New tank issue

[chriskessha]

I mean just let it cycle even after stage 4 as indicated

[chriskessha]

I mean just let it cycle even after stage 4 as indicated

[chriskessha]

And I if do I still need to do a water change or can I delay the water change.. I thinking of letting tank to cycle for 2 mths or slightly more

[nicreef]

And I if do I still need to do a water change or can I delay the water change.. I thinking of letting tank to cycle for 2 mths or slightly more

wah very patient reefer haha...i gave myself 1 month for my next tank and wonder if i can tahan waiting so long....

still quite new to this but i think leaving it to cycle abit longer no wrong...once settle down liao maybe can go buy copepods and let them grow in tank for awhile before adding life stock...at least thats what i am thinking of doing...

[resser]

And I if do I still need to do a water change or can I delay the water change.. I thinking of letting tank to cycle for 2 mths or slightly more

If you wish to do that, you need to keep adding nutrients (dead seafood/ market prawn/ pellets/ stuff that rots). Otherwise, your initial bacteria colony will just die off.

The entire business with cycling is just to maintain a healthy colony of bacteria that can quickly consume your fish food/ poo. So you can imagine, the more fish you have, the more bacteria you need, and the initial colony will need to multiply.

The aquarium game is all about agar agar balancing, on the verge of crashing.

(If you can imagine our Earth being a huge close system aquarium, which it sort of is, it is always on the verge of crashing too).

[hanafi_weeseng]

wah very patient reefer haha...i gave myself 1 month for my next tank and wonder if i can tahan waiting so long....

still quite new to this but i think leaving it to cycle abit longer no wrong...once settle down liao maybe can go buy copepods and let them grow in tank for awhile before adding life stock...at least thats what i am thinking of doing...

For copepods can we just pour them into the main tank?

[MarcoVan]

why you want to grow copepods? Got mandarin or fickle fishes in your tank?

[hanafi_weeseng]

why you want to grow copepods? Got mandarin or fickle fishes in your tank?

Bro, cos ah beng do sell copepods at times.I don't have a refugium but not sure if copepods is good to have. No mandarin or fickle fishes in the tank.

[jxlex]

If u have liverocks, and your tank is fully cycled, its actually ok to leave it be until u are ready to stock... I do not see a problem cycling for 2 to 3 months or even longer.

Bacteria has a life cycle and too will die, rot, etc... That will still provide a constant supply of 'waste' for the colony to feed on... That will keep ur colony quite safe and healthy.

I find what is more important is when u start to stock, stock SLOWLY, this will allow your nitrifying bacteria colony enuf time to grow and expand to keep up with the increased bioload (waste load).

A single big stock increases ammonia too rapidly and if the community of bac is not capable of converting it into no2 and subsequently no3 fast, it will still result in additional stress for ur livestocks while the colony is building up...

Also, i always find using different brands of bacteria as addition to ur tank is good as you will multiple strains of bacteria and IF for whatever reason a particular strain is affected, the impact on ur tank will not be significant

[jxlex]

And I if do I still need to do a water change or can I delay the water change.. I thinking of letting tank to cycle for 2 mths or slightly more

I have no concerns with water change given that 1) most nitrifying bacteria are hosting within ur sand/rocks/filter media, etc so grabbing those little bit off the water column really doesnt affect too much... 2) water changes helps remove excessive toxins, especially during the earlier stage of cycling when the bacteria colony is small and doesnt consume that much ammonia yet.

Interesting but long read for you:

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/226664-why-water-changes-during-cycling-are-good/

[chriskessha]

Wow didn't know there soo much more to understand. My new best friend from now on will be the internet.. Thanks to all the bros for the inputs

[liquidnoise]

Just a quick tot (BTW, i believe and practice cycling of tanks for mayb 2-4wks).

I used to keep FW fishes (aro, stingrays, ST, FF, etc) based on stocking the tank. basical rule of thumb was like 1ft 1 fish something like that of coz there is like the fish size etc etc. bt tats the general rule.

Next is the flow rate. i think somewhere (cun rem where) says 7 times flow of the tank capacity. I dun practice as the biggest was a 1264 or issit 1262 for a 6x4x2.5FGT which works perfect.

does it apply to Marine tank? I m such a noob in marine

[rekian]

1 ft 1 fish? Thats will be great in term of space and bioload but I doubt anyone can resist the temptation of placing in more beautiful fish.

For me i feel, 3-5 fishes per ft? Depending on the size and the fish bioload, small tank I feel shouldn't have too many bomber like Tang. Nitrate might get too high, unless the reefer is super hard working to do water change everyday more fish I guess wouldn't be an issue.

7 times flow of the tank capacity per hr is good, ensure that tank is well cycled.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[jxlex]

For a return pump a 6 - 10x tank volume is fine

Something stolen off RC

"For total flow, powerheads plus return, the needs vary. For a FOWLR, 10X-20X is fine. For a basic reef, mostly LPS and softies, 20X-30X is better. For an SPS dominated tank, 30X-40X or higher is best. I have an SPS dominated mixed reef, and I have a total flow of 42X.

There are also other requirements and not just the actual number. Varying directions, absence of dead spots are 2 other important aspects. Personally, I think the best way to achieve these requirements is to use multiple powerheads, all crossing flows and creating turbulence and varying flow. Siimillar to crossing plasma streams in Ghost Busters .

[woyeng**]

And can I use sand that is picked up from east coast beach?? I know must Wash for sure.. any issues?

I tried to pick up the beach sand but found them too fine. I think sand number 1 is best fr sand bed.

The other thing is to wash and dry the beach sand (if u decide to use beach sand) in the sun until the beach sand turns white, that should be ok but it is no longer live sand i think.

[kraken]

I tried to pick up the beach sand but found them too fine. I think sand number 1 is best fr sand bed.

The other thing is to wash and dry the beach sand (if u decide to use beach sand) in the sun until the beach sand turns white, that should be ok but it is no longer live sand i think.

buying sand from LFS is faster and easier, non live sands aint that expensive