waterbox 15gal peninsula - cycle thoughts

[melbournedan]

WaterBox 15gal Peninsula running for just over a week, bare bottom, with dry Liferock branch’s, half a box of nano tech bio spheres (1/2 a kilogram), Dr tim’s one and only, ammonium chloride keeping ammonia at 2ppm, 27-28 degrees celsius, salinity at 1.020-1.021. how are these results looking ? anything i should be doing differently ?

 

[blaxsun]

The nitrate is doing fine - not sure what the recent ammonia spike is. What are you using for testing?

 

[melbournedan]

The nitrate is doing fine - not sure what the recent ammonia spike is. What are you using for testing?

using API for ammonia, not too interested in getting another ammonia testing kit, as long as i know roughly where its sitting. the spikes from 1ppm to 2ppm is when ive added more ammonium chloride drops. should i not add any more until it drops completely to 0? thanks

 

[blaxsun]

API test kits are suspect, so I can't really advise.

 

[s1oliver]

Your cycle is started so I wouldn't add any more ammonia. API test kits are suspect but for ammonia should be good enough to show you that it's dropping. I used API for that purpose and it was fine but wouldn't recommend them for any other tests and would go with Hanna, Salifert or Red Sea instead. I cycled both of my tanks by dosing the ammonia for a week and was able to cycle them in 3 - 4 weeks. After that I added a clownfish to a 13.5 gallon and a pair of them to a 25 gallon which are all still doing fine 3 years later.

 

[melbournedan]

Your cycle is started so I wouldn't add any more ammonia. API test kits are suspect but for ammonia should be good enough to show you that it's dropping. I used API for that purpose and it was fine but wouldn't recommend them for any other tests and would go with Hanna, Salifert or Red Sea instead. I cycled both of my tanks by dosing the ammonia for a week and was able to cycle them in 3 - 4 weeks. After that I added a clownfish to a 13.5 gallon and a pair of them to a 25 gallon which are all still doing fine 3 years later.

using hanna for nitrate, planning to grab the others once the tank is a little more settled, should i let the ammonia drop to zero, do a water change, then add fish?

 

[LandLockedJones]

Now I’m no expert. Is there a reason the salinity is so low around 1.020-1.021?

 

[melbournedan]

Now I’m no expert. Is there a reason the salinity is so low around 1.020-1.021?

i am using dr tims one and only, apparently the bacteria grow and populate quicker in a lower salinity, according to a dr tim podcast, but im no expert either.

 

[s1oliver]

using hanna for nitrate, planning to grab the others once the tank is a little more settled, should i let the ammonia drop to zero, do a water change, then add fish?

I'd let the ammonia drop to zero and stay there for a few days and do a water change then you should be good to add a fish. I'd also bring the salinity up to 1.024 - 1.025 when you do your water change. Depending on the fish you want to add you may need to put a lid on the tank. I always use one just to be safe but there's certainly a lot of people that go without one with no issues. I have used clear view and kraken reef lids and been happy with both so either will work if you want to check them out.

 

[melbournedan]

I'd let the ammonia drop to zero and stay there for a few days and do a water change then you should be good to add a fish. I'd also bring the salinity up to 1.024 - 1.025 when you do your water change. Depending on the fish you want to add you may need to put a lid on the tank. I always use one just to be safe but there's certainly a lot of people that go without one with no issues. I have used clear view and kraken reef lids and been happy with both so either will work if you want to check them out.

yep thats the plan. just not sure how long after ammonia hits zero i should wait before doing the waterchange. i have a kraken lid on the way! they look like a pretty neat lid. ill be running 1 ai prime over it. do you think saxby or ab+ on a lowered percentage would work over a tank this small ?

 

[s1oliver]

yep thats the plan. just not sure how long after ammonia hits zero i should wait before doing the waterchange. i have a kraken lid on the way! they look like a pretty neat lid. ill be running 1 ai prime over it. do you think saxby or ab+ on a lowered percentage would work over a tank this small ?

You'll be happy with the kraken lid, very sharp looking. I can't comment on the AI prime since I've only run Kessils to this point but there's plenty of folks on here running them that could give you good advice. When I set up my lights initially I reached out to Kessil and they replied with recommended settings and schedule based on my setup. I'm sure you could reach out to AI and they would do the same. Good luck with your tank, that's a nice setup.

 

[LandLockedJones]

i am using dr tims one and only, apparently the bacteria grow and populate quicker in a lower salinity, according to a dr tim podcast, but im no expert either.

I figured there must be a reason haha, have not used dr Tim’s though so that makes sense.

 

[jfoahs04]

yep thats the plan. just not sure how long after ammonia hits zero i should wait before doing the waterchange. i have a kraken lid on the way! they look like a pretty neat lid. ill be running 1 ai prime over it. do you think saxby or ab+ on a lowered percentage would work over a tank this small ?

Once you get nitrate readings and simultaneously get zeros on nitrite and ammonia, you are essentially "cycled." Personally, I like to "test" the cycle by adding a little bit of food and testing over the next few days to make sure ammonia readings stay at zero.

I have a similarly sized tank (13.5 EVO) and also have the AI Prime 16HD and the Kraken lid. I love the lid, and I'm sure you will too. The Prime is great too, but lighting intensity depends entirely on what you plan on growing, your aquascape, and how high above the water you mount your light. On my EVO, the light is 8 inches above the water running an increased intensity version of Saxby. I have Acros and SPS in the top 1/3 of the tank and want a PAR range between 250-400 up there. I needed to lower the light and increase the intensity to get that. But if you are just doing softies and LPS with lower rockwork, the default Saxby (or even a reduced intensity version) should be perfectly fine. Based on your rockwork and light placement (looks like it's at least 11 or 12 inches above the water), I think you'd be fine with unmodified Saxby (but start with a 30 day acclimation at about 60%). When I ran unmodified at 10 inches above the water, I was getting 60 PAR at the bottom middle of the tank (less toward the corners), and only about 175 at the very top of the rockwork. There's not much in the softie/LPS world that couldn't deal with that range.

 

[melbournedan]

Once you get nitrate readings and simultaneously get zeros on nitrite and ammonia, you are essentially "cycled." Personally, I like to "test" the cycle by adding a little bit of food and testing over the next few days to make sure ammonia readings stay at zero.

I have a similarly sized tank (13.5 EVO) and also have the AI Prime 16HD and the Kraken lid. I love the lid, and I'm sure you will too. The Prime is great too, but lighting intensity depends entirely on what you plan on growing, your aquascape, and how high above the water you mount your light. On my EVO, the light is 8 inches above the water running an increased intensity version of Saxby. I have Acros and SPS in the top 1/3 of the tank and want a PAR range between 250-400 up there. I needed to lower the light and increase the intensity to get that. But if you are just doing softies and LPS with lower rockwork, the default Saxby (or even a reduced intensity version) should be perfectly fine. Based on your rockwork and light placement (looks like it's at least 11 or 12 inches above the water), I think you'd be fine with unmodified Saxby (but start with a 30 day acclimation at about 60%). When I ran unmodified at 10 inches above the water, I was getting 60 PAR at the bottom middle of the tank (less toward the corners), and only about 175 at the very top of the rockwork. There's not much in the softie/LPS world that couldn't deal with that range.

nice one. thanks for the tips on the lighting. i might look at lowering it a touch. the plan is a BTA once the tank is ready for one.