Hello, I am new to the reef tank systems and I am diving right in. I have my 75 gallon cycling around 350gph I am running t5 for 10 hours a day. The ecosystem seems to be off to a good start. All of my levels are in range and just a little high in nitrate and ammonia, but not enough to be concerned. It has been 1 week and 3 days and I am seeing algae growth on my live rocks and sand. My question is, when do I know that I am ready for fish, coral, inverts, and mushrooms?
New tank ecosystem
- Thread starter farsonite
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live rock? how much and from where. A typical cycle will last for up to 6 weeks. Hold off on all coral till your ammonia is at 0 and your ntrate is as well. I'd be willing to guess that your ammonia is yet to climb. You can get products that'll speed the cycle along if you want. Dr. Tim's one and only comes to mind. I've used it and can say that it will really speed things along. I can not stress this enough, GO SLOW. Learn as much as you can now. Do you have a good LFS "local fish store" near you. Have them double check your test results. Anytime you may feel as if you are waisting on waiting will actually save you time and $. Where do you live? Maybe one of the more experienced people in your area could come over and help trouble shoot the system.... ooh and welcome !
Welcome glad you joined us!
As for when your tank is ready, you will want to wait until your initial tests read like this:
- Ammonia : zero
- Nitrite: zero
- Nitrate: close to zero but detectable
- PH: closest to 8.1-8.3 as you can get it
- Alkalinity: 7/8
- Calcium: around 400 +/-
Once your levels read like that you should be good to go to introduce some corals and fish, but I would research the corals and fish some before you start adding like crazy (easy to do I know)
Also here is a pretty good chart (complements of Marine Depot) for what common chemistry levels look like in home reef tanks:
I bought most everything from koi and pond, I fear my first mistake in my adventure was using tap water with conditioner. I think I killed some of my live rock, but I still have a good purple color on chunks of rock, but only in the safe parts. I am going to go test my solution in colorado, however I live in Wyoming and that means a 2 hr drive.
Dont be so worried about that... I was pretty impatient myself and I used tap water with Prime for my initial fill up of my tank and everything turned out alright... got some good guidance pretty soon after and invested in an RO/DI system and well worth it I promise. Just cut your light cycle down to combat the algae right now. Adding a fish has the potential to prolong the cycle. Welcome to the hobby and the fun!
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Just get an RO/DI as soon as you can. Algae is a natural part of the cycle, it is actually helping you out by eating up much of the nutrients in the tank. It looks horrible but its not entirely a bad thing, although the sooner you get proper water in the tank the sooner you will be able to get rid of it. It may take sometime to get it all out though, so be patient. The initial cycle may take a month or so but truly the tank doesnt really complete the cycle for a year or more before it becomes fully established and a thriving ecosystem can be maintained. Alot of factors can go into determining how long it takes though, everything from where your live rock came from, how long it has been in water, if it was ever dry at any point, where your sand came from and even your experience level are all factors that play into how long it takes to get a well established tank.
Once the initial cycle completes and numbers are all in line I would just start with a clean up crew of sorts, some assorted snails and crabs. Then wait awhile more before adding anything else. In the mean time just pull out as much of the algae that is waving in the current as you can. I would also increase your flow rate by quite a bit to. 75g tank should have a bit more then double what you are currently doing.
Once the initial cycle completes and numbers are all in line I would just start with a clean up crew of sorts, some assorted snails and crabs. Then wait awhile more before adding anything else. In the mean time just pull out as much of the algae that is waving in the current as you can. I would also increase your flow rate by quite a bit to. 75g tank should have a bit more then double what you are currently doing.
As a newb, I would say you are getting great info above - especially to wait and make sure your tank has cycled before adding coral. We really pushed this, and had some near losses because we wanted to have the cool stuff to look at. MASC people were key in helping us undo and avoid some of the damage so you are in much better position. Also - Greeley - score! One guy who has helped us a ton is Dr. Hutu so I would get to know him - he seems awesome and we are hoping to see his set up sometime when we are up north.
Welcome!
Welcome!
The best thing you can do right now is just patiently wait it out. That algae is consuming nutrients that you don't want in your tank. Anything you add to the tank will add to the bio-load...even if it is just a few snails. In the end...it will only contribute to the algae growth in a brand new tank.
It'd be wise to just leave the tank devoid of livestock and let the cycle run its course. When the nitrite hits zero, and your nitrate goes up then starts to come back down close to zero, the algae will start to disappear. The minute you add fish and livestock, it will start to come back...so the longer you can wait, the more it will pay off in the end.
It'd be wise to just leave the tank devoid of livestock and let the cycle run its course. When the nitrite hits zero, and your nitrate goes up then starts to come back down close to zero, the algae will start to disappear. The minute you add fish and livestock, it will start to come back...so the longer you can wait, the more it will pay off in the end.
Awesome information above! We have all been there and sat in your shoes. Patience is so hard to come by when cycling a new tank, but it will be better in the end and you will feel better about waiting rather than put something through unnecessary stress that a lot of people do. Then they wonder why things don't look good lol
Also this is not mentioned above, but it would be best for you to add only 1 hardy fish first and wat at least a couple weeks before adding any coral. Once you get to that point, I have some green palys that can survive just about anything that you can have a frag of for free to get you started.
You might be an engineer if...You have no life, and you can PROVE it mathematically.
You might be an engineer if...You have no life, and you can PROVE it mathematically.