Juwel lido 120 new reefer

[RoundysReef]

Hi there

I am new to saltwater and am trying my hand at a Juwel lido 120 to start with and plan to upgrade along the way, as it is about 34 Gallons I was wondering how many fish would be reasonable for this size and what species, my thoughts based on advice online so far are:

2 x Clownfish
1 x Royal Gramma
1 x Six line Wrasse
1 x watchmen Goby
1 x pistol shrimp

And some Clean up crew

Please let me know of your thoughts if this is a good maximum of fish, it will be a long way away until all are in as I want to establish the tank etc.

Soft corals and the odd LPS are on my radar once stable enough, I'd like to find a coral that plates quite nicely for a beginner to be able to handle also.

Thanks for everyone's welcoming words RoundysReef

 

[blaxsun]

Fish list should be fine.

 

[attiland]

Looks like a nice start. I would say the fish list is fine and maybe you can stick in one more similar size too

 

[RoundysReef]

So to update on my Tank cycling, my patience is wearing thin as I've been cycling about 21 days now in total, but 9 days ago I had used a full 120ml bottle of doctor tims 1 and only and after getting to a point where my ammonia level was at almost 2 it dropped to 0.8 after 2 days and has stayed there ever since and I'm detecting no nitrate yet although I have a API nitrate test which seems not the best.

I fel like I should be seeing nitrate at this point or at least the ammonia dropping to 0, I have live sand carib sea, but dry rock can someone give me some guidance on what may be happening, has it just stalled!?

Thanks in advance

Lew

 

[attiland]

So to update on my Tank cycling, my patience is wearing thin as I've been cycling about 21 days now in total, but 9 days ago I had used a full 120ml bottle of doctor tims 1 and only and after getting to a point where my ammonia level was at almost 2 it dropped to 0.8 after 2 days and has stayed there ever since and I'm detecting no nitrate yet although I have a API nitrate test which seems not the best.

I fel like I should be seeing nitrate at this point or at least the ammonia dropping to 0, I have live sand carib sea, but dry rock can someone give me some guidance on what may be happening, has it just stalled!?

Thanks in advance

Lew

Based on the number of days you should have nitrate by now. That ammonia gone somewhere. If no nitrate than there must be nitrate.
the ammonia could be measure error too.
take a sample to the LFS and as you need better test anyway get an other test. I use Red Sea and does the job for me.
I never could detect nitrite when used Dr Tims in similar size of tank.

 

[RoundysReef]

Based on the number of days you should have nitrate by now. That ammonia gone somewhere. If no nitrate than there must be nitrate.
the ammonia could be measure error too.
take a sample to the LFS and as you need better test anyway get an other test. I use Red Sea and does the job for me.
I never could detect nitrite when used Dr Tims in similar size of tank.

Thanks for the advice, could the reason be because I haven't been adding ammonia every other day I've just been waiting for it to decrease from 0.8 to 0 when I should be adding to it each time until I see it decreasing and getting high nitrate, also feel like I should test for nitrite as I'm not currently doing so

 

[attiland]

Thanks for the advice, could the reason be because I haven't been adding nitrate every other day I've just been waiting for it to decrease from 0.8 to 0 when I should be adding to it each time until I see it decreasing and getting high nitrate, also feel like I should test for nitrite as I'm not currently doing so

You don’t need to add nitrate. Bacteria make it for you from ammonia to nitrite than other bacteria to nitrate.
if ammonia is gone and you have no nitrite or nitrate that means something is consumed it. Usually algae does that naturally or some media if you use any.

 

[RoundysReef]

You don’t need to add nitrate. Bacteria make it for you from ammonia to nitrite than other bacteria to nitrate.
if ammonia is gone and you have no nitrite or nitrate that means something is consumed it. Usually algae does that naturally or some media if you use any.

Sorry mate got the wording wrong I meant I haven't been adding Ammonia which I wonder if I should be doing to keep the cycle going and eventually see nitrate if the media is consuming it to begin with instead of the bacteria

 

[attiland]

Sorry mate got the wording wrong I meant I haven't been adding Ammonia which I wonder if I should be doing to keep the cycle going and eventually see nitrate if the media is consuming it to begin with instead of the bacteria

You can add ammonia as a solution or just a pinch of fish food.
or jus add 1 or max 2 little fish and feed that. More fun

 

[RoundysReef]

So to update on where I am since the last post, I have now bought a nitrite test kit and found what looks to be 2-5 ppm of nitrate on the Api test see below (purple vial)

Next I tested for Nitrate and finally it was starting to appear I have about 10-20 ppm of nitrate!

A day later I tested for ammonia and it was almost 0 or at least below 0.2 after being 2 then 0.8 a couple days prior see pic

When can I start to add fish as my nitrite is currently still intense purple (2ppm +) should I wait until this is 0? Also should I still be adding small amounts of ammonia to not let the bacteria starve until fish are present? I feel so close to the end of cycling!

Please advise! Thanks