Aquatop 40g Recife ECO AIO(1st Saltwater Tank)

[JL15219]

I would test everyday still you can test ammonia to make sure its down and just test nitrite. The day you see the nitrite go down test nitrate. No need to test nitrate until you see the nitrites drop if you're gonna wait. IMO. You could still test if you just really want.

Okay cool....getting excited now!

 

[CrimsonTide]

Okay cool....getting excited now!

Yeah its close to fishing time! You'll need to be picking out fish soon.

 

[JL15219]

Yeah its close to fishing time! You'll need to be picking out fish soon.

Yeah I need to start thinking about that....Any suggestions?

 

[CrimsonTide]

Yeah I need to start thinking about that....Any suggestions?

Do what you like. Most people start with a pair of clowns bc their hardy for a newly cycled tank. But put what you want in your tank. Lol

 

[CrimsonTide]

How's the cycle goin?

 

[JL15219]

How's the cycle goin?

Just tested Nitrite it is officially zero....adding ammonia as I type... The 4 drops per gallon that is recommended hopefully it will be zero tomorrow

 

[CrimsonTide]

Just tested Nitrite it is officially zero....adding ammonia as I type... The 4 drops per gallon that is recommended hopefully it will be zero tomorrow

Whew!!!! Its pretty much done then hopefully just a test to make sure!

 

[JL15219]

Whew!!!! Its pretty much done then hopefully just a test to make sure!

If it's zero tomorrow. I'm going to try to do the biggest water change possible. I was just thinking what if the rock is out of the water for an extended time would that cause a problem?

 

[CrimsonTide]

If it's zero tomorrow. I'm going to try to do the biggest water change possible. I was just thinking what if the rock is out of the water for an extended time would that cause a problem?

How long is extended?

 

[JL15219]

How long is extended?

Till I can make and add the water back in. I have four 5 gallon buckets so thats 50% of the water if I do a 50% percent water change but if I do a larger one I would have to make more

 

[CrimsonTide]

Jut test your nitrates tomorrow. A 50% will reduce nitrates by 50%. If you have the 20g ready tomorrow. And 20g will keep the rock underwater you can do that. I think the most you'd have to do is like 75% if you wanted. I think I did 50% with my first and just slowly got mine down. I added fish and did like 2 more 50% after every week. Now I do like 25% every week. I would just say not to have them out of the water longer than a couple hours. They should stay wet awhile.

 

[CrimsonTide]

My nitrates were at like 40ppm I then dropped them to 20 then 10 then 5. They stay about 2-5ppm now most of the time I think. I dont really test nitrate unless something looks weird and just keep my waterchanges on schedule.

 

[JL15219]

Jut test your nitrates tomorrow. A 50% will reduce nitrates by 50%. If you have the 20g ready tomorrow. And 20g will keep the rock underwater you can do that. I think the most you'd have to do is like 75% if you wanted. I think I did 50% with my first and just slowly got mine down. I added fish and did like 2 more 50% after every week. Now I do like 25% every week. I would just say not to have them out of the water longer than a couple hours. They should stay wet awhile.

My nitrates were at like 40ppm I then dropped them to 20 then 10 then 5. They stay about 2-5ppm now most of the time I think. I dont really test nitrate unless something looks weird and just keep my waterchanges on schedule.

Okay so I guess a 50% water change should be good tomorrow if ammonia is zero. How long after did you wait to add the 1st fish?

 

[CrimsonTide]

Okay so I guess a 50% water change should be good tomorrow if ammonia is zero. How long after did you wait to add the 1st fish?

Well test your nitrates if they are like 100ppm maybe you should do a bigger waterchange but I added fish right away. Its cycled so do what you will. If you don't have time till the weekend to find something do that. But once that last ammonia is gone its cycled. What you did today is really just a test to see how much ammonia you can process in a day. If you add 1 or 2 small fish they won't make 2ppm ammonia in a day. The tank was cycled when that nitrite turned to nitrate today.

 

[CrimsonTide]

Tomorrow you want to see how close to zero it is. Make a not of that and then change out the water. Or change it out Wednesday if it didn't go down as much as you wanted. But definitely make sure the ammonia is zero before adding any livestock. Always add the hardy fish first then the timid fish and last anything that will be bossy. Like angels and wrasse.

 

[Johnnyrainbowreefer]

I don’t think you had Live rock. I think you have life rock. There’s a difference. The same happened to me.

 

[CrimsonTide]

I don’t think you had Live rock. I think you have life rock. There’s a difference. The same happened to me.

Yeah thats what I told him. I see LFS put life rock in water and then call it live rock all the time when really its wet rock.

 

[JL15219]

Well test your nitrates if they are like 100ppm maybe you should do a bigger waterchange but I added fish right away. Its cycled so do what you will. If you don't have time till the weekend to find something do that. But once that last ammonia is gone its cycled. What you did today is really just a test to see how much ammonia you can process in a day. If you add 1 or 2 small fish they won't make 2ppm ammonia in a day. The tank was cycled when that nitrite turned to nitrate today.

Tomorrow you want to see how close to zero it is. Make a not of that and then change out the water. Or change it out Wednesday if it didn't go down as much as you wanted. But definitely make sure the ammonia is zero before adding any livestock. Always add the hardy fish first then the timid fish and last anything that will be bossy. Like angels and wrasse.

Oh yeah for sure if Nitrate are that high I will definitely do a bigger water change. I wanted to maybe try to go this week maybe Wednesday to get a pair of clownfish....then get other fish a few weeks later

 

[JL15219]

I don’t think you had Live rock. I think you have life rock. There’s a difference. The same happened to me.

Yeah i think it was how Crimson said that the lfs just throw rock in there and call it "live" but adding the Instant Ocean bacteria worked from the looks of it

 

[CrimsonTide]

Oh yeah for sure if Nitrate are that high I will definitely do a bigger water change. I wanted to maybe try to go this week maybe Wednesday to get a pair of clownfish....then get other fish a few weeks later

That should be fine. Just give a couple weeks to a month between fish for bacteria to continue to build up. Any fish that eat a lot or are messy will cause a higher bio load. But if you want a pair of clowns I would add both of them at once.