New tank moving right along...... (1 Viewer)

[robrog]

I got my live rock in today and now have officially begun to cycle my tank. You can check my website if you want to see how everything is going so far!

http://home.mindspring.com/~robrog/

 

[Guest]

looks good.

 

[Guest]

Rob, Let us know if you get much of a ammonia spike. From your pictures it looks like everything is alive. The cycling should go pretty quickly. Good Luck!!

 

[Guest]

where did you get the live rock?

 

[robrog]

I ordered my live rock through Kenny at Aquatic Center. He gave me a very competitive price with no shipping charges.

 

[Guest]

Rob, Wow every thing looks awsome, seems to be coming along very well. Can't wait to see what it looks like all cleared up in a couple of days, hopefully you can get some pics up on your site when it does. I did not get to meet you yesterday when you picked up your rock, but I was the guy there in the orange shirt, by the way great looking rock. Kenny said that you were also interested in the Kalini live rock and he was just unable to get it at this time, that is the same rock that I am planning on going with so maybe we can try and order some together from him. Keep us posted on the progress. Looks great!

 

[incysor]

Everything looks great. I can't wait to see your aquascaping when the water clears a little. It looks like you have a nice arch going in there.

Brian

 

[robrog]

We were hoping to go with some Kaelini rock but it does seem hard to get it with a firm arrival date. We tried for a couple weeks and I finally got tired of having an empty tank! I do still have room though, and I would love to see some in person to see how it really compares with the Fiji. The arch took a while to build and I didn't use and glues or anything. Right now it is suprisingly stable! Of course there is nothing in there trying to move it much either. I'm probably gonna change it up a little since it looks a little too square to me. I'll take some pics though and add them to the site tomorrow as the tank clears up.

 

[robrog]

We are 72 hours into the cycle and I figured I would post some numbers to see if they seem right. I'm pretty sure my test kits instructions are written in english, they just don't seem to use my kinda english.....

pH 8.0
Ammonia - 0.4
Nitrite - 20
Nitrate - 50

So how's my score?

 

[Guest]

So how's my score?

Two to Three weeks from completion.

 

[robrog]

Well I'm in no hurry for the cycle to be complete, I know that these things take time. I was just hoping that my numbers seemed inline with a new tank cycle. If they are, then I guess I am reading my tests correctly!

I updated the web site with my results and added a couple new pictures to "The Cycle" page since things are clearing up a bit.

 

[robrog]

Day 6

Today is day 6 of the cycle and here are my new numbers.

pH 8.2
Ammonia - .01
Nitrite - 3.5
Nitrate - 50+

Things are moving right along! I am in the process of redoing some of my aquascaping. While the big arch may have been an engineering marvel, I don't think it was very functional. I stopped by Aquatic Center today and got a few pieces of tonga branch to help add some variety and change things up a bit. I'll add some pictures when I get done with my redecorating.

 

[Guest]

i wish my tank looked that good at day 6. oh well maybe on my next one.

 

[robrog]

Day 9

I posted my Day 9 update on the web. Here are my latest numbers:

pH - 8.1
Ammonia NH3 - 0
NH4 - .03
Nitrite - .01
Nitrate - 20

 

[robrog]

Today is day 12 and here are my latest test results:

pH - 8.1
NH3 - 0
NH4 - .01
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20

Everything is still looking good to me. The other day I noticed some small critters crawling on the glass. They are too tiny to get a picture of but there seems to be a lot of them. I'm taking it as a good sign that something is living in there! 8)

 

[robrog]

For those of you following along at home, we have reached day 15 now and everything looks great! I met with Tom on Sunday to swap some clean sand for live sand. He said he didn't need my sand anymore, but gave me the live sand anyway, thanks again Tom! So far I have seen spaghetti worms, amphipods, a few snails, a small brittle star and maybe a bristle worm! My algae bloom has started and my rock is turning a nice shade of brown. If my numbers continue to look good then maybe next week I'll add some critters to start working on that algae. Here are my day 15 test results:

pH - 8.1
NH3 - 0
NH4 - <.01
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 10

 

[Guest]

I have read that there are some particular critters that like brown algae. I just don't remember which ones. I am sure someone here can make a recommendation on what critters would love your brown algae.

 

[Guest]

Mexican turbo snails eat just about anything

 

[robrog]

Day 21

We have reached day 21 and here are this morning's test results:

pH - 8.0
NH3 - 0
NH4 - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 15

I have added 3 turbo snails to start working on my algae. Turbo Snail is definitely an oxymoron and these guys really aren't that fast. They do seem to enjoy the algae though! I am also planning on getting some snails that will help clean the sand as well, and maybe a few hermits. I am adding chaetomorpha to my fuge. The plan is to try and wait till the 2 to 3 month mark before adding any fish.......I'll let you know how that works out.

 

[Guest]

Will your clean up crew exist on the algae or do you have to supliment their eating with other food?