fowlr tank soon to be in progress

[crister13]

Leave until the cycle is complete. Any shrinp with no additives is fine.

 

[DanS180]

Leave until the cycle is complete. Any shrinp with no additives is fine.

Okie dokie sounds good, will I have to do any pwcs with a fishless cycle? I've always done fish-in cycles with my freshwater tanks

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Okie dokie sounds good, will I have to do any pwcs with a fishless cycle? I've always done fish-in cycles with my freshwater tanks

Considering you are cycling a 12 gallon FOWLR tank without a skimmer you could just use 1/2 a shrimp or a small one... let it decompose, and only worry about doing a water change at the very end of the cycle.

You may still want to put in some live rock (or base rock) while it cycles to let it build up bacteria on and in the rocks pores. If the live rock you eventually get is uncured it could make it's own ammonia spike and mini cycle (especially because your tank is small and skimmerless). You may have an easier time adding it in during your cycle just in case it causes you any brief issues later. Not a necessary step, it's just standard practice.

 

[DanS180]

Considering you are cycling a 12 gallon FOWLR tank without a skimmer you could just use 1/2 a shrimp or a small one... let it decompose, and only worry about doing a water change at the very end of the cycle.

You may still want to put in some live rock (or base rock) while it cycles to let it build up bacteria on and in the rocks pores. If the live rock you eventually get is uncured it could make it's own ammonia spike and mini cycle (especially because your tank is small and skimmerless). You may have an easier time adding it in during your cycle just in case it causes you any brief issues later. Not a necessary step, it's just standard practice.

It's a 16gallon just to clarify and yeah I put a small piece of shrimp in the tank last night. As far as LR goes I'm going to be getting some cured LR in the next few days my LFS seems to have some pretty decent pieces available

 

[crister13]

Good. That way the bacteria has extra surface area to live on.

 

[crister13]

Oh and if you haven't, put the shrimp in a net. That way once the cycle is complete you can just remove it without a problem and it won't cause a mess in your tank.

 

[DanS180]

Oh and if you haven't, put the shrimp in a net. That way once the cycle is complete you can just remove it without a problem and it won't cause a mess in your tank.

Yep shrimp is in the net

 

[crister13]

Ok good. Any other questions?

 

[DanS180]

Not right now, but I'm sure there will be more so stay tuned thanks again!

 

[crister13]

Anytime.

 

[DanS180]

I'm not sure but I might go pick up some live rock today after I'm done work, if I do, how many lbs should I get? Do I really need a lb/gallon??

 

[crister13]

1-1.5 pounds per gallon would be you best bet. The reason being live rock actually helps filter the tank ALOT, and without it your going to need to beef up your filtration system. And it looks cool .

 

[DanS180]

1-1.5 pounds per gallon would be you best bet. The reason being live rock actually helps filter the tank ALOT, and without it your going to need to beef up your filtration system. And it looks cool .

Ok well hopefully they have some decent little pieces, I don't wanna overcrowd the tank as im still undecided if I'm going to do corals down the line.. or does it really matter how much live rock is in there??

 

[crister13]

You won't overcrowd it. It kind of balances itself out. The more rock, the less open swimming space, the more hiding places and weaving through the rocks. I would get atleast 1 pound per gallon.

 

[DanS180]

You won't overcrowd it. It kind of balances itself out. The more rock, the less open swimming space, the more hiding places and weaving through the rocks. I would get atleast 1 pound per gallon.

Okay so I'll shoot for 15-16lbs, I'll try to post pics up later tonight when I get a chance

 

[crister13]

Good idea.

 

[DanS180]

Ok I only bought 10 pounds but its a decent amount bc it covers most of the bottom and if I decide to add corals down the line, I'll have more room. Instead of buying the regular live rock, I bought reef ready liverock, I'm gonna try n upload pics from my phone but I don't know if it'll let me. Let me know what you think!

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Ok I only bought 10 pounds but its a decent amount bc it covers most of the bottom and if I decide to add corals down the line, I'll have more room. Instead of buying the regular live rock, I bought reef ready liverock, I'm gonna try n upload pics from my phone but I don't know if it'll let me. Let me know what you think!

Here's the problem with some, but definitely not all reef ready rock; it's mostly made of concrete, so you don't get nearly the same amount of internal filtration from the rock as real live rock. Generally a 10lb piece of reef ready rock is smaller than a 10lb piece of live rock. You are still going to need at least one other piece of live rock to "seed" the piece you have. Another issue is water displacement. Live rock displaces less water than many man made rocks so you loose water volume. in a larger system it isn't much of an issue but in a small tank it means something.

 

[DanS180]

Here's the problem with some, but definitely not all reef ready live rock; it's mostly made of concrete, so you don't get nearly the same amount of internal filtration from the rock as real live rock. Generally a 10lb piece of reef ready rock is smaller than a 10lb piece of live rock. You are still going to need at least one other piece of live rock to "seed" the piece you have. Another issue is water displacement. Live rock displaces less water than many man made rocks so you loose water volume. in a larger system it isn't much of an issue but in a small tank it means something.

Well what does it mean? Lol and maybe I'll go get a piece of regular live rock

 

[spoonman]

Off subject a little, but a background would help hide the cords and also bring out the colors of the rock and fishes when you get them.