How efficient is your bacteria?

[Natedogg1978]

Thanks Brandon, I was definitely considering To start with a favia, acan or zoa or two.

thanks for your encouragement

 

[brandon429]

all that pumping action is why its guaranteed to work for sure, in place of the extra wait time


that wait time legit is placing thousands of extra microbes all crawling about, tiny micro-growths we can't even see on the rocks are forming and those guys help suppress dinos and their offspring is planktonic feed in the water

that's why we can back off the feed/water change cpr after a while/food web assist


but if you watch true new tank trending, we pack corals in and sit there idly and then some invasion comes and then they ID, and wait.

and after two weeks if ID threads lol the bearding is spread


now they're posting a little more urgent in the nuisance algae forum, and are now buying vibrant.


and I would never do any of that nor go down the path, active gardening, making use of your rare accessibility in a system that will not cloud up as you remove rocks for cheat guiding dentistry, the specific design of your reef makes it immune to invasions if you will it + high level feeding, since we actively water change.

right at invasion time the others are feeding less, withholding, in the name of algae starving


and yet every live rock pico reef in existence as a matter of pride will not allow invasions, we force them out. your tank has that type of accessibility make use while you can before the corals are antler size and hard to get out.

 

[KrisReef]

Thanks Brandon, I was definitely considering To start with a favia, acan or zoa or two.

tha is for your encouragement

Great thread!
I can't swear this to be true, but I do believe that this is the cleanest new tank set up running at 6 months than I have seen anywhere else. It will be interesting to see how things progress as you start adding light and coral. Thanks for the update(s)!

 

[Natedogg1978]

that is indeed a powerful update you have followed every rule for current reefing success and it looks it too

Your intuition is spot on by now that's full on reefing, I am 100% certain it can grow corals right now the same as if you wait another month, Im being the bad peer pressure friend/pass rusher lol

but that rock is ready, its itching to be covered in favia for example which eat readily and grow nicely

or any other coral, ready. feed and change water like preventative cpr and you will force coral mass

when its locking into position by growth then can back off the cpr work and the tank will cruise, those feed / water change intervals are for spot algae removing too, since you'll be dealing with new fish waste and coral feed waste etc.

this will make both corals and algae grow, so be hand gardening like we do dandelions

the physical act of picking up a rock that has algae, making that algae go away as it sits on your counter with corals attached to it (wont harm) is where you handle that rock like a dentist and make it algae free, then set back in.

dont starve it out of the display or avoid the work, embrace it. guaranteed method to success at the expense of changing some water each week to a larger degree than you might when it ages.

its not about planting a bunch of corals in there and it sits there looking awesome day by day

we intercept recession issues/disease issues in corals by actively reefing and adding a mix of dry and frozen / thawed feed right over the corals occasionally, then change water after. maybe save the targeting event for weekly time + partial water change just after, before that feed degrades. it will help cumulatively and it will add coral mass exactly like a human exercise + protein cycling regimen.

Just set up a reactor with some ROX 0.8
Carbon. Think I’m going to get addicted to all these cool gadgets.

definitely will be doing weekly water changes.

 

[brandon429]

it's clean like pro car audio install that's really ideal

A patient and exacting build, rare

 

[Natedogg1978]

Can someone tell me if I’m seeing red plating coralline starting to Grow towards the back left of this zoa frag?

Was researching online and it’s the only think I believe it looks like.

Tank at 170 days matured

 

[brandon429]

Sure looks so


Stick a toothpick on it see if it flecks off like cyano

I bet it's affixed legit coralline. A toothpick poke does zero impact to coralline

 

[Natedogg1978]

Sure looks so


Stick a toothpick on it see if it flecks off like cyano

I bet it's affixed legit coralline. A toothpick poke does zero impact to coralline

Thanks Brandon, I performed your toothpick test and it is definitely anchored in there. Kind of feels like plastic when i move the toothpick back and forth over it.

Wasn't expecting to see this type of coralline, but pretty cool or desirable to have, correct?

 

[brandon429]

Yes if someone at my lfs wanted to give a chip of that I'd import it into my bowl for sure. Not invasive, color palette boost.

I wasn't expecting a flex, it should have been like a tyrannosaurus shark tooth megalodon anchor. perhaps we should burn it with direct fire

 

[Natedogg1978]

Yes if someone at my lfs wanted to give a chip of that I'd import it into my bowl for sure. Not invasive, color palette boost.

I wasn't expecting a flex, it should have been like a tyrannosaurus shark tooth megalodon anchor. perhaps we should burn it with direct fire

Maybe flexing due to newer (younger) growth?

 

[92Miata]

you are 1000% cycled.

It pains me how difficult people have made the relatively easy process of cycling.


In the last 20 years we've gone from cycling taking 2 weeks, to us having all sorts of bacterial products (that work fantastically and almost instantly) and people thinking cycling takes many months.


It's utterly absurd how much terrible advise from people trying to sell ammonia drives this hobby.


Put a fast-cycld bacteria in the tank. Put the fish in the tank. Done. You'll never see readable ammonia.

Why do people need to make things so hard?

 

[Jeffcb]

My bacteria is incredible. Its been mostly natural though. I would never intentionally add ammonia to my tank but that being said. Go slow and every set up will be different. Is the ammonia you add the same as natural ammonia or what we mop our floors with. Just be careful what you put in your tank. Less is better.

 

[Natedogg1978]

Owner of my lfs wasn’t there to price this. I believe this is an Australian Favia? If so what would be a great price on this coral? Roughly 4 to 4.5 inches. Thanks

 

[Natedogg1978]

Wanted to post a couple pics and updates on my tank. Currently at 220 days matured. Happy with the stability which I think is largely due to the patience of a drawn out cycling as well as no lighting turned on for roughly 3 months. No crazy algae stage to think of. Nominal at most which is why I added two Mexican turbos. Wow, those guys are workhorses. They clean the bare bottom to a shine!

Also was glad to pick up the “Grape stompers” torch (top left) on an eBay auction, and I think I found the same torch, but larger(5 or six heads bottom left ) for cheaper at my lfs. I am beginning to think this naming of corals is a gimmick.

Just waiting for all these frags to grow out, but again patience is key, but they seem to be multiplying so I’m on the right track.

If you’ve commented on this thread I thank you for your input and suggestions and hope you’re having fun with your reef like me. Stay well.

 

[brandon429]

that is looking really sharp and balanced, accessible clean scape nicely done there

 

[Natedogg1978]

that is looking really sharp and balanced, accessible clean scape nicely done there

Thanks Brandon, I do like the scape also. I liked the look of some of the Caribsea pre-made forms like the trees and mushroom pedestals but they seem to be overpriced. I figured I would try to do my own and improvise creating a pedestal formation by inverting a base rock that had a flat bottom for the top piece. I think this would be a great place to place a few acros' in the distant future. I'd like to have a varied mixed reef. I think I should wait on those though because I have zero nitrates, but have recently started playing with my skimmer off and on to see if I can get some nitrates detectable. Had been running it 24hrs a day until recently.

 

[TanksJB]

I am on day 69 of cycling my 45-gallon cube.



you are 1000% cycled. see this post for proof, and how to begin:

How to unstick any seemingly stuck cycle

Updated Cycling Science in Action This is a testless reef tank cycling thread, the only one from any board. If you ever had trouble with reef tank cycling in the past, you won't any longer after working some jobs with us. chances are you are using/about to use a method of reef tank cycling...

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your cycle was done by day 8 or 10 of the start. The ammonia readings and nitrite readings arent correct, we dont use 2ppm on these kinds of testers because they take months to report true oxidation levels

only seneye gives accurate readings for ammonia and we dont have a seneye for testing nitrite. Updated cycle rules do not factor nitrite into a cycle in marine systems, one less test you have to run


you are sixty days past being ready, nice patience!

your cycle cannot starve, retrograde, undo, get weaker, it just sits there waiting to reef even if you wait another year.

no additions are needed, no testing, change the water out and add animals and begin.

Coming from someone who has done about five thousand online cycles logged, this is the most cycled sixty days ago multi-inoculation approach Ive ever seen. this rascal is fully done and not partially done. I'm going to be able to use this thread to help a lot of cyclers

The old rules of cycling are bad. They made you wait arbitrarily long past ready date, after selling you bottle bac from multi strains that take 3 days to be ready. Old rules don't tell you the details about ammonia and nitrite


People who set up reefs at macna conventions using these strains never miss the convention start date...new vs old cycling rules

But if it is cycled, why do you need to change the water?

 

[brandon429]

Solely for algae control, it’s soon about to be blasted by light.

in several tanks no water change is done, works ok (all fish in cycles which we can see working well)

for the lowest uglies - helping water we can originate

we can tell by simply smelling water if it has traces of free ammonia, should there be any doubt after running any questionable tank through a work thread to discern a start date.

 

[TanksJB]

Solely for algae control, it’s soon about to be blasted by light.

in several tanks no water change is done, works ok (all fish in cycles which we can see working well)

for the lowest uglies - helping water we can originate

we can tell by simply smelling water if it has traces of free ammonia, should there be any doubt after running any questionable tank through a work thread to discern a start date.

Thanks for the response since you know more about this than I do. I really need the help, especially right now. Are you saying bacteria will not take care of the what is in the water given more time? Perhaps this is where I need some input. In a few days I will be starting my reef tank and I don't want to change 150 gallons of water. I will be introducing some live sand and rock from the ocean mailed in water which should start the whole thing. I will introduce a bottle of bacteria to help. But the bacteria should grow and take care of everything over time it seems to me. So if I monitor in a general way by test kits I should be able to continue to add more rock and livestock in increments. Thanks in advance for your help. TanksJB

 

[brandon429]

That’s a fully opposite type of cycle, we wouldn’t add bottle bac they have no where to attach, theyll float around in the water unused if you use ocean rocks that need curing but are full of bacteria
(What’s dying and curing is not bacteria, it’s worms and sponges and clams maybe, a crab or two if any)

you can’t avoid the water changes in curing cycles, so don’t use your tank

+ cure them in brutes. put final cured rocks into the tank with pure Ro Di reef water.


Expect ten water changes, use dechlor tap made into saltwater in the brutes it’s harmless curing toss water.

ten days and they’ll be cured pretty well.

KP Aquatics Live Rock - Is my cycle stuck?

I got some live rock from KP Aquatics about 10 days ago. It was shipped in damp paper. I’m curing/cycling in my new 20g cube with no sand, some carbon and some Marine Pure gems. I started with 25-30% water changes daily for the first 4 or 5 days. I used Prime consistently in the beginning. I...

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