Ok, I got impatient! Now what??

[Curtjakson]

I really am surprised by the volume of replies. I didn't expect to get such a fast response. I'm really appreciative of all the help, it is really helping me put everything together in my head.

As far as the crushed coral it wasn't my choice, I was told buy the man at the LFS (not Petco) coral was easier then sand, And that most first timers prefer it. I'm realizing now that sand would have been the superior choice. Dose anyone suggest adding sand to the coral? Or should the coral be removed and sand then added.

[Jandawil]

Originally Posted by BrianD

to the vast majority who posted on this thread without feeling the need to be judgmental. Good luck Curkjakson, there are some knowledgable people helping you out here.

Agree 1000%. Some forum people can be a-holes and forget what I was like to be a noob. I'm also a home theater enthusiast and frequent the AVS forums. I'd say it's the same mix there as well. The vast majority are awesome and helpful... Others can just be self-righteous know-it-alls. So far I've been very impressed with the folks here.

Curt to your question. Inverts are what they reefer to with your clean up crew (CUC). Generally a mix of hermit crabs, and various snails. I started with 10 hermits and 5 nasarius snails. Also a peppermint shrimp because he was cool looking. They do a great job of keeping your rocks and sand bed clean. I have since lost one hermit and a snail. They sometimes fight. They're dirt cheap though.

[Curtjakson]

Ok, I've been reading about CUC's. I was checking them out on reefs2go. When it comes time to add a CUC, how many hermits and snails do you /should you add?? On there website they say 1 crab per gallon, 1-2 snails per gallon. This sound a little much to me?

[SoLiD]

What we forgot to say is every live creature in our saltwater box makes waste. Crushed coral is so clumpy that I allows detritus (poop) to accumulate deep down to the bottom below the substrate (crushed coral) easily because it will not pack tightly enough. This causes a ticking time bomb of a nitrate build up. You could pack in new sand between the cracks if you don't mind the look.

[GT350pwns]

Originally Posted by Curtjakson

Ok, I've been reading about CUC's. I was checking them out on reefs2go. When it comes time to add a CUC, how many hermits and snails do you /should you add?? On there website they say 1 crab per gallon, 1-2 snails per gallon. This sound a little much to me?

reefcleaners.org has a form you can fill out with information regarding your tank and he will spit back a recommended CUC.

I started with 12 hermits, I'm now down to 10 (pulled one out dead as a door nail and another is MIA. who knows where he went). Going to be getting a ton of snails here soon.

[SoLiD]

How's it going… learning anything???

[Curtjakson]

Ok, I got the anemone out and gave him to a friend or a friend, he seems to be doing well. As for the damsel, I couldn't catch him lol. I didn't want to pull all the rock out, so for now he's in there. I don't know how after checking my levels.

My levels are as followed.

Temp- 79F
Salinity-1.025
PH-8.0
Ammonia-2.0
Nitrite-0.50
Nitrate-5.0

I'm going to feed twice a day and have 9hours of light.
I'll check the Ammonia levels in a week and see where they are at.

Just out of curiosity, what, if any, Ammonia level is acceptable? I know I want it to be zero, but if you happen to get a Ammonia spike, what will kill a fish?

[Fishyoga]

Originally Posted by Curtjakson

And you know your cycle is complete when your ammonia has converted to nitrites and your nitrites to nitrates. When that has happened the cycle is complete and it's safe. So there is no set amount of time it's going to take for my cycle to complete, just when all levels are in order.

My first tank (20g) I only tested water after two weeks, then a couple times each week. Once I saw the rocks start to get fuzzy, I paid closer attention to the water chemistry, and physical water quality. In total, I waited 6 weeks before adding any CUC. Also, my LFS at the time would not ALLOW me to buy any livestock from them until I brought in a sample of water for them to test.

Would others agree that cycling of tank is not only dependent on the volume of the tank, but also the amount of LR and LS you start with?
Or is there a correlation between tank size and cycling time?

[Curtjakson]

Can anyone comment on my light schedule? Should I have less then 9 hours wile cycling?

[GT350pwns]

I ran mine 10-11 hrs a day when my tank was cycling. if you are using RODI you shouldn't have any major algae blooms.

[Curtjakson]

Originally Posted by GT350pwns

I ran mine 10-11 hrs a day when my tank was cycling. if you are using RODI you shouldn't have any major algae blooms.

Thanks. I am using RODI water. I figured 9 hours was a good safe point to start. Adding more light can only help the bacteria growth, right?

[GT350pwns]

Originally Posted by Curtjakson

Thanks. I am using RODI water. I figured 9 hours was a good safe point to start. Adding more light can only help the bacteria growth, right?

not necessarily.

Originally Posted by http://www.pondtrademag.com/articles/ar-154/

Light

Nitrifying bacteria are photo-sensitive, especially to blue and ultraviolet light. After they have colonized a surface, this light poses no problem. But during the first 3 to 4 days, many of the cells may be suspended in the water column. Any bulbs that emit UV or near UV light, should remain “off” during this initial 3 to 4 day time frame.

But, it helps with diatom and algae blooms. If you are using RODI water, there isn't anything to help the algae and diatoms reach nuisance levels. I ran my lights for a long amount of time in my cycle because I was actually wanting to see some slight blooms after my levels were good so when I added my CUC they would have a good amount of food. Whether or not that is a suggestible method, I don't know. But, it's how I went about things and nothing got out of control lol

[Crooked Reef]

Sand will settle into the bottom of the crushed coral and fill it in over time the coral may keep rising to the top and cause the same issues though. Also you need to keep the substrate depth below 2 inches or above 5 to 6. Look up deep sand beds if you want. I would stay away from one this new into the hobby if I were you but since you had freshwater for so long you may decide to do one. There are strong opinions on both sides.

[Curtjakson]

I'm going to bump the light schedule up by 1 hour, my tank has been up for 9 days now and my rocks are starting to get fuzzy.

I decided to keep the crushed coral, I was going to scoop it out and put sand in, but I could always do that down the road.

I just checked my ammonia level and it has dropped quite well in he last 2 days. It was 2.0ppm and has dropped to 0.50ppm. Looks like the tank is functioning well.

I still have a domino damsel in there and he's doing well. I'm not sure how he survived the initial ammonia spike when the other fish did not?? But he's coming out before any new fish go in.

[FTDelta]

Dominos are real terrors of all damsel fish. Good luck with any new additions to that tank.

[Curtjakson]

Originally Posted by FTDelta

Dominos are real terrors of all damsel fish. Good luck with any new additions to that tank.

Did you continue reading after you had seen the word damsel? Hes coming out before anything else goes in.