Uptightjoker
Community Member
Hello friends,
I am new to reefing, and recently setup a 40B with 29G sump. The tank has been setup since 4/30. I used live sand and dry rock. After about 2 weeks, ammonia wasn't dropping at all, or not enough to notice on my red sea test kit, so I bought a bottle of Bio-Spira and added it. Since then I have tested every day or every other day depending on my availability and dosed back to 2ppm ammonia anytime it was below this. I was following instructions that your tank should be able to process 2ppm ammonia in 24 hours. My tank can process the ammonia, in 24 hours the ammonia is at 0 or VERY near it, however, my nitrites are still around .5ppm after 24 hours. Is this acceptable? The tank has followed this trend for over a week. Dose to 2ppm ammonia, test next day, 0 ammonia, .5 nitrite. Before this week the nitrites were much higher, due to them being lower now I think I made it over the nitrite hump, and the tank is fully cycled and it's likely the cheap test kit, or very small amounts, but I wanted to ask people/someone with experience on if I was okay to add fish.
The 2nd part is stocking if/when my tank is ready. Currently there seems to be negligible algae growth or issues in the tank. I want to start the tank with a pair of black and white Ocellaris clownfish. That left me with the CUC, which I was planning on stocking light since there are no issues currently, but I'm not even sure if I'm on the right track. There's many kinds of snails for a billion different types of algae and waste. (I also want to get a shortspined or pincushion urchin, even if I have to feed it, but waiting on that). I don't have a LFS, or at least not one that stocks saltwater fish. I have a few stores to buy supplies, but it's a 2.5 hour drive to the closest store with livestock. I was planning on ordering on live aquaria which lead me to compile this list for the CUC:
5 Cerinth Snail
10 Nassarius snail (sand is relatively deep, 2-3 inches in most places)
5 Scarlet reef hermits
Is this too much? Too little? Need more variety? I know the CUC will typically grow and expand as the tank does, but I don't want to be too heavily stocked where I need to do alot of direct feeding for the CUC, but I don't want to be so little that I have nothing and algae is able to become an issue easily without anyone fighting it.
I know this was alot to read and that the two topics may have been different threads, but since it was all related to me being new I figured it'd be easier to keep track of just making one thread, also thanks for actually bothering to read my giant wall of text
I am new to reefing, and recently setup a 40B with 29G sump. The tank has been setup since 4/30. I used live sand and dry rock. After about 2 weeks, ammonia wasn't dropping at all, or not enough to notice on my red sea test kit, so I bought a bottle of Bio-Spira and added it. Since then I have tested every day or every other day depending on my availability and dosed back to 2ppm ammonia anytime it was below this. I was following instructions that your tank should be able to process 2ppm ammonia in 24 hours. My tank can process the ammonia, in 24 hours the ammonia is at 0 or VERY near it, however, my nitrites are still around .5ppm after 24 hours. Is this acceptable? The tank has followed this trend for over a week. Dose to 2ppm ammonia, test next day, 0 ammonia, .5 nitrite. Before this week the nitrites were much higher, due to them being lower now I think I made it over the nitrite hump, and the tank is fully cycled and it's likely the cheap test kit, or very small amounts, but I wanted to ask people/someone with experience on if I was okay to add fish.
The 2nd part is stocking if/when my tank is ready. Currently there seems to be negligible algae growth or issues in the tank. I want to start the tank with a pair of black and white Ocellaris clownfish. That left me with the CUC, which I was planning on stocking light since there are no issues currently, but I'm not even sure if I'm on the right track. There's many kinds of snails for a billion different types of algae and waste. (I also want to get a shortspined or pincushion urchin, even if I have to feed it, but waiting on that). I don't have a LFS, or at least not one that stocks saltwater fish. I have a few stores to buy supplies, but it's a 2.5 hour drive to the closest store with livestock. I was planning on ordering on live aquaria which lead me to compile this list for the CUC:
5 Cerinth Snail
10 Nassarius snail (sand is relatively deep, 2-3 inches in most places)
5 Scarlet reef hermits
Is this too much? Too little? Need more variety? I know the CUC will typically grow and expand as the tank does, but I don't want to be too heavily stocked where I need to do alot of direct feeding for the CUC, but I don't want to be so little that I have nothing and algae is able to become an issue easily without anyone fighting it.
I know this was alot to read and that the two topics may have been different threads, but since it was all related to me being new I figured it'd be easier to keep track of just making one thread, also thanks for actually bothering to read my giant wall of text
