Newbie 150 gal reef start up

[The Kraken]

Hello all! Brand new to the hobby. Been following posts around here and reading boatloads of info. Overwhelming to say the least. Lots of conflicting info but it seems like everybody has their own recipe for success (and disaster as well). I look forward to great feedback as I start this journey into reefing!

So here's what I got (pictures to follow later):
150 gallon acryllic (60" x 24" x 24") with 2 corner overflows
50 gallon sump
Bubble Magus NAC-7 skimmer
Octopus CR-150 Ca reactor
Phosban reactor
2 Mag-12 submersible pumps (thus 2 returns)
Caulerpa in sump
10 lbs LR rubble in sump
3 inch aragonite bed in display
170 lbs Tonga LR in display
48"Hamilton Cebu-sun 2 x 250 MH + 4 x 54 actinics + LED moons
5 stage Bulk Reef Supply RO/DI

So my concern now is that 50 lbs of my LR was from an already established tank that gave his LR to my LFS. I put it in the tank and a few days later it was chalkfull of awesome ricordias (all kinds of colors!) I am trying the fishless cycling method with shrimp from the grocery store. Will the cycling kill the ricordia? I have had the LR in for 2 weeks now and the shrimp for 2 days. I have yet to see an ammonia spike or nitrite. No nitrates either. I'm assuming I haven't started cycling yet? What exactly am I looking for here. Tough time trying to weed through all the info on what will spike first, ammonia or nitrite.

Should I pull some sand out? One LFS said 3-4inches is just asking for trouble. Thoughts?

Well, I've rambled enough. Hope to have pics soon. Look forward to any advice you guys have!

 

[XxVooDooxX]

The ammonia will spike first, as far as the depth of the substrate I only had mine at just under a 1/4" and now I know that more is better. Alot of saltwater life need deep sand beds. In the ocean it's not like the sand bed is only half inch deep! Ha! I think the only time you might have an issue with deep sand is if you stir it up, you will stir up nitrates. Welcome to AA!!

 

[Epuerto]

here is a video i found for you
YouTube - Marine Aquarium Deep Sand Beds Pt. 1 of 2
there is a part 2

 

[ronk]

This set up is sounding sweet. Need to see some pics. WELCOME TO AA. Can't wait to hear progress

 

[The Kraken]

The ammonia will spike first, as far as the depth of the substrate I only had mine at just under a 1/4" and now I know that more is better. Alot of saltwater life need deep sand beds. In the ocean it's not like the sand bed is only half inch deep! Ha! I think the only time you might have an issue with deep sand is if you stir it up, you will stir up nitrates. Welcome to AA!!

I have had the aragonite and LR in for over 3 weeks and am using 3 raw shrimp now for 3 days. My tests show NH3=0, NO2 =0, NO3 = 10. Have I missed the cycle?

 

[XxVooDooxX]

Are the shrimp still in or are they decomposed?

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[The Kraken]

Are the shrimp still in or are they decomposed?

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Shrimp are still in mesh bag. Very mushy. Should I take em out of the bag?

 

[Epuerto]

i dont see why you would if water is getting in then ammonia is getting out and it is serving its purpose

 

[The Kraken]

i dont see why you would if water is getting in then ammonia is getting out and it is serving its purpose

That was my thought, and minus the mess. So where in my cycle am I?

 

[XxVooDooxX]

What's the highest ammonia count you had?

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[The Kraken]

What's the highest ammonia count you had?

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I added 50 lbs LR first, then 50 more a week later then 70 more a week later. Didn't check ammonia at all. Figured it wouldn't cycle that quick with just LR. I checked first ammonia, nitrite levels 2 weeks after first LR added. No ammonia or nitrite on test. Actually no ammonia or nitrite since. Just got nitrate for first time today. So now I'm confused. So since I added three shrimp 3 days ago and have no ammonia or nitrite it would make you think I cycled right?

 

[XxVooDooxX]

Yeah sounds that way

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[The Kraken]

Yeah sounds that way

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Would this be the time to add some CUC? Snails, crabs, shrimp, or whatever else you would suggest?

 

[XxVooDooxX]

Well, I'm not positive about the right procedure. That's what I did, I put some blue leg hermits, nassarius snails and one turbo. Ohh yeah and an emerald crab. Lost two hermits and one nassarius but the others are great

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[Smitty]

If you were adding live rock and still have the shrimp in then you are probably all cycled. You should be able to add some CUC in there, but remember it is still a new tank so you don't want to put in too many CUC because there won't be anything for them to feed on.

Also, you can throw in some flake food or something else and test the next day to make sure there still isn't any ammonia. I think you are pretty set!

 

[XxVooDooxX]

Sweet! How exciting!

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[The Kraken]

If you were adding live rock and still have the shrimp in then you are probably all cycled. You should be able to add some CUC in there, but remember it is still a new tank so you don't want to put in too many CUC because there won't be anything for them to feed on.

Also, you can throw in some flake food or something else and test the next day to make sure there still isn't any ammonia. I think you are pretty set!

Sweet! I'll get some this weekend then! Will do the fish food trick too, just to be sure. Thanks for the tip. I'll post some pics today or tomorrow.

 

[The Kraken]

If you were adding live rock and still have the shrimp in then you are probably all cycled. You should be able to add some CUC in there, but remember it is still a new tank so you don't want to put in too many CUC because there won't be anything for them to feed on.

Also, you can throw in some flake food or something else and test the next day to make sure there still isn't any ammonia. I think you are pretty set!

Ok. Cool! Thanks for the tip. I'll keep ya posted. Plus pics today or tomorrow.

 

[Gti_Leo]

you probably won't bet an ammonia spike, atleast not to much of it. you already have 50 pounds of cured live rock, which is biologically filtering to water, as well as its spreadign its nitrifying bacteria to the rest of the live rock thats in there.

the cycle you did two weeks before you put the shrimp in probably already started a small cycle with the little bit of die off that was on the rocks

 

[The Kraken]

Algae blooooom!! Lovin' it. What do you guys prefer for CUC? How many should I get for 150gal with 150lb LR? Should I do frequent PWC? Going to LFS this weekend to get CUC. NH3=0, NO3=0, NO4=20. PH=8.0. Temp 78-79. Only actinics on for brief part of day to make ricordias that came on LR happy. Afraid my halides gonna boil the water when it comes time for them. I have 150 watt hydor thermometer in sump plus submersible mag 12s x 2. I'm afraid MH will bring temp up to >80 then at night temp will drop causing big fluctuation. Any advice on this as well?