Reef Vidal Dna

[DrAsTiC]

Hey everyone well I got my 75 gallon tank cycling which started last saturday 4/30/2011 My
ph is 7.8 ppm
amonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrite 2.0 ppm
Nitrate 40 ppm
I started out with 100 lbs carib sea live sand and 85 lbs live rock.I just ordered another 100 lbs of rock from www.liverocknreef.com which has incredible live rock with tons of life and such.Well while ordering the next order of live rock they told me to use Reef Vidal DNA and I have read a lot of good reviews about it. I searched these forums and found nothing regarding it. I just wanted to know if any of you reefers have tried it?

 

[DrAsTiC]

Just some of the stuff making it through my cycle.I have tons of feather dusters and other stuff crawling around.

 

[DrAsTiC]

I added the new 110 lbs of live rock today.There is so much life in these rocks when I put them in I saw some kind of red eel or something fly through my tank and disappeared in the rock.

 

[masterswimmer]

Wow there's a ton of life on those rocks. Just be aware, with your cycle only about a week old, that much rock with that much organic on it will set your cycle back to just about day one.

Not sure what you meant about the 'eel like thing' dart across the tank, but if you didn't get a good look at it, if that is Caribbean rock, it could very well be a mantis shrimp, an eel like you said, or even an octopus. I've seen all of those critters survive the trip in LR coming from the Caribbean. FYI, mantis is real bad Watch your fingers.

Nice aquascape. Lots of caves and nooks and crannies.

Russ

 

[masterswimmer]

Oh, and one of those pix looks like you've got a whole mangrove forest sprouting.

R

 

[DrAsTiC]

Wow there's a ton of life on those rocks. Just be aware, with your cycle only about a week old, that much rock with that much organic on it will set your cycle back to just about day one.

Not sure what you meant about the 'eel like thing' dart across the tank, but if you didn't get a good look at it, if that is Caribbean rock, it could very well be a mantis shrimp, an eel like you said, or even an octopus. I've seen all of those critters survive the trip in LR coming from the Caribbean. FYI, mantis is real bad Watch your fingers.

Nice aquascape. Lots of caves and nooks and crannies.

Russ

I did figure I would be starting back over but only being a week into my cycle I could deal with it.I only got a quick glimpse of the fish or whatever it is which was about 1-1 1/2 long maroon colored with a split tail in the back.
something like this

When should I start running the carbon and phosphate reactors?
I wanted to add tons of places for the critters to feel comfortable .
Thanks Russ

 

[DrAsTiC]

Oh, and one of those pix looks like you've got a whole mangrove forest sprouting.

R

There is tons of stuff in the rocks,I have crabs anemones,feather dusters and some other stuff.

this whole rock is just one big mangrove

 

[masterswimmer]

Now that drawing is classic!!!! :smash: Of course I can tell what it is now. :fishhit:

Believe it or not, from your drawing and lackluster description, I'm going out on a limb and saying it is a mantis shrimp. Obviously I can be wrong, but there are telltale signs from your masterful artwork :tank: :lol:

As for the mangroves I was referring to, see the pic below, those are the ones I was talking about.

Russ

PS - you know I was just playing with you, right?

 

[strgazr27]

Nice rock. I don't know how much of it will make it through the spike that may be coming but really nice stuff. I would have added 5-10lbs at a time after the tank cycled but that's just me.

 

[DrAsTiC]

Now that drawing is classic!!!! :smash: Of course I can tell what it is now. :fishhit:

Believe it or not, from your drawing and lackluster description, I'm going out on a limb and saying it is a mantis shrimp. Obviously I can be wrong, but there are telltale signs from your masterful artwork :tank: :lol:

As for the mangroves I was referring to, see the pic below, those are the ones I was talking about.

Russ

PS - you know I was just playing with you, right?

\

LOL I was never good in art class.........

I looked up mantis shrimp and it did not look like that but I guess I will wait for it to fly around again.
Those are aiptasia I took out the rock that was loaded with them before they spread around my tank.

 

[DrAsTiC]

Nice rock. I don't know how much of it will make it through the spike that may be coming but really nice stuff. I would have added 5-10lbs at a time after the tank cycled but that's just me.

Thanks Bobby I was only a week into my cycle so I just dropped it all in there.I can wait a while for my tank to cycle since summer time is right around the corner