[mufferman]

this is my nano in its 2nd week of cycling. i'll be adding some live sand and some more rock at the weekend hopefully  DSC00151.JPG (48.49K)
Number of downloads: 31

[ben]

good start

[mufferman]

just been checking my tank over and noticed there are loads of plankton form critters in there also a small crab & shrimp not sure which ones but once they start getting bigger i'll know. i also found in one of my rocks something that looks like a small tube worm. it must have came from the live rock. not bad

[ben]

if you can catch the crab then i would get it out. they usually end up as pests. see if you can get a pic

[Simon Garratt]

Hi Mufferman.

Nice start and good luck with the new set up.

Just a bit of advice regarding the course substrate. Some of the guys in the states are using this stuff to good effect but there are a few things you have to bare in mind.

1. In the early days you need to keep feeding sensible. sticking to stuff you know will get eaten and in the right quantities to keep nutrient levels as low as possible...and i mean low ie No3 below 1.0ppm and Po4 below 0.01ppm. Do this and the substrate will coarline up before it gets a chance to become overgrown with problem algae.

2. have a high proportion of scavengers that will keep the substrate clean and prevent too much uneaten food making its way down through the substrate to breakdown underneith causing rising nutrient issues later. Beds of such a large grain structure usually arnt as diverse as finer substrates.


On the whole, the people who have the best success with these large grain substrates are those who run extremely low nutrient systems that are very diverse and fastidiously maintained.

Not sure how long you have been keeping marines but i'd say if you are in doubt, then rip it out now and replace with fine grained aragonite sugar fine sand (aragamax select as a case in point) (ignore the live sand bit, its a waste of time and money) you get better results by simply seeding a dead sand bed using some crud from your LFS live rock tanks or a cup full of sand from a fellow reefers established sand bed than you ever will with the stuff that comes live in a bag.

Regards

Simon.

[mufferman]

Simon Garratt, on Feb 4 2009, 08:44 AM, said:

Hi Mufferman.

Nice start and good luck with the new set up.

Just a bit of advice regarding the course substrate. Some of the guys in the states are using this stuff to good effect but there are a few things you have to bare in mind.

1. In the early days you need to keep feeding sensible. sticking to stuff you know will get eaten and in the right quantities to keep nutrient levels as low as possible...and i mean low ie No3 below 1.0ppm and Po4 below 0.01ppm. Do this and the substrate will coarline up before it gets a chance to become overgrown with problem algae.

2. have a high proportion of scavengers that will keep the substrate clean and prevent too much uneaten food making its way down through the substrate to breakdown underneith causing rising nutrient issues later. Beds of such a large grain structure usually arnt as diverse as finer substrates.
On the whole, the people who have the best success with these large grain substrates are those who run extremely low nutrient systems that are very diverse and fastidiously maintained.

Not sure how long you have been keeping marines but i'd say if you are in doubt, then rip it out now and replace with fine grained aragonite sugar fine sand (aragamax select as a case in point) (ignore the live sand bit, its a waste of time and money) you get better results by simply seeding a dead sand bed using some crud from your LFS live rock tanks or a cup full of sand from a fellow reefers established sand bed than you ever will with the stuff that comes live in a bag.

Regards

Simon.

thank sfor the advice when i bought the tank it came with the gravel but i will be changing it this weekend if all goe's to plan.

[mufferman]

ben, on Feb 4 2009, 07:24 AM, said:

if you can catch the crab then i would get it out. they usually end up as pests. see if you can get a pic

true. i'll try to get him out but he's always inside the live rock and it's getting him out the rock without disturbing the tank to much because he hides all the time

[Social D]

Good start asking questions of forums, be good to see this progress, Welcome to the forum aswell

[gray]

welcome to the forum mate
good luck with it
the guys on here are great , help when you need it
gray

[BOM8ER]

To IR, keep us posted on your progress

[mufferman]

i've had 2 damsels gave me so i've added them to the tank tonight them seem to be settling well 1 is a yeellow tail damsel & the other is a yellow belly damsel

[Social D]

Hi Mate sorry this is going to sound negative especially as these are your first fish and all, But i would be inclined to take these out and replace with something a little less aggressive, They might be getting on now but sooner rather than later they will set up their own Territory's and start to own the tank, If you have to add Damsels they should ideally be added as the last fish or not at all unless you have a huge tank.

Most of us have been there and done it with these damsels and many will agree they aren't worth the hassle despite the stunning colour they add to the reef tank.


Sorry to put a dampner on your first additions but they really arent worth it, A Pair of clowns would be a better choice imo.

[Simon Garratt]

Have to aggree with Tim I'm afraid Mufferman.

Additionaly, if you were advised to add these at a shop after just two weeks cycling, i would be inclined to find an alternate shop. The practce of cycling a tank with damsels is pretty much frownd upon these days as unessesery and cruel to the fish which has to endure periods of mild poisoning whilst the tanks bacterial populations stabalise to the degree they can convert ammonia to Nitrite and to Nitrate fast enough that the two most harmfull substances (amm and nitrite) are kept at extremely low levels.

Although with modern LR based systems the cycling period can be quite short and subtle, it is still better to air on the side of caution rater than rushing ahead, and wait a couple of extra weeks if in doubt, and only add the hardiest of cleanup crew first which will pick off any dead organisms from your live rock as a means of nutrition. This actually boosts the cycling process along as the waste generated goes to boost the initial bacterial populations.

Looking at your picture, I would say that at present you just have the barest minimum of Lr to start off a good cycle. Personnaly i think you could quite easily double what you have if not treble it, and still have a nice proportion that gives effective filtration capacity, whilst not having so much bulk that it impedes flow etc. If it were me, personnaly i would spend money on LR first, and then add fish afterwards allowing for the fact that adding any new LR will upset the water chemistry for a week or so untill it has settled back down again.

There is no real way to put it other than: get the whole tank sorted first, ie substrates, rock, lighting and filtration...let it all settle down together as a functional and 'complete' set up for a few weeks to a month, with a few clean up crew added towards the end of that period. and then start thinking of fish.

Think of it this way..

Would you like living in a house if someone kept comming in and turning it upside down every two mins making major changes and shifting everything round?...Well, fish are just as sensitive to such disturbances to thier habitats, and will sucumb to stress if you push them too much. They will either become Ill, or thier mental state will be affected, commonly leading to agressive tendances later which will cause issues with other tank mates.

Regards

simon.

[mufferman]

ok thanks for the advice i'll take them out and put them in my friends 2nd tank till i can put them somewhere

[antholness]

Hi mate welcome to IR,
Im a novice myself and would recomend listening to these guys. ( they know what they are talking about ).
They have helped me quite a lot. ( THANKS GUYS )
Enjoy the hobbie.