Not another 40 Breeder Pt 2

[El Maestro]

Well I'm off to the races back into the hobby after a 13 year break. I have a generic aqueon 40 breeder with a custom stand that I made out of leftover 2x4" after making my kids a bunk bed that had tons of waste the month before.

I used 40lbs of dry rock with Fritz turbo start I got from the local fish store. I tried the microbacter stuff with the rocks in my garage while I was on vacation but I think I might've actually cooked the rocks instead of cured them.
I have a AI coral grow blade set at 30% for each color channel, a tunze 6045 and a generic surface skimmer I got off amazon for $20.
For this setup I decided to go sumpless for the first six months or so and just rely on weekly water changes for filtration to save on costs so my wife doesn't kill me and maximize simplicity in the initial stages of the tank.

So far I've added two hermits, three nassisarius snails and a bottle of Tigger pods to give my daughter something to look at during the cycle while it's being ghost fed 2x a day. She's been enjoying doing the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate testing daily which came in at 0.25, 0.25 and 20 ppt. I was pretty surprised when I saw the Nitrate was already registering 20 because that means the Fritz worked in 48 hours.

I only turned on the lights three days ago, but I am massively tempted to place an order for zoas and a leather because a local guy I follow on facebook didn't sell as much he expected at some expo in Dallas and is doing 10 zoa frags for $100. I don't much care about getting designer stuff so much as a large diversity of corals and fish so that there is always something to look at.

Do y'all think I'm crazy to yolo on Zoa's on a week old tank that's barely cycled? This isn't my first tank by a long shot but I haven't ever done the dry rock thing.

Planned stock list:
2x Onyx Percs (sustainable aquatics)
1 Royal Gramma (biota)
3x Seale's Cardinal (biota) (I'm not dead set on these but I think a schooling fish would be neat)
2x Blennies (biota or ora)
1x Hawkfish or Flameback Angel (centerpiece)

Finally does anyone know how to take pictures on an iPhone 15 or newer that don't appear so blue? My tank has a blue tint for sure with the lights on in Royal Blue, Blue and Cool White on my AI Blade but the pictures look like I put in blue dye also. I could just turn down the blue channels everytime I take pictures but that seems like a strange way to do it.

 

[Rocks reef]

First off, welcome back to the wet side!
Second, even though it is a good deal on the zoas, your tank isn't ready. The first couple weeks it will be pretty unstable.
Third, do you have orange colored glasses? Any orange see through plastic at home? If not, you can order some inexpensive reef lenses off Amazon. Orphek sells a little kit and it's pretty low cost.

Amazon.com

 

[El Maestro]

Ordered! And you’re right on the zoas it’s only a $20 difference from regular price anyway.

 

[El Maestro]

Well I got the lens kit in from Amazon and the picture is a lot closer to color accurate, I will take what I an get though. Still waiting on the cycle and Onyx Percs to arrive at the LFS.

I have been feeding the hermits and snails twice daily to give a Nitrogen source. Do you think I should stop or cut back until the cycle is complete? I have been reading 0.5 ppm Ammonia for about five days.

 

[El Maestro]

Alright I actually tested this morning and sitting at 0.5 ppm Ammonia 1 ppm nitrite and 20-40 ppm nitrate. Feeling glad I didn’t pull the trigger on that sale…I did reach out to sustainable aquatics today through their web form to ask if they still supply c quest onyx clowns. I had placed an order last weekend which fortunately didn’t come in but I would still like to know if it’s actually going to show.

 

[El Maestro]

A week later and I'm at 0.25-0.5 ppm Ammonia, 1-2 ppm Nitrite and 80 ppm Nitrate?? The Nitrate seems impossibly high for a tank that's been cycling for two weeks and just been fed a few pellets a couple of times a day. I am finally starting to grow a little bit of diatoms and algae on the rocks which I find attractive compared to the bleach white rocks.

I'm using the cheap API master test kit because I know once the cycle is done I won't test Ammonia or Nitrite again unless there's an emergency.

Does anyone have any thoughts about whether or not I should wait longer on a clownfish or pair? I'm going to do water change tomorrow to vaccum up pellets that hermit crabs haven't eaten sitting on the sand bed.

 

[El Maestro]

Another week has passed and it looks like my Ammonia is finally at 0. Nitrites still 1 and nitrates 20?
I'm assuming that because my Nitrites were so high the nitrate reading was aritificial or a bad read by me. If there's a decent looking clownfish at the LFS I'm just going to go for it.

 

[El Maestro]

Picked up a couple of clowns last weekend! My daughter's pick, so much for waiting for Onyx percs to come in. Water tested at 0, 0, 0 yesterday and when I woke up this morning the rock was looking about as good as it has since the cycle began in earnest. I think I might just order a bunch of zoas, xenia and a toadstool.

 

[El Maestro]

Got a Royal Gramma as my third fish. It took a couple of days to start swimming openly but everyone seems happy and non-agressive. I also added Galaxy pods about a week and a half ago and they utterly destroyed diatoms and cut back film algae growth by 90% the water even looks clearer. My next paycheck hits in two weeks and then I'm buying about $200 worth of zoa/softy frags.

 

[El Maestro]

Well the tank has officially broken in since my last update. I had a bout with ick with the royal gramma and lost it towards the end of October. I had been overfeeding with meaty foods in a hope save it which set off quite a bit of algae and cyano. I've beat that back with water changes the last few weeks and the tank is appearing to regain equilibrium with steady slow decline in algae. I do finally feel like I can try and get another fish and some zoas/softies. Also does anyone have any input on what is going at the edges of the rocks where I circled in red? I think it is bacterial but I have been having an issue where the water looks hazy wherever it is most hazy but it seems to be declining as cyano has been.

 

[El Maestro]

Well the Cyano/bacterial bloom finally broke after my last 20% water change. The left side of the tank has very little algae while the right has very little. I also discovered a hitchiker white urchin nearly a month after getting TBS rock! Doing another 20% water change tomorrow so I'll take what I can get. Currently I am sumpless and filterless just relying on water changes.

This tank is now about three months old and maturing well. In my shoes would you:
A) Buy a bunch of soft corals, zoas, maybe an lps/monti ($200 worth)
B) Prioritize a life reef overflow, sump, and eventually a skimmer/ato.
I am a little torn but leaning toward the corals, since it takes a while to grow a bunch of frags out and the tank is generally "good enough".

 

[El Maestro]

Well what a difference I month makes, the hair algae has been banished from the rocks for a couple of weeks. Coralline algae has filled in really heavily on the left half of the tank as well. I bought 12 zoas, a green toadstool, xenia, and a miami hurricane chalice frag for $168 shipped to my door from Reef Life Texas two days ago and everything is opening nicely and looks great. It's been a slow roll on this tank but my long term vision is slowly coming to fruition. I just want a chill tank with easy corals, fish and affordable equipment. I'll probably get another couple of fish in another month or two but for now I think this is it.