rhailey931
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2020
- Messages
- 20
- Reaction score
- 76
Hey everybody! I've posted a few times with questions as I rejoined the hobby after many years away, and since the tank is almost two months old now, I could start talking about it and showing it, and collecting input and advice.
The hobby has changed a lot since my last go-around, and, on the advice of some of the suppliers I used, I followed a very different process than what I was used to. I want to document what I did here, so that as my tank progresses, I have a good record of what worked as advertised, and what...didn't.
Fortunately, very little of that so far.
This post is more or less a summary of what's to come. I'm getting the basic timeline in place and will add details in followup posts. Think of this as the TL;DR version.
So, to start, equipment.
I bought a new 32g Biocube on the advice of my local fish store. (LFS) I had a 12 gallon Nano years before, and when I asked about it, they pointed me in the direction of the Biocube. They didn't have any in stock, so we put in an order. I went with a deluxe package to get a lower price, so got a protein skimmer, heater, wave pump, filter media, etc all at once.
I got everything home, assembled everything, and then started researching the best way to start everything up. With my last set up, I cycled the tanks using live rock, waiting 2 months before beginning to add stock. This time, on the advice of the LFS, I used an accelerated cycle, adding "Death in a bottle" as they called it, to jump start the nitrogen cycle. I waited a week after adding 20lbs of live rock from Florida and the starter, then took my water in to the LFS for testing. 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm Nitrite, 20ppm nitrate. They said do a water change and I would be ready for fish.
I got a pair of clowns, changed the water, did my own testing, and added them to the tank. They were agitated at first, but didn't seem to be overly stressed, and they calmed down within a day. I added a cleanup crew, heavy on hermits with a few snails, and let things run for a week. Tested my water and everything still looked good. I did a water change, added a couple of shrimp to control the aiptasia I found growing on the live rock, and added my first coral, some zoas and mushrooms growing on a large rock I found at my LFS.
I waited another week, tested my water, did a change, and added a starred blenny. By this time, the macro algae on the live rock was beginning to take off, in a good way as long as I can manage it. I like having natural processes control my tank as much as possible, and the sponges and macros growing on my rocks add to the look of the tank and help with the nitrate cycle. I added an urchin to keep the algae in check and so far he is an efficient lawn mower.
So, in a nutshell, that's my process. My tank is 8 weeks old, and so far, nice and stable. The only move I've seen in water quality was a sudden drop in calcium and alkalinity. I've been dosing with Red Sea Foundation A,B, and C to get everything in balance and it appears to be working as my parameters are back in the normal range. I'm testing frequently and doing 5gal water changes every week to stay on top of everything. This process has been very new to me, as I said, the last time, it took months before I added any livestock to the tank and here I am with a tank that's well stocked already.
For the next few weeks, I'm going to just watch and monitor. My sneaking suspicion is that, while everything looks good right now, stability just doesn't come that easily, and I'll be watching closely to make sure things don't spiral out of control.
I'm out of town for a couple of weeks (My sister and daughter are watching the tank for me) but I'll go through my pictures once I get home and post them.
The hobby has changed a lot since my last go-around, and, on the advice of some of the suppliers I used, I followed a very different process than what I was used to. I want to document what I did here, so that as my tank progresses, I have a good record of what worked as advertised, and what...didn't.
Fortunately, very little of that so far.
This post is more or less a summary of what's to come. I'm getting the basic timeline in place and will add details in followup posts. Think of this as the TL;DR version.
So, to start, equipment.
I bought a new 32g Biocube on the advice of my local fish store. (LFS) I had a 12 gallon Nano years before, and when I asked about it, they pointed me in the direction of the Biocube. They didn't have any in stock, so we put in an order. I went with a deluxe package to get a lower price, so got a protein skimmer, heater, wave pump, filter media, etc all at once.
I got everything home, assembled everything, and then started researching the best way to start everything up. With my last set up, I cycled the tanks using live rock, waiting 2 months before beginning to add stock. This time, on the advice of the LFS, I used an accelerated cycle, adding "Death in a bottle" as they called it, to jump start the nitrogen cycle. I waited a week after adding 20lbs of live rock from Florida and the starter, then took my water in to the LFS for testing. 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm Nitrite, 20ppm nitrate. They said do a water change and I would be ready for fish.
I got a pair of clowns, changed the water, did my own testing, and added them to the tank. They were agitated at first, but didn't seem to be overly stressed, and they calmed down within a day. I added a cleanup crew, heavy on hermits with a few snails, and let things run for a week. Tested my water and everything still looked good. I did a water change, added a couple of shrimp to control the aiptasia I found growing on the live rock, and added my first coral, some zoas and mushrooms growing on a large rock I found at my LFS.
I waited another week, tested my water, did a change, and added a starred blenny. By this time, the macro algae on the live rock was beginning to take off, in a good way as long as I can manage it. I like having natural processes control my tank as much as possible, and the sponges and macros growing on my rocks add to the look of the tank and help with the nitrate cycle. I added an urchin to keep the algae in check and so far he is an efficient lawn mower.
So, in a nutshell, that's my process. My tank is 8 weeks old, and so far, nice and stable. The only move I've seen in water quality was a sudden drop in calcium and alkalinity. I've been dosing with Red Sea Foundation A,B, and C to get everything in balance and it appears to be working as my parameters are back in the normal range. I'm testing frequently and doing 5gal water changes every week to stay on top of everything. This process has been very new to me, as I said, the last time, it took months before I added any livestock to the tank and here I am with a tank that's well stocked already.
For the next few weeks, I'm going to just watch and monitor. My sneaking suspicion is that, while everything looks good right now, stability just doesn't come that easily, and I'll be watching closely to make sure things don't spiral out of control.
I'm out of town for a couple of weeks (My sister and daughter are watching the tank for me) but I'll go through my pictures once I get home and post them.
