Sunshiny Saturday

Morning all.

Flying back to Cleveland, and hoping my connection through Chicago will actually go this time.

At least they upgraded me to first class. That is kind of nice.

Enjoy your Saturday everyone!

Cycling Question

So first off, this isn't my first tank I've cycled. I've got a 18 month old 90G upstairs and am starting a 37G downstairs for my daughter.

I dosed ammonia to 2ppm 25 days ago. Then I fed the tank every few days with pellets to add some organic stuff and let some decay happen. I've been testing for nitrites the last few days and hit 0 yesterday.

I then tested ammonia and it was 0 and nitrates were 5-10ppm. So using all the advice on these forums of "If you can process 2ppm ammonia in 24 hours" your tank is cycled. So last night I dosed 2ppm again and 24 hours later, I'm at 0.25 ppm ammonia and between 0.25 and 0.5 ppm nitrites (API).

My question I can't seem to answer through Google is did I stall my tank's cycle or are the bacteria working as they should just not at a fast enough rate just quite yet. I was about to add a fish, but clearly I won't at this point. Thanks all.

Cycling question

1. So i bought a bottle of bottled bacteria (bio-spira) and was wondering how much do I put it in my 50 gallon? All the label says that the whole bottle is for a 75 gallon

2. Can I still be able to get clean up crews 2 days after I pour in the bottle?

3. Do these animals do well with each other?
Volition Lionfish
Goby
two clowns
Maybe (future):
snowflake eel

building a 360g acrylic tank stand. And humidity venting question

So, ive been researching building a diy wood stand for a 360g, 9' wide tank.

Heres a pic of someone elses stand, and how im thinking of building it.

I have the general idea how to build it but o have a few questions.

Is 2x4 beams okay along a 9' run? That one is for an 8' tank.
Id like to keep the front middle as open as possible to access the sump and be able to remove it through the doors, so How far apart could i safely put 2x4 support legs to keep it as open as i can?
And how thick does the top plywood have to be? 1/2 or 3/4?
Any preffered wood type for the 2x4s or plywood?


Other none stand relatd questions.
Our house is in florida, and its a block house, a long time ago previous owners closed in a patio into an office. So we have exterior french doors going into my office which is a step down from the rest of the house.
The wall going to the office is block concrete, and exterior doors so its pretty well sealed off from the rest of my house.

Humidity in my house with my current tanks is on the rise, so i want to try and reduce the amount of humidity in the house from this tank.

One wall of the office is a few inches shy of 10', my idea is to build the stand the exact width of the room even though the tanks 9'. Ill center the tank on the stand and this leaves room for powerheads and whatnot on either side of the tank.
Then my plan is to finish the outside of the tank with formica or stained paneling, to give the tank a built in the wall look.
Then, im thinking of building a larger canopy for the top of the tank, and using two bathroom vents or two dryer vents with fans, vent the inside of the canopy through the wall behind the tank to the outside of the house. Id obviously seal the inside of the canopy and use pvc pipe or some sort of duct to go through the canopy/ wall.

Now i thought, well i could vent one of the two vents from outside in while the other blows out, however in florida, outside humidityis often 100%, so not much would be accomplished.
So im thinking about making another vent on the front of the canopy with a pc fan sucking in the cold dry air from the room into the canopy, then out of the vents to the outside.
Does this sound like it would work?
Or would this sealed up small room become a wet swamp still even with the vents?


These are just my first of many questions im sure ill have.
Thanks for the help!

Chaetomorpha

Does anyone have any chaeto locally that could part with some?

Sump question

Hey guys and gals. I recently,purchased a 125gal tNk that i moved my 65gal into, its dual overflow with dual sump system that is interconnected, the filtration system is bio balls in both side. A filter drip tray in one side and the skimmer on the other side, i see alot of people talking about building a refugium with microalgae and they get rid of the bio balls. What are your thoughts? Should i just add algae to my current filtration,keep what i have or completely switch over from,the bio balls. One sump has 2 compartments and the other has 3 so there is plenty of,room.

Maroon Clown is Sick

Hello friends,

I just noticed my female maroon clown with a white fungus on her mouth and a bit on her back tail. I don't want to assume it is ick.





History of my reef. Been up and running for 6 years. Haven't added anything to my tank in over a year. I use red sea coral pro salt. My tank is 50 gallons with a 30 gallon sump with a Octopus 150. I change 50% of water every 3 weeks for the past 3 years. My corals and fish are thriving until now.

I checked nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, PH and phosphates. All are good. My salinity is 1.026. My calcium is 480. No copper. Temp is 80.0

What can I do to treat this fish without hurting my reef?

See photos.

Thank you.

RJ