total moron cycle question

wake49

That sounds like a good plan. I think that you will see an improvement soon enough...

bearwithfish

man i hope so .. i get so freaked out that i am going to do something wrong you know? i am not the wealthiest person and this much investment scares the witts out of me to think it may crash...

bearwithfish

here is a full tank shot as of yesterday.... man i love this project!!!!!!!!

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sorry for the trashy phone pic...

bearwithfish

ok so get this i will take pix tomorrow and send them but i got home today and the sand looks all cleared up!!! it looks like sand again and no dust on it.. it is still on my rocks but i think this is a good thing right??
also found some rust looking spots on the LR not the DR yet but its on the move!!!!!!!! i so excited

Pasfur

I think you are doing just fine, relax. At this point, take you hand and very gently wave it back and forth just over top the rocks, to gently create current to remove the dusting of sand from the surface. You want to get the sand off the rocks. Another option is to add 2 or 3 blue or red leg hermit crabs to the tank. They will pick over the rock surface and brush off the settled sand.

I want to point out that your rock structure is rather thin. You have enough rock to handle bioload issues, but the lack of a true reef will make it very difficult to accurately help you with fish compatability, especially in a small tank. I would personally double the size of that reef structure. A 25 pound order of Key Largo rock from www.MarcoRocks.com would do you some good.

Another though I had when looking at the tank is your long term plans and filtration. What is your desire from this tank in terms of livestock? Have you selected a Protein Skimmer yet? If not, we can give you some inexpensive options at a great discount from online retailers.

Finally, you need to buy a few more things soon if you are going to be successful. Let me explain. Over the next couple of weeks you are going to see a diatom bloom. This will appear almost overnight and look like rust colored algae that covers your rock and sand. Almost as quickly, about a week later, it will disappear. It is important at this stage in a young tank that you have a handle on the alkalinity and calcium levels. To do this you need a buffer, calcium supplement, and test kits for alkalinity and calcium. Most of us here us the API brand test kits, because they are inexpensive and easy to use.
http://www.marineandreef.com/Aquariu...Kits_s/579.htm

bearwithfish

not sure if you checked my other threads or not but i have like 45 -47 pounds of rock inthere!!!! some got burried under the sand and i am going to rescape it today...

Pasfur

Yeah, like I said, I'm not worried about the bioload. It is simply the reef structure. I think when you get some more rock above the sand bed and arrange it with more nooks & crannies you will be fine. Think small fish, hiding places, and night time comfort.

bearwithfish

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ok so here is the new reef-scape... pasfer i am not trying to be a bone head i just forget who i spoke to about what i appologize if i came on like a jerk..... so here is the new look and i like it a LOT more... now for the chemestry part of it i am going to retest everything again tomorrow and see where i am at.. i still need a calcium test.. but i was looking in there tonight and noted a lot of shells and that the dry rock is very calcium based wont that bring up the count? and as for buffer i looked at some today and i will check my regular dealer next week to see what is best.. is there another way i can bring up my PH with out buffer? like a rock or other item i could safely add to the tank? thank you again for all your help every one i am truely greatful

bearwithfish

oh hhhhh yeah about stock... i am intending to do inverts and corals only for now.. i dont know if i want fish in it at all. ... but if i do i have one in mind that i may get in november..... i dont recall the name off hand but they are sooo cool its blue and has like crazy patterns in all sorts of colors all over it.... a blue manderin i think

Pasfur

A very short over simplified version of a long discussion: Organic waste present in your aquarium exists as acids, which remove carbonates. Carbonates make up alkalinity. Calcium carbonate is the dominant carbonate buffer in marine water. Testing for both alkalinity and calcium is necessary to maintain the proper balance of calcium to all the other buffering ions. Without this balance, you don't really have "saltwater", you just have water with a bunch of salts. For example, you could add table salt to freshwater and increase the salinity to 1.024, but that wouldn't be "saltwater" for our purposes.

No, there is not anything you can add to the tank to release calcium at the pH levels we have in marine tanks. You would have to lower the pH to the 7.4 range. Generally speaking. (Which is why crushed coral is a decent buffer in freshwater tanks.)

Also, it is important to recognize that you are not adding a "pH buffer". You don't want products such as pH Up etc. You are adding BUFFERS. For example, I use Kent Marine Super Buffer DKH for my buffer. I use Kent Marine Calcium Chloride for my calcium supplement.

Sorry to tell you this, but you can't keep a Mandarine in a 29 gallon tank. They require populations of copepods and amphipods to survive which can not be sustained in such a small tank. A tank upwards of 125 gallons or larger is necessary for this small fish. As an alternative, check out some of the Fairy Wrasses, which will provide you with some amazing color patterns (at a cost).