- Joined
- May 18, 2020
- Messages
- 25
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- 48
Congratulation newbie your aquarium is above average !!! absHere we go :
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Congratulation newbie your aquarium is above average !!! absHere we go :
@Roberto Denadai I feel like everybody is asking you about dosing, light and powerhead settings, filtration, and things like that because they are hoping they can transition their tanks to be more like yours.
I get the feeling that your startup is honestly the most important part of the whole process and nobody seems to be asking you about it.
You said that you put the fish in after 10 days and the corals in after 20 and that you never had an ammonia spike. Most people here talk about doing fishless tank cycling for weeks if not months and following those plans your tanks would be no exception considering the dry rock and overall lack of sand. You also said that you didn't add a bacteria culture to cycle the tank and I'm guessing you didn't add an ammonia source either if you never had a spike.
So here is my rather uneducated theory. You provide the basics, clean water with high flow and excellent light (significantly more white light then a lot of others seem to use). Then you provide a properly sized skimmer and chaeto to keep the nutrient levels low while the coral gets started. After the coral starts eating up nutrients you pull the chaeto (which would die off anyway) and let the system maintain it's balance with you providing some basic maintanace and supplements to keep the coral growing.
So part of why you would never have algae problems is because you NEVER allow your system to become nutrient rich, not even at the very beginning.
Does that sound reasonable to you? I have a lot of other questions but I think it's time to wrap up this essay.
I had previously wondered how macro algae presence would affect the cycling of a tank considering the algae would compete with nitrifying bacteria for ammonia.I agree 100% with you and I think is a good idea to start a tank with chaeto to avoid high nutrients at the start .
I never saw any ammonia here with seachem ammonia alert.
Cheers
I had previously wondered how macro algae presence would affect the cycling of a tank considering the algae would compete with nitrifying bacteria for ammonia.
This system of starting a tank is so different from the "mainstream" cycling program it is no surprise to me that you have a hard time getting the hobbyists around you to listen to you. It really gets me wondering how many problems that we have in our aquariums are caused by nutrient fluctuations and the consequences those carry over to our deliberately established bacteria populations.
I am currently planning my next aquarium(s) and I have two questions for you if you don't mind.
1. You said that you don't add any bacteria to the tank to cycle it. Do you add any ammonia source at all before adding the fish or are you simply allowing the water to "settle" for those first 10 days?
2. What is the biggest tank that you have started this way?
Thank you!
So you're establishing ammonia eating macro algae and coral rather than focusing on nitrifying bacteria. It's different ... and I love different!I think the best way to start a tank is first add corals and after a couple of weeks add fish. Corals uptake nutrients and fish release nutrients in the water. In the start we don´t want a lot of nutrients floating around
is that possible? i thought macro algae didnt consume ammonia.... and ammonia was deadly (in large quantities) to corals? i am also fascinated by this approach and the methods by which this tank was started/is runningSo you're establishing ammonia eating macro algae and coral rather than focusing on nitrifying bacteria. It's different ... and I love different!
Thank you!
is that possible? i thought macro algae didnt consume ammonia.... and ammonia was deadly (in large quantities) to corals? i am also fascinated by this approach and the methods by which this tank was started/is running
Looks so clean!