Questions questions

[Bry17nyc]

All these questions I'm going to ask are for a 90 gallon reef tank which is on it's on its 27 day of cycle

?which is a good reefsafe CUC to add in it?
?I'm trying to buy a skimmer in the $250 range.. It's dimentions have to be W8" L13" T24" or less.. Which one do you suggest?
?can I add cheato already in my refugium or wait a little more time?
?is 5 HO T5 bulbs (2 12,000k & 3 Atinic) good for most corals, clams, etc...?if not what T5s should do the job in maintain the corals healthy?

All answers will be highly appreciated

thanks in advance

 

[jdnumis]

I would wait at least 6 weeks before you add your CUC. You can add the basics turbos snails, nassaris snails, hermits etc etc. Do a water change/check parameters before you add them. Not too sure about skimmer. cheato is great to add. Those t5's are good for most coral. Clams need a lot of light and calcium.

All then best,

James

 

[marrone]

Is the tank still cycling or is it done? If it's still cycling, you don't want to add anything. If it's done cycling, and you did a water change to bring the Nitrates down, then I would add some small Blue/Red Leg Hermit Crabs.

 

[Bry17nyc]

Id a big 20 gallon W/C and now my ammonia and nitrites are 0 and nitrates are pretty close to 0 (following the color result chart)

 

[marrone]

Was the ammonia and nitrite zero before you did the water change or did the water change bring them down?

 

[Imbarrie]

Watch out if you use hermit crabs. Some kinds can get vicious and they are not a requirement.

 

[Bry17nyc]

The amommia started to rise at first then slowly went down to 0.25 as the nitrite went up then last week the nitrite just dropped to 0 without me doing anything but the ammonia stood on 0.20 so I decided to do a W/C to get the ammonia down and now it's 0 after the w/c
& about the hermit crabs I heard some would damage your corals and some wouldn't

 

[Bry17nyc]

Also can I get info on decent skimmer for the tank in the $250 range

 

[DrAsTiC]

http://www.saltwatercritters.com/inc/sdetail/3674/4869
It cost a little more $304 but it is a beast.

 

[kalapnath]

?can I add cheato already in my refugium or wait a little more time?
i waited two mth's before i added any livestock and the first thing i added was a fish to help the bio cycle...................

 

[Bry17nyc]

You know I called Russ yesterday and that's the same one he offered me!
He said I won't regret it at all

should add 3 green chromis next week to help the bio cycle and wait a little more?

 

[marrone]

The amommia started to rise at first then slowly went down to 0.25 as the nitrite went up then last week the nitrite just dropped to 0 without me doing anything but the ammonia stood on 0.20 so I decided to do a W/C to get the ammonia down and now it's 0 after the w/c
& about the hermit crabs I heard some would damage your corals and some wouldn't

You shouldn't have had any ammonia, also what are your nitrates? Once everything goes down to zero you should be left with Nitrates.

What is your current setup, and I'm talking about sand and Live rock?

The small Blue and Red leg Hermits are fairly safe.

 

[Bry17nyc]

*Marrone* I don't know why that happened
I have about 125 lbs of now live rock because there were dry when I put them at first and about 70-80 pounds of sand including the one in the refugium

 

[DrAsTiC]

You know I called Russ yesterday and that's the same one he offered me!
He said I won't regret it at all

should add 3 green chromis next week to help the bio cycle and wait a little more?

Well everyone has there preference but I have that one and it is pulling every bit of junk from my tank.I clean the cup out once a day. It works great for me and is very quiet.

 

[Bry17nyc]

How Stocked is your tank?how deep do you have it in the sump?

 

[Bry17nyc]

Another question.... Is what reefers call the "algea cycle" always suppose to happen in a new tank?
Because I haven't seen no brown algea yet in my tank

 

[Imbarrie]

Im sure your algae cycles are just around the corner. The first is brown algae, then diatoms, then hair algae and the last is cyano, the gift that keeps giving.

You can add some macro right now if you want. They help get your pods a place to breed. You can get your tank well populated with pods before you add fish.

 

[Bry17nyc]

So that means it will happen no matter what...

Should I add a phosphate reactor?
C.U.C to control the algea?

Ill start a "want to buy" thread for some cheato
I'll add some this week( hopefully I'll get some for free lol)

 

[Imbarrie]

It happens to most but not all.

I had all of them and its not that bad. Make sure you control nutrients and keep up with WC. A phosphate reactor is a good idea, I run one and I think most others do to.

 

[Bry17nyc]

Good I made one myself ... Just have to buy the media =D...I can't wait to start adding corals into my tank! This is fustrating lol