HPballer76's 24g Aquapod

[Ibrahim]

added the live rock back into the tank today. that is 20lbs. i think i am going to add about 10 more lbs of base rock.

Looks great and the coraline looks nice too.

 

[HPballer76]

thank you! i kind of just threw it all in there where it would fit lol. i think i'm going to add another 10lbs so it will probably change some.

 

[HPballer76]

so im kind of confused about the cycle with this tank?

i threw in 2 raw shrimp on the 2/24

on 2/25 i had 2ppm of ammo 0 trites didn't test for trates.

today 2/28 i was bored so i tested again. .25 ppm ammo 0 trites 0 trates.

 

[carey]

hmm I would put more shrimp or ammonia in then. Maybe you missed the nitrites?

 

[HPballer76]

That's what I thought so I tested for nitrates and they were 0 to. Maybe I'll toss in another shrimp but I thought 2 would be enough for a 24g?

 

[HPballer76]

found an ace hardware today and picked up some ammonia. just dosed the tank up to 4ppm so we will see what the results are tomorrow!

 

[HPballer76]

alright so 24 hours after adding the ammo i'm at 2 ppm ammo, .5 ppm nitrites, and 5 ppm nitrates.

should i dose ammo back up to 4 ppm?

 

[HPballer76]

the cycle is getting close! dosed to 4ppm ammonia after 24 hours ammonia is 0 nitrites are 5 ppm and nitrates are 40 ppm.

now do i dose back up to 4 ppm ammonia and wait till ammonia and nitrites are gone in 24 hours or do i just wait for the nitrites to get to zero do a big water change and add my first fish? someone please comment not sure what i should do now.

 

[Ibrahim]

the cycle is getting close! dosed to 4ppm ammonia after 24 hours ammonia is 0 nitrites are 5 ppm and nitrates are 40 ppm.

now do i dose back up to 4 ppm ammonia and wait till ammonia and nitrites are gone in 24 hours or do i just wait for the nitrites to get to zero do a big water change and add my first fish? someone please comment not sure what i should do now.

Dose it back up.

 

[HPballer76]

thanks for the reply! will do!

 

[HPballer76]

cycle complete!

dosed to 4 ppm ammo

24 hours later

0 ammo
0 nitrites
40 nitrates
ph was 7.9 should i worry about that or as long as it stays consistent let it be?

so water change then fish!

 

[spoonman]

Yes sir! You are cycled. Just remember to add fish slow to let the BB keep up with the new bioload! Well done!

 

[HPballer76]

awesome! now to decide what to add lol

 

[HPballer76]

well since i have to do some traveling soon i decided i would add a couple chromis to make sure the tank stayed cycled until i decide on final stocking. i also put in 5 red leg hermits and 3 astraea snails. do you guys think that will be ok as far as the hermits and snails go? i don't want them to starve and can move them to my 72 if there won't be enough food in the 24.

 

[Ibrahim]

well since i have to do some traveling soon i decided i would add a couple chromis to make sure the tank stayed cycled until i decide on final stocking. i also put in 5 red leg hermits and 3 astraea snails. do you guys think that will be ok as far as the hermits and snails go? i don't want them to starve and can move them to my 72 if there won't be enough food in the 24.

I think that's good. You want to add them slowly so as the sand matures they get more food.

 

[HPballer76]

received my order from intank today.

media rack

replacement fan

filter floss

purigen

chemi-pure elite



put all of that in the media rack then put it in the tank. only thing i don't like is that some water still slips by the sides of the rack. hopefully enough goes through.

 

[HPballer76]

so since a lot of water was getting by the media rack i decided to cut a little extra filter floss and shove it in where the water was getting by. i think this has most of the water going into the basket and if not at least it goes through the floss now.

and a fts.

 

[carey]

Looking good. I have the same issue with my media rack, a tiny bit of water doesnt go right into the filter floss compartment.

 

[HPballer76]

thanks carey! i think the little bit of floss i stuck in the edges helped a lot with the water getting by the rack. i am picking up a 34g rimless cube tomorrow which i think is going to replace this tank in a couple months after i have time to make a stand and do a few other things to it.

 

[carey]

Oh nice! A new build thread then ! lol

I've been eying a 14g nano and a 24 one on CL for almost a week now. I'm ready to pull the plug and get one. This fish tank stuff is soo addictive.