[Alfie Johnson]

Hi there

so on christmas i received a 30 gallon tank and 2 TMC aqua beam aquaray lights, white and blue and a fluval canister filter

I have now setup the tank with live sand 10 pounds of dry rock, will be adding another 20 next week and the water.

My test so far read

ammonia 0.50 ppm
pH 8.0
nitrate 0ppm
nitrite 1.0 ppm

Should i wait until both ammonia and nitrite are at zero before i begin adding livestock

I will be posting on this thrad after every update and any tips would be appreciated because it is my first reef tank thanks

 

[pmarkj]

Hey Alfie, welcome to TRT!

If you want a reef tank you are going to want some Live Rock (LR) instead of all dry rock. I'd add 10 lbs of LR instead of more dry.

Your params need to peak and then all go to zero so you seem to still have some cycle left. Also, what are you using to run the cycle, like a shrimp from the grocery?

 

[Alfie Johnson]

yeh i added a table shrimp 2 days ago, so you think i should add a couple of pieces of live rock. Ok i thibk i will probably do that then
Thanks a lot

 

[pmarkj]

You bet, best of luck on your tank.

 

[Alfie Johnson]

Thanks a lot

 

[PhaneSoul]

Dry rock will become inhabited with bacteria and critters in time making it live rock, no need to spend 5$+ per pound (more like 8$ per pound) dry rock will do so long as it is very porus. But a lil more rock period would do, whatever looks good to you, keep in mind you dont want to have so much its hard to clean or impedes flow too much. . I would also search around on your canister filters, they can contribute alot to inorganic nutrient levels if not properly maintained, they are better suited for freahwater thwn saltwater.

Welcome to TRT!

What is your water source?

 

[Alfie Johnson]

Ok thanks a lot ill look into the canister filter , but am planning to clean it every week

What do you mean by "what is your water source?"

 

[CRP Tnk Bldr]

You could even just got one live rock from a good lfs and let it "seed" the rest. That way you don't rush it and less chance of unwanted things coming with lots of rock. I honestly could not tell you the time frame difference between using one LR as apposed to a lot of LR or using none.

 

[Alfie Johnson]

ok yeah something to think about thanks a lot

 

[Alfie Johnson]

1 month update

So i have added a clown goby and a royal gramma as well as a host of mushrooms a small xenia that came with the mushrooms and then this morning a nice torch coral

All params are good but i had a green algae bloom which seems just now to be dying off

Thanks

 

[CRP Tnk Bldr]

I think lime green is coralline if it doesn't look raised.... I have a lot of it in mine and the older spots of the green are starting to turn purple... One of my rocks in the highest flow area is turning blue! Kinda excited to see what it comes out like

 

[Alfie Johnson]

Yeah that would be really awesome for both our tanks, can't wait for the purple to start taking over