Andrea's 29 Gallon Reef

[carey]

You can add it anytime. It will in a way restart the cycle BUT you already have some nitrifying bacteria so its not a total redo.

[AndI3kAY]

Got another piece of rock today, loved the shape and color and just couldn't resist haha. This brings my total to about 26 lbs of rock. Not sure if this is how i will leave it, what do you guys think? Going grocery shopping tomorrow so will be getting the dead shrimp then.

[AndI3kAY]

Forgot the picture lol

[AndI3kAY]

Finally got a shrimp in the tank, how long do I need to leave it in there?

[AndI3kAY]

The shrimp has been in the tank for 4 days now, test results are..
Ph 7.6
Ammonia 8.0 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm
Nitrate 10 ppm

Yay finally seeing something going on! Can i take this shrimp out yet? It looks and smells terrible!
Still not sure about the rocks, anyone have any input? Thanks everyone!

[BigRedsReefs10]

Ya you can take the shrimp out

[AndI3kAY]

So i left the shrimp in the tank for a full week, took it out on sunday and tested the water today.. shouldn't the nitrate be higher??

[carey]

It depends on how high the ammonia got to and how much of it that was processed.

[AndI3kAY]

Originally Posted by AndI3kAY

Ph 7.6
Ammonia 8.0 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm
Nitrate 10 ppm

This was the test results after having the shrimp in for 4 days, i left it in for 3 more days and then took it out. That was the highest the ammonia ever got.

[AndI3kAY]

So i've talked with some people from a saltwater Facebook group and they have confirmed that my cycle is complete! Should I start out with a CUC or a fish first? I really want a watchman goby / pistol shrimp pair and maybe a clownfish, and corals of course. but I have no idea where to start, advice please?

[BigRedsReefs10]

A cuc is not really necessary if you have algae on your rocks or sandbed or want some snails or hermits then you can add them. If your gonna go fish first I would let the tank sit for a few more days testing daily to make sure your cycle is really done. I would also add the clown last so your much more docile goby can establish itself with out being picked on. Also wait a month or 2 to let your tank mature before adding the shrimp, they don't have to go in together they will find each other eventually. If you go this route make sure your rock work is stable those little pistols move a lot of sand and dig everywhere

[AndI3kAY]

Thanks BigRed!

[BigRedsReefs10]

Your welcome. Good luck

[AndI3kAY]

Just tested my water again!
So i think i actually have nitrates now? I just need to do a pwc to bring that back down and then I'm good to go, correct?

Also I moved my rocks around again, I wish I could make mine look good like other people's!

(Sorry about all the reflections)

[BigRedsReefs10]

Well now is the time to play with your scape, once you add livestock it can stress them out. Have you done a bio cube search on nano-reef.com? There are some amazing ones, every time I set up a new tank I search through some member aquariums that are the same size as mine and look at all the different scapes and get some ideas. And yeah your test looks good I think your good to do a wc

[AndI3kAY]

I will have to do that! I feel like my rocks are just all the wrong shapes lol

[carey]

I always feel the same way when I set up a new tank, can never get happy enough with the rock set up. lol

I think youre on the right track though, maybe try moving the two rocks on the center rock up somehow and make another cave/swim through like you have all the way to the right. Just a thought, not sure i got it from my head to the page here on what i had in mind. LOL Just mess with them until you are happy. I must mess with my rocks a hundred times before i am happy, and even after that i still tweak here and there.
With livestock in the tank its tricky as you dont want to totally put the tank into panic if you move rocks, but I dont think it would be a totally bad thing to move them a bit if you do get some fish. Just be gentle and pay attention to where each rock is. I was messing with rock in my 60g and accidentally crushed a neon goby a while ago so just be careful.

[AndI3kAY]

Time to get this tank going again!
Tonight is the first night in 3 years that there is not a fish tank running in my room, and laying here in bed I have decided that it is way too quiet haha!
Plan is to move the tank and set it all back up, i never went any further than cycling the tank with live rock and sand because a few days after the cycle was done we had a big power outage. Since then I have kept the tank running but have done nothing more than add water to it. I figure it will need to be re cycled, but are my rocks and sand still "live" if not can they still be used or do i need new?

[carey]

I'd dose up the ammonia and see what happens. You never know.

[AndI3kAY]

Decided to clean the tank out again and start over, again. Emptied the tank and moved it today, put in new sand and the old live rock, filled it with water and now waiting on it to clear up. Do i have to wait for it to clear before putting a shrimp in to start the cycle? Also i have an extra hob filter since tearing down my fw tank, should i use two hob filters for this tank or just stick to one?


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