Nano Tank Start - Step by Step Journey

[happyhourhero]

If you run 0 and have dry rock, you will very likely get dinos which will be far worse than your typical algae. I strongly suggest getting a Hanna ulr phosphate and some neophos to keep it at .10. My 25 gallon tank with 25 pounds of dry rock absorbed 750ml of neophos before I could get a stable .10 reading. If you have a good cuc, you won’t worry about regular algae.

 

[rhpmiller]

If you run 0 and have dry rock, you will very likely get dinos which will be far worse than your typical algae. I strongly suggest getting a Hanna ulr phosphate and some neophos to keep it at .10. My 25 gallon tank with 25 pounds of dry rock absorbed 750ml of neophos before I could get a stable .10 reading. If you have a good cuc, you won’t worry about regular algae.

Will definitely take a look at that. Thank you!

 

[rhpmiller]

Day 5 (9/23)
Welp, dosing a bit of ammonia definitely had an impact. Ha

Tested my water this morning and here's what we got:

• Ammonia: 0.8
• Nitrite: 1+
• Nitrate: 20-50+
• Phosphate: 0 (might have botched the test, as i spilled 1/3 of the powder)
• Alkalinity: 9.5

I'll be measuring every other day to see how long it takes to cycle and reduce and see how it goes. On the plus side, tank is still looking clean.

 

[rhpmiller]

Day 6 (9/24)
Did a whole lot of nothing, other than continuing to dose the Microbacter7 at the appropriate amount

Day 7 (9/25)
Tested my water this morning and here's what I got:

• Ammonia: 0.1
• Nitrite: 1+
• Nitrate: 20-50+
• Phosphate: 0 (didn't botch the test this time, so I think i just have super low levels)
• Alkalinity: 9.2

Good News - Whatever bacteria in my aquarium is doing a great job of processing the ammonia, dropping from 0.8 to 0.1 in two days.

Bad News - My nitrite and nitrate continue to be off the charts.

Any recommendations on what to do to try and control this? Maybe add a little bit of Bio-Spira? Continue dosing Microbacter7 and just give it time? Carbon dosing?

 

[aSaltyKlown]

Do a water change and add fish, the cycle is done. Nitrates will reduce with the water change and there is no worry for nitrite as it needs to be in 140ppm+ to be deadly.

Why would you add more Bio-S? It is cycled. Let the tank be, I would add some fish and a few pieces of coral, stop dosing everything and enjoy.

 

[rhpmiller]

Do a water change and add fish, the cycle is done. Nitrates will reduce with the water change and there is no worry for nitrite as it needs to be in 140ppm+ to be deadly.

Why would you add more Bio-S? It is cycled. Let the tank be, I would add some fish and a few pieces of coral, stop dosing everything and enjoy.

Thought to keep dosing in order to be sure I was addressing the root problem of high nitrite, instead of just treating the symptom (i.e don't want to rush it and have a fish struggle).

However, if it's now just time to introduce a steady source of ammonia—from livestock—and roll from there, could definitely look into that after the water change.

 

[aSaltyKlown]

A water large water change should take care of the nitrites and will equilibrate in time. Did you take a look at the article I linked, nitrites are not something to be concerned about in a marine tank.

 

[Evo R]

You got some really solid advise from the other member!!!

Looking forward to seeing this reef grow.

 

[LegalReefer]

Looking good so far, excited to see where this goes!

 

[rhpmiller]

A water large water change should take care of the nitrites and will equilibrate in time. Did you take a look at the article I linked, nitrites are not something to be concerned about in a marine tank.

I did read the link, thank you for sharing that!

Day 8 (9/26)
Did a 20% water change—bought some RODI water from the LFS and mixed with Red Sea salt, to parameters. Tested my water after letting it circulate for about an hour and here's what i've got:

• Ammonia: 0.1
• Nitrite: 0.75 (down from 1+)
• Nitrate: 20 (down from ~35-50)

Currently acclimating two ocellaris clowns and a cleaner shrimp, and we'll see how this all goes.

 

[Evo R]

Yep your tank is definitely cycled!!!

Congrats on the first inhabitants!!

Now the patience game really begins. Because your tank needs to constantly adapt to the new bio load. And the itch to add more and to overstock too quickly is very real!!

No new fish until November!! The tribe has spoken haha ;Hilarious

 

[rhpmiller]

Yep your tank is definitely cycled!!!

Congrats on the first inhabitants!!

Now the patience game really begins. Because your tank needs to constantly adapt to the new bio load. And the itch to add more and to overstock too quickly is very real!!

No new fish until November!! The tribe has spoken haha ;Hilarious

Done and done. Will have no problem resisting adding new fish or corals for a while. And no worries, lights aren't staying on, just put them on to record.

An hour in and they seem to be doing well. Appreciate all the help and support!

 

[aSaltyKlown]

Good looking clowns!

 

[LegalReefer]

If your tank is cycled and you feel like you have a good and growing population of beneficial bacteria in your live rock, I’d recommend dosing ‘pods and and phytoplankton to build up a thriving and biodiverse biome. Maybe if you’re really feeling good add a hardy soft coral or two, leathers or zoas or the like

 

[Danroo]

you’re in a really good spot. Everything worked out perfectly. I would suggest not turning on the skimmer for awhile. Once you add one fish at a time every week. You can go and turn it on. Everything looks perfect happy reefing.

 

[rhpmiller]

Day 9 (9/27)
Clowns and shrimp seem to be doing well. Fed them very small amounts a few times throughout the day, which might have been a bit much. So will dial it back to once/day.

Day 10 (9/28)
Did a water test this morning and things are looking relatively stable.

• Salinity: 1.025
• Ammonia: 0.2 (up a bit from last time, but going to attribute that to the livestock and feeding. Will monitor)
• Nitrite: ~0.3/0.4 (down from 0.75)
• Nitrate: 20 (about the same as last time)

Will check water again in a few days and see where we're at.

 

[rhpmiller]

Day 11 (9/29)
Fed the fish frozen mysis. And my cleaner shrimp decided to molt. Ha

Day 12 (9/30)
Got some flakes and fed the fish that. Will start rotating between marine flakes and frozen mysis. Otherwise, all seems good. Here's the current state of the tank (Note: Lights are always off, except when I take pics)

 

[rhpmiller]

Day 13 (10/1)
Tested my water and here's where we're at:

• Salinity: 1.027 (added some RODI to try to bring it down)
• Ammonia: 0.1 (Down from 0.2)
• Nitrite: 0.05 (Down from 0.3)
• Nitrate: ~20 (same)
• Phosphate: 0 (same)
• Alkalinity: 8.6 (down from 9.2)
• Calcium: 440 (first time measuring this)
• pH: 8 (same)

Since things are still looking decent and livestock seems happy and healthy, was debating my next step:

• Do nothing for another two weeks
• Add a small CUC—small number of snails and peppermint shrimp—for proactive measures? It's not like I have a ton of algae, aiptasia or anything, but hoping some snails and shrimp can help sift/clean the sand, prevent build up, etc.
• Add a small CUC + a fish? I was thinking of a blenny or a six-line wrasse. Again, something utilitarian, and also adds some more waste for the CUC.
• Add a single coral frag? I was thinking of a softy—toadstool or zoa—to see how it does and begin testing if my tank is ready for corals.

Any thoughts, opinions or recos on the above? Or combination of those?

Was also thinking of adding a small piece of live rock to help add some more diversity with bacteria. Yay or nay?

 

[aSaltyKlown]

Day 13 (10/1)
Tested my water and here's where we're at:

• Salinity: 1.027 (added some RODI to try to bring it down)
• Ammonia: 0.1 (Down from 0.2)
• Nitrite: 0.05 (Down from 0.3)
• Nitrate: ~20 (same)
• Phosphate: 0 (same)
• Alkalinity: 8.6 (down from 9.2)
• Calcium: 440 (first time measuring this)
• pH: 8 (same)

Since things are still looking decent and livestock seems happy and healthy, was debating my next step:

• Do nothing for another two weeks
• Add a small CUC—small number of snails and peppermint shrimp—for proactive measures? It's not like I have a ton of algae, aiptasia or anything, but hoping some snails and shrimp can help sift/clean the sand, prevent build up, etc.
• Add a small CUC + a fish? I was thinking of a blenny or a six-line wrasse. Again, something utilitarian, and also adds some more waste for the CUC.
• Add a single coral frag? I was thinking of a softy—toadstool or zoa—to see how it does and begin testing if my tank is ready for corals.

Any thoughts, opinions or recos on the above? Or combination of those?

Was also thinking of adding a small piece of live rock to help add some more diversity with bacteria. Yay or nay?

Honestly, you could do all or none of the above.

I'd add a small CUC to include a couple of hermits. A small piece of LR is always a good thing to add, especially if it is from a mature tank.

 

[LegalReefer]

I’d say go for the CUC and a small simple softy frag, get a sense of how it’ll go and how things are shaping up. Looks good to me so far