New 55 gallon reef tank

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ReeferChick420

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This is my soon to be reef tank...
It is 7 days into the cycling period I just have the ECO wp25 wave maker and aqueon heater running...
I have 20 pounds of black CaribSea live aragonite reef sand and about 60 pounds of rock because some of the rocks are pretty dense but some are also very pourus...
My measurements are... Ph- 8.2, Ammonia- .50, Nitrite- 2.0, Nitrate- .40
Tomorrow I plan on doing a water change and putting 30 more pounds of the same kind of sand...
Do you think I will be able to add my first fish by the end of the month?


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I also ordered the reef octopus classic 100 HOB protein skimmer so I am waiting for that and I will hook it up


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This doesn't answer any of your questions - but the shape of that aquarium is just beautiful! I can just imagine the wonderful aquascaping opportunities!
 
I don't think you need to do water changes during the cycle! If the rock water dry then end of month would be pretty quick!


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I recently realized how hard aquascaping is... I had to try so many different ways to put the rocks but this is the one that stuck with me... I know patience is a virtue in this hobby so I don't mind waiting... I have to get some more sand today so I might end up getting some live rock to seed


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Oh ya scraping can be trying! Just finished my cycle on my new 100! Drive a person crazy


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Isn't true that the larger the tank is the longer you have to cycle?


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I don't think so! If your rock is dry it will take 6-8 weeks to be ready! Mine is on 7 weeks! Will link it with my 40 gal system tonight then off to the races!


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Wow good luck... I saw your tank it looks pretty awesome


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Thanks I can't wait to fill
My 100?! After the nightmare of a basement sump it is finally ready!


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until ammonia is turned to nitrate in 24 hours dont add fish, after ammonia can turn to nitrate in 24 hours do a couple large water changes before adding fish.
 
I wouldn't do a water change only 7 days in. Let the amonia work itself out.

With live sand your cycle would be sped up, just keep testing amonia till it reads 0. Could be quick. I started a tank with live sand and some base rock and it cycled in 2 weeks. You never really know, just test test test....
 
I'd be concerned about putting the rock directly on the glass. Doing so can inhibit water flow, put pressure on your glass, and make it more difficult to retrieve snails, detritus, etc. just my 2 cents.


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One other thing... Dig that rock into the sand to reduce shifting and also dead spots?


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I feel like the The wp25 is giving the water a lot of water flow but I have a koralia hydor power head so if anything I can try to put that there to maneuver some flow back there...

I put 20 more pounds of live sand in there so it is dug in much more now I will take a picture later on...



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Tie a piece of string to the handle of a fish net and you can use that to check the flow in different areas of the tank.


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+1 Big Red, one thing I've learned is that thorough flow top to bottom is key?


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good evening everyone... my aquarium has been cycling for about a month and a few days. I have a Damsel, and two sally lightfoot crabs, I have black sand so I want to get bright colored fish and coral. I only plan to have about five fish, and I also plan on tAking out the damsel and returning it to the fish store... I plan on getting two ocellaris clownfish (the ones that look like a puzzle piece), a flame angel, a yellow tang, a mandarin dragonet(but after about a year so my tank can mature enough); those are the fish that I want to get for a fact. I want to get about two more fish and that's it because I want it to be a reef aquarium so all these fish must be reef safe. these are some options for my last two fish... a Bartlett's anthias, one or two of the yellow assessors or a canary fang blenny, magenta dottyback, royal gamma.(I will most likely get one of these fishes any suggestions on which one to chose that is reef safe and good with the other fish I chose. also I know some of these fishes are more aggressive so is there any fish that I should add in first or last


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I finally got my reef octopus classic bh1000 it was a bit of a pain setting up but the videos were very helpful ... I'm going to wait a few days then start adding my lovely fish


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Let the fun begin!!! Make sure to space out your additions. Its hard to slowly add fish cause once you get one in you get all excited and want to add more...lol Slow wins the race in this case...

Oh and that damsel will become super teritorial once he feels crowded in there. Could be the next fish, could be 3 from now. get him out before you have coral because you're probably going to have to remove the rock. They HATE being removed...lol
 
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