JBJ 28g Nano build

[Phranque]

Why is your cycle so fast

I have no idea. I've never had a tank show nitrates in 4 days, so about the only thing I can figure is the lfs had the rock in tubs of circulating water, not sitting out dry.... I'm guessing it probably had some BB already in it when it came home.

 

[Sillyfishies]

I have no idea. I've never had a tank show nitrates in 4 days, so about the only thing I can figure is the lfs had the rock in tubs of circulating water, not sitting out dry.... I'm guessing it probably had some BB already in it when it came home.

I'm on 2 weeks and I'm getting my water tested to see if I have nitrites x.x

 

[Phranque]

Day 9:

Ammo is down some more, and nitrites have shown their first significant drop

Nitrates are really climbing, though.... gonna take a significant system flush to get those down to zero.

 

[Phranque]

Day 10: Oh, so close......

 

[Phranque]

Day 11:

YES!!!!!

 

[Sillyfishies]

Links broken but I'm assuming its cycled

 

[Phranque]

The system logged me out, so it broke the links to my album....

But, yes, I'm cycled. Just got done setting up the garbage can in front of the tank and filled it with RODI, salt, powerhead, heater, & airstone. I'll let it run until I get home from work tomorrow & do my first full system flush.


How'd your water check out? Sounds like you need to get your own test kit.

 

[Sillyfishies]

Still no nitrItes (day 15). And it still hasn't come in >.<!

 

[Phranque]

Did my total water change last night and let it circulate for a day before testing....

Temp - 79
pH - 8.0
Salinity - 1.026
Ammo - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 0
Calcium - 460
Alk - 9dKH

These were all API tests (don't have magnesium yet). I have the Red Sea Algae and Reef Foundation test kits on the way (Nitrate & Phos / Cal, Alk, & Mag). Also got Coral Rx dip & calibration solution for the refractometer coming.

I'm still pinching myself..... I can't believe I'll be picking up my very first corals next week. This is almost like a bucket list item for me. Back when I was running FOWLR's, keeping corals was absolutely unheard of, and internet research didn't even exist yet.... All you had to go on was the wonderful advice of your LFS (yes, I had a yellow tang in a 55).

Anyway, I digress....... In the meantime, I'm running a 6 hour light cycle in hopes of getting my diatoms started.

 

[Phranque]

Still no nitrItes (day 15). And it still hasn't come in >.<!

What are you using to generate the ammonia, and how much rock do you have ??

 

[Sillyfishies]

I'm doing fish in and it's a FW tank. I like looking in SW threads just to be jealous.

 

[Phranque]

Ahhh... I did a freshwater fish-in last year before I learned about fishless, and it took over two months to complete. Keep plugging......though it seems like forever, it'll come around.

 

[Sillyfishies]

I wish I would've done a fish less... Then I wouldn't have to be so patient stocking fish

 

[Phranque]

Finally..... I've got my first ever coral frags!! Picked them up yesterday afternoon, drip acclimated them for a couple of hours & gave them a little dip with Coral Rx..... Within two hours of being in the tank, everyone was wide open under the moonlights. Today they are getting 4 hours of daylight, and will bump that up by an hour every few days.

Zoas w/two different specimens (any definitive ID on these would be appreciated).
I dug through a few Zoa ID websites, and the closest I could come up with were Rainbow Eagle Eyes for the top ones and Atom Smashers for the bottom ones (hard to see in pic - green center/purple ring/yellow fingers):

3 heads of green shrooms:

Neon green star polyps - doesn't show too well in the pic, but the polyp centers & leaf stripes are bright green :

 

[Phranque]

Here's everybody's current placement in the tank (also added about 8lbs more rock to raise the rear for more placement locations - gives me about 30lbs total).... They're all wide open, and nobody's shriveled up.

Another shot of the three plus the cavern structure:

 

[Sillyfishies]

I can never see any of ur pics!

 

[Flreefer]

I can never see any of ur pics!

Same here Phranque. Checking out your thread and none of the pics come through!

 

[Phranque]

Same here Phranque. Checking out your thread and none of the pics come through!

Hmmm.... I'm linking them from my album here on AA. Wonder what the problem is??? I can see the pics when I open the thread to update......

 

[Phranque]

OK.... let's try this a different way.

Can you see these??

 

[22engine]

OK.... let's try this a different way.

Can you see these??

Yes now I can atleast