Cycling And Lights

[mrvincent]

I went to my lfs store to purchase some sand and I ended up purchasing sand and nutri seawater and I asked they guy at my lfs would I still have to cycle my tank he said "what cycle......."

Most LFS worker are noobs or stupids... Not for nothing they have a job under 10$/hrs... Never listen to them, and do what you think is the best.

 

[mr_X]

hello everyone I'am still fairly young and I'am starting back up my 30g tank. I don't have a lot of founds so iam very limited to what my parents and my allowance will allow me to buy so I have some questions. Also I want to keep lps, softies,brain corals, and polyps. I'am not completely new I have a few years with a lot of mistakes which I have learned from and any help would be appreciated.

First cycling
I will be using the shrimp method and I would want to know should I have my live sand and my live rock inside the tank while cycling. My live rocks I killed off the old bacteria with Clorox and etc and so I will re-seed them with a live rock from the lfs and what should I be looking for in this cycle that will tell me its finished.

Secondly the lights
New lights. I had metal halides 96w and I wanted to switch lighting to an led do too my tank over heating and me not having the money to buy a chiller so I was looking at these
Amazon.com: TaoTronics® TT-AL09 165w Dimmable Led Aquarium Lights Aquarium Hoods Led Reef Light for Coral Fish Seaweed (55*3w Led, Blue/White Ratio- 28:27; Two-Year Warranty)*: Pet Supplies

they look bigger than what's suited for my tank but quality, price , and lighting wise it would work for my budget but I wouldn't want it to be too bright and kill of the corals I want too keep(softies, lps, brain corals). Also what lighting would you guys recommend for a 10g nursery mainly used too hold corals new ,and or sick.

third and lastly
also I have a list of what is needed for my tank and once again do to budget I wouldn't have everything at once but maybe at the end of the cycle or before I will have everything.
would I need
*a circulation pump
*heater
*and inside skimmer
while I'am cycling

sorry for the long post but once again any help is better than none

These fixtures you are looking at will work perfect for whatever you want to keep. What do you want to spend for power heads? There are cheap ones like hydor koralias that will do the job or controllable ones like vortechs that will do the job and have some extra functionality.
I would skip the internal skimmer for a 30 gallon tank. I would rely on a water change regimen to keep trace elements replaced and nutrients exported and save the space a skimmer would take up for corals.
Heater-
Aquarium Heaters: Hydor Theo Heater

or
Aquarium Heaters: Marineland Visi-Therm Heaters

will work fine.

Do not run the lights at all while cycling.

 

[Voshon247]

These fixtures you are looking at will work perfect for whatever you want to keep. What do you want to spend for power heads? There are cheap ones like hydor koralias that will do the job or controllable ones like vortechs that will do the job and have some extra functionality.
I would skip the internal skimmer for a 30 gallon tank. I would rely on a water change regimen to keep trace elements replaced and nutrients exported and save the space a skimmer would take up for corals.
Heater-
Aquarium Heaters: Hydor Theo Heater

or
Aquarium Heaters: Marineland Visi-Therm Heaters

will work fine.

Do not run the lights at all while cycling.

Thanks for your help Mr.x and would it be possible too link me to both so see the prices and compare them. I honestly don't understand how much gph I need for a power head.

 

[Gregcoyote]

You want to setup random flow. Few corals like a fan blasting on them all the time. So the fan (power head) should ricochet the flow off the tank walls, with some hitting the surface to keep that stirred up. You can even use a inexpensive timed powerstrip, controller or even a fitting that goes on the pumps to alternate the flow.

 

[Lshann14]

Did you buy 30g?

 

[mr_X]

What are the dimensions of your two tanks?

 

[Voshon247]

From just measuring it the 30g is 36inches width or the longed way.18 or 18 1/2 inches is the height ...from the side or the 2 corners is 12 inches.. For the 10g it is about 20 inches width and the height is about 12 inches.. I also added 2 shrimps in the net should it be on my rocks or sand

 

[mr_X]

I would think a pair of 800gph or so power heads would be good for the DT.
Hydor Koralia Evolution Circulation Pump/Powerhead

Or perhaps one of these-
EcoTech Marine VorTech MP10ES Propeller Pump w/ EcoSMART Driver

A single 600 gph version of the koralia would be fine for the 10 gallon.
I don't keep small tanks so if someone else could confirm that those power heads will be sufficient I'd appreciate it.

The shrimp are creating an ammonia source. Ammonia will be all through the tank in a short time. No need to place the shrimp anywhere special.

 

[Voshon247]

I would think a pair of 800gph or so power heads would be good for the DT.
Hydor Koralia Evolution Circulation Pump/Powerhead

Or perhaps one of these-
EcoTech Marine VorTech MP10ES Propeller Pump w/ EcoSMART Driver

A single 600 gph version of the koralia would be fine for the 10 gallon.
I don't keep small tanks so if someone else could confirm that those power heads will be sufficient I'd appreciate it.

The shrimp are creating an ammonia source. Ammonia will be all through the tank in a short time. No need to place the shrimp anywhere special.

Thank you for your help and now I understand the cycle more and the main point is to build up your bacteria in your tank. When setting up the tank I bought live sand and nutri-sea water which claimed it had about 11,000 or 11,000,000 bacteria per bottle(4 gallons per bottle)it claimed. It only filled up my tank about half way because I bought 3 bottles and Iam currently filling up my tank with ro/di water.. how do you think there bacteria will affect my cycle?? Is there bacteria a hox and gonna die off soon or will it add diversity to the additional build up of bacteria in my tank??

 

[jeffaquarius]

Cycling is a short for Nitrogen Cycling. It's the process of converting food to waste (poo) and back to food (algae) by the help of Nitrogen. Bacteria is responsible to make it happen. That's why you need to build up these beneficial bacteria in your tank. We call it biological filtering. Bacteria will proliferate by feeding them ammonia when you first start up your tank. They also consume Nitrite that turns to Nitrate. The easiest way to remove nitrate is replacing water. Others use chemicals or plants that absorbs it.

Edit: That is why the indication of having reached the cycling process is when your nitrite goes down when enough bacteria is consuming it and nitrate goes up.

 

[Voshon247]

I have added all my live rocks and I have tested my ammonia(range of 1.0-2.0 I believe) nitrite (0) and nitrate (0). Also I think I need help aqua scapeing and may need more live rocks. What do you guys think.

 

[mr_X]

A pound to a pound and a half per gallon is a good guideline when deciding how much rock you need. 30 gallon tank...30-45 pounds of rock.
I can't speak for the bacteria in those bottles you added. I have never added supplemental bacteria to any tank I have cycled...I just cycled it as you are, with an ammonia source and patience.
The aquascape is entirely up to you. You are the one who will have to look at this tank for the duration, not us. Just try not to stack the rock in such a way that you have a lot of dead spots or low flow areas where uneaten food and fish poop can collect.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Also build some overhangs and hiding holes for the fish.

 

[jeffaquarius]

If those readings are accurate the 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate means there is not enough bacteria consuming those ammonia yet. Take readings daily and you will notice nitrite will slowly go up first. When it reaches the peak (spike) it will gradually go down and nitrate will start going up. Do not change water until the nitrite stays down to minimum. At that instance, you will notice the nitrate will be very high. That's the time you do large water change and then you can slowly introduce your live stock.

 

[Voshon247]

about day 5 I believe since I started(if you count the from the moment I added the shrimp. The ammonia readings are just going up and up about2.0-4.0 now and no nitrite or nitrate reading yet no problem. Now the questions I have are do you guys think uv sterilizers are good the reason I started thinking about it is because I had a canister filter before but also in my tank I had cyanobacteria and bubble algae while using the filter. do you guys think if I re use the canister it might be re introduced into my new system and would a uv help just in case.

ps. iam also not very good at remembering when to do water changes as I can get lazy and school can get complicated so the more filtration the better for me I guess. I also picked that uv below because it was in a good price range and it had green killing machine


Amazon.com : Green Killing Machine Internal 9 Watt UV Sterilizer with Power Head : Aquarium Filter Accessories : Pet Supplies

 

[mrvincent]

Canister is bad filtration for a reef, it will become a nitrate factory...

 

[Voshon247]

what about a coral life super skimmer rated for a 65 gallon I have heard good and bads about this skimmer but the same about any skimmer. This skimmer caught my attention because as mr x said an internal will take up to much space well this skimmer can go in a sump and hang on the back of the tanks as well what are your thoughts guys.

Amazon.com : Coralife 05271 Super Skimmer with Pump, 65-Gallon : Coral Life Protein Skimmer : Pet Supplies

 

[mr_X]

Coralife ss65 is not worth your time. I haven't heard anything bad about quality skimmers. Don't expect this skimmer to perform like more popular brands. A UV sterilizer won't do anything for cyano or bubble algae.

 

[Voshon247]

Coralife ss65 is not worth your time. I haven't heard anything bad about quality skimmers. Don't expect this skimmer to perform like more popular brands. A UV sterilizer won't do anything for cyano or bubble algae.

We'll Iam still shaky on what to get to help me keep down nitrite and other harmful elements out a the tank as on I wouldn't be able to do a water change every week.

 

[Voshon247]

What if I get a hang on the back Refugium or create one instead would that work better instead of a skimmer