Another Beginner question
Paulette Tawzer
Tonight after setting my aquarium up this weekend with the trials of
learning how to deal with salt, I am going to get some live rock and start
with a few damsels for cycling. I have read through many posts about the
issue of brown algae. I have not invested in a protein skimmer yet. If I go
ahead and purchase one will it prevent the brown algae thing or is it just
part of the cycling that I have to go through no matter what? And I am also
hesitant on what kind of base rock to use. Again I have read about lace
rock. I also have access to rock that is not alive anymore. Is that more
risky? It is cheaper to do this than to fill my tank with nothing but live
rock and I also read that if you use base rock that it will prevent dead
spots.
Chomping at the bit, and excited.
Thanks,
Paulette
TW
Please don't subject fish to a tank that has not yet cycled. It is
cruel. I would definetly invest in a skimmer. Don't skimp eithor.
Buy the best you can afford. Make sure that it is the proper size for
your tank. This is a long term investiment so buy a good one. Believe
me it will pay for itself many times over in the health of your
aquarium. If you don't you will most certainly be buying another one
later on. I would invest in Live Rock not base rock. I know it costs
alot more but you are building a live ecosystem from the ground up.
Start with good LR and then sit back and wait. It will take atleast a
month or 6 weeks for your tank to cycle. There will be lots to watch as
tiny creatures start to emerge from the LR. Don't add fish to a
system that is not ready for it. It takes time for the bacteria
colonies to get established in your tank. Do some more reading while
you wait for the cycle to finish. As for algae blooms. You will get
several as your tank matures. It takes time but you will find it very
interesting to watch your system develop. I would suggest reading Def
Lizards site. There is lots of great info there to learn
http://community-2.webtv.net/deflizard/doc/
Good luck and welcome to the hobby!
Todd
ryan sain
First things first. I am no expert, so take my advice with a grain of
Instant Ocean.
Live rock can be a major source of filtration if you so choose.
Current reccomendations leave you with 1.5 - 2 lbs per gallon.
Roughly.
Deep sand beds (do a google search under this NG on DSBs or LS [live
sand] and you will be reading for a while) will provide
filtration/buffering if done properly.
Skimmers are absolutely a must (arguable for some tanks) as they
prevent wastes (food, fish poop, etc.) from forming into nitrates.
Those nitrates that are prevented, would have been used as food by
various algae in your tank, including brown. But this is not the only
thing that can lead to brown colored stuff in the tank (hint, it may
not be algae). Get a good one, and don't believe the rating on the
box, that number is usually grossly overestimated.
Most of the above is conditional upon what your goal is in keeping a
tank. Fish only with Live rock (FOWLR; FOLR), reef tanks (including
corals, anemones, other invertebrates), etc. So you may need to make a
decision about what your goals are before people can offer some very
specific advice. Additionally, pick up some good readings. References
are available by searching "newbie reading" or something of the sort
on google under this NG.
- Ryan
"Paulette Tawzer" <pta...@tflt.com> wrote in message news:<5ebC9.29249$LK5.3...@newsfeed.slurp.net>...
Paulette Tawzer
my cycling?
I found a private source of LR and LS and water from an individual that is
breaking down a 200 gal tank. I know I am not going to be able to afford all
the LR that I need at first. They said I could have some of their substrate,
rock and water. Any ideas on how that will effect my cycling. Will it speed
it up or will it complicate things? And because I am cycling how will that
effect the LR from that tank? Will I have some die back? Or because of a
very short time out of the tank, it will not hurt anything.
Thanks for your help,
Paulette
"ryan sain" <rs...@gte.net> wrote in message
news:9da11ec.02111...@posting.google.com...
Marc Levenson
scratch. You should be able to buy LR as you can afford it, and add it to your
tank, piece by piece, week after week without problems. I believe the issue of
die-off occurs because the rock is out of water for a period of time. But if
you brought a bucket with you to the LFS or your friends house, put the rock in
your bucket and cover it with water. Putting that rock in your tank now should
not cause future cycling.
I've never had that occur in my tank. Maybe I was just lucky. Many LFS will
cover your rock with newspaper, pour water over the paper and rock, and let you
take it home in a bag. Again, nothing cycled for me.
That guy's LS that he's offering you should help seed your own DSB nicely,
helping things in the right direction a little more quickly.
Hope that helps.
Marc
Paulette Tawzer wrote:
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Dave Johnson
> Can I purchase Live Rock as I can afford it? And if so how will that
effect
> my cycling?
Shouldn't be a big deal, as long as the die-off is low (hard to control I
know!)
But it's best to get it all in one shot if you can. If you don't have
enough LR
now, you'll need some other sort of biological filter such as a wet/dry or a
biowheel (for nitrification) You'll have to export the nitrates with water
changes, but you'll remove the ammo & nitrite with such a setup. Then,
when you get more LR, slowly phase out the other biological filter as the
LR takes over more and more of that process (nitrification) and begins
denitrification (removal of nitrates) as well.
> I found a private source of LR and LS and water from an individual that is
> breaking down a 200 gal tank. I know I am not going to be able to afford
all
> the LR that I need at first. They said I could have some of their
substrate,
> rock and water. Any ideas on how that will effect my cycling. Will it
speed
> it up or will it complicate things? And because I am cycling how will that
> effect the LR from that tank? Will I have some die back? Or because of a
> very short time out of the tank, it will not hurt anything.
I'd use the water for transport of LR & LS only, as I don't think there is
any benefit to use that water when not moving livestock from one tank
to another (to preserve their environment keep them in the same water)
Using that water wouldn't do anything for your cycling, except to bring
whatever "bad" things are in it into your tank (might be high in PO4,
nitrate,
etc - you don't want that!)
Cheers,
Dave Johnson
ryan sain
Good questions.
I'll try and address them.
How long has the other tank been set up? Chances are that the LR in
that tank is already cycled and will require little to no time for
cycling. If you can afford it, this is a good way to go.
Of course, if you cannot afford all of the established LR that you
need, then cycling will not be complete until a couple of months after
the addition of the new (uncycled) live rock. As the rock cycles,
Ammonia is produced (if I recall correctly), this ammonia needs to
decrease to 0 before you can add fish (this is an overgeneralization,
but serves to protect the future inhabitants of your tank).
I did mine similar to yours, but never bought any established LR. I
had to cycle my tank twice, which was a pain in the butt. If you can
do it, get it done at once, easier on the system and on you. Saves
time as well.
The above poster is correct, it is fun to watch your live rock develop
and also to watch your tank cycle through the various stages of
existence. In other words, algae blooms will occur.
Check your water parameters often and accurately:
ph
NH3 (ammonia, or NH3+NH4)
PO4 (phosphate)
NO3 (Nitrate)
- These are the basic tests you need to perform, but there are many
others. Some may argue that those are just as important.
When you start testing your tank (day 1 after water addition), graph
the results, you will then see why it is called a cycle. Once your
levels are acceptable, you can then add organisms.
Hope this helps,
- Ryan
"Paulette Tawzer" <pta...@tflt.com> wrote in message news:<3YrC9.199849$LK5.3...@newsfeed.slurp.net>...
> Can I purchase Live Rock as I can afford it? And if so how will that effect
> my cycling?
>
> I found a private source of LR and LS and water from an individual that is
> breaking down a 200 gal tank. I know I am not going to be able to afford all
> the LR that I need at first. They said I could have some of their substrate,
> rock and water. Any ideas on how that will effect my cycling. Will it speed
> it up or will it complicate things? And because I am cycling how will that
> effect the LR from that tank? Will I have some die back? Or because of a
> very short time out of the tank, it will not hurt anything.
>
> Thanks for your help,
> Paulette
>
(snip)
AR50Guy
up. Buy live rock that smells green. That is, if you have a good LFS
to get rock from...