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View Full Version : Nitrogen Cycle & Phosphate MY TANK HAS FINISHED CYCLING!!!



pro2k
02-13-2005, 11:34 PM
The tank has finished cycling over night! Yesterday I checked the ammonia and nitrites and they were very near zero and near 1ppm respectively. Today they were both 0! What's really weird is that I checked nitrates about 3 days ago and it was almost 50ppm and today it was 2.5ppm. I didn't think nitrates would go lower without water changes. I tested all these and then re-tested because I thought I was in error. It was the same each test. Woo Hoo! Only took about 2 weeks..... :wav:

So, should I go ahead and order one of those tank clean-up crews? (What are the best things to get for the new tank crew?) And the macro for the fuge? Speaking of the fuge, should I also put turbo snails in there? What should NOT go in the fuge? Thanks guys!

Reptoreef
02-13-2005, 11:39 PM
Is this a repost??? As for macro... anytime. You can start to build your clean up crew also... now.

dakar
02-14-2005, 01:26 AM
Agreed, add the macros anytime. And start collecting your clean up crew, to get them to work. As a personal preference, if you do not add anything else to the tank besides the clean up crew, it's tempting to start adding frags and such right away, but try to help off for a bit yet. Remember depending on how much of a crew you add, there will not be much of anything for them to to eat once any die off from the cycle is consumed, so it might be a good idea to add just a 'tiny' pinch of flake or pellet type food to the tank every few days to make sure they don't starve themselves, also give the bacteria something to keep themselves busy and continue to populate as it breaks down. Note I said a TINY bit, and not often. Let it tun for a couple weeks and restest everything... If things are zeros across the board you should be safe to start slowly adding critters.

Have you decided on the lighting you are planning to use? Is it in place? If so start ramping up the lighting slowly else the only thing you'll have growing will be algae.

pro2k
02-14-2005, 09:00 AM
Should I buy one of those clean-up crew package deals from a dealer? They consist of something like this:

Scarlet Hermit Crab: 20
Blueleg Hermit Crab: 20
Turbo/Astrea Snail: 20
Nasssarius Snail: 10
Emerald Crab: 3
Coral Banded Shrimp: 1
Feather Duster: 2

Whoyah
02-14-2005, 10:10 AM
That seems like alot of clean up crew for new tank IMO. I would think you would want to start with only the snails. Lets see what everyone else says.

dakar
02-14-2005, 10:19 AM
yup maybe a dozen snails and hermits to start off right..... I would got crazy with the crew yet.

pro2k
02-14-2005, 10:27 AM
Ok, is there any better combination of snails and crabs to get? Like turbo snails, or nasssarius snails blue leg crab, emerald crab, or scarlet crab? What is the best assortment to start off with?

dakar
02-14-2005, 10:39 AM
Ok, is there any better combination of snails and crabs to get? Like turbo snails, or nasssarius snails blue leg crab, emerald crab, or scarlet crab? What is the best assortment to start off with?

That's kinda like asking what's the best brand of salt...hee hee Gonna get some very varied answers from everyone... Personally, I like the blue leggers, and we have a wide variety of snails now... the only ones I'd recommend staying away from are the ummmmm.... ack the name escapes me right now, commonly sold as turbo's, but they have a large conical type shell thats really pointed at the top. They tend to be clumbsy and fall onto their backs to die unless you can find them in time to flip back over..... we have hermits that now occupy those shells.

pro2k
02-14-2005, 11:03 AM
maybe the turbo astrea or the funnel turbo? They are supposed to be good at eating algae off the glass right?

Reef_Angel
02-14-2005, 09:36 PM
Splurge and get yourself a sea fan!!! I was and still is one of my favorite things in my tank. If anyone ever gets sick of theirs and doesn't want it, you know where to ship it!! I think they are so pretty!!!

Whoyah
02-14-2005, 10:38 PM
I am little gun shy about emeralds. Both of mine are now in the fuge until I find them new homes. Both have been convicted of coral munching. Even the LFS won't give me anything for them.

jerryc
02-15-2005, 07:29 AM
Personnel i don't like the large snails after you get coral Thea knock frags lose and of your rock

pro2k
02-15-2005, 11:53 AM
Does anybody have any macro algae they want to get rid of? I need some to start my fuge going. I can pay you via paypal. Thanks!

pro2k
02-15-2005, 02:26 PM
Or do you know where I can order some online cause none of the LFS carry it. (What is the best kind to put in there?)

jerryc
02-15-2005, 02:56 PM
http://www.etropicals.com/?ref=3175&subref=AP


http://www.saltwaterfish.com/order1.html


The ones i use Thea have free shipping :D

dakar
02-15-2005, 02:57 PM
we'd gladly ship you some... but afraid it would never survive the trip from here, at least not for a couple of weeks yet, temps are still dropping well below freezing overnight and hovering around 35 during the day, if you haven't found any by then shout back and we'll get you started, we have a 20gallon cube of Chaeto again.

pro2k
02-15-2005, 03:02 PM
Thanks! I couldn't find it on salwaterfish.com and the other place was out of it. Maybe I can just get it off ebay....

Whoyah
02-16-2005, 01:26 AM
Check with Repto, BJ, or Angie for some chaeto. A post some where, Angie said she had a fuge plump full of chaeto.

Sea~Horse~Whisperer
02-16-2005, 08:17 AM
I have plenty of chaeto to send you. I wouldn't be able to ship it out until Tuesday. Would that be ok? How do you want it shipped? We could try 2-3 day priority but it's kinda cold. Overnight would be more expensive. I'll check the price if you give me your zip code. I don't charge for the macro, just the shipping.

Angie

Reptoreef
02-16-2005, 10:46 AM
Ditto... I'll donate, but you cover the shipping... priority ranges at about 5-6 dollars.

pro2k
02-16-2005, 12:26 PM
Awesome! We could do 2nd day air or ****, you could even shove a big wad of it in a next day air envelope. I could even have UPS come by your house and pick it up off of your front porch if you want. You won't have to do a thing. My zip is 64050. Let me know what and how you guys want to do this. Thanks!

jerryc
02-16-2005, 02:38 PM
It dose good in a $6 dollar Thermos

Sea~Horse~Whisperer
02-16-2005, 02:49 PM
$5.00 shipping should cover it. I will include heat packs and triple bag it. I will send it priority (2 days). I need an address. :D

Angie

pro2k
02-16-2005, 03:48 PM
I ended up ordering a set from saltwaterfish.com. It consists of :

10 blueleg hermits
10 Cerith snails
5 nassarius snails
2 emeralds

That ought to give me something to look at for a bit. I wanted to get some of the bumblebee snails but they don't have any. I stayed away from the astrea turbo's.......

pro2k
02-16-2005, 05:05 PM
Thanks Angie!! I sent you an email. :-D

Sea~Horse~Whisperer
02-22-2005, 04:54 PM
Hi Todd. I sent out the macro today 2 day priority mail. I have 3 heat packs in there.

I sent plenty, the bag was packed full. I know for a fact there are pods in there. I saw them when I was packing it up. I added water to the chaeto so they would survive. There may even be some baby bristle worms since I have them in my sump to. Let me know when you get it.

As far as what to do when you get it, just put it directly in your sump, add light and it will grow fast. Good luck.

Angie

pro2k
02-23-2005, 12:41 PM
Thanks Angie! :blob3: You rock!!!

Sea~Horse~Whisperer
02-23-2005, 09:53 PM
No problem. When it get to be "thermos season" I will send you some zoanthids. I have bright orange ones that are growing and spreading too fast, lol. I give them to everyone. I'm not sure if there is a pic of them in the gallery or not.

davejnz
02-23-2005, 10:44 PM
I agree,you really only need Diatom(brown algae)eaters in the initial phase of your tank.Turbos and Astreas are about ther best for those.Nassarius are good at scavenging the SB.I'd also recommend a FL fighting conch,they do a good job of sifting the SB and eating diatoms.A couple hermits would also help eat some of the excess food when you start feeding your tank.

pro2k
02-24-2005, 04:17 PM
Angie, I received the chaeto today. Man, that was HUGE bag full! Thanks a bazillion. It was pretty cold when I opened and I think all the pods where dead. Bummer..... I broke the chaeto into 3 pieces and tossed it in. Should I spread it apart? It was all pretty packed like a brillo pad. Thanks again! :mrgreen:

Sea~Horse~Whisperer
02-24-2005, 07:39 PM
you can spread it apart. I packed it very tight to get a ton of it in the bag for ya. I still have a fuge full of it, but at least now it has a little room to grow. I was worried that it may get cold because it was COLD here. Down in the single digits. The chaeto should be ok though. I hope some of the pods made it. Time will tell.

I'm glad ya got it.

Angie

Grandmaster_Toad
02-25-2005, 12:12 AM
I like Scarlet and blue leg mix...adds nice dots of color to the tank. IMO i think turbo snails have a shorter lifespan then some of the other snails. You can probably hold off on the emeralds unless you see some bubble algae. (If i catch the person who sent me a frag with bubble algae on it ....we are gonna "talk". Luckily my emeralds made short work of the little bit that showd up.) Shrimps are fun to watch and good scavengers for that uneaten food that floats behind the rocks. IMO, just remember that many of those creatures eat watse ..... and without something producing it.....they might get hungry and eat other expensive things.....lol
GT