Hi there, I have kept freshwater tanks for years and finally decided to make the jump to saltwater. I have been doing tons of reading and research online and feel (more than slightly) overwhelmed and am starting to question all of my decisions!
Hoping that maybe this forum can help me along....
After looking at a bunch of different nano systems, I went with a Coralife 29g biocube. I started it with about 3lbs of live rock, 20lbs of cured rock and 20lbs of live sand to begin the cycle. I had the tank running for about 3 weeks and was testing the water with the API Master Saltwater test kit and a refractometer. I had my ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates at 0 for about a week and was worried that either my tank cycled (fast) and I somehow didn't notice it, or it didn't cycle at all (is that possible??).
After speaking with my LFS, the owner told me to chuck in a shrimp to get things moving along. I used some brine shrimp fish food (I didn't have any fresh/dead shrimp) and let that stew in the tank for a bit. The levels didn't change much for a week.
So I decided (per the advice of an older reef expert from whom I purchased the biocube - it's a new tank) to start with a pair of small clownfish and a cleaner shrimp thinking that my tank had cycled.
The clowns and the shrimp look healthy and have been fine for 4 days. However, now I am seeing my ammonia start to rise (.25ppm) and some brown algae growing on the rocks and the sand.
I am starting to freak out that I didn't cycle fully or that the rotting fish food is starting a new cycle and I am going to kill my little clowns and shrimp. So now I'm not sure how to proceed... do I let this all continue as it is part of this process and hope my fish make it out ok? Do I do some water changes to lower the ammonia? Or do I add a bacterial additive to reduce the ammonia? Ugh! I feel stuck and stupid!
Also before I jump into any real specialized equipment changes/modifications on the tank, what types of regular media changes (besides the carbon filter) should I be changing on the biocube? (i.e., do you do anything with the bio balls?)
I know I'm a real beginner here in a sea of experts, so any help is welcome. Thanks in advance!
Hoping that maybe this forum can help me along....
After looking at a bunch of different nano systems, I went with a Coralife 29g biocube. I started it with about 3lbs of live rock, 20lbs of cured rock and 20lbs of live sand to begin the cycle. I had the tank running for about 3 weeks and was testing the water with the API Master Saltwater test kit and a refractometer. I had my ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates at 0 for about a week and was worried that either my tank cycled (fast) and I somehow didn't notice it, or it didn't cycle at all (is that possible??).
After speaking with my LFS, the owner told me to chuck in a shrimp to get things moving along. I used some brine shrimp fish food (I didn't have any fresh/dead shrimp) and let that stew in the tank for a bit. The levels didn't change much for a week.
So I decided (per the advice of an older reef expert from whom I purchased the biocube - it's a new tank) to start with a pair of small clownfish and a cleaner shrimp thinking that my tank had cycled.
The clowns and the shrimp look healthy and have been fine for 4 days. However, now I am seeing my ammonia start to rise (.25ppm) and some brown algae growing on the rocks and the sand.
I am starting to freak out that I didn't cycle fully or that the rotting fish food is starting a new cycle and I am going to kill my little clowns and shrimp. So now I'm not sure how to proceed... do I let this all continue as it is part of this process and hope my fish make it out ok? Do I do some water changes to lower the ammonia? Or do I add a bacterial additive to reduce the ammonia? Ugh! I feel stuck and stupid!
Also before I jump into any real specialized equipment changes/modifications on the tank, what types of regular media changes (besides the carbon filter) should I be changing on the biocube? (i.e., do you do anything with the bio balls?)
I know I'm a real beginner here in a sea of experts, so any help is welcome. Thanks in advance!
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