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igotatank Master Sergeant
Posts : 253
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/16/2009, 8:05 pm | |
| i just finished setting up my tank been running for a week now. saltwater. fish only for now. about half the water was established already along with the rock. i added sand. there were already two clown fish and a crab. it probably would not take the tank that long to go through a cycle? | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/16/2009, 8:08 pm | |
| use some seachem stability and it will help your cycle go faster (7 days) but keep in mind that you will still need to add livestock slowly over time to give the biological filter time to catch up using stability every time yu add fish will also help but you will still need to go slow |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/28/2009, 10:23 pm | |
| - igotatank wrote:
- i just finished setting up my tank been running for a week now. saltwater. fish only for now. about half the water was established already along with the rock. i added sand. there were already two clown fish and a crab. it probably would not take the tank that long to go through a cycle?
although there is beneficial bacteria in teh water there is not as much as you might think. i have 1 to 2 lbs per gallon of live rock and i added 3 bags of pavestone pulverised limestone recently and used my old water but also my liv rock. i was going to just replace all of my water but i was advised against it because i was told it would be like starting all over again and i should have went ahead and replaced the water because just by adding the pavestone and using stability my tank is cycling again as i am getting the brown algae on the sand bed that shows you your tank is cycling. out of everything in my tank coral frags included, the only thing that seems effected is my green with pink tip frogspawn that i got a 2 head frag of that had grown to 6 and now it looks like it may not make it |
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igotatank Master Sergeant
Posts : 253 Location : Las Vegas Favorite Fish: : Most Saltwater Fish
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 8:18 am | |
| I have not got any algae in my tank. i tested the water yesterday. my nitrates are high. everything else is fine. i need to get a skimmer. | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 12:09 pm | |
| - igotatank wrote:
- I have not got any algae in my tank. i tested the water yesterday. my nitrates are high. everything else is fine. i need to get a skimmer.
well how your bacteria cycle works is that your ammonia should go up and start to fall off as nitrites are produced. what happens next is your nitrites will start to rise and then begin to decline as nitrates are produced. a protein skimmer only removes wastes (floting fish poo, etc.) from the water columnmight want to do a few water changes over the course of the next couple of weeks. you should have seen something brown growing on the bottom of your tank during the cycling period if you did not see this then something is not right as every salt tank i have ever started had a brown algae grow while it cycled. |
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igotatank Master Sergeant
Posts : 253 Location : Las Vegas Favorite Fish: : Most Saltwater Fish
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 12:21 pm | |
| I DONT KNOW. I SHOULD DO A WATER CHANGE. THIS WILL HELP THE TANK CYCLE? S | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 12:35 pm | |
| - igotatank wrote:
- I DONT KNOW. I SHOULD DO A WATER CHANGE. THIS WILL HELP THE TANK CYCLE? S
no it will not help your cycle but on the same token if you have not been getting any brown algae growing then your tank is not cycling. the brown algae that grows ia a product of the cycling process and will eventually disappear. |
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igotatank Master Sergeant
Posts : 253 Location : Las Vegas Favorite Fish: : Most Saltwater Fish
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 12:51 pm | |
| do i need to seed the tank with something? maybe buy some live rock? | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 1:12 pm | |
| live rock will have beneficial bacteria, also get like an ocelleris clown and a bottle of stability (brand is seachem) and in 7 days you will have went through your cycle. now with that said i would completely drain the tanks and rinse everything off really good and start over with fresh saltwater and clean gravel. this way you know for sure it is done right. ok with that info out of the way, even though you use stability and add 1 or 2 clown fish (lemone damsels are another good first fish for seeding ( i dont recommend any other fish as i have found most others if not all others are not hardy enough or get really agressive as they get older) after the 7 days it is safe to add another fish or 2 just make sure you use the stablility every time you add new fish (or corals) and do not add more than 1 fish in a 2 week period (2 fish if it is a mated pair and then give tank 3 weeks) to give the biological filtration time to catch up to the new bioload. |
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igotatank Master Sergeant
Posts : 253 Location : Las Vegas Favorite Fish: : Most Saltwater Fish
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 1:36 pm | |
| the tank has two matted pecula clowns and a hermit crab | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 1:45 pm | |
| - igotatank wrote:
- the tank has two matted pecula clowns and a hermit crab
ok well those fish will be fine for seeding and i have not been able to kill a crab at all LOL. what i suggest is keep enough water from your tank to place teh crab adn clowns in. drain the tank and rinse the gravel (assuming you have a substrate). put the substrate back in the tank with a peice or 2 of live rock. refill with new saltwater. then climatize your fish and crab as usual you could go about 30 minutes to climatize on some items i go 1+ hours depending on the item. once the fish and crabs are replaced add stability (made by seachem) making sure to follow instructions on teh bottle. another thing is make shure you have a power head or 2 to help with water circulation, the power head will help aerate the water and keep stuff suspended in the water column. i would recommend a protein skimmer in the near future as it will remove some of teh waste products that are floating the water column. what type of filter are you using? does your filter have bio balls in it? if you filter has bio balls try replaceing teh bio balls with live rock rubble (bio ball are notorius for becoming nitrate factories if not rewgularly cleaned basically killing off any beneficial bacteria on them) |
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igotatank Master Sergeant
Posts : 253 Location : Las Vegas Favorite Fish: : Most Saltwater Fish
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 1:55 pm | |
| I HAVE A CANISTER WITH CARBON IN IT. | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 1:59 pm | |
| - igotatank wrote:
- I HAVE A CANISTER WITH CARBON IN IT.
ok have you checked your cannister to make sure the filter pads do not have excessive buildup and need cleaned? does the filter contain plastic Bio balls? |
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igotatank Master Sergeant
Posts : 253 Location : Las Vegas Favorite Fish: : Most Saltwater Fish
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 2:00 pm | |
| THAT IS WHAT I PLANNED ON DOING TONIGHT WHEN I GOT HOME. CLEAN OUT THE FILTER AND CHANGE OUT FILTER PAD AND CARBON. | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 2:11 pm | |
| - igotatank wrote:
- THAT IS WHAT I PLANNED ON DOING TONIGHT WHEN I GOT HOME. CLEAN OUT THE FILTER AND CHANGE OUT FILTER PAD AND CARBON.
ok that is a good thing. it was recommended to me to replace my carbon every 2 weeks (needless to say i now use a phosban reactor filled with carbon alot easier to deal with and i have a refugium and dont need to break open a cannister every 2 weeks LOL. i suggest live rock rubble in the cannister (and only the rubble) put a filter sock over the intake (make it easier to see when it needs cleaned). if all you have in your cannister is live rock rubble then there will no longer be a need to break it open for maintenance. for carbon you could use a phosban reactor with a low flow powerhead, a filter media bag with carbon in an area of low flow (not really possible in your situation though), or get a cheap hang on filter and use it just to run carbon. the phosban reactor and hang on filter methods for carbon would be ideal since you do not have to leave them on and can be removed whern not running carbon. like i said i do not run carbon very often on my salt tank, and when i do it is through a phosban reactor |
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igotatank Master Sergeant
Posts : 253 Location : Las Vegas Favorite Fish: : Most Saltwater Fish
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 2:42 pm | |
| I AM THINKING ABOUT BUYING A SUMP. I SEEN A 55 GALLON FOR $100 NEW. | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 2:49 pm | |
| - igotatank wrote:
- I AM THINKING ABOUT BUYING A SUMP. I SEEN A 55 GALLON FOR $100 NEW.
sounds like a plan, you can make your baffles out of glass or acrylic and instead of a sump make it a refugium |
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igotatank Master Sergeant
Posts : 253 Location : Las Vegas Favorite Fish: : Most Saltwater Fish
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 2:52 pm | |
| AND STILL KEEP THE CANISTER FILTER RUNNING? | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 4:32 pm | |
| - igotatank wrote:
- AND STILL KEEP THE CANISTER FILTER RUNNING?
if you are going to use a sump or refugium the cannister will no longer be needed. |
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igotatank Master Sergeant
Posts : 253 Location : Las Vegas Favorite Fish: : Most Saltwater Fish
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/29/2009, 9:27 pm | |
| i got a little confused for a second there. i knew the sump would take care of the canister. i dont trust this canoster filter i have. dont like it at all. | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 10/30/2009, 12:08 am | |
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juice28 Chief Wrnt. Off. 2
Posts : 376 Location : Norman, OK Favorite Fish: : black false percula, spotted mandarin
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 11/8/2009, 11:54 am | |
| Yea, fug over sump, plus you can have a fuge/sump combo...I was gonna get raptors but my pockets fell ill....then i fell ill. lol | |
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igotatank Master Sergeant
Posts : 253 Location : Las Vegas Favorite Fish: : Most Saltwater Fish
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 11/8/2009, 2:21 pm | |
| got my sump yesterday. next weekend im breaking down the tank to set it up | |
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CSnyder00 Moderator
Posts : 1648 Location : Pittsburgh, PA Favorite Fish: : Luwino Reef Zebra Chilumba, Ocellatus, Any bright-colored freshwater cichlid
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 11/8/2009, 2:37 pm | |
| Good Luck! Pictures when finished please! | |
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igotatank Master Sergeant
Posts : 253 Location : Las Vegas Favorite Fish: : Most Saltwater Fish
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 11/8/2009, 3:18 pm | |
| i will post some. i am making progress slowly. | |
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Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: I am going to start doing Salt as well!!!! 11/8/2009, 10:12 pm | |
| - igotatank wrote:
- i will post some. i am making progress slowly.
let me know if you need some help igotank. i will be glad to help |
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