my tank

[Tom McCoy]

In a reef tank the rock is your biological filtration so the only need for a HOB/canister would be to run mechanical/chemical, and that is only if you don'the have a sumo to run filter socks or reactors to run media. Some people run filters with no problem, some swear they are the worst. I have never used one on my reef so I don't have any experience, but I would say the majority goes without.

No space to run a sump but I would like to get a hang on the back protein skimmer. Any good quality skimmers come in mind?

 

[arkareefo]

Just add fish food weekly and keep testing the parameters.. Hopefully the tank would get cycled after a month...but be sure to add a fish which is Hardy when first stocking your tank as ammonia spikes may occur...

 

[Tom McCoy]

In a reef tank the rock is your biological filtration so the only need for a HOB/canister would be to run mechanical/chemical, and that is only if you don'the have a sumo to run filter socks or reactors to run media. Some people run filters with no problem, some swear they are the worst. I have never used one on my reef so I don't have any experience, but I would say the majority goes without.

No room for a sump but I would like to get a good hang on the back protein skimmer. Any suggestions

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Plus 1 on a shrimp from the deli

 

[arkareefo]

Ya the hob is a good choice..but if you are looking for a Reef tank then I would not suggest a hob..rather go for a sump unless it is Reef octopus or bubble Magus hob skimmer

 

[brandon429]

Ty
I got all that from a really talented reefer from nano reef.com named Mr A

He doesn't post any more but I knew to absorb his posts quickly by certain things he would say and write

Turns out he worked at woods hole oceanography as an oceanic microbe specialist it was lucky times to converse w him for me. Changed the way I saw microbes and it freed up my tank care habits as the direct benefit

Withholding feed will modulate a bac colony/density but a basal number will always remain if hydrated and not subject to extremes. At that point, the excess surface area we all use is the safety buffer, we run areas vastly larger than needed for our bioload

 

[Ty Hamatake]

No room for a sump but I would like to get a good hang on the back protein skimmer. Any suggestions

I had a Reef Octopus on my old 60 gallon and loved it. I think it was the classic 100.

 

[DaltoniousMax]

Excellent info and links, thanks for the posts! Since I have rocks from group A (dry rock/acid-bathed Pukani), and no quick access to a bottle of Dr.Tims but a freezer full of shrimp, I'm going with the shrimp method. I've got my shrimp on a hook and fishing line wafting in the current... err currently Is there a better way to go about this method? i figure if I don't want it all to rot in there I can pull it out easily.
Extra info:
*Goal* is a reef tank with ~4 fish, but mostly corals
24 gal JBJ nano cube (AIO setup, filter/bioballs in back)
~15lbs of dry rock, bleached for 24 hrs, and given a muratic acid bath.
20lbs Caribsea live sand
At day four of cycle, but realized I needed to introduce ammonia at the start of this thread, so... day 1?
+1 on the protein filter discussion, a sump may be in my future so if there is a HOB that would transfer to a sump effectively that would be awesome.

Ps- I have built a pallet wood stand and canopy (~$10) for my jbj nano cube and retrofitted the lights into a new canopy, so a HOB is now a viable option for sump/protein skimmer.

 

[DaltoniousMax]

Ok quick question about my tank cycle, I'm going to sorta hijack/bump your thread [Tom McCoy] since you were at about the same point in your cycle as me with a similar size tank and you may be able to help.

I'm about 2 weeks into my fishless cycle. I used the piece of shrimp method to spike my ammonia and added bio-spira to help kick-start my bacteria.

Everything went the way it was suppose to, and now according to my last test my ammonia is near zero, nitrites are pretty low, but nitrates are super high and my ph is dropping.

I hadn't done a water change until this test was done and did a quick one with the water I had available (~2.5 gal) as soon as I did this last test.

My nitrates are still really high (~50- 80 ppm), but slightly better. I'm thinking I need to get more RO water first thing tomorrow and do another, more significant water change.

1. Should this help get my cycle back were it needs to be?
2. Assuming I get this under control, how often should I do water changes going forward? How often should I ghost feed?

Thank you for your help! Any advice is appreciated!

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

The key to this hobby is patients your cycle is fine. Once ammonia and nitrites hit zero water changes should be done biweekly 20% or 10% weekly. This will keep nutrients down and nitrates. Your next phase will be followed by diatom's brown algae. all over rocks glass and sand once the silicates are used up they will die back then green hair algae comes to play. Usually I get the CUC( clean up crew) right when you start to see the green hair algae.

 

[DaltoniousMax]

Thank you for the quick reply, I can sleep easy now. I've noticed the brown stuff starting to form on my rocks.
I'm trying to force myself to be patient this go-around but my past disasters have happened almost overnight.
Thank you again!

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Diatoms last a week to forever depending if your using tap water with silicates in the water or Rodi water.

 

[DaltoniousMax]

I've been doing the 5 gal purchase from the machine outside the grocery store. Its Ro but doesn't say anything about DI from what I can tell. Hopefully that takes care of silicates? it has to be better than tap water. Hopefully that will work until I set up my own system.

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

I'm sure you can go to there Web site and find out whats in the water.

 

[Tom McCoy]

I have been feeding my tank daily and added bio spira to help with the bacteria and my ph is steady at 8.2 but when I first added bio spira which was 4 days ago I was reading nitrite and nitrate at low levels and now nothing. I have a brown Alagae growing on the glass too. Just going to keep up with 20% water changes every week. I do have one question. I would like so add more substrate but would adding more now put me behind in the cycle because I've been reading it could kill the already established bacteria.

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Brown algae or diatoms are good it's a sign your almost there. Diatoms feed off silicates once depleted green hair algae is next your cuc will take care of that. Next possible cyano bacteria. About adding the sand I would not suspect putting more sand will hurt bacteria. if you mix the Sands but yes it will feed diatoms. Which will cause your full cycle to take longer so if your going to do it do it now.

 

[40B Knasty]

Throw in a piece of raw shrimp. Pull out after nitrates present. When ammonia and nitrites are gone you are good to go.

That is exactly what I got for a tip from 2 people I ONLY trust. One is the most honest LFS owner and the other a friend. Combined 42 years of experience between the two of them. The shrimp will float. So hanging out from under a piece of live rock or buried in the sand bed and top showing.

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Kind of right you want the shrimp to spike ammonia then take it out don't leave it in after nitrites start to rise.

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Rubber band the shrimp to a small piece of rock and drop it in the tank

 

[Tom McCoy]

Added another 1 1/2" of sand and everything went well. Mixed the sand together and looks great! Still have the browns alagae all over my live rock. One thing is that my tank is starting to smell horrible. I'm guessing that is normal? I've been keeping up with my weekly water changes and maintaining 8.2 pH with no nitrite or nitrates. Tested for phosphate and getting nothing. Is that expected at this time? One other question I have is would you recommmend any rock from the ocean? Buddy of mine went diving the other day and found a cool opened clam and a rock that was broken off of the reef and gave them to me. I threw both into some RO/DI. Kind of scepticle about putting them straight into my tank. Thanks for all the help everyone!