JBJ RL-45 - Tank setup and questions

[Reef Boi Rich]

Hi All!

After about 2 years of casually following the hobby and several months of research and collecting equipment, I've finally found myself in a place where I can start my first reef rank! I am beyond excited and after 1 failed attempt, last week I finally got it wet again:

The first time I got it wet, I didn't rinse the dry rocks and a bunch of white powdery stuff came off of it and the LFS owner said I should just do a water change, rinse the rocks, and start over. So I did. There seems to be a lot of floating particles in the water right now but I'm hoping the filter floss and protein skimmer could clear it up.

This time, I'd like if someone can look over my set up and to give me some advice on how to proceed with my tank with the timeline that I have for it. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated!

So, I am taking a 2 week vacation at the end of July and will be back home on August 11th. I plan on getting the tank cycled between now and then so I can be ready to put livestock in it right when I get back. I don't want to put any livestock into the tank earlier cause I'm worried about the tank not being taken care of in my absence and just being constantly worried about it while I'm away. (Unless someone thinks it could be okay?)

Here is what my tank is currently set up with:

1. JBJ RL-45 AIO (Used, I resealed it)
2. Red sea ReefLED 90
3. Tunze 9004 protein skimmer
4. Sicce syncra silent 2.0 return pump (Installed with a wye fitting)
5. Icecap gyre 1K
6. 2 heaters, not sure which brands (Used)
7. 30-40 lbs of dry rock
8. One 3 lb live rock (Left it for 2 weeks in a sealed bag before the 2nd tank attempt was ready but it kinda dried out. Has everything on it died?)
9. 30 lbs of live sand
10. Polyester filter floss
11. JBJ ATO (used, not set up yet)
12. Digital Aquatics ReefKeeper Lite aquarium controller (Used, not set up yet.)
13. 2 quarts of Marinepure ceramic biomedia
14. Red sea coral pro salt
15. BRS Premium ROX 0.8 Carbon (not put in yet)
16. BRS GFO (not put in yet)
17. RO/DI water from BRS 4 Stage RO/DI System

I started my cycle with the one piece of live rock from my LFS, which may have been dried out, and some Instant Ocean Bio-spira. I added some of Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride solution for my ammonia source. The bottle said to add 4 drops per gallon (~160 drops) to raise your ammonia to 2.0 ppm. I may be been slightly off with my counting but my initial testing said I had 8.0 ppm ammonia! I didn't do a water change even though it got so high since I have so much time before putting fish in. I've been testing every few days and here are my test numbers:

Tests were done with an API saltwater master test kit.
6/24/19
Added rocks, sand, and saltwater

6/26/19
Added Bio-spira
Temp = 80.7° F
sg = 1.024
pH = 7.8
Ammonia = 8.0 ppm
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 0 ppm

6/29/19
Added RO/DI water
Temp = 81.8° F
sg = 1.0225
pH = 8.0
Ammonia = 1.0 ppm
Nitrite = 5.0 ppm
Nitrate = 5.0 ppm

7/1/19
Temp = 80.9° F
sg = 1.022
pH = 8.2
Ammonia = 0 ppm
Nitrite = 5.0 ppm
Nitrate = 40 ppm

Test I just did today:


It seems really quick for the bacteria to have consumed 8.0 ppm of ammonia. Just 6 days?

Some questions I have:
- Should I add more ammonium chloride to the tank?
- Should I just add ammonium chloride every few days so the bacteria can continue growing as I wait until August when I get back from vacation? Would it be better to ghost feed with shrimp?
- Anything you see in my setup or timeline that could be an issue?
- The purple epoxy I used to attach rocks together is an eyesore. The one purple live rock as well. Will coralline algae cover those one day and hide it?
- What pieces of equipment should I have set up on my ReefKeeper Lite?
- I have not turned my lights on yet since I started the cycle. When should I turn the lights on?
- Should I expect an algae bloom at some point?
- I haven't given my stock list too much thought. Any recommendations that would fit my tank are welcome!

Thank you for reading and any help or advice is greatly, greatly appreciated! I'm really excited to see this tank develop and I will keep you guys posted.

 

[Luno]

Some questions I have:
- Should I add more ammonium chloride to the tank?
- Should I just add ammonium chloride every few days so the bacteria can continue growing as I wait until August when I get back from vacation? Would it be better to ghost feed with shrimp?
- Anything you see in my setup or timeline that could be an issue?
- The purple epoxy I used to attach rocks together is an eyesore. The one purple live rock as well. Will coralline algae cover those one day and hide it?
- What pieces of equipment should I have set up on my ReefKeeper Lite?
- I have not turned my lights on yet since I started the cycle. When should I turn the lights on?
- Should I expect an algae bloom at some point?
- I haven't given my stock list too much thought. Any recommendations that would fit my tank are welcome!

Thank you for reading and any help or advice is greatly, greatly appreciated! I'm really excited to see this tank develop and I will keep you guys posted.

- I'm not familiar with the instant add ammonia sources but I'm gonna assume it's no different than how I add ammonia so I would suggest no don't add anymore ammonia. Honestly and you should get a laugh out of this I've been in the hobby a long time since when guys literally pee'd in their tanks to get the cycle going no joke it has happened and seemed to work :D probably don't try this at home for fun though.

- Ghost feeding if your gonna leave the tank may be an idea but I don't think the month till august is gonna be an issue

- yes coralline will eventually engulf everything you don't clean regularly like the glass, the purple stuff is usually made that way to frag additions to a tank so the white doesn't stand out too bad on rockwork that's already covered in coralline

- whenever your ready to turn your lights on maybe when the initial cycle is finished and no more nitrites is a good time. I wouldn't go full light straight away start ramping it up whatever your have decided for your lighting schedule and intensity

- you will most likely go through the regular stage of nasties and algae bloom some lucky people get very little some get more. But usually everyone gets something within the first 6 months

-

 

[Reef Boi Rich]

Thank you very much for the advice!