Finally!!!

Hello everyone! Thanks for all the tips! All I have to say for now is...... MY TANK FINALLY CYCLED!!!! All of my readings which are amonia,nitrite, and nitrate are at "0"!!! I unfortunately had a bad start too! I did everything right for the first month. I added my sand, salt, and live rock. I let it cycle for a month then got a clown fish. Everything was fine for a few days till I got a pink haitian anemoni. Well now I now that that was a HUGE mistake! But when I notice it was dyingg I thought that if I threw live sand on top ofmy sand it would be ok. It didn't! My first anemoni died I then left my tank alone for another month with what I had which is just the clown fish. Well after all that it finally cycled! I did do 1 water changes in that month.

 

excellent to hear cyan. sorry about the tough spot there tho. but a learnin experience. keep it up.

 

Cyan0304

Nems and new tanks, as you have found out are just not compatible - sorry you found out this way

honestly, if you do want another Nem, wait until your tank is 6 months old at least, and longer would be better IMO

the trick now, is to continue to take things slowly, dont be in a rush to get your tank full
1 new fish every 2 weeks or a couple of corals every other week , until you are set up, will help you avoid any further problem spikes while the bacteria adjust to the increasing bio load

good luck

as Matt says

Take it slow, let it grow

Steve

 

congrats!!! i just finnished my first week cycling i can't wait until it's done!

 

Thanks so much guys! I do have a few questions though..... should I hold off on getting one more fish? Then therels this... I have a 29 gallons regular tank not a cube. I have like 15 pound of live rock that has many, many things on it that include 2 clams, corals, some feathers dusters and some corals (like 3-4 different kids that's are different colors that resemble anemonis) my question is the lfs gave me 2 different live phytoplankton and some invert feed. I still put a capful of the phyto in the tank once a week and I don't use the inver feed. Do you think that's ok? I do also feed these different corals the spirulina brine shrimp once a week just 1 or 2 shrimp each. Is all of that ok? Oh and thank you thank you so much in advance! Thank you!

 

cyan

can you post pictures of the corals you have - you might be describing Zoanthids with the look like nems description, but you might also be describing Aiptasia or Majano nems, which you dont want to feed and in fact, you dont want at all

wait another 4 weeks so tank is 12 weeks old and add next fish, is a good idea you had , well done . patience is rewarded in this hobby

anyway get some pictures up, we would love to see what you have and it will make offering ideas/ comments more focused

Steve

 

If they are good coral and good nems I use live phyto also but add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons a day....remember even refridgerated live phyto only has about a 30 day life so use what you can and after 30 days I throw out whats left and re-up....you do need to keep it cold though
Danny

 

Yeah I keep the phyto in the fridge. I'm gonna post different pics so please, please don't forget about me and let me know if they're good or bad and how to feed. Thanks

 

Ok here are some pictures of what I was kind of telling you about. But man either I have a crappy camera or wow some of you guys just have great cameras but some of my pics you can't tell to much of what I'm talking about. Maybe you can give me some tips about taking pics as well LOL! ;D

 

cyan

I can see zoanthids or palys ( I still cant tell the difference so I hedged my bets)
there seems to be another colony on the back of the rock near the heater , they could be Zoanthids or other polyps with longer tentacles

I cant see anything to worry about in the photos - do some research on Aiptasia and Majano nem species (google images is good) that way you will recognise them if they spring up from your live rock

keep a check on your water parameters - Nitrate and Phosphate , that will indicate if you are being excessive with your tank feedings

check out Lunatic 69s thread in the articles section for tips on posting larger images.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/reef-aquarium-articles-how-tos/how-post-pictures-3reef-69264.html
Steve