Tank cycle

[Chris-Nicol]

Thinking of getting the new red sea max s500. Its not released yet but I want to do all my research now haha!

What r the steps to cycling a tank? I hav a 25g tank ATM but was just taking advice from a friend who I now know knows nothing and never did a tank cycle!

Also can anyone tell me exactly what I will need, as far as I'm aware the rsm500 comes with mostly everything!

I'm planning on keeping coral and need to know all the test kits required.

Basically I need to know everything haha!!

Thanks in advance to anyone who replies to this thread!

 

[austinsdad]

Check our articles section for cycling a sw tank.

 

[Flake]

Cycle your salt tank

 

[Chris-Nicol]

Ok thanks! Do you know anything about the red sea max tanks?

 

[Flake]

I like them a lot, they're nice tanks. I don't know when you're going to see the 500 though. Last I heard they were slated for summer have been pushed back without an official release date.

 

[Chris-Nicol]

I email a guy from the company and he's said it's expected to b released round about July! He said they were waiting for the lighting specs! It's not a problem with me as the tank is for my new house and thats not built until this time next year! I just rlly want to know as much as possible before then haha! I've seen dome really nice tanks online and rlly want to achieve the same but help is kind of limited around here so it's all research online for me! Sad times but I'm eager to learn haha! You can't always believe what you read on sites either!

 

[Henry405]

From the article I just glanced at, it comes with sump, heat, pumps, and lights which is about all you need. Other things I could think of would the the sand and rocks. about 1 lb of sand per gallon, same with the rocks

 

[Chris-Nicol]

Yeah I will have a look at LR nearer the time! What tests do I have to do to keep coral? I hav a amm, ph, nitrite and nitrate kit at the moment.

 

[hackteck]

you wanna test for calcium and mag too also ph

 

[Chris-Nicol]

Ok is that everything? I have the ph kit already.

Would it be a good idea to keep my 25g tank as a QT? Do u also put coral in the QT tank? I've never had coral before.

 

[Henry405]

some people quarantine everything, while others quarantine just fish. It all depends on how safe you want to be, heres a great article about quarantining, but its a little too much IMO

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

 

[tjm80]

As for live rock - the stuff is expensive. And since you have plenty of time before you set up your tank you may want to take a look into making your own rock! I got impatient and bought base rock. It only takes about 15 minutes to mix it up and in the mold. 2 days to let it dry. Then a LONG time to "cure". When I say "cure" I'm not talking about drying or the same curing process done for live rock. The pH on the DIY rock is extremely high and you have to leave it in fresh water for several months to leech out the minerals that cause the high pH. I've had some sitting in water for about a month and a half now and the pH has come down a bit, but still entirely too high for my tank.

I plan on making more of it because it's a lot of fun and I plan on getting a bigger tank one day.

The biggest two advantages are cost and you can make the shapes and sizes you want rather than having to make stuff work and/or endlessly searching for a perfect piece. Let me know if you're interested and I'll tell you some more about it.

 

[kurtyboh]

Texas holey rock is pretty cheap base rock as well!
Yeah the rsm500 looks to come with everything needed to keep anything you could want in there, except of course the water and rock. Imo it's quite an impressive setup but also has too much of an impressive price for me. (im dreaming of the 130 in which ill have to change the lights)

 

[Chris-Nicol]

As for live rock - the stuff is expensive. And since you have plenty of time before you set up your tank you may want to take a look into making your own rock! I got impatient and bought base rock. It only takes about 15 minutes to mix it up and in the mold. 2 days to let it dry. Then a LONG time to "cure". When I say "cure" I'm not talking about drying or the same curing process done for live rock. The pH on the DIY rock is extremely high and you have to leave it in fresh water for several months to leech out the minerals that cause the high pH. I've had some sitting in water for about a month and a half now and the pH has come down a bit, but still entirely too high for my tank.

I plan on making more of it because it's a lot of fun and I plan on getting a bigger tank one day.

The biggest two advantages are cost and you can make the shapes and sizes you want rather than having to make stuff work and/or endlessly searching for a perfect piece. Let me know if you're interested and I'll tell you some more about it.

Have you got yours in a separate tank to get the ph level down or is there another way you can do it? Not sure if I can afford to buy a tank to cure the rock! It sounds really cool tho! U got any pics of yours?

 

[Chris-Nicol]

Texas holey rock is pretty cheap base rock as well!
Yeah the rsm500 looks to come with everything needed to keep anything you could want in there, except of course the water and rock. Imo it's quite an impressive setup but also has too much of an impressive price for me. (im dreaming of the 130 in which ill have to change the lights)

Yeah I thought it was too expensive and was going to settle for the 250 but I want to go all out and get the 500 haha! I would regret in future if I didn't get it!

 

[hackteck]

How much is the 500 supposed to cost

 

[Chris-Nicol]

I think it's around the £3000 mark