Quote:
Originally posted by Philwd
Congrats on getting set up! Carbon won't disturb the cycle. Actually the carbon particles will give the de-nitrifying bacteria another place to grow. Are you running sand? Sand is probably the bigger de-nitrifying area. With the tank seeded with LR you could start adding fish a few weeks after your cycle finishes. Pick a hardy fish but not one you'll regret later like damsels. Only add 1-2 fish every 4-6 weeks to allow your system to catch up. Once you have some livestock in the tank QT any new fish if you can.
Sounds like you'll be ready for a cleanup crew soon. For your size tank I like getting just 3-4 red/scarlet leg hermits. And a mixture of astreas, ceriths and turbo snails. The amount will depend on how bad your algae cycle is.
edit: Just read a very depressing post of someone who got their 400G tank nuked by a pink cuke. I see you mentioned that as a starter.
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I am using sand. It is a little over 3" from a pre-existing tank.(It is a very fine black sand) I added a cup of live sand (Thanks to Widefx) to seed it. and 3 bags of Bajabums Reef Stew that I got at the last FRAG auction.
I was going to get a kenya tree from JMCAquarium but he suggested it probably would not live through the cycle so I did not take advantage of his great offer...(of Free)....(Thanks anyway JMCAquarium)
I have another 3" sand bed in the fuge (but its only about 12" x 6" in the bottom of the bucket) I am thinking about bumping that to a 6" sandbead in the fuge. I threw a small piece of live rock in there to help seed it. I pulled the rock out to inspect and it and it looks to have a couple samall tanish worm like tenticles growing. The purple coraline seems to be maintaining its color on all the small live rock peices I have added.
I am not sure what a pink cuke is???? I actually only used flake food to kick start the amonia cycle. I have now stopped since the levels finally spiked up for me.
Strange that the amonia went up to 1.0 and then dropped back down to .50 in 1 day. I am going to test both amonia and nitrate again tonight to see where they are.
Hopefully I can get a Westsider to stop by and give me some advice.....
Any Takers???