Cycling Your Saltwater Fish/Reef Tank

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Canadianeh

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Sep 20, 2016
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T-dot
on different topic, do all of you guys have a separate tank for quarantine purpose (for sick fish, new fish, corals, and etc.)? Is this a must have?
 
heath

heath

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Oct 2, 2012
Location
Woodstock, Ontario
Canadianeh said:
on different topic, do all of you guys have a separate tank for quarantine purpose (for sick fish, new fish, corals, and etc.)? Is this a must have?
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its up to you but, YES.... there is nothing more heart breaking to watch a tank crash or all of your fish die...
 
heath

heath

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Oct 2, 2012
Location
Woodstock, Ontario
not sure what you are asking;
I have;
- 125g with a 55g sump, its a fish only tank with live rock (fowlr)
- 75g with a 55 g sump, its a mixed reef
- 45g AIO, for my sea horses...

my qt tank is a 30g tall, that is kept dry until its needed, it has no sump so I use an Aquaclear 110 on it...I have sponges in the sump collecting bacteria and when I need to fire it up, I take the water from my big tank...

hope that helps...

p.s. just got my first Hydo One bill and it didn't change...
 
C

Canadianeh

Active Member
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Sep 20, 2016
Location
T-dot
heath said:
not sure what you are asking;
I have;
- 125g with a 55g sump, its a fish only tank with live rock (fowlr)
- 75g with a 55 g sump, its a mixed reef
- 45g AIO, for my sea horses...

my qt tank is a 30g tall, that is kept dry until its needed, it has no sump so I use an Aquaclear 110 on it...I have sponges in the sump collecting bacteria and when I need to fire it up, I take the water from my big tank...

hope that helps...

p.s. just got my first Hydo One bill and it didn't change...
Click to expand...

I was just asking how do you set up a quarantine tank as I have never had one before.

So you just keep it dry until you need it. When you need it you have to mix salt water and install the heater, and other equipment? What is Aquaclear 110?
 
heath

heath

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Oct 2, 2012
Location
Woodstock, Ontario
yup, mine is dry until I need it, not sure what others do, I can fire mine up in 10 minutes... I also have 2 large water storage containers...the only equipment is the filter (aquaclear) and power heads... I don't use heaters, my apartment is way to hot...
 
heath

heath

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Location
Woodstock, Ontario
not sure if its important or if it even matters but, when I am cycling a tank I treat it like there is livestock in it.. lights temp and ghost feeding...
 
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shamous113

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Dec 11, 2015
Location
Stratford
I was skimming thru some notes that I had and I thought this would be of some interest, I cant remember 100% where I found this on reef central though.


" Week 1--Rise of ammonia producing bacteria in the sand bed. Possible bacteria and protozoan blooms. Oxygen present throughout the bed,
Week 2-3-- Nitrite forming bacteria multiply, oxidizing ammonia to nitrite, Sand bed is still totally oxygenated.
Week 3-4-- Full nitrification is established. Ammonia is converted to nitrite then almost immediately to nitrate. Diatoms start to appear. Bed still oxygenated.
Week 4-6--Height of brown algae bloom. Rise of green algae. Upper layers of sand bed are fully populated with aerobic and nitrifying bacteria. Some decline in oxygen as one proceeds lower in the bed.
Week 6-8--Diatoms decline and green algae starts to predominate. Distinct layers of declining oxygen levels are starting to develop in the bed.
Week 8-12--Height of green algae bloom. Marked stratification of oxygen levels in the bed. Anoxic zones starting to develop where nitrate is reduced to nitrogen gas.
Weeks 12 -?--Decline of green algae. Anoxic and anaerobic zones are present in sand bed. De-nitrification is main form of nitrogen export.



These time frames are only approximate and depend on the amount of LS that seeded the bed and the curing method for the LR. It is important to note that many bacteria can use nitrate as a source of oxygen but only when low oxygen levels occur in the sand bed."
 
vdubz

vdubz

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Joined
Feb 18, 2013
Location
London, Ontario
I have recently started my fishless cycle. One week today. Using ammonia for the cycle, not ghost feeding. I used Big Al's conditioner and Instant Ocean salt when making my saltwater for the cycle. I will be switching to an RO unit with Reef Crystals once up and running. Should I be running my skimmer while cycling? It seems tbe making micro bubbles and skimming extremely wet. Could this be from the condtioner still being present? Help! I don't wanna fuq this up!!
 
C

Canadianeh

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Sep 20, 2016
Location
T-dot
vdubz said:
I have recently started my fishless cycle. One week today. Using ammonia for the cycle, not ghost feeding. I used Big Al's conditioner and Instant Ocean salt when making my saltwater for the cycle. I will be switching to an RO unit with Reef Crystals once up and running. Should I be running my skimmer while cycling? It seems tbe making micro bubbles and skimming extremely wet. Could this be from the condtioner still being present? Help! I don't wanna fuq this up!!
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You don't need skimmer while cycling. Add skimmer when you add fish. If the water is too clean and there is no waste, then you will see what you see.
Also MB (micro bubbles)can be caused by skimmer not broke in yet. Which skimmer you are using?

If I were you remove the skimmer, or just let it sit in water only but turn it off so it build film on its surface.
 
vdubz

vdubz

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Joined
Feb 18, 2013
Location
London, Ontario
I am using a marine sources skimmer with a red devil pump. Certainly broken in, used on my tank when it was set up 1.5 years ago.
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shamous113

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Dec 11, 2015
Location
Stratford
I did lights off during most of my cycle and started them low at the end, some sources say that the bacteria don't do well in bright light. I also didn't run my skimmer until I started to see a jump in nitrates at which point I started to vinegar dose 15ml/100gal for a organic carbon source at the same time as starting my skimmer but trying to keep a dry skim. it helped to drop my nitrates down to 10, I know that this isn't the way everyone does it but it worked for me. the article that I posted above is a good read about Bacteria.
 
Big_Als_London

Big_Als_London

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Feb 17, 2011
Location
London, Ontario
vdubz said:
I have recently started my fishless cycle. One week today. Using ammonia for the cycle, not ghost feeding. I used Big Al's conditioner and Instant Ocean salt when making my saltwater for the cycle. I will be switching to an RO unit with Reef Crystals once up and running. Should I be running my skimmer while cycling? It seems tbe making micro bubbles and skimming extremely wet. Could this be from the condtioner still being present? Help! I don't wanna fuq this up!!
Click to expand...
Yes it is from the Conditioner. Aloe Vera makes the skimmate extremely wet. I usually tell most customers to not bother with the skimmer until you are ready to add fish. As for the lights I start them out slowly. The first couple weeks I do it for about 3 hours a day and then every couple weeks I ramp it up an hour or two until I get to my desired time. Full light will cause a major algae bloom when starting up so I like to get the tank used to lighting again.
 
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