netpez July 30, 2012 Author Share July 30, 2012 (edited) Coral Hind - From what I have heard, I am going to have a mess of a tank after the cycle is complete (lots of different algae's brown, red,green hairy, etc) don't I want a cleanup crew to clean this up before I put a fish in? Edited July 30, 2012 by netpez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind July 30, 2012 Share July 30, 2012 Are you running lights right now? What kind and for how long each day? Unless you are running your llights fully you shouldn't have algae issues. No need to light a tank with no corals or fish in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netpez July 30, 2012 Author Share July 30, 2012 No lights are running at this time... the tank is in a room with plenty of ambient light (room full of windows), but absolutely no direct sunlight. I have heard even with the aquarium lights off I will get this stuff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 July 31, 2012 Share July 31, 2012 You are right! ONce your ammonia hits zero you want to put something in the tank to keep the ammonia levels up so the bacteria population stays stable. Some people add a small hardy fish at this point. Some add the clean up crew ( but they don't make much waste) and some people "ghost feed". Basically you feed the tank a small amount of fish food daily AS IF you had real fish. This provides just enough waste to keep the cycle running. Personally, once the ammonia goes down I add some fish. Something inexpensive and hardy. If you go slow, they will do fine, so make sure it is something you like. ( You already know to stay away from the damsels). Also fish tend to do just fine through the succession of algae, whereas some corals do not. The key is to maintain the cycle and to add stuff slowly enough so that your bacterial population can keep up with the amount of waste being produced. You tank looks great. I love the rock work! And yes it is an expensive QT! I put it up for sale, but didn't get an offer I was satisfied with so I decided to keep it... :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k July 31, 2012 Share July 31, 2012 Are you running lights right now? What kind and for how long each day? Unless you are running your llights fully you shouldn't have algae issues. No need to light a tank with no corals or fish in it. Why not run lights? The rock can certainly benefit from lights- stuff on it is photosynthetic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netpez July 31, 2012 Author Share July 31, 2012 I just threw in my shrimp (got 2 and give them each a quick squishing blow). Currently I have my mechanical and biological filters on in the Red Sea Max, but the protein skimmer is currently off. Should I enable it, since a protein item is now in the tank? Also, do I just leave the shrimp until they completely dissolve, or do I take them out after a while? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimlin July 31, 2012 Share July 31, 2012 that is a beautiful tank. my tank took about a month to cycle with lights on 12 hours a day and 3 pieces of live rock and a bunch of dead rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netpez July 31, 2012 Author Share July 31, 2012 (edited) Thanks! Should I have my lights on? Edited July 31, 2012 by netpez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind July 31, 2012 Share July 31, 2012 Why not run lights? The rock can certainly benefit from lights- stuff on it is photosynthetic. Look at the pictures, the rock has no coralline algea. If he's going to go with this long shrimp cycle approach that some people are recommending then I would rather let the rock go in the dark during this period to starve off any nuisance algae that might be hitching a ride. No need to waste bulb life or power if nothing is there to grow. If it was me the tank would have had fish in it by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami July 31, 2012 Share July 31, 2012 Look at the pictures, the rock has no coralline algea. If he's going to go with this long shrimp cycle approach that some people are recommending then I would rather let the rock go in the dark during this period to starve off any nuisance algae that might be hitching a ride. No need to waste bulb life or power if nothing is there to grow. If it was me the tank would have had fish in it by now. I agree. There's nothing photosynthetic on the rock and nothing of benefit will come from running the lights now. In fact, it might just encourage green algae growth which would compete with and slow the development of the bacterial population that he's trying to develop. Run dark until things cycle and stabilize. You'll probably get enough light from the room and may have a little algae anyways that develops because of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 July 31, 2012 Share July 31, 2012 I agree, I would add fish and remove the shrimp. You may want to remove the shrimp and just add a fish. The ONLY reason I went with the shrimp method is because I didn't want to add any live rock. The live rock I have has aptasia and bubble algae and I didn't want it to contaminate the new tank. If I had started with live rock, (which I think you said you had some), I would skip the shrimp and go with a fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netpez July 31, 2012 Author Share July 31, 2012 Thanks all for the great advice... Finding this place is much better than some other forums I have frequented. The tank is currently 82 with the lights off, so I think before I get fish & coral I am going to have to invest in a chiller.... I am not sure why the tank is running at such a hight temp when he ambient temp is around 75. I find it hard to believe that the pumps are creating this heat, or maybe it it is the checmical/biological process in my tank generating the heat? All that being said, anyone recommend a chiller to use with a 65 gallon red sea max? I might have to look into craigslist or something to get an inexpensive used one (initial investment cost of the tank, rock, sand, water, etc, etc were a hit to the wallet). I am getting varied responses from different folks on if I should leave the shrimp in the tank to dissolve or take it out once the ammonia gets up... any input? Also right now I have mech and bio filters running, but I am wondering if I should enable the protein skimmer since I put the shrimp in there to rot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 July 31, 2012 Share July 31, 2012 Bottom line: fish and shrimp method will both work. There is no one RIGHT way. There are several methods and you just have to decide which way you want to go and stick with it. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami July 31, 2012 Share July 31, 2012 The tank is currently 82 with the lights off, so I think before I get fish & coral I am going to have to invest in a chiller.... I am not sure why the tank is running at such a hight temp when he ambient temp is around 75. I find it hard to believe that the pumps are creating this heat, or maybe it it is the checmical/biological process in my tank generating the heat? ... Also right now I have mech and bio filters running, but I am wondering if I should enable the protein skimmer since I put the shrimp in there to rot? What's running in the tank now? I assume that you don't have a heater in there? In this case, I suspect that your thermometer may be inaccurate. In this hobby, you always have to ask yourself, "Is my test accurate?" "Is what I'm measuring believable?" Take your thermometer out of the water and measure the ambient air temperature? Does it match what your other thermometer is telling you? I keep an inexpensive thermometer, purchased at a lab supply store and traceable to a NIST standard on hand to resolve temperature discrepancies like the one you're looking at. I don't think you need to put the skimmer in there now unless you feel that your water is not properly aerated. If you do turn it on, leave the collection cup off. Leave the organics in there for the biological filter to develop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Lazar July 31, 2012 Share July 31, 2012 I keep an inexpensive thermometer, purchased at a lab supply store and traceable to a NIST standard on hand to resolve temperature discrepancies like the one you're looking at. Good advice. I recently picked one of these up and found my Aquacontroller probe was reading four degrees lower than the tank really was. So while I thought the tank was usually at 79-80 degrees, with occasional peaks up to 81 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind July 31, 2012 Share July 31, 2012 So while I thought the tank was usually at 79-80 degrees, with occasional peaks up to 81 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Lazar July 31, 2012 Share July 31, 2012 Did you see any ill effects from the high temps? Any noticable changes since the tank temp has been lowered? All our ricordea bleached pretty badly from the higher temps, and the acans were also beginning to spit up their zooxanthellae. The rics are recoverng slowly, but I expect most of them to make it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
londonloco August 1, 2012 Share August 1, 2012 +1 on the Prime and Stability, I start all my tanks this way. However, I've found Safe by Seachem (same as Prime, only in powder form) is MUCH cheaper in the long run: http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Safe.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind August 1, 2012 Share August 1, 2012 +1 on the Prime and Stability, I start all my tanks this way. However, I've found Safe by Seachem (same as Prime, only in powder form) is MUCH cheaper in the long run: http://www.seachem.c...pages/Safe.html I'll give Safe a try, thanks for posting that info. This method is the same thing professionals use when setting up maintenance tanks. I doubt a hotel lobby wants a fishless tank with dead shrimp in it for two months. They want it filled and fish swimming on day one. The guys on the TV shows Tanked and Fish Tank Kings also use that style of setting up a tank. As long as it isn't overstocked all at once it works fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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