46 to 65gal upgrade. New photos added 1/17

LoL! I used the Instant Ocean epoxy too. I'm curious on this question as well...

 

Stuff worked pretty good, maybe he asked because of some of the formations??

 

Could be...

Yeah, it worked great for me too. Used just enough to keep the unstable pieces in place...

BTW, nice scape.

 

I think an excess of any of them would cause beneficial bacteria to "shut down" I remember in my FW I had a really low ph scare (not even testable) and my beneficial bacteria went into a dormant state.

 

Interesting, I am not sure if it matters but I did let the pieces dry 24hours before adding water, would this make a difference?

 

Thanks took me a couple of days to figure it out, my first time setting up a SW tank wanted to get it right the first time. I am still tempted to add some more rock in there but want to leave room for future corals and fish

 

So I think I am through the first stage of the cycle, tested tonight and my ammonia is reading a 0 after 11days of being between .5-1ppm. Nitrite is still reading very high at around a 5ppm and nitrates are also very high at 160ppm. I am unsure of how accurate the API nitrate kit is though because a week ago they tested at 40ppm for me and the lfs (using a dipstick test) said they were between 0-5ppm. Even if my kit is inaccurate, it at least shows a big increase in nitrates so I am thinking I at least am part way through phase 2.

Should I do a large WC to bring down the nitrite and nitrate? I have not added any ammonia to the tank and use the Pukani dry from BRS, do I need to add anything to keep ammonia up or should there be enough organic material still breaking down from the rock to keep a cycle going? I am very tempted to do a large water change and add a small fish since the ammonia is gone and dose with prime to keep the fish safe from nitrites that way I know I have an ammonia source.

 

Tested water parameters again today and the results are same as yesterday. I did purchase and add some Seacheam Reef Buffer since my saltmix only made the pH about 7.8. I tested a few hours after adding as recommended and my pH is now 8.2-8.4. My kH is high at 16 though is this dangerous? I know I do not have any coralline or corals yet to eat calcium and alkalinity but everything I read suggests a kH of under 12.

I also purchased two small live rock pieces with some coralline on them ( about 1lb total weight) and put them in the tank along with some prime. I did find 2 hitchhikers in the bag with the rock and placed them in the tank, 1 was a very small bristleworm that the lfs said if neither good or bad and the other was a small reef hermit crab. I hope I do not regret adding this rock later the pieces are fairly dense and small so I was able to inspect them thoroughly. He said there should be pods and stuff in the rock, cant see any of those though so I guess time will tell? but mostly jsut a lot of bacteria to help my cycle.

 

Been awhile since I took a full tank shot, the tank has cleared up a lot now


The First inhabitant


And lastly what I think may be some sort of sponge??

 

Looking good!

I'm no expert, but 160 ppm NO3 and a 16 dKH sound very high. You might lose your critters. Might want to check both again against the LFS's kit...

My nitrites just broke yesterday. I was at 1+ ppm for just over 2 weeks.

I wouldn't do a water change, but I would not add anymore ammonia sources either. The NH3 to NO2 bacteria will be fine. You can ghost feed a few flakes or a small cube of frozen brine shrimp if you're nervous about it, but remember that anything you add will increase your nitrites and nitrates, which are already really elevated. Best bet now is to turn on your lights every once in a while to stare at an empty tank and dream about what it will look like. ;D (That's what I did!)