Instacycle Challenge Thread Anyone?

[LRT]

I feel like this is pretty important to document here.
Going back to the discussion on checking params and nutrient levels and how crucial it is keeping things locked in at acceptable levels while doing full transfer upgrade.
Watch nutrients super close. All of them. Id reccomend a strict, diligent daily checking of all params first cpl months until you have a good feel for the way things are clicking and balancing out for you.
Tank 2 has bottomed out phosphates twice on me now and both times it has resulted in dino out break! Just when I got comfortable after last deep clean and stopped checking phosphates for few days I managed to 0 out from .1...

Was solid for a week and I took for granted that levels would remain stabil.
All that work from deep clean down the drain.
Phosphates are now sitting back up to around .1 again. I will be performing another deep clean of all surfaces to get cleaned back up and rinse rock in next water change. Was perfectly good and clear and all params stabile so I got lazy.
Don't do that. Check everyday no matter what.
This will probably be super important in your upgrade @Susan Edwards @Hydrored

 

[Brymac1]

Did this on my recent 200g build. I added corals in the tank within 48 hours of the tank being set up. The corals came from my previous tank along with 50 lb of live rock. No issues so far, corals didn’t skip a beat!

 

[LRT]

Did this on my recent 200g build. I added corals in the tank within 48 hours of the tank being set up. The corals came from my previous tank along with 50 lb of live rock. No issues so far, corals didn’t skip a beat!

Beautiful reef!
How recent?

 

[Brymac1]

Beautiful reef!
How recent?

Thanks! It’s been about 2 months now.

 

[LRT]

Thanks! It’s been about 2 months now.

Awesome! Mind sharing your experience and regimen on how your going about keeping params dialed and locked in?
If your dosing and what to achieve this?
I could and should have done a much better job from day 1 on staying up on things but I wasnt prepared for what I was going to see through this and there just wasn't alot out there for refference.

 

[aggrofish]

I'm going to be siting up a reefer 170 this week to move a couple fish out of QT and let my reefer350 go fallow. It's not scientific but I'm just going to use a bunch of live rock from the LFS and a couple bags of "alive" caribsea sand. Add a bottle of biospira and call it a day.

 

[Brymac1]

Awesome! Mind sharing your experience and regimen on how your going about keeping params dialed and locked in?
If your dosing and what to achieve this?
I could and should have done a much better job from day 1 on staying up on things but I wasnt prepared for what I was going to see through this and there just wasn't alot out there for refference.

Right now I am battling to get nutrients up. I’ve had almost zero nitrates and phosphates for a while so I am dosing acropower and feeding reef roids with a heavy hand. To keep all of my minerals in check, I am dosing tropic Marin all for reef. After a week of adding the corals, I had a daily average alk drop of about 0.2, which tells me that the corals have adjusted just fine. After about a month, I purchased my first new corals for the tank, I got a green slimer, blue digi, birds nest, and stylophora. These have also been growing steadily since a month ago when I put them in. Everything has been going very smoothly thus far.

 

[LRT]

Let's talk about a few things here?

 

[Aqua Man]

Tank 2 has bottomed out phosphates twice on me now and both times it has resulted in dino out break! Just when I got comfortable after last deep clean and stopped checking phosphates for few days I managed to 0 out from .1...

This rock is Live rock from the Ocean? Is Tank 2 the one in the picture? Where are the nitrates at?

 

[LRT]

This rock is Live rock from the Ocean? Is Tank 2 the one in the picture? Where are the nitrates at?

Hi Yessir this is 18-25 yr old premium gulf live rock plucked directly from ocean. Has been cured/curing in old system for 1.5-2 yrs prior to transfer/upgrade.
Nitrates in Tank 2 are super high around 40ppm last I checked. Have a 6" porcupine puffer in there and all it does is produce nitrates. Powder brown isn't helping that cause either. High nitrates is also not helping low phosphates issue either.
I've performed a deep clean on this tank since. All surfaces scrubbed, rock cleaned and keeping an eye on phosphates. Most likely going to hook up ATS to help with Nitrate control in next cpl days as well.
So far so good for last week though.
Even got some corals in it now.

Tank 1

 

[ShadowMan]

@LRT thanks for the pointer, makes some interesting reading.

Especially regarding the water aspect... I am planning a 100% new water (don't want to export my current load), and a ton of new rock, which is currently curing in the garage.

The whole point of my upgrade is that my current 30G was actually a freshwater tank I bought decades ago and never used, so it just sat collecting dust in the garage. Over lockdown and while doing a clear out, I stumbled across it and the kids decided it would be cool to get some fish.... but obviously they settled on clownfish

So after a ton of research, YouTube hopping and forums, I decided to give it a go and 8 months later... the 30G is starting to show its age! I also made a ton of mistakes with equipment choices early on, so 5 filters later, more Wavemakers and LEDs then I know what to do with, I decided it's time to start over and do it all properly.

I'll definitely keep you all updated on the progress, as I'm aiming to get the new tank up and running next month. So process, pictures and parameters to follow

 

[LRT]

@LRT thanks for the pointer, makes some interesting reading.

Especially regarding the water aspect... I am planning a 100% new water (don't want to export my current load), and a ton of new rock, which is currently curing in the garage.

The whole point of my upgrade is that my current 30G was actually a freshwater tank I bought decades ago and never used, so it just sat collecting dust in the garage. Over lockdown and while doing a clear out, I stumbled across it and the kids decided it would be cool to get some fish.... but obviously they settled on clownfish

So after a ton of research, YouTube hopping and forums, I decided to give it a go and 8 months later... the 30G is starting to show its age! I also made a ton of mistakes with equipment choices early on, so 5 filters later, more Wavemakers and LEDs then I know what to do with, I decided it's time to start over and do it all properly.

I'll definitely keep you all updated on the progress, as I'm aiming to get the new tank up and running next month. So process, pictures and parameters to follow

Awesome. I was hoping to get more of these younger tank transfers. Will be interesting to see what you find during upgrade. Your probably right on point with taking it easy considering the amount of water your upgrading to.
How much Live rock and media are you transferring over? How will you be recording "cycle" params in particular ammonia. I wouldnt be surprised at all if you do find a mini "cycle" but watch it. It may be over alot faster than you think. Its crazy how fast our cycled rock can continue processing and "cycle" a new tank. Realisticly I feel as long as your not feeding heavier than normal from day one. No more than your current bioload. Maybe a few cuc and half a cube of food from day one. You will most likely find ammonia dealt with in first few days.

 

[ShadowMan]

Awesome. I was hoping to get more of these younger tank transfers. Will be interesting to see what you find during upgrade. Your probably right on point with taking it easy considering the amount of water your upgrading to.
How much Live rock and media are you transferring over? How will you be recording "cycle" params in particular ammonia. I wouldnt be surprised at all if you do find a mini "cycle" but watch it. It may be over alot faster than you think. Its crazy how fast our cycled rock can continue processing and "cycle" a new tank. Realisticly I feel as long as your not feeding heavier than normal from day one. No more than your current bioload. Maybe a few cuc and half a cube of food from day one. You will most likely find ammonia dealt with in first few days.

For filter media, I'm currently running 2 X-port Bio Blocks on my 30G, overkill for my current load... but I did more to seed in preparation for the new tank and I've got loads left which I'll start seeding about 2 weeks before the move.

Unsure about my current live rock, still 50-50 on whether to use it or just go new 'cured', reason being I don't want to import the algae issues I've battled in the past... current CUC do a good job of keeping it at bay, but it's still there!?!

New set up will also have brand new live sand.

Currently using a Seneye to record basic parameters (NH3 and pH) and I've got Hanna checkers for Alk and PO4. Other than that I use the RedSea Foundation test kit to check Mg and Ca, so I'll be utilising those in the new setup. And I've also got the Seachem Ammonia Alert disc, just for good measure

 

[LRT]

For filter media, I'm currently running 2 X-port Bio Blocks on my 30G, overkill for my current load... but I did more to seed in preparation for the new tank and I've got loads left which I'll start seeding about 2 weeks before the move.

Unsure about my current live rock, still 50-50 on whether to use it or just go new 'cured', reason being I don't want to import the algae issues I've battled in the past... current CUC do a good job of keeping it at bay, but it's still there!?!

New set up will also have brand new live sand.

Currently using a Seneye to record basic parameters (NH3 and pH) and I've got Hanna checkers for Alk and PO4. Other than that I use the RedSea Foundation test kit to check Mg and Ca, so I'll be utilising those in the new setup. And I've also got the Seachem Ammonia Alert disc, just for good measure

Highly suggest you take and thoroughly clean and rinse in system water before placing anything old and place in new. You will find nutrient dispersement to be a real thing. This can be your best friend when it comes to dealing with algae. It can also be your worse enemy if you dont measure and monitor nutrient params and keep them steady and at recordable levels during first cpl months while nutrient levels build back up in water column. This is also where using established water from cycled tank can be your best friend.

 

[aggrofish]

So I picked up a reefer 170 for super cheap. I just added a Kole tang and a clown that were super sick and went through prazirpro and 30 days of copper. I put 40 lbs of live sand and about 15 lb of life rock. I have a bunch of brightwell bio media in the sump to make up for the lack of rock. I soaked the biomedia in microbacter 7 and added a bottle of dr Tim’s and a bottle of biospira. Let’s see how this goes. The tang was going nuts in a 15g quarantine. Now to catch and quarantine the other fish that show no signs of anything and let the 350 go fallow.

 

[LRT]

So I picked up a reefer 170 for super cheap. I just added a Kole tang and a clown that were super sick and went through prazirpro and 30 days of copper. I put 40 lbs of live sand and about 15 lb of life rock. I have a bunch of brightwell bio media in the sump to make up for the lack of rock. I soaked the biomedia in microbacter 7 and added a bottle of dr Tim’s and a bottle of biospira. Let’s see how this goes. The tang was going nuts in a 15g quarantine. Now to catch and quarantine the other fish that show no signs of anything and let the 350 go fallow.

I've been meaning to get back to this. How is this going? Did you "pre cycle" tank in sense of feeding and watching ammonia levels or did you throw everything in at same time?

 

[aggrofish]

I've been meaning to get back to this. How is this going? Did you "pre cycle" tank in sense of feeding and watching ammonia levels or did you throw everything in at same time?

I just added the biodedia after a 24hr soak. Also added the bottled bacteria a day before adding fish. No detectable ammonia so far. I’m feeding lightly.

 

[LRT]

I just added the biodedia after a 24hr soak. Also added the bottled bacteria a day before adding fish. No detectable ammonia so far. I’m feeding lightly.

How many days since you added fish and started feeding?

 

[Reefahholic]

Don't know where. Don't know when.
Don't care with what. Let's figure out the details

Brs did one in 48 hrs fully stocked.
I've done one in 24 hrs.
Just putting the feelers out there to see if I can get a few players.
I dont care what tools you use.
Ill be using fully mature, cycled and cured gulf ocean rock and nothing else in regards to bottle bacteria etc.
You can use whatever tools you want. I'll be utilizing a UV sterilizer and chemicals to control nutrients and water parameters.

That’s too easy bro. I’ll take you on with Dry Rock. Can only use natural chemicals. No UV. You in?!?

 

[LRT]

That’s too easy bro. I’ll take you on with Dry Rock. Can only use natural chemicals. No UV. You in?!?

Yes but on one condition. There are no conditions haha. On a real note though I have a cpl projects im planning. I may or may not have to use UV but do plan on pushing some boundaries so that option can't be off the table.
Also using whats on hand as far as sodium nitrates and phosphates if and when needed.