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11-24-2008, 03:36 PM
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#1
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Plankton
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Arizona
Posts: 28
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Cycling new tank ?'s
I started to cycle my Biocube(2 weeks into it) I have live sand and rock in it right now. I have 2 crabs that came home in the rock. The rock I purchased was in a personal tank for over 12 years. I threw a piece of shrimp in the tank to help with the cycling process. And I'm testing the water every few days or so. Should I leave the shrimp in there with the crabs. they are eating it!  I have a few pieces of corral and polyps on the live rock i got and I don't want to damage them is it ok to have the raw shrimp in there? I have yet to see a spike in any ammonia or nitrites yet. How will I be able to tell when my tank is cycled?
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11-24-2008, 03:55 PM
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#2
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Son of Jor El
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Springfield MO
Posts: 4,572
Reviews: 52
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I would remove the shrimp after a few days. Ammonia is toxic and I would hate for it to reach dangerous levels for the crabs before the biofilter could cathc up. TO tell if the tank is cycled at tleast as far as nitrogen, you want to see ammonia spike and recede, as ammonia is receding nitirite is spiking. When nitrite is receding nitrate will be rising. When ammonia and nitrite are 0 and you have substantial nitrate... the nitrogen cycle has ran cycled. this is when you will usually wan tto do your first water change. But remember that this jsut means there are some of each type of bacteria. You have truly only seeded the tank and you need to add bioload slow to let the bactera populations slowly build. thats the way I see it anyway
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Jeremy http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f7...ef-119089.html
Did I ever tell you about the time Brasky went hunting? Well anyway, Brasky decides he's gonna hunt down all four members of the Banana Splits. He stalks and kills every one of them with a machete. They all beg for their lives, except Fleagul.
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11-24-2008, 05:54 PM
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#3
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I'm here for breakfast
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PA
Posts: 319
Reviews: 1
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If the rock stayed wet with the original tank water and was introduced into you tank within an hour or so, the tank will not cycle. The bacteria on the rock will survive the transport. I took rock from someone's tank that was tearing down, and wraped it newspaper that was wet from the existing tank water. Transport took about an hour and I put the rock directly into my "virgin" saltwater. I never had a cycle.
I have been up and running for about 6 months now, and the tank is "coming in". It does take some time for the tank to get balanced.
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11-24-2008, 10:10 PM
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#4
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Plankton
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Arizona
Posts: 28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by richhershey
If the rock stayed wet with the original tank water and was introduced into you tank within an hour or so, the tank will not cycle. The bacteria on the rock will survive the transport. I took rock from someone's tank that was tearing down, and wraped it newspaper that was wet from the existing tank water. Transport took about an hour and I put the rock directly into my "virgin" saltwater. I never had a cycle.
I have been up and running for about 6 months now, and the tank is "coming in". It does take some time for the tank to get balanced.
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Wow I was wondering about that I wonder if my tank will cycle? I brought the rocks home submerged in the tank water. thanks for the info
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11-24-2008, 10:15 PM
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#5
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Plankton
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Arizona
Posts: 28
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I am starting to get a little brown algae on the sand and rock. My crabs are cleaning the little sand particles i guess? I want to take the bioballs, carbon filter, and sponge out of the back of the Biocube any ideas on what I need to replace? I heard you put LR pieces in the middle chamber instead of the bio balls. And if you do get rid of these things how often do you have to clean the back chambers? I have my tank under my kitchen cabinets and it is a hassle to move all the time I would like to move it as little as possible. The raw shrimp I have in there is falling apart into soft stringy pieces. Should I just leave it in there? I also have a glass anemone that I need to get rid of.
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11-25-2008, 10:54 AM
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#6
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Little Fishy
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: South Jersey
Posts: 245
Reviews: 12
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so wait, are you only using this tank in the kitchen to have live sea food? I would take the bio balls out.
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11-25-2008, 01:08 PM
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#7
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Reef Nut
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Illinois
Posts: 1,215
Reviews: 1
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Once you take the bio balls out, you really don't have to put anything in that space, that way you don't have to clean it. In the future you might want to use it for a bag of carbon, or phosban, depending on what you might need, but just leave it empty for now. Take out whatever leftovers of the shrimp you can get out, it's not doing anything beneficial anymore. Use a bag or net to get it so it doesn't completely decompose all over the tank.
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Don 75 gl bb reef w/ 30 gl sump, Vertex IN 100, Tek 6 x 54 T5's - 10gl nano w/ 2 x 20 T5's
One out of four people in this country is mentally imbalanced. Think of your three closest friends - if they seem okay, then you're the one. Ann Landers
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11-27-2008, 07:20 PM
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#8
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Plankton
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Arizona
Posts: 28
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When I took the bioballs out it makes a loud waterfall noise any ideas on what to do to fix it?
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jake' s 14 gallon Biocube, 1 ocellaris, 1 true perc, 1 fire shrimp, 10 crabs, 4 snails
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11-27-2008, 08:07 PM
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#9
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Son of Jor El
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Springfield MO
Posts: 4,572
Reviews: 52
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some people put some sort of baffle in it. basically a piece of plastic or acrylic that the water runs quietly down to reduce splashing and noise
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Jeremy http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f7...ef-119089.html
Did I ever tell you about the time Brasky went hunting? Well anyway, Brasky decides he's gonna hunt down all four members of the Banana Splits. He stalks and kills every one of them with a machete. They all beg for their lives, except Fleagul.
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