What to expect after your initial cycle?

[BContos]

Hey guys!

We are a little over a month in to our first saltwater tank! We are going to be running a FOWL species specific predator tank so we currently just have inverts in the tank.

We cycled quickly with aquacultered live rock/established live rock from LFS/dry rock and have since been able to keep ammonia at 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate at 10 or less for about 3 weeks now. We are going to give the tank some time to mature before adding anything more.

My question is when peoples tanks are new what were some common things that you saw happen after cycle was complete? For example different kinds of algae growth, etc. Since I am learning as I go I feel like anytime anything even slightly changes I am worried I did something wrong to cause it. So if y'all could give me an idea of some normal things to expect my overly worried mind would appreciate it!

 

[Jekyl]

Hey guys!

We are a little over a month in to our first saltwater tank! We are going to be running a FOWL species specific predator tank so we currently just have inverts in the tank.

We cycled quickly with aquacultered live rock/established live rock from LFS/dry rock and have since been able to keep ammonia at 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate at 10 or less for about 3 weeks now. We are going to give the tank some time to mature before adding anything more.

My question is when peoples tanks are new what were some common things that you saw happen after cycle was complete? For example different kinds of algae growth, etc. Since I am learning as I go I feel like anytime anything even slightly changes I am worried I did something wrong to cause it. So if y'all could give me an idea of some normal things to expect my overly worried mind would appreciate it!

If you added mature live rock you never needed to wait on the typical nitrogen cycle. From here you can expect all sorts of various algae over the next year or so.

 

[BContos]

If you added mature live rock you never needed to wait on the typical nitrogen cycle. From here you can expect all sorts of various algae over the next year or so.

I have diatoms and the start of some variation of hair algae but I was not sure if that is normal

 

[Jekyl]

I have diatoms and the start of some variation of hair algae but I was not sure if that is normal

You will get all sorts of different algae. Just remove what you can by hand, manage parameters and have the right amount of CuC.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey guys!

We are a little over a month in to our first saltwater tank! We are going to be running a FOWL species specific predator tank so we currently just have inverts in the tank.

We cycled quickly with aquacultered live rock/established live rock from LFS/dry rock and have since been able to keep ammonia at 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate at 10 or less for about 3 weeks now. We are going to give the tank some time to mature before adding anything more.

My question is when peoples tanks are new what were some common things that you saw happen after cycle was complete? For example different kinds of algae growth, etc. Since I am learning as I go I feel like anytime anything even slightly changes I am worried I did something wrong to cause it. So if y'all could give me an idea of some normal things to expect my overly worried mind would appreciate it!

Assure readings are consistent.
What test kits are you running ?
With new sand silicates will trigger diatoms referred to as the uglies which is a brown layer. Although normal, also unsightly.

 

[Freenow54]

BRS advice was to leave the lights off for a while now

 

[BContos]

When we started we had around 50 lbs of dry rock, 15 lbs established from LFS and 10lbs aquacultered from KP Aquatics so we still ghost fed to make sure we knew for sure the initial cycling was complete. We currently use API Master Test Kit but now that we are getting further along we have started purchasing Salifert and will eventually switch to the Hannah checkers. Our readings are consistently staying at ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate 10 or less and that's with feeding our inverts to make sure they have enough food since there isn't fish to feed. We didn't buy a light for it- so not to be tempted to turn it on lol- until we had seen a rise and drop in parameters. I will admit once I started getting the inverts I would turn the lights on in the morning and when I got home from work would sit in front of the tank for hours just watching them. So, the lights were on for a week and a half probably more than they should have been. Its my first saltwater tank and I was excited lol once I started noticing the algae growth though I cut them off for a few days and now just turn them on for an hour or two at night and then turn them off.

​

For our CUC (70 gallon DT tank) we have-
1 peppermint shrimp
2 emerald crabs
5 hermit crabs
4 turbo snails
5 astrea snails (from KP wild caught) that only want to hang out on the top of the glass we got last week
2 smaller sand sifting snails that came as hitch hikers
1 conch snail
1 red sea serpent that KP sent me last week

Should I add more?

 

[Jekyl]

When we started we had around 50 lbs of dry rock, 15 lbs established from LFS and 10lbs aquacultered from KP Aquatics so we still ghost fed to make sure we knew for sure the initial cycling was complete. We currently use API Master Test Kit but now that we are getting further along we have started purchasing Salifert and will eventually switch to the Hannah checkers. Our readings are consistently staying at ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate 10 or less and that's with feeding our inverts to make sure they have enough food since there isn't fish to feed. We didn't buy a light for it- so not to be tempted to turn it on lol- until we had seen a rise and drop in parameters. I will admit once I started getting the inverts I would turn the lights on in the morning and when I got home from work would sit in front of the tank for hours just watching them. So, the lights were on for a week and a half probably more than they should have been. Its my first saltwater tank and I was excited lol once I started noticing the algae growth though I cut them off for a few days and now just turn them on for an hour or two at night and then turn them off.

​

For our CUC (70 gallon DT tank) we have-
1 peppermint shrimp
2 emerald crabs
5 hermit crabs
4 turbo snails
5 astrea snails (from KP wild caught) that only want to hang out on the top of the glass we got last week
2 smaller sand sifting snails that came as hitch hikers
1 conch snail
1 red sea serpent that KP sent me last week

Should I add more?

Reefcleaners.org and get the package for like the 20g or 32. Will be more diverse.

 

[BContos]

Reefcleaners.org and get the package for like the 20g or 32. Will be more diverse.

I am planning to go to my LFS tomorrow so I will see what they have available. Its really cold here right now and I had major issues getting my serpent star and snails from UPS I am a "too nice" type of person but when UPS was giving me the run around I lost my crap on that lady lol

 

[Jekyl]

I am planning to go to my LFS tomorrow so I will see what they have available. Its really cold here right now and I had major issues getting my serpent star and snails from UPS I am a "too nice" type of person but when UPS was giving me the run around I lost my crap on that lady lol

Reefcleaners.org won't ship without taking that into account. It will be much cheaper and way more diverse than the LFS. They're worth a look before buying elsewhere.

 

[BContos]

Reefcleaners.org won't ship without taking that into account. It will be much cheaper and way more diverse than the LFS. They're worth a look before buying elsewhere.

Do they do overnight shipping? It looked like 2-3 day shipping when I glanced at it

 

[Freenow54]

Wow I don't have any cleaners in either tank I have other than the ones that came naturally. Maybe the tank is nutrient rich. Don't know. Any other critters appearing other than algae?

 

[BContos]

Wow I don't have any cleaners in either tank I have other than the ones that came naturally. Maybe the tank is nutrient rich. Don't know. Any other critters appearing other than algae?

We have seen a few snails and microstars along with various worms and such!!

 

[BContos]

Reefcleaners.org won't ship without taking that into account. It will be much cheaper and way more diverse than the LFS. They're worth a look before buying elsewhere.

I ordered a package and the ship out Monday!

 

[-XENOMORPH-]

I had the typical diatoms then nasty cyano after. But I will say this... I was skeptical about using phyto to fight them. It totally worked. All Algae issues cleared up 100% in 3 weeks. I used Algae barn and tommys reef phyto. Either one is fine. At least that's what worked for me. Enjoy

 

[BContos]

I had the typical diatoms then nasty cyano after. But I will say this... I was skeptical about using phyto to fight them. It totally worked. All Algae issues cleared up 100% in 3 weeks. I used Algae barn and tommys reef phyto. Either one is fine. At least that's what worked for me. Enjoy

I dose phyto twice a week for my pods and feather duster so hopefully that will help!!