Salt Water Startup

[InfernoST]

You must be patient, it could take as long as 6 to 8 weeks for the tank to cycle, should be shorter with the LR but you're still looking at 4 weeks. The other thing is your looking for your ammonia to spike not PH, then the nitrites will increase and your ammonia level will drop to zero, after the nitrites spike your nitrates will start to increase and your nitrites will begin to drop to eventually to zero, when your nitrites reach zero your tank is considered cycled at this point you must perform a 50% water change then you can begin to add livestock a little at a time to allow the beneficial bacteria to increase to handle the bio-load. Do you have a test kit? If not you're going to need one that tests for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, PH & KH to start with for a FOWLR if you plan on keeping corals there are a bunch more test kits that you will need.
I'm sure the members will chime in and fill in the blanks as I to am new to SW as well and am starting with FOWLR.

 

[jason1985]

I have the Instant Ocean Reef Master Test Kit. (The Reef Master Test Kit includes tests for pH, alk., calcium, nitrate and phosphate)

Okay so the cycle might take longer then 10 days that's fine by me. I'm in no rush, it will also give me the time to gather more information. Once my tank is stable and cycles you suggest I add more live rock?

 

[InfernoST]

You still need a test kit for the following, ammonia, nitrite and KH. I believe the recommendation is 1.5 to 2 lbs per gallon for the LR. How much rock do you have now? The live rock provides natural biological filtration, so i would say it can't hurt if you wanted to add more.

 

[severum mama]

There is a lot more that goes into cycling than pH levels and salinity (7.8 is on the low side for a marine tank). Have you read about the nitrogen cycle? There are some great stickies here on the site that will give you a ton of info. Have you tested for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? Hydrometers are often inaccurate- can you have your LFS check yours against a refractometer reading? That should give you a better idea of where you are.

For most tanks, 10 days is nowhere near long enough to complete a cycle and have the tank stable enough to add any livestock.

To my knowledge, the only T5 strip lights that Coralife makes are normal output lights. High output T5 lights would give you enough light for a reef setup, but what you have just isn't that much light. To put it in perspective, we were using 130W power compact light (2x 65W bulbs) over our 24" 20 gallon. We're about to upgrade to a 50 gallon and just got a 6x 39W HO T5 light for the 3 foot tank. You could go the power compact route like we initially did, or another good option would be a 4x 24W HO T5 strip.

 

[HN1]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/3/1/Cycle-your-salt-tank/Page1.html

 

[InfernoST]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/3/1/Cycle-your-salt-tank/Page1.html

I should of done that, my fingers hurt.LOL

 

[jason1985]

When they say the Live Rock is cured. What doe that really mean for when you put the rock into a new tank?

 

[InfernoST]

When they say the Live Rock is cured. What doe that really mean for when you put the rock into a new tank?

You should read this article http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/13/1/Curing-live-rock--I-didnt-even-know-it-was-sick/Page1.html it will answer your questions regarding LR and curing of.
What you should do is read through the articles in the articles section, they will answer many of your questions. Naturally we'll be here to help as well.

 

[jason1985]

Alright so the store said all of the live rock is cured for 10 weeks before its even brought into the showroom.

I seen a few hermit crabs crawling around that I haven't seen before and which I didn't add myself and the other crab that came with the rock was seen walking around this afternoon so he didn't die. He's going around eating all of the feather dusters.

 

[HN1]

Can you get a picture of the mystery crab? Some get nasty given enough time.

 

[jason1985]

I will try and get a picture, this was the first time I've seen him. He is all black! I assume he is hidding within the holes in the live rock

 

[HN1]

Google images of Gorilla Crab.... if it is, I've never read anything good about them. I have no experience with them personally though.

 

[jason1985]

nope not like that. its really dark black

 

[HN1]

Ok... is the crab "hairy"? Are the claws pointed?

 

[jason1985]

not hairy and the claws are rounded.... i will see if i can find a picture

 

[HN1]

Sounds ok so far... I really wish one of the actual experts would chime in.

 

[jason1985]

I found out what it was and it's a Emerald crab

 

[thincat]

Sounds ok so far... I really wish one of the actual experts would chime in.

You're asking all the correct questions. What more is it to be said.

 

[HN1]

I found out what it was and it's a Emerald crab

I think you got a nice little bonus then!

You're asking all the correct questions. What more is it to be said.

Glad to hear it, but I'm far from expert and learn something new from you, Kurt, Mike, Larry, and Co. everyday. I 'm still pretty new to reef keeping, but pretty OCD about it. lol

 

[thincat]

You're coming along really well. The more you jump in and answer the questions the more confidence you will gain and that's a good thing.