New tank ready for water- advice please!

[joed77]

Hey!

Bought my red sea nano (second hand) and its ready for water and to begin the cycling process. Plan is to fill up this week. I've got the Dr Tim's products to start the cycling process. I've got dry rock rather than live rock. Will upload a picture later, but just looking for tips from you guys to make the process go as smoothly as possible!
I got a good second hand bundle:
- ectoech xr15 gen 4
- ecotech MP 10 wavemaker
- ecotech S2 return pump
-reef link
- RODI system


A few questions i had were:
- when should i start doing water changes?
- do i need to have lighting from the start?
- wave maker from the start?

Look forward to hearing any tips and tricks you guys have!

Joe

 

[PeterC99]

Welcome to R2R!

Great setup!

Water changes won’t be needed for awhile. Leave the lights off while cycling but turn pumps on. Good luck.

 

[ReefRusty]

Welcome and congrats on the tank

As for your questions.
1/2. No lights during cycling process, this really is only for when you have corals and when you do, slowly increase %.

3. Don't have to have wave maker from start but can if you want no right or wrong with this.

Just read up on cycling with dr Tims and dry rocks. Don't rush and dose the recommended 2ppm ammonia.

 

[Spare time]

1. Whenever you see phosphate or nitrate get above recommended levels (I like no more than 16ppm nitrate and .1 phosphate but no less than 5 and 0.03 respectively.

2. No not until you get corals unless the tank is super dark without one

3. Yes it is a good idea

 

[ReefRusty]

1. Whenever you see phosphate or nitrate get above recommended levels (I like no more than 16ppm nitrate and .1 phosphate but no less than 5 and 0.03 respectively.

2. No not until you get corals unless the tank is super dark without one

3. Yes it is a good idea

So no water changes if your within your targets? Or do to our 10% or 25 or whatever % you choose?

 

[vetteguy53081]

A few questions i had were:
- when should i start doing water changes? Once there is livestock in tank and you are getting build up of waste/detritus
- do i need to have lighting from the start? Yes- will allow you to make needed adjustments before stocking also
- wave maker from the start? yes- will provide oxygen, movement and needed flow. You dont want still/stagnant water.

Cycling is a 2-4 week process adding ZERO livestock as there will be daily chemical changes and swings occuring that will simply kill livestock.
API test kit is notorious for false readings and have let down many reefers hence the very low price for a master test kit. You will likely have inaccurate readings during the cycle process.
Ammonia badges have the same credibility as they are also intended for fresh water tanks ands also known for false readings.
Once you fill up your aquarium with saltwater, powerheads, a heater and perhaps add sand for substrate, the next step is to "cycle" your tank. The purpose of a cycle is to create bacteria that will be consuming ammonia and nitrite from your livestock, but you have to get the bacteria from somewhere initially. Why is it called a cycle? Because the tank will go through three phases: ammonia will rise and fall, then nitrite will rise and fall even quicker, and lastly nitrate will rise and fall. Once Ammonia and Nitrite read 0 and Nitrate is less than 20ppm, the cycle is complete and livestock can gradually be introduced. The bacteria population will increase with the new bioload, processing waste and converting it to nitrate rapidly. However, it is important to note that overloading the aquarium with too many fish initially can exceed what the bacteria can handle. This is why it is best to add new fish slowly over the next few months. The bacterial levels will adapt if you don't overload the system with too many mouths to feed.
Test the aquarium daily for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate, logging the information on graph paper or perhaps in a spreadsheet or app. The more data points you collect over time will graph the rise and fall of each of these parameters. No livestock of any kind should be placed in the aquarium as long as you have any measurable traces of ammonia or nitrite because these are toxic to fish and invertebrates. Start planning what you'll want to put in your aquarium while you have a few weeks to wait. There's no reason to rush this process. A good solid foundation will benefit your future reef and handle the bioload adequately.

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[BanjoBandito]

Nanos and water changes are weird. In a larger tank you'll do a 10% or so weekly, it's just considered good maintenance. In a nano water changes are really a part of the import/export of nutrients. Instead of dosing most of the time that is how we keep our levels in check. My 3 gallon pico reef I did almost 100% water changes weekly. It was the only way to import/export nutrients. In my 12 gallon I do generally a 40% weekly water change, but stage it so I'm not taking more than 10-15% out at a time, adding new water and repeating until I'm done with the fresh 5 gallons. A lot of the waterchange schedule will be focused around the livestock of the tank. If it's a fish heavy system, you'll need to do more, if you are lightly stocked then lighter changes will be fine. Nano tanks are challenging, each one seems to come around but it can take awhile. They tend to have big swings, one day no issues next day huge algae blooms, etc. It's hard to manage phosphate levels early on IMHO when not using real live rock and starting from dry rock.

 

[Spare time]

So no water changes if your within your targets? Or do to our 10% or 25 or whatever % you choose?

You always want a little nitrate and phosphate. You also don't have anything consuming a decent amount of elements from the salt mix until you get coral or lots of coralline algae. Everyone figures out a routine for their tank

 

[vetteguy53081]

I

 

[BanjoBandito]

I suspected peanut worm also but see an absence of the typical chubby body. As someone stated, a pic under red light and microscope is the most difficult ive seen yet and becomes an educated guess.
Should it be a peanut worm - also safe. They are referred to as peanut due to their shape of a peanut and are a polychaete worm which clean up leftover food and a little detritus

lol wrong thread! I know what you are talking about though! I looked at that earlier!

 

[tharbin]

Welcome to R2R!

You've already been given lots of great advice above so I won't repeat it all. You need to have the water circulating so turn on the return pump. Test often to learn your test kits and to watch how things progress. I prefer to turn on all of my pumps to work out the flow patterns before adding livestock but it is not necessary. I also prefer to turn on the lights from the beginning also to help work out your lighting schedule but also I prefer to get the uglies out of the way as early in the cycle as possible. Have fun and take your time.

 

[Lyss]

I have a max nano.

During cycle:
Lights off, pumps on, no water changes (unless you get stuck on nitrites and then you can do a water change)

After cycle, first adding livestock:
Lights on but ramp up slowly — you will adjust more once you have corals
Water change weekly, 10-20% depending on nitrates — as your system matures you will likely be able to get away with going longer but that won’t be for 8 months to a year at least. I am going three weeks now w/o (I dose for corals) but certainly was doing weekly when the tank was brand new.