Just booted up...

[Tmar]

This waiting is killer! I always thought I was the patient type but this is definitely making me question that
I figure once the cycle is done (soon I think) and I get a fish and a CUC in there, then the waiting for the rest of it wont be so painful
I appreciate ALL the advice, input and mostly encouragement I have received on this little nano tank here at AA. Makes me really anticipate the start up of my larger tank that much more, would do it now if I could afford to!!

 

[Tmar]

Ooooooo, this is very interesting:
thecycle
a great article by Dr. Eric Borneman

 

[Tmar]

Nov 6, 2013 @ 9:00pm
sg: 1.023
temp: 77F
ammonia 0
nitrites 0.25
nitrates 5
no sign of critters, no sign of diatoms, no sign of life
Cycle almost cycled. Might just throw a couple of shrimp in there and let it continue to cycle for a month more or so.... least till I SEE some type of algae, critters, diatoms, anything....

 

[bribo12]

Nov 6, 2013 @ 9:00pm
sg: 1.023
temp: 77F
ammonia 0
nitrites 0.25
nitrates 5
no sign of critters, no sign of diatoms, no sign of life
Cycle almost cycled. Might just throw a couple of shrimp in there and let it continue to cycle for a month more or so.... least till I SEE some type of algae, critters, diatoms, anything....

You should be getting diatoms soon. You definitely have the patience part of the hobby down pact!

 

[Tmar]

I would rather put two shrimp in a net bag and hang it in there and cycle all over again, than to put a fish in there and have it die because I just couldn't wait. However, I am kinda getting tired of "feeding" the BB ammonia every single day and not see anything happen at all! That is just NO fun
If I go the shrimp and recycle route at least I can just put em in there and leave it for a few days before having to look at that bare empty tank nah nahing me! lmao

 

[Tmar]

Still feeding daily with ammonia.
sg 1.024-1.025 between
temp 78F
no other tests for last 2 days.

 

[Tmar]

Well, tested water again tonight:
sg: 1.024-1.025
temp: 80F
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
calcium 410
phosphate 0
pH 8.4
I dunno what is going on. If I have been feeding my BB with pure ammonia every day and haven't done a pwc since November 3rd... how is it that my nitrates are suddenly 0?
The same darn thing happened to me with my fresh water 10 gallon at the end of the cycle and I chalked it up to having live plants! The fish I added in my fresh water on October 26th are doing great!
I am going to take a cup of my water to my LFS tomorrow and have it checked by a professional.

 

[Tmar]

Ok,
LFS tested my water today and it was decent, not perfect!
ammonia 1 (because I fed the BB last night)
salinity was way higher than my hydrometer said @ 1.033
I am currently re-soaking my hydrometer after washing it with very hot water and vinegar.
pH = perfect (tah dah)
nitrites were 0
nitrates were only 5ish
I bought NO fish, no cuc ... but I DID buy 3lbs of live rock, came home and rearranged my rock work and did a 40% pwc with fresh to dilute the salinity. Will continue to test and keep this running account of my little journey into the wonderful world of SW fish keeping

 

[bribo12]

Sounds good, you are getting there! Maybe the new rock will have some cool critters

 

[Tmar]

picture update

November 10, 2013 after adding another 3lb live rock and rearranging the entire aquascape.

 

[Tmar]

The "inches of fish" is really more of a freshwater thing. For salt, you have to look more at the types of fish and what they add to the bioload. I would say if you lose the eel, you might be okay adding one more fish/goby as long as it is small. (Direct quote from a member on a different thread) -

So, my question is: How much bio-load does a single occelaris clownfish add?

I would ultimately like a pair of true percula clownfish in my little 10 gallon FOWLR with over 20 lbs of live rock & a HOB filter. Can this be done?

 

[Tmar]

Uh oh....

Aptasia!! Alert!!
And coralline algae & some sort of mushroom coral.
On my new rock...

 

[bribo12]

Yay for life! Lol knock that aiptasia out before it even has a chance!

 

[Kimlafeiet]

Lookin good! Agree with bribo, get rid of that aiptasia quick. Nice to see some life in your tank

 

[Tmar]

Well, I did panic a lil bit when I seen that awful thing!! I ripped the rock right outta there and examined it (not that I know everything I was lookin for) and spotted a second one down near the bottom and smaller. Hope I got em both when I took the rock out and scrubbed it down to bare white rock in both places. I will be keeping an even closer eye on the tank now for more.
I also tested my ammonia tonight and 0.50. Might have just started another mini cycle with the new rock but I'm ok with that. I will probably have nightmares about aptasia now!
I doubt much on that rock is going to survive my crappy lighting and I really cannot afford anything else at this time.

 

[bribo12]

Don't worry about the lighting right now. Critters are pretty resilient, you'd be surprised.

 

[Tmar]

I was hoping to get a clownfish by Thursday, but that is highly doubtful now. I will be back to testing every single day now and I am adding no ammonia with that new rock in there. I am pretty excited!!
IF the aptasia comes back or has spread, I will add one or two of the good peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) to take care of it. I was planning on one anyway; along with:
5x blue leg hermit crab (little dwarf guys)
2x astrea snail
2x marg snail
2x narc snail

 

[lionfish14]

To cycle my new tanks I use water conditioner and liquid bacteria, live sand and live rock and let it run for two to four days. Then add two damsels and wait til I see diatom before I even start testing water and adding chemicals. I try to keep it as natural as possible. I don't do water changes and all that b.s. til the tank stabilizes. The live sand, rock, and damsels will help jump start the cycle and speed it up a bit but the more u mess with it adding chemicals or changeing water the longer it will take to complete the cycle and stabilize. Part of the hobby is patience. Actually I think patience is a big part of the hobby.

 

[lionfish14]

This has been my experiance. Some think useing damsels to cycle a tank is wrong. They are a hardy fish. Have used damsels to cycle three new tanks and not one has died or show'd sign's of major stress or illness.

 

[Tmar]

Well, you are right. Patience is a huge part of this hobby.
I am very patient. Willing to sit another 3 weeks and just watch what happens with my live rock! However, I don't think that will be necessary at all! I did more tests tonight (because I like doing the tests) and the results are:
sg: 1.018 (but with hydrometer I can't trust)
temp: 78F
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 40
so after I receive and calibrate my refractometer tomorrow then I will test again around 8:00pm my time. I am pretty sure all I will have to do is a 20-30% water change to get the nitrates down to 10< and will be good to go for livestock
I also changed back to the original single T8 bulb light fixture I got with the tank when I bought it and put a
T8 Bulb
15 W
405 Lumen
marine-glo actinic A1602 bulb in it this is better than a freshwater marineland LED single bright fixture for the mushroom spongey leather coral thing and the coralline algae I'm sure