First tank...finally!

[Pete polyp]

Got ya, so the flake food or shrimp will decompose in a few days or a week or so?

Yes, and it will go through the entire nitrificaction process

 

[jaybk5211]

Got ya, so I still have a week or two before I can add coral. That sux, lol

 

[Pete polyp]

Might be longer than that, might not be. Every tank is going to cycle at its own pace. I never had problems with nitrates in any of my tanks, even during cycling. The most I have ever had was 5ppm. Its going to seem like a long time, but months from now it won't seem as bad. As much as I hate to say it (being as impatient as I am) but patience pays off in this hobby. Nothing good will happen over night, but bad things sure can.

 

[Sully]

+1, What Pete said!

Might be longer than that, might not be. Every tank is going to cycle at its own pace. I never had problems with nitrates in any of my tanks, even during cycling. The most I have ever had was 5ppm. Its going to seem like a long time, but months from now it won't seem as bad. As much as I hate to say it (being as impatient as I am) but patience pays off in this hobby. Nothing good will happen over night, but bad things sure can.

 

[Pete polyp]

You really need to get some test kits, first the ammonia will spike and eventually 0. This is when I add a fish. Some people may disagree with this, but the clownfish I added on day 7 when I showed 0 ammonia is still in the tank 18 months later. I have never tested nitrite, although you can if you want. The processed ammonia turns into nitrite, and then to nitrate. You will see a spike in nitrate and it will slowly fall as the bacteria colonizes. When the nitrate falls to a low level you're probably ok to start adding corals. On day 11 i added the first coral to my tank. I had no problems with it at all. start with some beginner corals such as button polyps, green star polyps, xenia etc. Give it a couple weeks as a test and if they're showing good health then you can slowly add more corals.

 

[CeeGee]

get ready to spend a lot of money. :)

 

[Cigar Sherlock]

I'm eyeballing the razor but that's a little more than I want to spend.

 

[Pete polyp]

My apology, I didn't realize this was a club forum. I'm using the app and it shows all the latest threads

 

[jaybk5211]

Yeah I have probably spent 7-8k so far. I bought a guys total system that included 2 setup tanks and this cube that I decided to keep. It had the r420r light still in the box for the cube, and I got 3 radion gen 2's still in the box. I upgraded one to a gen 3 pro, and am selling the other 2. I have a 180 gallon bow front due in 2 weeks for my display, I am just getting my feet wet with the cube/frag tank.

On hat note, what are good inverts to have for algae cleaning in my BB frag tank?