Ok what next?

[mr_X]

a couple months....sounds good to me.

 

[IbnOzn1]

I'm using this as a rough guideline:
http://www.garf.org/20/matt2.html

So I was going to stick to zoanthids, palythoa and gorgonians.
This the frag pack I was probably going to start with from a local propagator—
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/ ... 5_23302008
and it would probably be all until I try some LPS in a few more months.

I should hold off?

 

[mr_X]

have you tested your water yet? you need to know that the initial cycle has completed atleast. check your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. they need to be zero. also ph and alk.

 

[IbnOzn1]

ammonia = .014 ppm using temp/ph table
nitrite = 0
nitrate = 0
ph = 8.4

My hermit crabs seem happy.

 

[mr_X]

ammonia is the most toxic of them. i don't think the tank has finished cycling.

 

[IbnOzn1]

Sure, I'll hold off and keep an eye on the Ammonia. I also need to make sure I'm accurate with my testing. How often should I be doing water changes? 10-15% weekly?

BTW I understand now about the noise issue w/ the Remora. I checked out your galleries (very nice!) and noticed you have the Remora in your bedroom. Listening to that slurping and gurgling all night would drive me crazy too.

 

[IslandCrow]

I think the most popular choices for water changes are either 10% every week or 20-30% every month. I'm a big fan of smaller but more frequent water changes, personally. You definitely want to get your ammonia down to undetectable ranges. I agree with Mr. X. If you have detectable ammonia but no detectable nitrites or nitrates, your tank hasn't cycled. A cycled tank has enough nitrifying bacteria to consume normal amounts of ammonia before you'll ever be able to detect it. Of course, this is assuming your test kits are accurate.

Even after you get your ammonia and nitrites down to 0, I'd still wait a couple weeks just to make sure everything's really stable. Any analyst will tell you that a sample size of 1 means absolutely nothing.

Garf's seems to have some really good info, but do remember that they are trying to sell you something.

 

[mr_X]

Sure, I'll hold off and keep an eye on the Ammonia. I also need to make sure I'm accurate with my testing. How often should I be doing water changes? 10-15% weekly?

BTW I understand now about the noise issue w/ the Remora. I checked out your galleries (very nice!) and noticed you have the Remora in your bedroom. Listening to that slurping and gurgling all night would drive me crazy too.

i do about a 15% water change a week
and FYI, we run that remora on a timer (while we are at work), otherwise i would throw it out the window and run it over with my car the next morning :twisted: