Hey Everyone!
After a five year hiatus I am back with my new Red Sea Max E-170 and I am super excited! Over the weekend I assembled all the parts. Today my final shipments are coming in (chiller, heater, live sand, etc.) and I am super stoked to finally get some water in my beautiful tank. Being out of the hobby for a while I decided to read up and cycle my tank correctly this time (last time I didn't wait long enough).
I see a lot of people mentioning that they cycle their tank by "ghost feeding". This is the first time I've heard of this. Last time I just let the real live rock cycle my tank. Well this time I decided to purchase Caribsea life rock instead of the weird looking live rock from my LFS to prevent hitchhikers etc. So I have a few questions...
1) Will this rock cycle my tank or do I need to resort to this so called ghost feeding. I am worried that my large protein skimmer might keep the water too clean with this "life" rock to actually cycle my tank.
2) Is it better to cycle with a fish? Last time I put some Chromis in the tank and they survived but I was stuck with them for the rest of the time I had the tank running and since I wanted to run mostly coral I had no bio-load left for any nicer fish.
3) What would everyone suggest for a clean up crew and how long should I wait to add them? I saw a few websites that offer mail order packages. Has anyone ever tried this? This is what they recommend for a 37 gallon cube.
39 Dwarf Ceriths
12 Nassarius
12 Florida Ceriths
10 Nerites -
9 Assorted Hermits
To me that seems like A LOT, but maybe I'm wrong. I always try to feed my fish a minimal amount of food to prevent debris and then I worry about the clean up crew not having enough food to survive. What is the best way to balance the two?
Sorry for all the questions!
I plan on adding the life rock, live sand, and water today and tomorrow so please let me know if anyone has any idea on this subject. I've read lots of posts but I cant seem to find a straight answer.
Thanks guys! I am happy to be back!
After a five year hiatus I am back with my new Red Sea Max E-170 and I am super excited! Over the weekend I assembled all the parts. Today my final shipments are coming in (chiller, heater, live sand, etc.) and I am super stoked to finally get some water in my beautiful tank. Being out of the hobby for a while I decided to read up and cycle my tank correctly this time (last time I didn't wait long enough).
I see a lot of people mentioning that they cycle their tank by "ghost feeding". This is the first time I've heard of this. Last time I just let the real live rock cycle my tank. Well this time I decided to purchase Caribsea life rock instead of the weird looking live rock from my LFS to prevent hitchhikers etc. So I have a few questions...
1) Will this rock cycle my tank or do I need to resort to this so called ghost feeding. I am worried that my large protein skimmer might keep the water too clean with this "life" rock to actually cycle my tank.
2) Is it better to cycle with a fish? Last time I put some Chromis in the tank and they survived but I was stuck with them for the rest of the time I had the tank running and since I wanted to run mostly coral I had no bio-load left for any nicer fish.
3) What would everyone suggest for a clean up crew and how long should I wait to add them? I saw a few websites that offer mail order packages. Has anyone ever tried this? This is what they recommend for a 37 gallon cube.
39 Dwarf Ceriths
12 Nassarius
12 Florida Ceriths
10 Nerites -
9 Assorted Hermits
To me that seems like A LOT, but maybe I'm wrong. I always try to feed my fish a minimal amount of food to prevent debris and then I worry about the clean up crew not having enough food to survive. What is the best way to balance the two?
Sorry for all the questions!
I plan on adding the life rock, live sand, and water today and tomorrow so please let me know if anyone has any idea on this subject. I've read lots of posts but I cant seem to find a straight answer.
Thanks guys! I am happy to be back!