Live Rock Critter IDs and Cycling a New Tank

lizs0701 · Oct 13, 2015

I started my first saltwater tank last night. I have a Fluval Spec V with about 7lbs of live sand, 4.5lbs of live rock, and cycled water from a display tank at my LFS. Last night I had a spike of ammonia and nitrites a few hours after setting everything up. This morning my nitrates were high but my ammonia and nitrites were down to 0. Can my cycle really be almost over in 24 hours? I also wanted to try and get an ID on some of the critters who showed up on my live rock. Currently I have a coralline margarita snail and 3 blue leg hermit crabs to deal with some of the algae on two of the rocks.

I also had some stocking questions. My LFS suggested a damsel which I added today and will be giving to a friend once it is established. Could I get away with one designer ocellaris clown? My other plan is to have either a yellow clown goby and/or a tail spot blenny? Any suggestions on a good pair out of these three fish?

Thanks!

KJ · Oct 13, 2015

Corynactis
Strawberry Anemone Remove Them.
3 and 4 pic

KJ · Oct 13, 2015

Snail - Collonista
Mini Turbos

Suitability: Score!

Diet: Micro/Film Algae.Remarks: Read More!

3 pic look like.

KJ · Oct 13, 2015

2 pic Bumble Bee Snail

brandon429 · Oct 13, 2015

hey great shots! you have a skip cycle tank see this descript

really well done. each little white fanworm dot is proof over and over of nitrifying bacteria I mean that is fully a skip cycle tank and the brief .25 prob came from api test kit we tried to nail most of the predictions in this thread

http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-ta...d-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/

darn good id's above id pay good money for a little cory

brandon429 · Oct 13, 2015

the neat part is you are cycled, there is no bacterial support needed. feed the bacteria or not feed them, they still get food. whether or not you use a damsel is if you want one, no more needs to be done to or for the bacteria. do a nice water change and get to light reefing every tank ive ever put online is this kind above

KJ · Oct 13, 2015

Welcome to R2R

stevediaz1 · Oct 17, 2015

I have a question I'm curing my live rock and my heater was on the on position to long water was at over 99 degrees did I kill everything? So what I did was replaced all the water with fresh salt water and I'm starting again did do right or wrong please advise

brandon429 · Oct 17, 2015

Steve that is a neat post and test of cycling prediction

In my opinion that will kill worms and pods and sponges and maybe coralline, but amazingly enough not the filtration bacteria. That temp absolutely cannot sterilize live rock

It's a good test scenario that ties into the previous post I linked about cocktail shrimp cycling. In order to know your outcome for sure, you need a test kit that has been verified able to read zero, and you have to perform the digestion test from that thread to know.

The only way we can assess whether or not live rock is cycled is by a digestion test and by having a test kit that will accurately show when ammonia is at zero. Coralline is a handy identifier which associates with tank bacteria but the digestion test is the final say.

Since the live rock could experience die off from that temp of the higher order live rock animals, it would be handled just like the last group of rocks in the thread above, the uncured rock group.

fab · Feb 20, 2016

KJ said:
Corynactis
Strawberry Anemone Remove Them.
3 and 4 pic

Why should we remove corynactis? I see it all over the place on healthy reefs when I am diving? Is it a predator or a chemical warfare specialist? What problem does it pose in a reef aquarium?