Take a look! what do you think?

[roryb24]

I have the Oceanic biocube14g with stock lighting and i bought a protein skimmer and the oceanic circulation pump i have 14pds of fiji live rock and fiji pink live sand about 1 1/2 inch cover the floor of my tank. i have a marineland 50w heater and thermometer and a in tank hydrometer.i just added 3 blue hermits and a blue damsel. im still waiting for my tank to finish its cycle before i get corals or the actual fish i want.

1.)My oceanic circulation pump blows really hard 250gph it kicks up some of the sand off the live rock and off the floor of the tank will that settle down or do i need to place it somewhere else or what?

2.)Do i need to run the circulation pump all day or a timed period?

3.) advice on my tank!? mods i should make

thanks!

P.S. please comment on and give tips or anyhelpfull advice.

 

[Fishfan321]

Some people add things to the back filter
Because it isn't that strong. And I think you need to run powerhead 24/7 but I could
Be wrong

 

[roryb24]

so you think i should run the circulation pump 24/7?

yeah i have heard of many ways to mod the filters and all 3 back chambers of the biocube. live rock in chamber 2 with the bioballs taken out and a protein skimmer in chamber one sounds nice but i heard u need a light in chamber 2 with the live rock.

 

[Fishfan321]

so you think i should run the circulation pump 24/7?

yeah i have heard of many ways to mod the filters and all 3 back chambers of the biocube. live rock in chamber 2 with the bioballs taken out and a protein skimmer in chamber one sounds nice but i heard u need a light in chamber 2 with the live rock.

Yes the light is Required but If the powerhead is too strong then you could put a strainer on it

 

[mr_X]

you are torturing those snails and fish keeping them in that tank during a cycle. my suggestion would be to cycle the tank and THEN add livestock. that power head is probably fine for that tank. the sand will settle eventually.

 

[roryb24]

explain the strainer. plz



yeah i had read that it was stressfull for them when u cycle your tank but i also read from many places as well that they help speed up the cycle.so just to make sure it wasnt to bad i bought a master test kit and all my levels are right on besides the nitrite wich i read means ammonia is present but my levels or nitrite are close to being safe .

 

[mr_X]

they don't speed anything up. ammonia is the most toxic of the three. there is no good reason to have livestock in a poisoned environment. having a low ammonia level is not good for your cycle anyway. you will have spikes when you add more livestock.....

 

[roryb24]

its a blue damsel and 3 electric blue hermits i heard they were hardy enough to deal with the cycle as long as you watch the levels in your tank.

 

[roryb24]

When nitrate readings begin to increase, you can tell that beneficial nitrifying bacteria are starting to establish themselves. You can begin stocking up with fish and coral slowly from this point onwards. It may be necessary to do water changes to reduce high nitrate levels.???

 

[mr_X]

i'm just giving you the facts. the things you heard up to now were false. what were you told to watch your levels for? ammonia? it's necessary for a cycle. you must see a substantial amount of ammonia, or the tank is not going to build a bacteria colony sufficient enough to sustain what you put in it. then it will be just like i said. you'll add more fish, and then the tank will spike.

 

[mr_X]

i'm talking about cycling with livestock. not what happens at the end of a cycle. you could have added an ammonia source and saved the fish and snails some stress and possible death. many things would have worked. people use a piece of raw shrimp, fish, even pure ammonia straight from a bottle.

 

[roryb24]

ok well thanks i didnt plan on adding anything for about another week its cycled for about 2 weeks and i have been checking the levels to wait untill they drop to
nitrate 0-20ppm(mg/l)
nitrite 0
alkalinity 180-300ppm(kh)
pH level 7.8-8.4

but anyways thank you for you input its always good to hear someone with more infomation and insight than what i can read.

so suggestions?

 

[mr_X]

i suggest you add anything new very slowly. give time for the bacteria colony to grow and catch up with the larger bio load. i also suggest you run those lights minimally until you get some coral in there. in the beginning, the tank will be nutrient rich, and that + the light is a perfect environment for nuisance algae to take hold.

 

[roryb24]

awsome thanks so much i was wondering about light running times. how long do you think i should run the lights?

 

[mr_X]

fish and crabs only need enough light to see to eat. if there is ambient light from the room, i wouldn't run them unless i wanted to view them. when you get photosynthetic additions, then you want to try and mimic the natural day. i like to run the lights at least 10 hours.

 

[roryb24]

ok awsome so i dont need to turn the lights on at all for now untill i get my tank stable and start to add corals. and is it needed to run the circulation pump i added yet or should i shut that down for now as well.

 

[mr_X]

yeah, you want to keep that water moving at all times. keep it on.

 

[roryb24]

ok sounds good im gonna shut the lights down for now and im gonna leave the return pump on as well as the added circulation pump.

thanks you been a big help.