OhTheHumanity
Aquarium Advice Activist
First off here is the link to the original post. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=18310&highlight=
My fish and my crabs I put in my QT tank are doing just fine and will be in their permanent home in a couple days.
A few days ago I was ready to throw in the towel. This is some stressful stuff. I had been patient for 2 and 1/2 months planning and getting all this together. So when it was all said and done, I wanted it now. Everyone who answered a post I put up about quitting told me to give it a while and see what develops. Here is the link. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=18620&highlight=Yeah
I thought I was going to have a marine eco system in a little glass tank perfect in a short amount of time. That was until some of the same problems popped up that I had in my 55 Gal.
There were and still are some obstacles to get over. The worst so far are the diatoms, that is the nastiest looking stuff there is. It covers everything substrate, rock, glass, power heads, skimmer, heater and back filter. What a mess. (I'm counting on the advice that it will go away with time and clean up crew.)
Next my water quality went wacko again. 24 hours later
PH 7.8
Ammonia 1
Nitrtate 20
Nitrite .25
72 hours later
PH 7.8
Ammonia dropped from 1 to .25
Nitrite went up from .25 to .5
Nitrate still at 20
8 days after setup
PH 8.0 to 8.2 hard to tell on the test
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20 We are looking good. WOO HOO
Last week I purchased 25 Astrea snails and 25 blue leg hermits. MISTAKE Astrea snails are idiots. DON'T BUY THEM! Blue leg hermits will eat them. Let's put it this way, they constantly fell over and I grew so tired of righting them I said for get it. Now I have about $8 worth of 8 empty shells for my hermits... lol Even with the water quality bad I was hoping to get a jump on the diatoms, still didn't help. I wouldn't reccomend putting snails or crabs in a cycling tank, however I have had no problems.
Next steps will be trying to figure out those damn micro bubbles from my skimmer and why only 1 of my power heads spits them out.
I don't even have the venturi tubes hooked up to it. Just a thought, how could air bubbles possibly be forming in the head if it is completely submerged in water. That is what I have to figure out.
This weekend there will be a 25% water change made and I will get my other critters from the old 55 back in there.
BTW make sure your salinity is right before you put the water into a new tank or add anything to it. I'm still low on mine 1.021. That is what I get for trusting the slat to water ration on the bucket.
So far so good with the exceptions of some bumps and pot holes.
If you start one of these try not to get discouraged like I did and probably will do again before the pay off arrives.
Thanks for putting up with this novel.
Brandon
My fish and my crabs I put in my QT tank are doing just fine and will be in their permanent home in a couple days.
A few days ago I was ready to throw in the towel. This is some stressful stuff. I had been patient for 2 and 1/2 months planning and getting all this together. So when it was all said and done, I wanted it now. Everyone who answered a post I put up about quitting told me to give it a while and see what develops. Here is the link. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=18620&highlight=Yeah
I thought I was going to have a marine eco system in a little glass tank perfect in a short amount of time. That was until some of the same problems popped up that I had in my 55 Gal.
There were and still are some obstacles to get over. The worst so far are the diatoms, that is the nastiest looking stuff there is. It covers everything substrate, rock, glass, power heads, skimmer, heater and back filter. What a mess. (I'm counting on the advice that it will go away with time and clean up crew.)
Next my water quality went wacko again. 24 hours later
PH 7.8
Ammonia 1
Nitrtate 20
Nitrite .25
72 hours later
PH 7.8
Ammonia dropped from 1 to .25
Nitrite went up from .25 to .5
Nitrate still at 20
8 days after setup
PH 8.0 to 8.2 hard to tell on the test
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20 We are looking good. WOO HOO
Last week I purchased 25 Astrea snails and 25 blue leg hermits. MISTAKE Astrea snails are idiots. DON'T BUY THEM! Blue leg hermits will eat them. Let's put it this way, they constantly fell over and I grew so tired of righting them I said for get it. Now I have about $8 worth of 8 empty shells for my hermits... lol Even with the water quality bad I was hoping to get a jump on the diatoms, still didn't help. I wouldn't reccomend putting snails or crabs in a cycling tank, however I have had no problems.
Next steps will be trying to figure out those damn micro bubbles from my skimmer and why only 1 of my power heads spits them out.
I don't even have the venturi tubes hooked up to it. Just a thought, how could air bubbles possibly be forming in the head if it is completely submerged in water. That is what I have to figure out.This weekend there will be a 25% water change made and I will get my other critters from the old 55 back in there.
BTW make sure your salinity is right before you put the water into a new tank or add anything to it. I'm still low on mine 1.021. That is what I get for trusting the slat to water ration on the bucket.
So far so good with the exceptions of some bumps and pot holes.
If you start one of these try not to get discouraged like I did and probably will do again before the pay off arrives.
Thanks for putting up with this novel.
Brandon
The tank still stands and the sump is a work of art in my mind. I cant wait to get some fish to watch and enjoy this "relaxing" hobby. 
