Zer0's 25G Rimless Cube Reef

[Zer0]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the kind words.

Cmor, it's not bleached rock, it's just dry fiji rock. It was live when it was in my 55G.. but when i tore it down, i kept the rock and just basically scrubbed the heck out of it. Made it look all nice and clean and got all of the dirt and mud off of the rocks. And i definitely want to go to something fishy, but my cycle isn't complete yet..

I just wish i had a better camera that could get nice shots. It really looks so much nicer in person.

Anyways, pretty sure my cycle is coming to a close pretty soon. Maybe by next week.

Test Results as of 5 minutes ago:

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0.75ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
pH: 7.8
SG: 1.020

Haven't tested for calcium, mag, dkH, etc.. Just the basic tests were done.

Also starting to see some green algae forming in the fuge, and LOTS of diatoms in the fuge as well. For some reason though.. i'm not getting ANY diatoms at all in the main display.. Could it be because i have a weak lighting setup? In the fuge i have a huge spiral plant grow-out bulb.. so maybe the diatoms find it easier to grow there rather in the display?

Also, i had a question. How is it possible that diatoms and algae can grow when there is Ammonia, Nitrites, and no Nitrates present? I thought things die under levels of ammonia? Oh ya.. also, how do i keep my bacteria alive once the cycle is over? Because i won't be able to get a CUC the exact day my cycle ends.. or even the day after. Don't want to have to cycle all over again..

 

[thincat]

"Also plan to get an MP10 when i have the money. I want to move the K1 to where the Nano is.. and then get rid of the nano completely. Just makes for a cleaner look since the MP10 is wireless and its amazing. But that's also further down the road since those things are expensive lol."

I have a MP-10 and if you look at the whole picture it's not really that expensive. When I put the MP-10 in my tank I had a total of 4 PH's and a return pump. The mp-10 had so much flow that I removed three of the PH's and Just have the mp-10 and a Koralia 2 now. My Koralias were controlled by a WaveMaster pro. The mp-10 comes with a controller so if you put all that into consideration it's not really that expensive.
Wavemaster pro-$150-$165
Koralia 2's $50-$65
Electricitiy

 

[cmor1701d]

So what you have is base rock. You'll want to add a bit of LR to get some coralline algae started. I have a large rock with some zoas that I'm about ready to remove and break apart (essentialy fragging it) and the same with some finger leather. PM me if your interested in a small piece of either or both.

I was amazed at how much life survived my initial tank cycle. I started with 90 pounds of uncured Fiji LR. My ammonia went off the chart before it came back down. I was sure nothing would survive that cycle. My LR smelled like my PS collection cup (just dumped it 10 minutes ago) for a few day. It was BAD!.
Most of the hitchhikers survived and over the course of a year new things kept popping out.

Have you seen any nitrAtes yet? It does seem the cycle is ending, but you need to complete the full cycle.
Then do a 25% - 50% PWC. Wait a week and test everything. Get the pH and SG up a bit and if all looks good you are ready to start stocking (SLOWLY).
You can add a very small pinch of flake food to feed the bacteria. Not so much to cause a spike, but a small pinch will breakdown and feed the bacterai.

Great job. Keep up the good work.

 

[Zer0]

Yeah, i definitely want the MP10.. but an auto-topoff is first on my list since it isn't that much money and now that i notice.. i really need one lol. I top-off my sump.. pretty much everyday.. maybe twice a day depending on the temperature.

Cmor, i plan to add a few pieces of liverock to both rock structures in my display, and then a couple pounds to my fuge, i just need to wait until the cycle is completed. As for the nitrates, my tests still say there are none, but my ammonia just dropped to 0ppm today and my nitrites are still up there.. so i wasn't expecting to see any nitrates just yet. But i put my money on me seeing nitrates within a couple days.

And yeah, i'm waiting for the full cycle to complete. Do you guys think the pH will raise once the cycle completes? I have my fuge light on 24/7 and i have tons of surface agitation; the return which is aimed directly at the surface and a powerhead that also agitates the surface just because of where it's placed and aimed.

 

[thincat]

yeah, at this point I would not worry about your PH. It will be all over the place during your cycle.

 

[Zer0]

Alright cool. That's what it thought but i just wanted to check and make sure.

Thanks

 

[cmor1701d]

+1 for not worrying yet. After the cycle completes do the large pwc with freshly mixed sw at 1.025. It should have the proper ph after a 12 - 24 aeration period. Let that settle in the tank for several hours before testing again. Not testing till the following day is best. Then adjust as necessary.

Nitrites of .75 is hardly worth mentioning <g>. I would expect the level to get up several points. How high was your high ammonia reading?

 

[Zer0]

Well.. the ammonia stayed at .25ppm for a few days.. then it hit the mark between 1 and 2ppm.. then dropped to zero. The nitrites also hit the 1ppm mark, then started to drop. Only reason i mention the .75ppm is because it looks to be between .50 and .75ppm and i find it odd that i see no ammonia.. and some nitrites.. and no nitrates when clearly the nitrites are dropping. But who knows.. i'm going to test again tomorrow.

 

[cmor1701d]

Sounds like a plan. On a new sterile tank I would have let the ammonia get up to the 3 -5 range. That get's a really good colony of bacteria going, ready to handle a fish bioload.
I forgot, did you use ammonia or raw shrimp?

 

[Zer0]

I used raw shrimp. I put it in two weeks ago this sunday, and i took it out a couple days ago since it really was nothing more than a couple strands of shrimp. The rest was gone. Maybe there was an ammonia spike and i never even saw it? There WERE a couple days that i didn't test for the levels lol.

Anyways.. i'm not too worried about the bioload stuff. I'm only going to have a blue neon goby in the tank lol. It's going to be mostly inhabited by coral and inverts.

 

[Zer0]

So now Cmor's got me worried. Is it ok that my ammonia only went up to around 1ppm? Is that still considered a cycle? Will my tank have more chances of crashing now since it's only cycled to 1ppm of ammonia? I left the whole unseasoned raw shrimp in my tank since two sundays ago, and it was almost completely dissolved. Only thing is.. everytime i tested the water, the color in the vial was in the .50 - 1ppm range?

I'm thinking maybe i should just start the cycle over again, and this time add pure ammonia. And add it until my tests read 3 or 4ppm.. then just let it go from there. What do you guys think? Better safe than sorry or am i ok with 1ppm of ammonia? I only plan to have two small fish anyways.. the yellow clown goby and the blue neon goby. They are pretty small and i'm sure their bioload is pretty much nothing. Still, i need more suggestions on what to do.

 

[cmor1701d]

You should be fine then. You probably missed the peak when you didn't test

 

[thincat]

Zer0, just add things slowly to your tank and the bio-load and bacteria will balance itself up.

 

[Mitchell0605]

But go nuts with da corals. They don't add to bioload!

 

[Zer0]

Nice guys! Thanks!

And i plan to Mitch.. i'm ordering lots of zoas from coralmorph!

 

[Mitchell0605]

Don't forget:
-Rics
-Acros
-Montis
-And plenty of others.

 

[Zer0]

Yeah.. i plan on having around 3 montis, and definitely some acros. But i'm looking for really specific kinds of each.

 

[Mitchell0605]

I reckon a Stylo. They're really nice.

 

[Zer0]

Yeah definitely.

Also wanted to get a duncan and a blastos for the lps, but that would be it for the lps. The rest on the small rock structure would be rics, zoas, and a couple cool shrooms.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Maybe instead of Blastos look at Scollys? When you see my new one you'll start drooling. I guarantee it.