bznbuff
New Member
Hello ... first post here!
just got my "first" reef tank ... 35 years after my last tank (75g fish only). my how things have changed. I have been doing a ton of research (this is a great site obviously) which has been very helpful, but also honestly kind of overwhelming and sometimes confusing.
My goal is to start back easy with an AIO, small tank to see how it goes and determine if I am ready to dive in to something bigger (probably 120-150). I am not really planning to do much of a "reef" ... perhaps some easy corals for fun, but not anything too delicate or difficult. I am primarily interested in the fish, and having a relatively easy maintenance regime.
I got a Maxspect Dice AIO 12 gallon. See pic. Great deal on sale for this complete tank with cabinet and nice light. has filter sock, bioballs ... we'll see if I need more filtration later
5lb live rock and 5lb dry rock from LFS - see pic
wet sand in a bag (alive I assume?)
salt water from LFS
set up June 1
LFS also suggested adding the Turbo start 900, so I did. but they also still said to go through the whole cycle and add some fish food and monitor. So I did that.
I was testing using strips from aquarium coop because I wanted easy and I read that ammonia and nitrites and trates would spike and show up very easily on this test.
Nothing every showed any spike at all. everytime they were all at the lowest reading.
Finally got an API master kit yesterday ... yes I know people have said their tests suck but again folks said for these basic tests and cycling, the API should be good enough to see the spikes. I tested yesterday and from what I can see it looks like all of these levels were at the lowest. is the ph low?
I have also noticed this lovely little brown / greenish stuff growing on the sand. started after a few days but has really picked up lately.
In my research I stumbled upon things like this -
www.reef2reef.com
and this got me to questioning if my tank is essentially already cycled because of the live rock and turbo 900? (and then to wonder why the LFS told me to go through the whole cycle if this turbo stuff cycles it quickly)
and is that brown stuff bad? It looks like it might be something called diatom ... is that bad? should I remove or jsut let it run its course?
I am not in a rush to add fish ... I can be patient and had planned on it. however, I dont want to sit here and watch the tank and measure more 0s and watch this stuff grow for no reason if I dont have to. If I can start adding fish or CUCs or something I would like to. Ultimate plan for this is like 2 clowns and a compatible fish like goby or something. then if things go well add some "easy" corals. Then fingers crossed eventually do the larger tank
Thanks so much in advance!
just got my "first" reef tank ... 35 years after my last tank (75g fish only). my how things have changed. I have been doing a ton of research (this is a great site obviously) which has been very helpful, but also honestly kind of overwhelming and sometimes confusing.
My goal is to start back easy with an AIO, small tank to see how it goes and determine if I am ready to dive in to something bigger (probably 120-150). I am not really planning to do much of a "reef" ... perhaps some easy corals for fun, but not anything too delicate or difficult. I am primarily interested in the fish, and having a relatively easy maintenance regime.
I got a Maxspect Dice AIO 12 gallon. See pic. Great deal on sale for this complete tank with cabinet and nice light. has filter sock, bioballs ... we'll see if I need more filtration later
5lb live rock and 5lb dry rock from LFS - see pic
wet sand in a bag (alive I assume?)
salt water from LFS
set up June 1
LFS also suggested adding the Turbo start 900, so I did. but they also still said to go through the whole cycle and add some fish food and monitor. So I did that.
I was testing using strips from aquarium coop because I wanted easy and I read that ammonia and nitrites and trates would spike and show up very easily on this test.
Nothing every showed any spike at all. everytime they were all at the lowest reading.
Finally got an API master kit yesterday ... yes I know people have said their tests suck but again folks said for these basic tests and cycling, the API should be good enough to see the spikes. I tested yesterday and from what I can see it looks like all of these levels were at the lowest. is the ph low?
I have also noticed this lovely little brown / greenish stuff growing on the sand. started after a few days but has really picked up lately.
In my research I stumbled upon things like this -
Bio-spira works great
I recommend to never dose any system to 2 ppm as the test, agreed. Far less can be used in its place to the same ends, combined with some ground up fish food the cycle works better (Dr. Reefs carbon trick, these bottle bac make better use of fish food than raw ammonia, a few non-sales sites on...
www.reef2reef.com
and this got me to questioning if my tank is essentially already cycled because of the live rock and turbo 900? (and then to wonder why the LFS told me to go through the whole cycle if this turbo stuff cycles it quickly)
and is that brown stuff bad? It looks like it might be something called diatom ... is that bad? should I remove or jsut let it run its course?
I am not in a rush to add fish ... I can be patient and had planned on it. however, I dont want to sit here and watch the tank and measure more 0s and watch this stuff grow for no reason if I dont have to. If I can start adding fish or CUCs or something I would like to. Ultimate plan for this is like 2 clowns and a compatible fish like goby or something. then if things go well add some "easy" corals. Then fingers crossed eventually do the larger tank
Thanks so much in advance!
