Hi, guys, I just started my first nano tank around 4 weeks ago with a Fluval Evo 13.5. I did have some experience when I was a kid with my father in China around 10 years ago. Although my father was doing most of the calculation and management at that time, I just helped him to finish some simple daily missions. (He has been in the hobby since 1999 but he quit his hobby 5 years ago for work reasons. ) The way we did in Asia and years ago was cycling the tank with tons of live rocks and a little blue damselfish and then you just wait for the algae bloom and the green hairy algae will finally turn white. However, it seems live rock is banned in Canada and I need to use dry rock with bacteria blend to start. My LFS recommends I using Fauna Marin bacto blend Fauna Marin bacto energy and bacto balls to start. So I followed the instruction on the bottle and start my cycle. (I did not get an ammonia test kit, since the LFS worker told me just follow the instruction and u will on the right path. And my dad also agrees that he thinks Ammonia kits are not necessary if you know what you are doing. )
So I cycled without light for 11 days and do a No2 test on days 10 and 11, it seems No2 was lower than 0.002 and No3 is around 5-10. Therefore, according to the Fauna Marin bacto blend guide, the LFS showed me in the store, I am ready to put my first fish in it. (Although I was not sure about that since according to my experience 12 days was a little bit too rush to add fishes in.) Then I asked my father if it was safe to add maroon clowns to the tank at that moment, and he thought it will be just fine with 2 maroon clownfishes. Therefore I went to the LFS and bought 2 tiny maroon clowns. Both of them seem to do fine in the tank so far, being very active and excited for the food, except the bigger one always bullies the smaller one and tears down a little piece of breast fin that belongs to the smaller one. Based on the past experience, my father and I thought it should be normal when you put two clownfishes together with a bigger one and a smaller one, and they need some time to get along with. (Please tell me if I am wrong. ) I feed the fish with Fauna Marin clownfish food every two days for the first week, 2-4 pellets for each. And we feed 1/10 cube of frozen brine shrimp last weekend, most of them have been eaten by the clowns. I used the Fauna Marin NO2&No3 kits to test the water. The NO2 and No3 were stable for the first 5 days after we add fishes in, No2 always stuck at 0.002 -0.005 but never turn to be 0, No3 is always 5-10. About the lighting schedule, I start to turn on the light after 2 days the fish settled down. I just use the stock light with a Walmart timer and exposed the tank for 6 hours of lighting the first 3 days and extend lighting to 10 hours later. At that point, Everything seems going fine.
However, after I add the fish into the tank for about 8-9 days the parameters go a little bit weird. No2 rises to somewhere between 0.5 and No3 is either be 0 or undetectable since the No2 is too high. And this situation has been for 3-4 days. Btw, I did a 30% water change with RO water every weekend. Although my dad told me with that amount of No2 and No3 the clownfishes will still be fine, what I need to do is just keep what I am doing daily and be patient, dt add any corals or fish to the tank at least for 2 weeks and the tanks will reach its balance one day. My question is should I need to worry about that or just do as my dad says so.
The second question is about the Diatom on the rocks. It begins to appear on the rock on day 20. Although I understand that there should be a diatom bloom for dry rock during the cycle period, since I have been away for this hobby for years, it is a little bit difficult for me to distinguish between a normal harmless diatom from a brown toxic one. Could anyone tell me that what kinds of diatom are on my rock, please?
Winson Lu
So I cycled without light for 11 days and do a No2 test on days 10 and 11, it seems No2 was lower than 0.002 and No3 is around 5-10. Therefore, according to the Fauna Marin bacto blend guide, the LFS showed me in the store, I am ready to put my first fish in it. (Although I was not sure about that since according to my experience 12 days was a little bit too rush to add fishes in.) Then I asked my father if it was safe to add maroon clowns to the tank at that moment, and he thought it will be just fine with 2 maroon clownfishes. Therefore I went to the LFS and bought 2 tiny maroon clowns. Both of them seem to do fine in the tank so far, being very active and excited for the food, except the bigger one always bullies the smaller one and tears down a little piece of breast fin that belongs to the smaller one. Based on the past experience, my father and I thought it should be normal when you put two clownfishes together with a bigger one and a smaller one, and they need some time to get along with. (Please tell me if I am wrong. ) I feed the fish with Fauna Marin clownfish food every two days for the first week, 2-4 pellets for each. And we feed 1/10 cube of frozen brine shrimp last weekend, most of them have been eaten by the clowns. I used the Fauna Marin NO2&No3 kits to test the water. The NO2 and No3 were stable for the first 5 days after we add fishes in, No2 always stuck at 0.002 -0.005 but never turn to be 0, No3 is always 5-10. About the lighting schedule, I start to turn on the light after 2 days the fish settled down. I just use the stock light with a Walmart timer and exposed the tank for 6 hours of lighting the first 3 days and extend lighting to 10 hours later. At that point, Everything seems going fine.
However, after I add the fish into the tank for about 8-9 days the parameters go a little bit weird. No2 rises to somewhere between 0.5 and No3 is either be 0 or undetectable since the No2 is too high. And this situation has been for 3-4 days. Btw, I did a 30% water change with RO water every weekend. Although my dad told me with that amount of No2 and No3 the clownfishes will still be fine, what I need to do is just keep what I am doing daily and be patient, dt add any corals or fish to the tank at least for 2 weeks and the tanks will reach its balance one day. My question is should I need to worry about that or just do as my dad says so.
The second question is about the Diatom on the rocks. It begins to appear on the rock on day 20. Although I understand that there should be a diatom bloom for dry rock during the cycle period, since I have been away for this hobby for years, it is a little bit difficult for me to distinguish between a normal harmless diatom from a brown toxic one. Could anyone tell me that what kinds of diatom are on my rock, please?
Winson Lu
Last edited: