Brand new 10g saltwater help

[sinibotia]

Originally Posted by coralbandit

Porcelains are filter feeders so would be one of the last added IMO anyways.
Not too much though IMO.
I have to look hard to find mine as it sits(hangs) in a rock cave that gets good flow.
Never owned a pygmy wrasse or I would add.
There really are no good hermits!
They won't kill your tank too fast to find out for your self but they irritated my corals (killed 2 for sure)and killed snails for no good reason,beside wanting that shell instead of the other 20 offered!)

Maybe I'll show any hermit crabs my multifasciatus tank so they know where they'll end up if they misbehave joking aside, I'll have to think about if I want them or not.

So, with liquid hardware store ammonia like I use in my freshwater tanks, how long would it take to cycle?

[coralbandit]

If possible don't cycle marine tank with ammonia!
I know you're saying WTF!
Use a cocktail shrimp in pantyhose or net to cycle instead(just one shrimp!).
Can't say specifically why but salties don't go the ammonia route!
With shrimp you are looking at 10-30 days hopefully?(You know every tank and ... are different)
The pantyhose or net is to keep the shrimp from falling apart and going all over and not being removable.

[sinibotia]

Originally Posted by coralbandit

If possible don't cycle marine tank with ammonia!
I know you're saying WTF!
Use a cocktail shrimp in pantyhose or net to cycle instead(just one shrimp!).
Can't say specifically why but salties don't go the ammonia route!
With shrimp you are looking at 10-30 days hopefully?(You know every tank and ... are different)
The pantyhose or net is to keep the shrimp from falling apart and going all over and not being removable.

That's.... odd? Didn't expect that one. I guess I'll try the cocktail shrimp method lol.

Corals are complicated and they're bending my mind! I'm waiting for that "click" moment where it starts making sense and I can ask some real questions.

[sinibotia]

Anybody know if this thing is any good?

Aquatic Life RO Buddie 3-Stage Reverse Osmosis System at PETCO

Or this one: http://www.amazon.com/Countertop-Rev...+filter+system

[cgthebeast]

I have about 4 in my 10g, one blue leg ,2 Scarlets, and one white one and I never had any trouble with them. Sure they crawl through my GSP sometimes but it always comes right back out. No trouble to the snails either, though in those I recommend to skip as they starve easily in a 10g. An my wrasse isn't a pacer, just a really active bugger who does loops an such through live rock


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[spoonman]

Originally Posted by coralbandit

If possible don't cycle marine tank with ammonia!
I know you're saying WTF!
Use a cocktail shrimp in pantyhose or net to cycle instead(just one shrimp!).
Can't say specifically why but salties don't go the ammonia route!
With shrimp you are looking at 10-30 days hopefully?(You know every tank and ... are different)
The pantyhose or net is to keep the shrimp from falling apart and going all over and not being removable.

I would love some facts to back this up. I used ammonia to cycle my 75 reef and had no problems at all. It is easy to control the level of ammonia and gives you very strict control. Is this just a case of repeating what "someone" said? You are able to get to exactly 4ppm (which is the level you want when cycling) and then monitor levels and add precisely back to 4ppm when it starts getting processed. Worked perfectly and took about 2 weeks with lots of live rock in place. I highly recommend pure ammonia to cycle. Just my .02.

[MissGurnus]

So will one pygme wrasse be acceptable?


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[54seaweed]

No !!! not any wrasse
wrasses need lots of room to swim as they are very active min tank size would be 30g
a 10g tank would be like a sardine can for a wrasse and it would most likely be more apt to jump out

[sinibotia]

A friend of mine suggested a pistol shrimp and a shrimp goby. Would that work? It would be pretty cool to have that setup.

Specifically looking right now at Wheeler's shrimp goby, Amblyeleotris wheeleri, and a pistol shrimp Alpheus sp.

[cgthebeast]

^yup, actually that would be pretty good stocking for a 10g


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[coralbandit]

Originally Posted by spoonman

I would love some facts to back this up. I used ammonia to cycle my 75 reef and had no problems at all. It is easy to control the level of ammonia and gives you very strict control. Is this just a case of repeating what "someone" said? You are able to get to exactly 4ppm (which is the level you want when cycling) and then monitor levels and add precisely back to 4ppm when it starts getting processed. Worked perfectly and took about 2 weeks with lots of live rock in place. I highly recommend pure ammonia to cycle. Just my .02.

I am repeating what some others have said!
Both are mods of sites about this topic(one is here{HANK})
The other from a real reef site(sorryAA!)(who loves you RM?)
In my own over thinking 50+year old (35+ year fish keeping) mind(pretty much wasted at this point), possibly a cocktail shrimp from a marine environment may introduce the proper "natural " bacteria.
I would also think that with enough LR that the cycle will take effect with almost any source of food.
I actually used feedingNLS marine pellet food(which I highly advise against in FW) for my first of my several marine tanks(I seeded everything since without issue from this tank).
I can't prove it,but have nothing to gain by offering crap info.
If I am un informed I appreciate the heads up ,if not..........

[Sniperhank]

A cocktail shrimp is simply the easiest method. Some people are simply awful, this includes myself, of being able to measure out and dose ammonia as necessary. It isn't really about bringing in the 'right' bacteria, it is simply a source of ammonia. Given enough live rock, true live rock, will have enough bacteria in it that you might not even see a bump in ammonia levels.

[Reefing Madness]

The 55 HOB would give you better flow in the tank, so I'd go with that one myself. Keep on eye on it, keep it clean, or it will turn into a Nitrate nightmare
Your plan on one fish and inverts and corals will worki without issues.
Most put Clowns in a 10g, Im not a fan, I know they don't do much, but they do get a bit bigger than a 10g can handle, imo.
Your not looking at much in the way of fish that are eligible for a 10g tank.
I'd go with Live Aquaria if you haven't anything local. They are top notch when it comes to fish, and aquacultered marine animals.

[Reefing Madness]

Originally Posted by spoonman

I would love some facts to back this up. I used ammonia to cycle my 75 reef and had no problems at all. It is easy to control the level of ammonia and gives you very strict control. Is this just a case of repeating what "someone" said? You are able to get to exactly 4ppm (which is the level you want when cycling) and then monitor levels and add precisely back to 4ppm when it starts getting processed. Worked perfectly and took about 2 weeks with lots of live rock in place. I highly recommend pure ammonia to cycle. Just my .02.

4ppm?? Love to see the facts to back this one.
The higher you get and keep the level of ammonia, the more life the tank can sustain once the cycle has completed. 4ppm ain't gonna get you much in the way of life without actually throwing the tank into a mini cycle in the beginning.
Tanks getting well above that number, say 10ppm as the jumbo shrimp decays, will have a much better bacteria load once the cycle is finished.
Now, worked in 2 weeks? Don't think so, not in a new tank, unless you cycled it with partially cured live rock, or you threw fish in there wil nitrites, and didn't bother to check ammonia after you thought it was gone, or got a bad reading. then when life was added, im betting after only 2 weeks of ammonia, you got a mini cycle and did't test for it, and got lucky and didn't lose anything.

[spoonman]

Originally Posted by Reefing Madness

4ppm?? Love to see the facts to back this one.
The higher you get and keep the level of ammonia, the more life the tank can sustain once the cycle has completed. 4ppm ain't gonna get you much in the way of life without actually throwing the tank into a mini cycle in the beginning.
Tanks getting well above that number, say 10ppm as the jumbo shrimp decays, will have a much better bacteria load once the cycle is finished.
Now, worked in 2 weeks? Don't think so, not in a new tank, unless you cycled it with partially cured live rock, or you threw fish in there wil nitrites, and didn't bother to check ammonia after you thought it was gone, or got a bad reading. then when life was added, im betting after only 2 weeks of ammonia, you got a mini cycle and did't test for it, and got lucky and didn't lose anything.

I had over 100 pounds of cured live rock. i dosed every day and checked every day. And looking back over my thread it took 6 days since i had so much live rock. Both methods work well and I am not saying the shrimp method isnt good. I am saying not to say that ammonia doesnt work. The link to my 75g build is in my signature. I documented the process quite well.

[Reefing Madness]

Theres your answer then. If you had that much Cured Live Rock, you didn't need to dose anything, your tank was good to go after 3 days of settling in.Theres no need to document the process, its been proven many many times, without dosing ammonia to Cured Rock.

[spoonman]

Just saying both methods work. You can dose either to any level you want. Just saying you can control the level of ammonia if you are adding pure ammonia. That is all.

[cgthebeast]

Actually, I used a couple of freezer shrimp instead of a fresh one, I don't live in an area where fresh is offered near my house an driving 40 mins to Walmart for a piece of shrimp didn't seem practical ( to my mother) Anyway, I never understood why it considered a no for saltwater to cycle that way, I just rinsed it till it thawed and tossed in a pantyhose bag, an bam! It's cycling. No issue later on in the tank, only alage problem I've ever had in my 10g was a bit of green alage on the back glass. So there's one more option to cycling this to add to th list


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[Sniperhank]

Frozen or fresh, doesn't really matter. It is still an ammonia source. You can even use fish food as a source, as long as it decomposes. The only downfall to this is the huge amount of phosphates that will then enter the water column and not really recommended.

[spoonman]

I have used silversides to cycle also.