We're so excited!! Opinions?

[tmlrfrancis]

Expecting the last of the ordered equipment to arrive today (RO/DI and Vortech MP40)! Finally we'll be able to start producing water and getting something in the aquarium!:yay:

There are some things we haven't purchased yet, and I wanted to see what people were using, having successes or have had problems with...

Test kits
Salt mix (thinking of using Salinity)
Heaters (titanium worth the cost?)

To use or not to use - carbon (if so, best method)?

Once we have the LR in the tank to start cycling, how many hours of light per day should we use and when do we increase hrs/light each day? (We have Radion XR30 Pro)

How soon to vacuum sand and do partial water changes during cycling?

I know we're looking for 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite, but when is appropriate time to place clean-up crew in the tank? (don't want problematic algea bloom with increased nitrate, but don't want to hinder increase of beneficial bacteria)

Any suggestions, opinions, experience/stories (good or horror) welcome! Hopefully we'll be able to start putting up some pics of the new system w/ LR some time next week!

 

[djatl]

If you're just cycling the tank, you could just start with Instant Ocean for salt, and upgrade to Salinity when it runs out. You won't be putting corals in there for a while.

I don't think you need lights during cycling, and that should inhibit some of the algae bloom. It's normal to go through blooms on startup, though.

I've heard mixed recommendations on water changes during cycling. I think it extends the cycle time.

No rush on the clean up crew. Unless you're ghost feeding the tank, there's not much for them to eat.

Do you have a build thread? What size tank are you putting up, and what are your plans for it (Fish Only, Soft Coral , SPS) ?

Good luck!

 

[heathlindner25]

I wouldn't put the clean up crew in there until your tank is cycled.

 

[picoreefguy]

imo waterchanges are pointless durring the cycle since the point of a water change is to remove nutrients and the point of the cycle is to grow bacteria which need those nutrients. also another reason to do a wc would be to replace minerals and elements taken up by fish and coral and since those are not present the water change is unneeded.

there is no need for lighting during the cycle cause it can cause unwanted algae and possible photosynthetic bacteria growth so its best to just leave it off till you put something in the tank worth seeing. for both test kits and salt i use seachem. they produce top notch products. their test kits are reliable and accurate and even come with a refrence to make sure nothing has gone bad. and the salinity salt (made by seachem and sold under their primer line "aquavitro) is one of the best salts on the market ive been using it for a few years now.

as far as the heater goes. weather the cost of titanium is worth it or not is more of preferance. the main reason not to buy glass heaters vs. titanium is because glass is easy to break and there have been cases of them just exploding in the tank. but honestly ive been using them since i started in freshwater over a decade ago and the only time i had any problems out of one was when i forgot to unplug it while i was doing a water change. i left it plugged in and as the waterlevel dropped below the heater it continued to heat up and as i refilled the water into the tank the temp difference cause the glass to shatter. so as long as you're carefull with it i would get a glass heater

 

[tmlrfrancis]

djatl;910022 wrote: Do you have a build thread? What size tank are you putting up, and what are your plans for it (Fish Only, Soft Coral , SPS)? Good luck!

We have a 94 gallon rimless cube (30x30x24) (we have a VERY open floor plan - lots of windows, and finding an appropriate place for the tank limited our options of what kind and what size!)
We have a sump under the stand with a Reef Octopus (120 gph) protein skimmer, a reef octopus Bio-Churn reactor, Radion XR30W Pro light, Vortech MP40 powerhead, in-sump return pump 1100-1200 gph / 4' return.
We're still looking at automatic systems for top-off, dosing, etc (still learning about all of these processes), but since it will be a while before we add coral, we expect to learn and purchase further components to help with these processes.

We had a FOWLR several years ago - lost due to a house fire. We're going to move to a reef system w/ fish this time. Plan to start (slowly) with clean-up crew/invertabrates, watchman gobies/pistol shrimp, clowns (not sure what type yet), and we'll see what else as we progress... Don't want to overload the system. We would like to have different types of corals (sps, lps, and softies), but I'm not sure we'll have sufficient 'space' with the cube.

Edit:

Picoreefguy;910026 wrote: imo waterchanges are pointless durring the cycle since the point of a water change is to remove nutrients and the point of the cycle is to grow bacteria which need those nutrients. also another reason to do a wc would be to replace minerals and elements taken up by fish and coral and since those are not present the water change is unneeded.

there is no need for lighting during the cycle cause it can cause unwanted algae and possible photosynthetic bacteria growth so its best to just leave it off till you put something in the tank worth seeing.

This is what I had figured... just wanted a little validation!
Thanks!

I've used glass heaters for my freshwater as well (and still do in the one small tank I still have). Just didn't know if there was better accuracy or anything to justify the extra $$ for the titanium!