Hi there,
My husband, son and I are excited to enter the reefing world after twenty plus years as a family with various freshwater tanks. We have done a lot of research and have found this site very helpful, so thank you! We have a question and I know we sound like such newbies, but please bear with us lol.
Our tank has been all set up and running for a week. We have a Red Sea Reefer 350 tank, 90g incl sump; Life Rock by Caribea (we know it's not live but it apparently has some bacteria sprayed on it); Nature's Ocean Live Bio-Active Aragonite Sand (1 1/2-2" depth); heated to 75F, salinity 1.023; Ni 0; Na 0; Amm 0 (All readings have been consistent for 5 days)
What now? (Yep, that's our question)
Do we just wait? There seems to be much (conflicting) discussion about this online. There are so many variables, which we understand (using live vs dry rock, etc). One local fish store says we need to add Start-up by Probodia. Another wants to sell us "media that cycles tanks faster." One online forum suggests adding increments of ammonia, another says to add some fish food and another even suggests adding a couple cocktail shrimp to get things started. What the heck?
We just don't know what to do now or if we should be even doing anything at all. And if things start to happen, what should we be looking for? (Okay, I know that's a second question)
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
The Newbie Reefers
My husband, son and I are excited to enter the reefing world after twenty plus years as a family with various freshwater tanks. We have done a lot of research and have found this site very helpful, so thank you! We have a question and I know we sound like such newbies, but please bear with us lol.
Our tank has been all set up and running for a week. We have a Red Sea Reefer 350 tank, 90g incl sump; Life Rock by Caribea (we know it's not live but it apparently has some bacteria sprayed on it); Nature's Ocean Live Bio-Active Aragonite Sand (1 1/2-2" depth); heated to 75F, salinity 1.023; Ni 0; Na 0; Amm 0 (All readings have been consistent for 5 days)
What now? (Yep, that's our question)
Do we just wait? There seems to be much (conflicting) discussion about this online. There are so many variables, which we understand (using live vs dry rock, etc). One local fish store says we need to add Start-up by Probodia. Another wants to sell us "media that cycles tanks faster." One online forum suggests adding increments of ammonia, another says to add some fish food and another even suggests adding a couple cocktail shrimp to get things started. What the heck?
We just don't know what to do now or if we should be even doing anything at all. And if things start to happen, what should we be looking for? (Okay, I know that's a second question)
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
The Newbie Reefers