hypertech January 2, 2012 Share January 2, 2012 You could always pee in it. I don't think I know anyone who has actually tried that method. So, if you do, let us know how it worked - no pictures though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.OptimusPrime. January 2, 2012 Author Share January 2, 2012 LOL - Don't know if I'm willing to go that far to get the tank to cycle... I happened to stop by a LFS store to have them test just in case I was testing incorrectly and they had the same results. I asked about they LR they had for sale and was told that their LR is "man made" that was cycled and pest free and they had painted it purple to mimic the coralline algae and if I stuck in into the tank to seed my dry rock I would see no die off if any and no ammonia spike. Wasn't completely sold on the idea and passed. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvreef January 2, 2012 Share January 2, 2012 you need to drop your water temp to around 77-78....I try to never let my tank get over 78.5 it is set up to shut the lights out when it gets that warm.... I would remove the shrimp and go with the rubble rock to start the cycle and get things going....also if you can find someone with a filter pad that has been used in there tank that u can use to float in the water that will help put benefical bacteria in your system and help a tremondus amount with the cycle... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef January 2, 2012 Share January 2, 2012 I wouldnt buy "manmade PAINTED rock" ever... marco rock, manmade concrete rock that has been in a tank or cycled in teh ocean heck yeah,,, but that whole painted purple thing,, no go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.OptimusPrime. January 5, 2012 Author Share January 5, 2012 Oh ammonia why must you elude me so??? Still nothing. According to the color charts on the Salifert tests ph - 8.0-8.3 phosphate - 0-0.03ppm nitrate - 10-25ppm (hard to tell what color it actually looks like ammonia - <0.25 (water doesn't change color) Also, not happy with the rock work...I don't feel like I have enough placement for corals in the future...time to re-do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Puckstable January 5, 2012 Share January 5, 2012 Did you see you nitrites go up? If you have nitrates I believe you are good to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.OptimusPrime. January 5, 2012 Author Share January 5, 2012 Did you see you nitrites go up? If you have nitrates I believe you are good to go. No nitrates have been around the same range...ammonia has yet to spike... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.OptimusPrime. January 5, 2012 Author Share January 5, 2012 So the shrimp is pretty much mush inside the sock. And still no ammonia. Did I miss the spike? What did I do wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech January 6, 2012 Share January 6, 2012 How long has it been? If its been 2 weeks and you are reading nitrates, you probably just missed it. As long as the nitrates are reasonable, I'd probably add a fish and monitor for a few more weeks just to make sure before adding more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf January 6, 2012 Share January 6, 2012 ^^^^^^^^+1^^^^^^^^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.OptimusPrime. January 6, 2012 Author Share January 6, 2012 Its only been 9 days according to when I posted that I put the shrimp in, but I could swear I had put in a few days before I posted. So probably almost 2 weeks. I didnt see any kind of diatom blooms or anything. I changed the aquascape around and the tank is cloudy. Once I get the fish I guess Lights and skimmer will be a go. Will probably wait a few days and make sure the other parameters are in check before getting the fish. If all checks out, would a clown be a good first choice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef January 6, 2012 Share January 6, 2012 UH .. lights and skimmer BEFORE you get any fish... then wait a few days while checking parameters then fish... and a clown would be a good fish but what other fish do you like, and would it be compatible??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Puckstable January 6, 2012 Share January 6, 2012 Clowns are pretty hardy IME. Aquarium1 always has pretty ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.OptimusPrime. January 6, 2012 Author Share January 6, 2012 Still not happy with the rockwork...dont think I ever will be... Tank is still pretty cloudy...need to change filter socks Turned lights and skimmer on this morning before I left for work, we'll see what it picks out if anything when I get home. Will probably wait and get a fish after the weekend, just to be on the safe side. As far as stocking plans go I absolutely have no clue outside of probably a pair of clowns and a tang (yellow or Kole) not to mention I still need a CUC. Any recommendations is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech January 6, 2012 Share January 6, 2012 You don't need any CUC until you have something for them to clean/eat. A few scavengers like hermits, nassarius, etc can be helpful to eat excess food when you start feeding. A shrimp is good for that too, but I wouldn't recommend adding one just yet. What kind of clowns? If perc (true of false), I'd add the pair now. If something else, I wouldn't out of concern that they will be aggressive with the next additions. I would not add a tang at this point as they are more sensitive to water quality and your tank is still young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.OptimusPrime. January 6, 2012 Author Share January 6, 2012 Probably true percs, unless there's a reason to get false ones? I've read that clowns are born sexless and will in time became male and female(larger / dominant). Outside of this is there any other way to tell them apart? Since, I've read having 2 females or 2 males in one tank is a no no. Might go with 2 black or 1 black and 1 orange. Haven't read that having one of each color hurts anything Should I look to buy a mated pair? or buy them as juveniles and hope they pair later on. If I am wrong in anything I've read let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf January 6, 2012 Share January 6, 2012 If you get 2 smalls ones to start, and let them growup together usually they will pair up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.OptimusPrime. January 8, 2012 Author Share January 8, 2012 Water test: Ammonia: <0.25 Phosphate: 0 pH: 8.0-8.3 Nitrate: looks to be between 25-50ppm range Temp looks to be about 77-79 Salinity is still good at 1.026 Outside of a water change to drop the nitrate..is there anything else I should do before I plunge in and buy my first fish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvreef January 8, 2012 Share January 8, 2012 your salinity is high to me I keep mine between 1.024 and 1.025.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech January 9, 2012 Share January 9, 2012 Salinity is fine. I run my tank at 1.026. At the same time, 1.024-1.025 is fine also. You'll find a lot of fish only and fish stores running lower yet to reduce salt costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.OptimusPrime. January 11, 2012 Author Share January 11, 2012 So I've run into an issue with the skimmer...as soon as I plug it in it overflows no matter what I set the gate valve to... I did some research and determined that the gate valve isnt supposed to be submerged in water (see picture) That being said..is there anyway to drop the water level inside the first chamber?? As you can see the water line is almost as tall as the second baffle. I would raise the skimmer but I have only a few inches between the collection cup and the top of the stand, the valve would still be under water and I would have no way of removing the collection cup for cleaning. which would make the line above useless since I cant do anything to raise the skimmer even if I got the water level to drop... The only other options I see are to cut the baffle shorter (its at 10") or find a way to extend / replace the red pipe so that the valve is over the water level. Any ideas or options??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech January 12, 2012 Share January 12, 2012 (edited) To lower the water level you need to cut the baffles shorter. The one on the far right looks to be the highest but you might need to cut down that one and the first one. Or, put the skimmer on something to lift it up so it isn't submerged as deep. I don't know what skimmer that is, some can have the output submerged some not. If you search around you can usually find review threads with water depth recommendations for the different models of skimmers. Edited to add: sometimes new tanks just do this too. It took a couple weeks for mine to settle in and stop overflowing when I set this tank up. Edited January 12, 2012 by hypertech Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.OptimusPrime. January 12, 2012 Author Share January 12, 2012 I was hoping it wouldn't come to redoing the baffles.... Can't lift it unfortunately since I won't have space underneath the stand to empty the collection cup. I've tried holding up the skimmer by hand as high as it will go so that the gate valve outlet is out of the water and every goes to normal....as long as i dial it back to certain degree so im not having 100% wet skim. The skimmer is a Reef Octopus NWB-150. Per manual "6-10" of water depth, but ive read that between 6-7" works best. Which would put the gate valve height at around 1" above that water line. Do you think I can just get a piece of PVC tall enough to lift the gate valve 1" above the water level? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf January 12, 2012 Share January 12, 2012 A friend of mine has a reef octopus skimmer and keeps the water level right under the Logo, which I think is 5". skims like crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.OptimusPrime. January 12, 2012 Author Share January 12, 2012 (edited) I emailed Jeremy at CoralVue about raising the gate valve. He said the output height cannot be raised without effecting the skimmers performance since that height establishes the internal water level within the skimmer. So the PVC option is out. Only option I see is to redo the baffles... Baffle 1 - 10" Baffle 2 - 11" Baffle 3 - 10" Can I only redo the first baffle??? or do I have to redo all of them?? I will probably get them to drop the first baffle down to 7" I was planning on buying fish on Sunday...but I guess I can't do that now since I still have yet to break in the skimmer?? or will I still be ok? Edited January 12, 2012 by .OptimusPrime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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