Ammonia testing during cycling

[Paulm7373]

It's not unusual to never see an ammonia or nitrite spike when cycling with LR. Especially with all the BB from an established tank you added to your sump. I think you're good! I'd get some fish in there...just be sure to plan your stock carefully. Looking for some pics soon.

I think I've received enough reassurance to finally know deep down without any further convincing that I'm good I went with 4 chromis and a gold head goby. Was only going to get 3 chromis but they had a discount price if you buy 4. I was indecisive for a while about what the other fish I would get as my first and I ended up going for the goby because of unique look and coloring on his head and also the way he eats by grabbing a mouthful of sand and emptying it out through his gills lol never seen that before! So the new additions are finally in and let see how we go. Already looking forward in buying the next fish whichever it will be! Pics aren't the best of quality as they were taken with my iPhone.

 

[Paulm7373]

Oh, I couldn't take a pic of my gold head goby because he's still a bit shy and hasn't come out of hiding behind the rocks as yet, but this is what they look like

 

[erichm20]

Five fish is kind of a lot to add at once be ready to do a PWC when the ammonia spikes.

I could be wrong but it looks like You have a nice size acropora coral that I'm guessing you didn't put in there since your inquiring about cycling. That is an sps coral and needs perfect water conditions (0 nitrates) and high light I think at least 4 watts / gallon. I have 4 x 54 w t5 and have read that I couldn't keep one. you could trade that in or sell it to your lfs for good money.

That goby is cool!

 

[Paulm7373]

The chromis are small and are a schooling fish so best to keep them together. I got the fourth one for half the price of a normal one. I plan on doing fortnightly water changes anyway so I'm not too worried even if my ammonia spikes. That is a piece of dead coral you're looking at. I don't have any live corals in there atm, but that is a long term plan once I know everything is all running well.

 

[erichm20]

Oh ok. I wondered that but it looks alive from the pic That would've been one hell of a hitchhiker lol. You should be ok with the chromis being so small. Some gobys jump do u have a lid?

 

[Paulm7373]

Yeah mate, it's definitely a dead piece of coral. I have 3 of those and thought I'd add it to my live rock to give it a more interesting look. I have glass lids as well as hood lids, so no chance of any jumping out there. Hope my fish won't experience any lack of oxygen with my tank having lids as opposed to an open top tank - what do you think? I also have 2 x 6025 tunze nanostreams on either side as well so there is plenty of flow.

 

[erichm20]

Ok good I had a diamond sleeper decide to leap out of a pretty small hole in my hood. That flow along with the return will provide oxygen in the water.

 

[Paulm7373]

I've got the return well positioned so that it provides good surface water agitation, so I think overall I have everything set up as I should. How long do you recommend I wait until I try adding my first corals?

 

[Paulm7373]

I forgot to mention I don't have a chiller yet, I am hoping my fish can get through these first few months of summer without it. Might need to resort to other methods of cooling the water down until summer is over.

 

[Bectan01]

What kind of lights do you have? I have the same size tank and have just ditched my 4 x T5 fixture because it was adding 2 - 3 degrees to the tank. This will be my first summer without a chiller too (i am in melbourne) and I figured a decent LED fixture was the same price as a chiller and better for my tank too! Just a thought...

 

[Paulm7373]

What kind of lights do you have? I have the same size tank and have just ditched my 4 x T5 fixture because it was adding 2 - 3 degrees to the tank. This will be my first summer without a chiller too (i am in melbourne) and I figured a decent LED fixture was the same price as a chiller and better for my tank too! Just a thought...

Hi mate, I have 4 x 24w T5 (2 x white & 2 x blue). My tank is an Aquareef 195 made by Aquaone. More info can be found on below link:

http://www.facebook.com/ViscumWaterGardens/posts/384079778337665

I probably would replace the T5s with a good LED light fixture later on down the track as the tank is still fairly new (only a couple months old) and its a shame to get rid if it when it came with the tank. For now I was thinking of getting a cheap blue LED light from eBay to give that moonlight effect at night rather than turning the reflectors over all the time on the existing fixture. Btw I'm in Sydney. Also don't know how easy or hard it would be to sell this light fixture. If I found a good cheap second-hand chiller I may consider getting one for this summer, but I'm worried about the extra noise they make. I'm also looking out for cheap ones in eBay. Can you recommend any affordable but good chillers out there?

 

[erichm20]

That won't be enough light for most corals with maybe low light softies being the exception. Mushrooms would be ok I think. I would say u have a few more months anyway you really want your tank to be stable and your nitrates and phosphates to be undetectable.

Eventually you'll want to upgrade that light or add more, LEDs are the way to go if u have the budget.

Can't speak for chillers it gets hot here in the summer but we have AC so it is not an issue (unless the power goes out). I've heard of people using fans to cool the water but seems kind of unreliable...

Hows the goby doing?

 

[Bectan01]

Yes, I would def look into a lighting upgrade in the future. Heat from those lights you have might not be as bad as mine, i had 4 x 54w. Haven't done a great deal of research on the chillers but like skimmers and power heads I think it is worth getting a decent one! So $300 - $400 maybe? eBay will be your best friend tho!