questions about cycling 24 gallon nano

[ilikesalt]

my 24 gaalon nano has been cycling now for 3 weeks. i have 12 pounds of live rock and 30 pounds of live sand. my ammonia level spiked to .5 when i put the live rock in and then returned to 0 2 days later. my nitrites and nitrates have never read above 0. my ph is 8.4 and my salinity is 1.023. after 1 week with the live rock i started to get some green algae in my tank so i went to the lfs and bought 20 turbo snails, 8 emerald crabs, and 6 hermit crabs. one week after the addition of the cleaning crew and all my testing has resulted in no ammonia, no nitrites, no nitrates, ph of 8.4, and salinity of 1.023. first question am i just lucky or has my time just not come yet? second question i was advised by a friend to remove the carbon filter bag, the bioballs, and the foam filters and replace them with just live rock. is that a good idea? third question i live in the florida keys and my tank temperature ranges between 78 in the morning and 81 at night. my lights turn on at 9 am and turn off at 9pm. i leave my ac in my apartment running all day. i do not have the money for a chiller. is this temperature to drastic for most corals and fish? last question after all the information i have just provided am i ready to add some fish or should i let it cycle longer?

 

[poop_head]

First was the rock you bought cured LR? If it was cured it most likely really wouldn't cycle that much. I'm not sure about your clean up crew though? I think thats a little to many Turbos and emerald crabs. Variety is the best option IMO. I don't think that those temps are bad. a swing of 2 degrees isn't that bad. Yes if your going corals get rid of the bioballs, rings and sponges. You can fill these areas with LR rubble and other things like skimmers. I just got a Oceanic biocube protein skimmer to help my filtration out a little.
I forgot to mention the carbon. I still use my carbon. Not all the time but I still use it. Many other people use stuff like Chemipure and others, instead of carbon. The carbon helps clean the water making it clear and also removing some metals and what not.

 

[sac10918]

Did you ever see your nitrites spike?

 

[ilikesalt]

first of all thank you for your response i was hoping someone would help. i bought the live rock cured. when i asked the lfs about what i was buying in respect to variety the respononse was its just a snail or its just a crab. i would like to have more variety. can you reccomend some possible ideas for more variety. when i do get more variety what do i do with the crabs and snails that i want to replace with other stuff.
also thank you for your suggestions about replacing the filter system. a follow up question to that is how do you decide when to use the carbon bad and when to take it out?

 

[ilikesalt]

my nitrites never spiked

 

[poop_head]

Usually people will run it with water changes and stuff like that. I usually keep it in most of the time but you have to switch it out. I imagine you didn't have a cycle since all the rock you got was already cycled/cured. Not sure if you could take some snails back and trade them for others like cerith, astrae, nassarius snails. Are they emerald crabs(they look like mini crabs that you normaly eat) or are they hermit type crabs? Its a good idea to have snails, emerald crab, and hermits so they are grazing on all types of algea/waste so you don't get build ups of these things.
I imagine this is your first tank. There is tons of info to learn hear upon the boards. You can learn a lot by searching past threads. I would say you can add corals/fish now but wait for someone else to chime in. Go slow and you got yourself into a new addiction. When the first fish/coral go in your hooked and nothing can stop it.

 

[poop_head]

You will also want to get more LR. It is suggested to have 1-1.5 pounds of LR/gallon. 12 is a little low. When you add more LR you will want to make sure it is cured or else it could start a new cycle in the tank, which would be bad if you have your fish/corals in already.

 

[ilikesalt]

they are definately emarald crabs. 8 of them. and six hermit crabs.
yea this is my first tank my girlfriend got it for me for xmas and she thought she would be the one to take care of it. i am absolutely already addicted. it is my baby and just as expensinve as a real baby.
i am going to look and see about the snails you mentioned. do you think that 20 is too many or just too many of the same?

 

[poop_head]

not sure on the number. I just got my 24 g JBJ tank. I just transfered my 10 g over to this tank. I got a few extra snails/hermits so I don't really know how many is good. I think 20 would be fine just break it up a little.
Something like:
5 - Astrea
5 - Turbo
5 - Nassarius
5 - Cerith
I think turbos are the most expensive snails at my store thats probably why he had you buy only them. One thing to watch out for is your Local Fish Store(LFS) they will sell you things cause they are a business and want to make money. Ask here for advice then go to the store. Some stores are good at selling the right thing others just want your money so be aware of what you want/need then get it.
Hopefully some one else can chime in and let you know, also 8 emerald crabs seems like a ton. I think like 2-3 would be better. I only have 1 in my 24g.

 

[ilikesalt]

i think my lfs is guitly of taking advantage of the new guy a little bit. i understand business is business.
another question i have is about lighting. my lights are on a timer and when they come on they come on all at the same time and when they turn off it happens all at once. is it a good idea to have two turn off and then 20 minutes or so later the remaining two turn off. basically so its not all of a sudden light and then all of a sudden dark and visa versa?

 

[poop_head]

ehh...I don't think it really matters. Some say it helps act like the morning/daytime/evening effect for corals/fish. Personally I don't think they really care at all or that it affects them. My lights just have one switch for both so they just turn on together, but they do have the moon lights on so its not like it is complete darkness for mine. When I had my 55 I had one set of blues that I had on before during and after my white lights.

 

[paintballer768]

IlikeSalt, that kind of a temperature change at day/night isnt too bad. Im just north of you and thats about the same here and my fish and corals appear to have no visible stress.
I think your tank is going to be fine with the cycling, but heres what I would recommend to you. Add fish and inverts in moderation at first. Our tanks have a really delicate bioload as opposed to a larger tank, and if you add too much at once it could crash, or cause levels to spike and kill things.
I could be mistaken but turbo snails only stay on the glass. Poop_heaD's suggestions for types are good and good amounts of them as well. 8 emerald crabs is wayy too many, I would go with only 1 in my tank. If you have too many, they will slowly stare to death or kill each other off until the appropriate amount for the tank is reached, but I really wouldnt want it to get to that point, and Im sure you would rather spend the money on something else.
My LFS does half store credits when you trade them back a fish/invert. Im not sure your's policy but I would take em back. JMO.

 

[ilikesalt]

it seems that the general concensus is that 8 emarald crabs is to many. so the question is how do i get the crabs from my tank to the lfs safely?
also the turbo snails like to stay on the glass but they have also been all over the live rock and the sand.

 

[paintballer768]

Try to remove the emeralds from their hiding spots with a poker of some kind, but dont hurt them. Take a ziplock or plastic bag of some sort and fill it with some tank water. Just put the crabs in there for transportation to the LFS. They should be ok for a few hours or so in there.

 

[tinfin]

IlikeSalt I live in south Florida and when I had my 55g I would leave the lights off during the day (thats when it is the hottest so not having the lights on helped keep temps stable) also most folks work in the day time so why have the lights on when you cant enjoy it.
That worked for me and all I had was a window shaker unit.

 

[ilikesalt]

Thank you for the advice, thats a good idea.

 

[peef]

Hey hey You should post up some pics phil...I can show you how when you come over tomorrow.

 

[nwdy]

hi,
I also have a 24gal JBJ, 24lbs of live sand,14lbs of LR(Iknow I need more)BUt I also didnt have a "cycle" My turbo's like the lr more than the glass. IMO the hermits were not cleaning AS much as eating all my cool stuff on the lr so I traded them in for more snails.I also have 2 clowns,1 watchman goby,1 bleeny,and2 peperment shrimp.My tank has been up since 1/1/08. I have heard allot here about changing the filter set-up but IMO if it's not broke.... seems to me allot of people who have problems are also the people who change everything, but again just my opinion. After have swf for years the only hting i learned is nothing is written in stone!sorry for the long reply, good luck I will keep watching!

 

[ilikesalt]

i agree with that if its not broke dont fix it. i actually did the opposite from you i just gave a friend of mine some of my snails and bought some more hermit crabs. i would watch the snails move accross my LR and leave white strips from where they ate everything of the LR. i know the stuff grows back but i think i had too many snails. i now have 9 turbos and 10 hermit crabs. i am also going to invest in a rotating flow jet to increase water movement in my tank. i dont know the technical term for that piece of equipment but i do understand that the more water movement the better.
i still havent decided on my first fish. if anyone has any suggestions just let me know......

 

[peef]

1. Hydor Flo Rotating Deflector Power Head Wave Maker
2. Maxi-Jet 1200
3. Koralia Nano PH
Best three things you can invest in initially if you ask me!