what is written and what i was told

[gunzo]

nooby.. so bear with me..

went thru the newbie forum dated all the way back when

and i've got conflicting answers ( that of forum views and that of a lfs view)

heres what i read

cycle time fm 1 mth to 2 mths.. LR in after 1 week..

use shrimp to decompose and settle

heres what the lfs say

2-3 days for salinity to stabilise (1.021-.025)

put in LR and wait 2-3 days..

then test with 1 hardy fish.. 1 week later fish not floating then test 2nd fish..put in fish slowly til the number i want..

is the lfs spoofing me or theres some truth to that??

a fren with a marine ecosystem running for quite a while also echoed this sentiment.. how??

tia

[Achilles Tang]

That LFS way is the irresponsible way.... using livestock to cycle the tank puts the organism through unnecessary stress and torture.

Every new tank needs its biological system to build, stabilize & mature... the decomposing agent ie. the prawn, is needed to kickstart the ammonia to start the nitrogen cycle.

Using livestock to kickstart the cycle is like putting smokers in an airtight room and then opening up a crack bit by bit to see how much people will suffer before you determine how much air needs to come into the room to sustain a comfortable level of survivability.

Similarly, you don't put people in front of the speakers in a disco to test if the sound is too loud... you use a sound meter.

The methods are different but the outcome is the same.

[ervine]

always take what you hear at LFSs with a pinch of salt... there are some out there who would give you all the wrong info just so that you will go back to them to buy more "miracle fluids" and equipment...

[flying carpet]

Now looks like you come to the right place bro asking for advice.

One more thing to remember buy or borrow a book about marine fishes and never trust lfs. When in doubt refer to the book that you purchase or borrow. Always keep your self updated lfs will use cheap trick to get you to spend. Once you say that you are new to marine then all the nonsense will come out like you know ah if you buy this then................... I think you get the picture already.

[optimus prime]

Similarly, you don't put people in front of the speakers in a disco to test if the sound is too loud... you use a sound meter.

i think those music company doing malay wedding dont know there is a sound meter. last week at my cousin wedding its too loud that when i am eating, i can feel the spoon shaking by the sound impact.

[gunzo]

That LFS way is the irresponsible way.... using livestock to cycle the tank puts the organism through unnecessary stress and torture.

Every new tank needs its biological system to build, stabilize & mature... the decomposing agent ie. the prawn, is needed to kickstart the ammonia to start the nitrogen cycle.

Similarly, you don't put people in front of the speakers in a disco to test if the sound is too loud... you use a sound meter.

The methods are different but the outcome is the same.

OK .. will there be any harm in putting in the LR after a few days of settling and let it cook for a while before putting in the fish ?? with my schedule I think I'll end up with the reccomended time norms here too since I'm too busy to go buy anything except for weekends .. and I just started the salt water over the past weekend

oh I can equate with the disco and sound meter thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope I won't go death when I retire !!

Is there a limit to the amount of LR I get for my tank or is it free for all ??

I have an 80L tank (small one) and probably looking at 10kg or so..

PS I hate books I can't read and write J/K

Thanks again .. I'll go buy ONE shrimp from the market !!

[Achilles Tang]

For goodness sake, DON'T buy a giant king tiger prawn that is lobster size or buy a whole fish to throw into the tank to become an ammonia source!! Some newbies have done that before and had to restart the tank and tell the police that a murder did not happen at home.

Logic must be applied.

[XPeriment 626]

For goodness sake, DON'T buy a giant king tiger prawn that is lobster size or buy a whole fish to throw into the tank to become an ammonia source!! Some newbies have done that before and had to restart the tank and tell the police that a murder did not happen at home.

[Achilles Tang]

I heard the fish was a small barramundi or 'Kim Bak Law'! Gosh....

[giantbicycle]

I heard the fish was a small barramundi or 'Kim Bak Law'! Gosh....

EqqW....Dont thing i wanna see that...haha

[gunzo]

For goodness sake, DON'T buy a giant king tiger prawn that is lobster size or buy a whole fish to throw into the tank to become an ammonia source!! Some newbies have done that before and had to restart the tank and tell the police that a murder did not happen at home.

Logic must be applied.

hahahahaha .. of course ..

Also understand that my ecosystem is a small one .. only around 2'x2'x1.5' size

Consulted a friend, and his advice was to be mindful of the size of the tank .. for such a small tank as mine, it doesn't really require the 4 weeks settling in..

I'll dump in the LR 1st .. and then put in some rotting corpse

[tineng]

hahahahaha .. of course ..

Also understand that my ecosystem is a small one .. only around 2'x2'x1.5' size

Consulted a friend, and his advice was to be mindful of the size of the tank .. for such a small tank as mine, it doesn't really require the 4 weeks settling in..

I'll dump in the LR 1st .. and then put in some rotting corpse

actually the smaller the tank, the longer the cycling time!!!

I had a 2x1x1...it took 1 month to cycle!!!!

setup a 1x1x1/2 in office and it took 2.5 MONTHS to stablized!!!!

my advise is test test test....even after it reads 0 NH....you will need to let it run for another week just to be sure.....unless you don't really give much though to getting $1 fish ....

[shoelevy]

gunzo, cycling period does vary to a certain extent from tank to tank

no one can tell u for sure how long yours will take.

so be sure to use test kits to be sure.

once you're sure cycling is over...i would recommend letting the tank run for a week first before you start stocking up...just to gif the system time to settle in

[gunzo]

Hey guys .. I just bought the test kit .. PH 8.3 NO2 <0.3mg which is the recommended limit before putting in fish !!????!!! This is the 4th day !

Did I forget to do something or my tank is extremely bacterial ?!?!?!?

Anyway .. I just dumped in the LR .. and while fiddling with it a GIANT SPIDER looking thing crawled out and went under the one of the rocks !!!!!! You can imagine the fastest manuever I ever did with my hands !!!!

Any idea what is that ??? detrimental to the eco system ??

Anyway .. saw a couple of dead yabbies .. wasted .. maybe already dead with the rocks .. but they are now floating around at the bottom of the tank

[blueheaven]

The only spider like creature I've seen that moves extremely fast is the sally lightfoot crabs

[Alvin Tan]

One more thing to remember buy or borrow a book about marine fishes and never trust lfs. When in doubt refer to the book that you purchase or borrow. Always keep your self updated lfs will use cheap trick to get you to spend. Once you say that you are new to marine then all the nonsense will come out like you know ah if you buy this then................... I think you get the picture already.

sry...to correct this statement...not ALL LFS cant be trusted....there are still some which provide "REAL" knowlegde...some books may be outdated and y still follow the old method while we hav new n improved equipements?? im nt saying reading bks are useless...but the person who read it must know how 2 manipulate..following the book blindly would not do any gd...Some LFS tt provides experience to reefers still can be trusted...are you implementing that one black sheep cause the whole herd 2 be blacklisted??i relatively do not think so..Trust some LFS..there are still LFSs around Singapore that provides "true knowlege"..

im not against anyone here...just my 2 cents..

[blueheaven]

Yes I agree

Do check on the publishing date of book which you read

Another good alternative is to borrow magazines such as FAMA or PFK from the library

[XPeriment 626]

Anyway .. I just dumped in the LR .. and while fiddling with it a GIANT SPIDER looking thing crawled out and went under the one of the rocks !!!!!!    You can imagine the fastest manuever I ever did with my hands !!!! 

does it look like this? if so, it is a sally light foot crab. Generally reef safe, good for clearing algae

[gunzo]

does it look like this? if so, it is a sally light foot crab. Generally reef safe, good for clearing algae

is it supposed to be hairy looking ??

the legs and body look about the same .. but its also abit hairy .. and it went from the rock and clambered behind .. now I can't find it anymore ..

today I found 1 more crab and 1 more yabbie dead .. and 1 wormy thing .. sigh .. ph and NOx is good .. dying from the transport stress ????

[gunzo]

funny looking worm is actually still alive .. looks damn gross .. should I take that out ??? death toll 1 yabbie and 1 crab

Why is my Nox level so low ?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

well .. let it cook since I don't have time to go get sacrificial lambs ..

[WEE2000]

The only spider like creature I've seen that moves extremely fast is the sally lightfoot crabs

i got 1 coming out from ls oso. decided 2 kep it though. but beware as not all habitants came with lr is safe.

[WEE2000]

i read in some forums saying hairy crab isn't reef-safe. i dun mean 2 prove anytin, but jus to share... pls correct me if i'm wrong.