Faithbleed Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 Hi All Firstly, thanks for the help so far, with your collective help I'm almost ready to start cycling my first marine tank. I have a few questions: - I have dead, uncured rock, do I have to cure it first, or just start the cycle process as if it was cured? - Will all the crap be removed from the dead rock regardless or will curing it be the only way to ensure the rock is free from unwanted algae etc? - If I want to run a DSB in my sump possibly with miracle mud, will I need a light in the sump? - Are sixline wrasse's safe with ornamental shrimp and/or crabs? - Will a couple of baby (?) clowns be ok in a tank without a anemone (at least for a few months)? - Will turbo snails allow coraline algae to grow and if so, how many should I get (if any at all)? Cheers Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 Now we are ready to put some rocks in the tank. We do not put any sand in yet. One kg of rock to each 10 litres of water is about the right amount, our tank is 270 litres, so we purchase from our lfs 27 kg of dried live rock. This live rock is currently not live, so we have to “cure” it. To do this we place it in the tank. The pores in the rock are full of dead organic matter and in a few days starts to rot. The water goes murky and when we test the water with our test kit, we discover ammonia. Our skimmer starts working overtime and we continually have to empty it. Gradually ammonia eating bacteria get established, and in around 2 weeks ammonia drops to zero. Now with our test kit we discover nitrite, which is what the ammonia eating bacteria make. We also find a lot of sandy looking dirt on the bottom of the tank. This is waste coming out of the rock, and should be siphoned. This is why we didn’t put sand in yet. In about another 4 weeks nitrite eating bacteria are getting established and nitrite levels start to drop. We now discover with our test kit that the water contains increasing amounts of nitrate, because the nitrite eating bacteria make nitrate. From: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/?p=1513 You will only need a light over your sump if you plan on putting micro algae in there. My sixline has never pestered my shrimp, but they were of reasonable size and not smaller than an inch long when I introduced them - have never had crabs Clowns do not need an anemone to survive, they will however host anything that takes their fancy in the absence of one, such as Euphyllia or Sarcophyton. Don't know about the turbo snails, but my Astreas never seemed to hinder the growth of coraline algae in my tank, as long as my strontium and calcium levels were adequate it would grow quite happily with the snails. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 You will only need a light over your sump if you plan on putting micro algae in there. [nitpick]Macro algae usually[/nitpick] Clowns do not need an anemone to survive, they will however host anything that takes their fancy in the absence of one, such as Euphyllia or Sarcophyton. Heaters, powerheads, cables, rocks, macroalgae, decorations, depressions in the sand... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithbleed Posted March 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 Thanks, that's very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 How exciting for you!!! Here are some of my ideas - stuff I've read about, been told about and learned from experience. It really is just my opinion - not a "this is the only way" - I have dead, uncured rock, do I have to cure it first, or just start the cycle process as if it was cured? - Will all the crap be removed from the dead rock regardless or will curing it be the only way to ensure the rock is free from unwanted algae etc? Is your rock dry stuff you get from the pet store? If so you should be able to give it a quick scrub/rinse (pref in some RO/DI water) and pop it in your tank to start your cycle. Any dead stuff left on it will help your cycle along. If your rock is wet stuff it's probably a good idea to cure it to get rid of stuff on it first. I think that the whole cure thing is more for the USA where they ship wet rock. - If I want to run a DSB in my sump possibly with miracle mud, will I need a light in the sump? A light is a good idea (not a necessity) on a sump. Run it opposite to your display tank and you'll have a more stable PH. - Will a couple of baby (?) clowns be ok in a tank without a anemone (at least for a few months)? Absolutely! You should wait at least 6 months before getting an anemone too. Clowns in a tank are fine if you decide to never get an anemone - and then (IME) if you do finally get one your clowns might just completely ignore it ;-) Clowns are great fish to start with too. - Will turbo snails allow coraline algae to grow and if so, how many should I get (if any at all)? I don't think they do. They eat diatoms and micro algae - according to my book ;-). It depends on the size of your tank and what you have in it as to how many you should get. They only eat algae so if you have too many in a tank they will run out of food and slowly die I have 10 in my 250l tank and they clean out the hair algae and other stuff as it grows. They don't seem to touch the coralline - so far.... Good luck!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithbleed Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Brilliant, thanks for the reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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