Question Tank Cycling

[Luvthekeys]

My tank is now set up. I plan to use live rock to cycle the tank but it will not be available until Tuesday or Wednesday.Should I throw a piece of shrimp in the tank to jump start the process or wait for the Live Rock to arrive?

 

[deejeff0442]

Couldnt hurt. If you are getting cured rock it doesnt always give a good first cycle.i would do a shrimp i there for a few days

 

[geridoc]

If your rock is coming by shipment (from an online source, for example) then you can expect sufficient die-off to produce a fine cycle. OTOH, if you are getting mature live rock from a nearby lfs there won't be much die-off, and a little extra ammonium wouldn't hurt, but wouldn't be critical IMHO. I have started many tanks by just adding live rock and slowly adding stock, one animal every few weeks, with no cycle problems.

 

[flower]

Hi,

Welcome to the site, I guess we all can put in our 2 cents worth....

Only a water test can tell you what's going on. Get your own test kits, master kits are cheaper then trying to purchase them separately. Even if the rock were enough, you still have to ghost feed an invisible fish for at least a week, to determine with your test kits that the ammonia and nitrite levels are not there. As long as you still get the ammonia and nitrite readings, the tank isn't cycled yet.

 

[Luvthekeys]

I should mention the third time was the charm and I finally received a unbroken JBJ 28 gallon 89 watt Led tank. I have the test kit for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates already but see no reason to test for Ammonia since their is nothing in the tank but sand and dry rock. I am getting the live rock from "Gulf Live Rock" which is about 100 miles away from me. He assured me it would ship Fed Ex and I should have it the next day. They only ship on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. So the earliest I can expect it is Tuesday. I have on order Kent Marine 00655 Pro Buffer dKH, Kent Marine 00675 Marine C, and Aqueon Kent Marine Starter Kit.

I was having trouble with a large amount of micro bubbles. It was driving me nuts. I had the two Hydor Koralia Nano Aquarium Circulation Pumps on a wave maker and the two Acela Powerheads doing the return to the tank. I narrowed it down to one of the Acela Powerheads and tried to find what was the problem. Finally I switched the two Acela powerheads to the wave maker and let the two Koralias run together. It seems to have solved the problem. I guess the two Acelas running together were getting ahead of the intake causing one of the Acelas to suck air. However I could never see the water level low enough for that to happen. When I originally set it up that way I figured I wanted as much flow as possible through the filter and to the return.

Someone on another forum said 89 LED watts was too much light for many coral since the hood is right above the water. So do you think he was right. I have a 28 watt Led hood I can substitute.

Again thanks to all for your help.

 

[geridoc]

Overnight shipping will result in some die-off. Put the rock in the tank and measure ammonia and nitrite until they rise, then fall. If they don't rise then you had enough bacteria to handle the die-off. You can simultaneously ghost feed the tank. AS for the lights, 89 watts full blast is quite a bit, but not drastically so. You should probably run them at 50-75% full power unless you are housing clams, sps, etc. Then, raise the light intensity gradually over several weeks.

 

[Luvthekeys]

I am giving the wrong information now that I think about it. The daylight LEDs are 75 watts. I wish I could dim them but that is not possible without modification. It comes with the following lights in the hood.

Daylight 25 x 3W 14K 700mA50,000120im
Dawn/Dusk 4 x 3W 466nm 700mA50,00033im
Moon 2 x 1W 456nm 350mA50,00015im

I am a complete novice when it comes to lighting and corals. So would it help if I used the Dawn/Dusk for a couple of hours and then switched over to the 75 watts of daylight for six hours or more . I have time since I have not even started to cycle the tank, but anything I could learn in the meantime can only make my life easier once I start to buy corals.

Also my house is constantly at 73 or 74 degrees at all times. The tank seems to run between 80 and 81 degrees. I see the recommended temperature for most fish does not go over 78 degrees. I suspect this is not a hard rule and my temperatures would work with most fish. Correct or incorrect?

 

[lmforbis]

I can't say much about the lights but my tank has been 80-82 since summer hit. Seems to be doing fine.

 

[flower]

I am giving the wrong information now that I think about it. The daylight LEDs are 75 watts. I wish I could dim them but that is not possible without modification. It comes with the following lights in the hood.

Daylight 25 x 3W 14K 700mA50,000120im
Dawn/Dusk 4 x 3W 466nm 700mA50,00033im
Moon 2 x 1W 456nm 350mA50,00015im

I am a complete novice when it comes to lighting and corals. So would it help if I used the Dawn/Dusk for a couple of hours and then switched over to the 75 watts of daylight for six hours or more . I have time since I have not even started to cycle the tank, but anything I could learn in the meantime can only make my life easier once I start to buy corals.

Also my house is constantly at 73 or 74 degrees at all times. The tank seems to run between 80 and 81 degrees. I see the recommended temperature for most fish does not go over 78 degrees. I suspect this is not a hard rule and my temperatures would work with most fish. Correct or incorrect?

Hi,

Light hungry corals will adjust to the lighting you have, you might have to place them in the lower area of the tank until they adjust. I personally don't think you have too much light, but if they don't do well then I have heard of folks doing that.

Now as for temperature, most fish like it warm, some hobbyists want to control algae, so they keep the tank cooler, and even go so far as to only feed their fish every other day. That stunts growth, and if you can't control algae, then IMO you are doing something wrong, there is no reason to keep the fish in 76 to 78 degrees when they are happier in 80 to 84. So your temps are the in the correct range, keep up on water changes to keep phosphates and nitrates down, and you shouldn't have algae problems.

 

[pegasus]

Yes, your LED's are "100% on", or "100% off". I think you nailed it when you mentioned running the dawn/dusk lights a few hours, then running the daylights during the middle of the day. I'd suggest figuring out how long you want your photoperiod to last, and running the daylights half of that time. IE: if you want a 12 hour photoperiod, run the dawn/dusk lights 3 hours before the daylights come on. Run the daylights 6 hours, and then run the dawn/dusk lights an additional 3 hours. It's okay to run the dawn/dusk lights the entire 12 hours, and to use the moonlights a little before and after the dawn dusk lights turn on and off. This is just an example, and you'll need to adjust it to fit your schedule and/or needs.