UP AND GOING

[squareferrin]

We took a lot of advice, and believe me there is a LOT out there. I have a 130 gallon tank, we used 50 lbs. of crushed coral, 150 lbs. for play sand, and 60 lbs. of live sand. The first two are mixed, the live sand is on top. We have a Fluval 404 filter, and two 550 pumps moving water. We have some large rocks that look great, and a few pieces of coral. We just added two small pieces of live rock. We plan to keep adding live rock, and a few pieces every week, budget allowing.
We have 6 small fish, a variety of Gobies. This is where we are after two weeks. Tank looks good, and already seeing growth on rocks ( looks like grass ). So where should we go from here?
I AGAIN REALIZE THERE ARE A LOT OF OPINIONS, but this is a good start I hope! Advice will we looked at, but not all winners will be rewarded. We must make some final decisions on our own. So far things are great. Advice is better than nothing at all, so lets see where this gets us for the next few weeks. Thanks. Mike

 

[ckkihei]

First of all.....how long has your tank been cycling? A tank that size could easily take a month or more. I think I would consider establishing my clean up crew first and then build the rest of the family. Whatever you decide, the best piece of advice I can offer is to GO SLOW. After adding each fish wait, and then wait some more for the bio-load to stabilize. I waited at least a week or two between fish additions.

 

[jim672]

Mike,
My advice would be to not do what you've indicated you want to do......don't add "a few pieces of live rock every week". Doing that you'll run the risk of starting mini-cycles every time you add rock. And that could be deadly for your fish. Save your money and add the rock once. Before you do though, move your fish to another tank....again, the cycle may kill them.
Don't add inverts/clean-up crew until your tank is stable and you have something for them to clean.
By the way, what are your water parameters now? How long have you had your tank up and running?
Jim

 

[squareferrin]

you asked for the test results. Tank has been up for 2 weeks. Ph is 8.2 Amonia .35 Nitrite 5
Nitrate 10 Sounds good to me, but I understand it is only a week or so into a cycle. 6 Fish all look good, and eating well.

 

[demosthenes]

My advice would be to go with Jim's suggestion and add all of your LR at once, or else you will end up with a lot of problems. Also, the most important thing you can do now that you've got the basic setup is to buy the best quality LR that you can find and afford. I would also invest in a QR tank if at all possible, and move all of your livestock in there until your tank and LR has cycled. HTH

 

[ckkihei]

Absolutely add the live rock at one time.....I added all of mine at one time and it did cause a mini-cycle. It also seems to me that your tank HAS NOT finished cycling yet.........I would give it at least another month before adding any other fish. patience patience patience

 

[susiepan]

Ditto with Jim,
Try to add your LR all at once...If you buy it from a LFS...they usually will let you kind of "Lay Away" what ever it is your buying, and should do the same with the rock...Your going to cause too many spikes in your system, and the fish may not survive it...If you add a clean up crew now, they may not make it, as their is nothing really for them to eat....With that size of a tank, your looking at 4-5-6 weeks for full cycle, and everytime you add something, it will throw off the ##'s..I agree, your tank, your choice...but patience is best of all..
GL
~Susie