Start of my aquapod - help as i progress

[CONSTANTNE]

I am going to start this thread to get some feedback and show my progress as well.

Things I Purchased To Date:

12g aquapod
Reef Master Test Kit
Ammonia & Nitriate Test Kits
Maxi-jet 900 powerhead
Digital Thermometer
Oceanic Salt Mix
12 gallons distilled water
10lbs live sand
15lbs live fiji rock

I made a custom stand since I don’t really trust those aquapod ones (don’t look sturdy). I also wanted more room underneath to store supplies. I still haven’t installed a door on it though. Before I actually started my tank I filled it with normal tap water and let it run overnight to check for leaks.

Today:

Replaced the stock pump with the maxi-jet. Right now im using the piece that blocks debris from the intake so my pump is sitting in diagonally. Removed the bioballs and all media except for sponge. Installed the digital thermometer and filled it with water. Mixed the salt in and let it run overnight. Temperature is 74 so I will probably need a heater. Didnt get to block of the middle and bottom vents but if its not necessary then i wont.

Should i be concerned since i didnt lay anything between the stand and the fish tank? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[mynd]

Hello there,

Really not sure of your location and heat issues, but sure am glad you decided to change out that standard pump. It says that you bought distilled water for the tank, try and get them in clear bottles rather then the plastic kinda see through ones. Try and do your water changes at the same time all the time. Your corals will become used to that, so no skipping a week or even a few days. I change my water on the 10,20 and 30th of every month. It's only a gallon. I only pay 65 cents a gallon for distilled from walmart, so at 2.00 dollars a month it would take what about 8 years to cover the cost of an ro/di unit for an AP. lol

With the size of this tank I would not REALLY worry about the styrofoam under it only since there is such a small amount of area and pressure on the edges of the tank at this size. It's very different when you have 40, 50, 100 gallons of water pressing against the tank.


You are probably going to want to add another 10lbs of live sand in there if unless you are only doing like an inch of arag-alive or something like that. 15lbs of rock should be good, again don't really know what you are planning yet to make a better assessment.

Good luck and be patient!

 

[CONSTANTNE]

Day 2:

My temp wasnt going higher than 76 with the lights on so I went out and got a 50 watt stealth heater. I also bought a filter bag so when I get come LR rubble I can easily take it out of the chamber. I added the live sand too. Salinity seems to be in the 1.024 area. I broke my first test tube today.  Live Rock arrived from drmaccorals.com and tried aquascaping it the best I could. Let me know what you think. LR seems to look pretty nice.

Question: I plan on using chamber 3 as a refuge later on and I don’t really like the heater with the pump. Is chamber 2 fine to have it in? Also, is it okay for the LR to touch the back of the tank?

 

[CONSTANTNE]

Just wanted to share an update. Couple hours after I added the live rock and i can already see life. Couple snails crawling on the glass.

 

[CONSTANTNE]

Yesterday:
I’ve been keeping the temperature around 79-80. I’ve also been keeping the actinics on for 2-4 hours a day. Found another hitchhiker with a cone shaped shell. (really tiny) Salinity is also around 1.024. Ammonia seems to be 0.25. Should I be testing anything else? And should I add a piece of raw shrimp?

Today:
Checked parameters today.
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - Cant tell. Maybe 0-10 (Does this mean my cycle is over?)

Also found this red worm. Can anyone ID it?
Oh, and two tiny snails getting it on!

If anyone can answer any of my previous questions i would appreciate it!

 

[mynd]

I can assure you that unless that rock is seriously cured, you have not even begun to cycle. It would be amazing if you got off that lucky. You just got the rock today, so... not caring what other people think I am going to say that you should still follow the proper progression and wait a few weeks just to make sure. Coming from me that is easier said then done. I have had my tank 7 months and there is still no water in it. I am very patient. Personally I would not put anything in there for at least a month, other then the rock, sand, water and MAYBE a CUC after a couple weeks. WHY?? Cause that's the way I am.

You also want to check for PH and PHosphates. I think I answered everything in you asked.. Just be patient and take your time. Like you have not heard that before. Have no idea what that red snail is off hand. I am sure a google search and image viewing might show something though.

Live rock touching the back of the tank might stop the water flow, but I really think that is up to you. If you block it off just make sure you can get back there once in awhile to clean out any garbage that might be accumulating down there. Otherwise you might create a nitrate factory.. Just a suggestion.

How did you break the test tube??

 

[CONSTANTNE]

The live rock has been running in the system since Friday July 6th. I totally agree that i should wait a couple weeks before putting anything in. I tested PH tonight and its 0 too. Should I eventually see copepods?

Thanks for the quick response

 

[Phyl]

If you're going to wait to put anything in it, you're going to need to "feed the bioload" or it will all just die off again. Your tank is now at the end of a cycle (albeit rather short). So you either need to continue to add a fuel source (fish food, coctail shrimp, etc) to keep the cycle going until you're ready to use it, or put something small from your fish list in there. How much bioload capability your tank has now is a factor of what system that rock was in before and how much of a bioload it was carrying, how much of a spike happened during your cycle, etc.

But just "letting it sit" isn't serving any viable purpose.

 

[mynd]

eventually... good word. Here is a blip I found on them

"keeping in mind that copepods feed on algal materials, especially algal mats/hair algae as in the Adey Algal turf scrubbers... The tank should be lighted, and the rock should be as convoluted and as porous as you can possibly get, many small hand-sized pieces would be better than one large chunk (more surface area). You might want to cultivate some macroalgae instead of hair algae, although macros will not support as large a copepod population. Occasional feeding of the refugium with flake will help feed the copepods and encourage their reproduction. Keep in mind that there will be periods when the pod population will explode, and other times when they will dwindle to very low nadirs as well. Keep predators out of the refugium (some shrimps, most crabs, many fish all predate pods). If your system overall is healthy, you will have a good source of pods by doing this. In addition to supplying pods, if you reverse photoperiod your refugium, it will maintain pH near 8.2 or 8.3 or better 24/7, as well as maintain O2 saturation during the night."

So.. will you eventually have them? Guess that depends on how clean you keep your tank. Correct me if I am wrong folks, but a large quantity of copepods usually indicates a tank that needs to be cleaned? Unless of course you need them to feed something and want them in the tank in large quantity. Can someone in the group verify this for me. It's been awhile.

 

[mynd]

Live rock in tank 3 days = questionable cycle. I agree that you need to keep it going but I would wait at least 10 days before putting in a CUC from the time you added the rock. Just my OPINION. Phyl is the president so I am treading lightly here. lol

 

[Phyl]

No need to tread lightly! We're all here for discussion. But if he's seeing the end of Nitrates then he either started with almost cycled rock or it was DEAD rock when he started with barely any life. So he's either ready to be up and running or he needs to START a cycle. I can't tell from here which it is!

 

[CONSTANTNE]

Yea i though just letting it sit there wouldnt be good either. I will test out all three again today and get back to you.

As far as the next step im not really sure what to do right now. Wont a coctail shrimp restart the cycle if its already done? And with the fish food i heard it does help with cycles but wouldnt that just cause nitrates to go up with the excess waste? Thanks for all the help.

 

[CONSTANTNE]

Heres some updated pictures from today.

 

[twan]

Nice 'scape there. I personally waited till I saw a full cycle and all paramaters remained constant after cycle. This meant rock, water, equipment for 5.5 weeks before I put my CUC in. Then 2 weeks from there for my 1st corals..............then 2 more weeks for my Skunk Shrimp....then another 2 weeks for my 1st fish (thats just shy of 3 months since setup since the tank saw its firsy fish).

This was with a 12g nano.

 

[CONSTANTNE]

But in the meantime is it ok to leave the tank sitting there because Phyl said to put some fish food or a cocktail shrimp in there, which i read starts a cycle.

 

[mynd]

I have to agree with twan. In this amount of water there is no room for error and I would hate for you to have to deal with hair algae for the next year ( not that it won't happen ) by rushing the cycle. I like your thinking twan. However, I would think using the timeline below might be a consideration:

Timeline
Day

Action
Before
Research species of fish you wish to keep
Before
Collect equipment - Aquarium, Stand, Lights, Power Heads, HOB Filter, Heater, Thermometer, Hydrometer, Salt Mix
1
Choose location for aquarium
1
Wet test your equipment
2
Purchase Live Rock and Live Sand
2
Begin mixing saltwater
2
Install sand bed
2
Add first batch of saltwater
2
Install live rock
2
Add live sand to sand bed
2
Fill the aquarium
2
Start all equipment
3
Begin Cycling aquarium
15
Add cleanup crew
20
Begin water changes and other maintenance
30
Water change (10-15% every two weeks from now on)
31
Add 1-2 corals
60
Add 1 fish
Enjoy!

Just a suggestion. I am going to follow this and see what happens myself. Completely up to you how you progress. However, tank looks awesome right now. Just leave it like that.. LOL jk

 

[kabal2]

the live rock alone will start the cycle, you dont need to put anything in there, and your tank is looking really nice btw, at one point i will set up one, they are the perfect size for a bedroom tank.

Gabe

 

[mynd]

Just one more thing I noticed. You might want to point one of the locline tubes up towards the surface otherwise you are going to get a film on the top of the water. Again, just a suggestion to keep the ( what is called ) skimmer doing its job.

I also added a piece of black electrical tape around the whole tank one inch in width size where the plastic meets the glass, this way you don't see the water line in the tank lower then the hood.

Good Luck!

 

[CONSTANTNE]

Im definately in no rush but i just want to see a cycle so i know im doing things right. Thanks Kabal, its in my bedroom and doesnt take up much room at all. I will make on of them point more up and thats a smart idea for the water level because im guessing my floor is unlevel because one side is lower than the other.

On a side note, I went to Pet Shanty and talked to the older guy. I initially went there to get them to test my water parameters to double check. He told me i should get a damsel like others suggest to really get it going.

 

[mynd]

Just another suggestion for the future. When you go back to the PetShanty make sure you talk to Charlie. He is the owner and behind the counter most of the time. Adding a fish to your reef tank or any tank is a default suggestion. It is suggested to get the bio filtration started and if anything is going to get you to cycle it is a fish. However, this usually kills the fish ( well it happens ) so since we are trying to save the reef that is something you have to decide on.