list of questions...

[atomicbiscut]

1. are there any chemicals i should put in my tank?(been cycling for 2 days)
i read about how people drop a lot of chemicals in there tanks,but is it neccesary?

2. so my tank is cycling,wut am i looking for next? all my base rock is turning a purple ting and i have sum red on the main live rock i used to seed.

3. is running carbon a good/bad thing?

4.how do u pick up the little peices that fell off the LR on the sand bed w/o scooping up sand and mixing it all up again?

5. how do i tell if my sand is 'live'? different color to it?

6. would it be good to have my empty canister filter and just have sum LR rubble in it ?

sorry for all the questions and hope sum1 can take the time to asnwer them all. im sure ill have more also.

 

[Ziggy953]

How big is this tank? How much LR/Base Rock do you have? Lighting? Water Parameters?

Answers:

1. I would not add any chemicals to the tank. SW, LR, Sand and time is all you need.

2. Are you testing your water? You should be looking for an Ammonia spike, then a NitrIte Spike and the finally a NitrAte spike and then drop.

3. I don't run carbon in my tank unless I need to. It's isn't good or bad. You do need to change it very frequently!

4. I don't usually worry about the little pieces that fall off...but if you really want clean up you will end up stiring the sand up no matter what.

5. Sand becomes live because of bacteria colonies developing in it, color doesn't have anything to do with the sand. If you sand is turning colors then you are having an algae bloom which means you are well into your cycle.

6. I personally don't like Canister filters. Some people put LR rubble in them, you can do that if you want to. I would recomend 1.5-2lbs of LR per gallon a good protien skimmer and frequent PWCs. That is pretty much all you need to keep your tank healthy.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I agree w/ everything Ziggy said.

 

[roka64]

I agree too. I have a canister filter and currently have purigen and the ceramic rings running in it. I also will run carbon in it, if needed. You can easily put LR rubble in it. Watch the sponges in there and make sure you clean them in old SW, when you do PWCs, otherwise they can become nitrAte factories. Personally, I took mine out.

 

[melosu58]

1. Dont add any chems to your tank as Ziggy said.

2.http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=15

3. Depends if you need to run it. If you are having ammonia or nitrite problems then I would. I only run if I have to.

4.Dont worry about it.

5. You wont be able to see anything different. You`ll just have to know that it is there. The same for LR.

6.LR rubble will work.

Have a good SW experience.

 

[atomicbiscut]

How big is this tank? How much LR/Base Rock do you have? Lighting? Water Parameters?

its a 46 gal. about 50 lbs of LR 60 lbs of LS. lights aren't thatt great,just sum my friend gave me. havnt tested the water yet sinse it has only been up for 3 days. should i be testing it this early?

also i realize i have a smaller tank and this is the livestock i want. let me know if u see any problems.

flame angel.
o.clown.
diamond or bullet goby.

coral branded shrimp.
cleaner shrimp.

 

[MT79]

coral branded shrimp.
cleaner shrimp

Coral banded shrimp tend to be aggressive. They can do damage to other shrimp, and sometimes even small fish. A 46 gal probably will be too small for the two to live together. A single, or mated pair of, coral banded, or a couple cleaner shrimp would be fine though. If your planing on keeping coral, the flame angel may nip/eat the polyps. There is always some risk involved when keeping angels w/ coral.