57 gallon oceanic Illuminata build

[Tyler Caviness]

Thanks Palyzoa, I have heard the ballpark of at least one crab/snail per gallon of overall water volume. I at least want to get that and then see how that works. I have heard of people doubling the amount but I guess it depends on the system, since it will be a young tank, I probably will be fine.

I didn’t watch this video again before posting it, but I believe it advocates for a CUC more like 1 crab/snail per several gallons

 

[OrthoVet05]

I haven’t gone away everyone! So I have had the tank up and running for about a week now. I did about 50 gal worth of water changes over 4 days last week because I thought I smelled bleach in the tank. Anyways.. the smell dissipated. I added in some of Dr. Tims on Monday as well as some ammonium chloride to fishless cycle.

I have been checking my ammonia levels the past couple of days. Today amm=2 ppm nitrites=0. I was adding in a few mysis shrimp to increase the amm a tich yesterday because it was only around 1 ppm. Continuing to check nitrites for a spike.

Maybe I’m pretty paranoid but also thought I had a leak in the tank. Holy smokes it loses a lot of water through Evap! I took the sump out and it was holding water as well as the tank.

That is all for now. Hopefully the fishless cycle works itself out. I am mostly hands off at this point minus checking ammonia and nitrites every other day or so.

 

[OrthoVet05]

I forgot to update you all. I got about 80 pounds of dry rock and bleach bathed it. Did a 10:1 ratio with water. Took it out washed it and let it dry for a week.

The aquascape was a lot more difficult than I thought. Moreso because I thought that the epoxy putty would actually work better than it actually does.

Well after it’s all said and done I got the aquascape in. I think it looks pretty good. There’s a lot of rock but I could always move a few pieces around or take them out.

Just waiting for this cycle....

Sorry for the poor lighting in my living room. Waiting on a good light for the tank

 

[Palyzoa]

Looking good so far! If you are having trouble with getting your ammonia to rise I have always had success with dropping in one large raw shrimp from the seafood dept. at the grocery store.

 

[OrthoVet05]

Looking good so far! If you are having trouble with getting your ammonia to rise I have always had success with dropping in one large raw shrimp from the seafood dept. at the grocery store.

Do you cut up the shrimp or anything or literally drop it in? Thanks for the advice !

 

[Palyzoa]

Sorry for the late reply, I just drop the shrimp right in. If there is any of it left once the cycle is complete you can remove it. How's the cycle coming?

 

[Palyzoa]

Do you cut up the shrimp or anything or literally drop it in? Thanks for the advice !

Sorry for the late reply, I just drop the shrimp right in. If there is any of it left once the cycle is complete you can remove it. How's the cycle coming?

 

[OrthoVet05]

Sorry for the late reply, I just drop the shrimp right in. If there is any of it left once the cycle is complete you can remove it. How's the cycle coming?

Palyzoa, sorry for the delay, things have been hectic around here. The cycle has been going good, slow, but good. I have been checking my ammonia and it has been 2-2.5 ppm for the past week now, no nitrites. I have been adding in bacteria, added in stability along with the Dr. Tims, and then bought a bottle of the aqualife Activate. I must just have a huge surface area of dry rock that needs colonizing. Hopeful to see some drop in Ammonia this week!

 

[Palyzoa]

Sounds like it's coming along, anytime now and the real fun begins..

 

[OrthoVet05]

Sounds like it's coming along, anytime now and the real fun begins..

Yeah, I actually am about to pick up a QT this afternoon. I figured it would be well worth the small investment.

 

[Palyzoa]

I've never QT my fish but Im extremely lucky not to have had any out breaks of Ich or anything. However, after joining this forum and reading all the posts about fish disease, I'm setting up a QT system for my tank upgrade.

 

[OrthoVet05]

I've never QT my fish but Im extremely lucky not to have had any out breaks of Ich or anything. However, after joining this forum and reading all the posts about fish disease, I'm setting up a QT system for my tank upgrade.

I typically run off of pretty good luck when I am "improving", so watch me get some debilitating velvet or ich AFTER a planned QT process haha.

 

[Palyzoa]

I typically run off of pretty good luck when I am "improving", so watch me get some debilitating velvet or ich AFTER a planned QT process haha.

Lol, There is always a chance something will slip by ;Nailbiting. If follow strict QT guide lines you should be alright .

 

[OrthoVet05]

I just wanted to update everyone that I have Nitrites (0.25 ppm)! One small step for man....