HELP!!! NEW SPS NEED ID's

[fishmamma]

- I have a one year old and my two tanks give spare moments of sanity through out the day and they are my obsession so I hear ya there. Hubby is not as into it as I am though. :happyfish Do you have any Prime or Amquel on hand in case you get an ammonia spike? I believe these things are reef safe though you would have to ask LFS for sure on that. Anyway, they will somehow chemically change the ammonia/nitrate which ever they bind to and make it less toxic to your critters but your readings will not be altered by it. Meaning your testing will show your ammonia levels to be the same after adding the product but it has been detoxified to an extent. Ammo Lock is another. One of these products and a good amount of pre-mixed heated water will help you ward off any large spikes that may occur.
As far as your flow just look around your tank and see if you have any 'dead' spots. Sometimes it is hard to go by the gph only as you may still have some areas of your tank that could use increased water movements. I am a huge fan of the maxi-jet powerheads with the roatator attachment on the output. Great for reef set-ups. Also check the back corners of your tank- lots of gunk can build up there if they are not being targeted by water movement. Take some pictures if you can, I would love to see your set up. :joy:

 

[puffer32]

Originally Posted by mbrands
I'm going to take a different stance and disagree with the above quote and other postings in the thread. While it was on a much smaller scale, I started a nano tank with (cured, obviously) live rock and water from my 55. I tested for a few days and a cycle never happened. The nano has been up for about 6 months now with zero fatalities. I think that you have so much live rock and live sand you won't likely see much, if any, of a cycle.
I don't think that 2,000 gph is very much water movement for a tank that size though. From what I've read, 15-20 times the tank volume should be turned over per hour for a reef tank. That is easily reached with a few powerheads, which also prevent "dead spots".
I would agree with Birdy that corals have essentially no bioload and could be added in large volume . . . if your budget allows it. I would recommend adding only a few at a time since your tank is so new and you are just learning proper husbandry (maintaining constant pH, salinity, temperature, etc).
Keep and eye on those clowns. In a large tank like yours they might be ok, but over time they might start to fight.
Good luck and welcome to the hobby!
We can agree to disagree......... But it will get at least a slight cycle,, no way it happened the forst couple days it was set up either. Maybe everything will be ok if he does a water change as soon as the ammonia spikes, I would keep a VERY close eye on it, especially the anonome which shouldn't be in a new set up even after it cycles

 

[mbrands]

Originally Posted by puffer32
We can agree to disagree.........
Sounds reasonable enough.

Originally Posted by puffer32
I would keep a VERY close eye on it, especially the anonome which shouldn't be in a new set up even after it cycles

I would agree that checking water parameters every other day is a good idea just to insure there is no small ammonia spike. Unfortunately, I also think the anemone is not likely to make it. They do best in a mature tank.

 

[tripleshot]

I would think if he bought fully cured live rock and live sand. and went straight home set set tank on stand. Add water and sand put live rock in right away. That their wouldnt be a very large cycle. Being the fully cured live rock he just bought wasnt out of water for more than about an hour. I would think that their would not be a cycle since he bought fully cured rock that has been through a cycle.