New to Reefing and to the ARC

Here are a couple of the things I'm watching. Anybody have any idea what these are? I can't ID them anywhere.

This green growth-looking thing was on the rock when I put it in. Don't think it's grown any.

green-stuff.jpg
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These magenta-colored things appear to be growing and</em> they're on every rock in lots of places:

red-stuff.jpg
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Any ideas? I know the pics aren't great. I'm still experimenting with how to get the best ones :)
 
Alright, Free Ammonia, Total Ammonia, and Nitrites are all 0 now, and Nitrates are around 3.5 mg/L. (Nitrites have been as high as 25 mg/L, and Nitrates as high as 13 mg/L.)

Going to give it a few more days and then test again. If Nitrites and Ammonia are both still 0, I'm planning to add my CUC.

Not too late to talk me out of it if that's a bad plan :D
 
If I were you I would get a little pure ammonia. The Ace Hardware Janitorial Strength is pure. I would put one tiny drop in, wait 5 minutes and test. You are shooting for 4 ppm. Try not to go over but get as close to 4 ppm as you can. Then wait 24 hours and test again. If all ammonia and nitrite are gone nitrate should have risen. That would tell me you have a good colony of bacteria going and you can start doing water changes to get the nitrate down to as close to 0 as you can. If you get it to 5 ppm you are fine but go for the best you can get. Once nitrate is down you can add the cuc. Give it a few days with just the cuc and then add one fish. Keep in mind that with a tank that small you can't have many fish. On top of that, one fish will be a big jump in the bio-load on such a small tank and you will need to give the bacteria time to catch up.

Good luck,
Rich
 
I actually wasnt planning on adding fish to this one anytime soon. Maybe one blenny eventually, but not too soon. Was thinking CUC, wait 2 or 3 weeks, then one or two corals and see what happens after that. Definitely like the idea of adding some ammonia to see what happens.
 
Just to make sure I'm understanding the units correctly, 4 ppm is an extremely</em> high level of Ammonia, right? As I understand my Seachem kit, that would be off the charts of my 30-minute test (though well within range of the 15-minute test). Just wanted to make sure before I either a) bombarded my tank or b) didn't put enough to make a difference :D
 
I am not familiar with the Seachem kits. As far as fish go, 4 ppm is extremely high but for the bacteria it is not. I wouldn't go much over that but get it close. I use API (not the best in the world). Really, all you are trying to do is give a source of ammonia for the bacteria to consume so they can multiply. If they can consume 4 ppm in 24 hours, and the other bacteria can consume the resulting nitrite in that same 24 hours, it shows that you have a big enough colony of bacteria to consume what your livestock will generate. It isn't an exact science but more of a gauge.
 
So long as you test and perform a couple of water changes in there somewhere, your stocking plan seems sound. Put nothing in the tank until ammonia/nitrites read 0...then you'll actuully NEED some CuC members in there generating waste to keep your bacterial populations increasing to get it to the point that the tank CAN support fish.

Looks like you have some interesting hitchhiker macroalgae there...or maybe some mushrooms. Either way, good luck!
 
ShanePike;742453 wrote: I've got all the time in the world, so I don't mind the tank taking longer to cycle and maybe having to fight some battles along the way.
Click to expand...

Heh... that's what we all</em> say in the beginning.

I don't think it ever turns out that way though :D

Good luck with the 11.4 :)

Edit: Oh, and in reading, the ammonia thing is a new idea to me, but very interesting.

I think this is what we were trying to encourage when we built an under-sand plenum in my last tank, but I believe that turned out to be more trouble than what it was worth and was causing toxic surges in the tank any time it was disturbed at all.
 
siege;751365 wrote: Heh... that's what we all</em> say in the beginning.

I don't think it ever turns out that way though :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, I found that out. Made it a whole 8 days before I started another tank :D
 
After a little more than 2 months, this tank is no more. I think these are the two main things I learned:

<ul>
<li>Small is very</em> limiting. You can do some cool things with nanos, but you have to accept some severe limitations. The list I made of corals to go in this tank is hilarious. I had no clue what I was doing.</li>
<li>Put the tank where you're going to see it a lot. I set this tank up in my office downstairs. I'm there several hours a day, but it wasn't even where I could see it from my desk. Thus, I had to make an effort to look at it any time I wanted to see it. In contrast, my 11.4g sits right in the line of sight in our family room. It's actually easier to see than the TV. We look at it all the time. You spend way too much on this hobby not to get to fully appreciate it.</li>
</ul>
 
ShanePike;771030 wrote: After a little more than 2 months, this tank is no more. I think these are the two main things I learned:

<ul>
<li>Small is very</em> limiting. You can do some cool things with nanos, but you have to accept some severe limitations. The list I made of corals to go in this tank is hilarious. I had no clue what I was doing.</li>
<li>Put the tank where you're going to see it a lot. I set this tank up in my office downstairs. I'm there several hours a day, but it wasn't even where I could see it from my desk. Thus, I had to make an effort to look at it any time I wanted to see it. In contrast, my 11.4g sits right in the line of sight in our family room. It's actually easier to see than the TV. We look at it all the time. You spend way too much on this hobby not to get to fully appreciate it.</li>
</ul>
Click to expand...


+100000000

Have to agree completely. I may have the TV on in the evening but my attention is almost always on the tank. I feel for these guys who have 300g setups in the basement. I love challenge of getting everything just right but I really love staring at it non-stop. :yay::yay::yay::yay::yay:
 
I could set up some KILLER tanks in all sorts of places in my house, but I know I'd never enjoy them 10% as much as the 90g where I get to see it all the time.
 
That's a nice little bow front tank. I to am sitting up a tank towards the end of this month. Its going to be a 20 gallon flat back hex. I am just like you I can't wait to get it going so I can really enjoy it.
 
ShanePike;771030 wrote: After a little more than 2 months, this tank is no more. I think these are the two main things I learned:

<ul>
<li>Small is very</em> limiting. You can do some cool things with nanos, but you have to accept some severe limitations. The list I made of corals to go in this tank is hilarious. I had no clue what I was doing.</li>
<li>Put the tank where you're going to see it a lot. I set this tank up in my office downstairs. I'm there several hours a day, but it wasn't even where I could see it from my desk. Thus, I had to make an effort to look at it any time I wanted to see it. In contrast, my 11.4g sits right in the line of sight in our family room. It's actually easier to see than the TV. We look at it all the time. You spend way too much on this hobby not to get to fully appreciate it.</li>
</ul>
Click to expand...


This
 
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