Update 23/04/2010
 

Some more exciting news....well sort of...as exciting as a cycling tank could be. Seems to have started already, Ammonia is around 1-2ppm and Nitrite is 0.25ppm after a week or so.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_2227.jpg

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_2230.jpg

After going back and fourth a few times I've finally decided to remove the sand from my display tank.....It's amazing the things you think of when your tank is cycling. I personally prefer the look of the sandbed, but with the flow I have in the tank the bare patches just kept getting larger and larger, and I'd prefer to keep the flow over the sand....will possibly go remote......maybe some GSP for a nice lawn effect :)

Here's an updated pic

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_2320.jpg

Thank is still cycling by the way......

I'm actually not missing the sand as much as I thought I would. I can always add it back in slowly afterwards. Figure it would be easier to add rather than remove later on. Funny to see the small amount of sand remaining. It’s actually being picked up from the bottom through a section that I've named tornado alley and then dropped over to other areas…..I’m not in Kansas anymore…..or maybe I’ve just come back……to Berlin.

Fed the tank some flakes the other day (not crazy) to check the flow pattern and after half an hour came back and they were still going round and round, but a lot smaller after being circulated through the powerheads.

As for going bare bottom…….Finding it a really nice change to actually see what’s at the bottom of my tank and cleaning it. A relative of mine recently got a new puppy in the house and had to pull out all his carpet and replace with hardwood. Kind of the same thing I think? Didn’t make sense to get 4-6” deep carpet with the right size fibres and populate with critters that would eventually decompose what Rambo left behind. Both work wouldn’t they.

I was also thinking that I could do away with a amount of live rock. Again, don’t need a large central vac system when a Swiffer will do, but if I do run into issues……that’s what the bio-balls will be for. Yes I said bio-balls

Will be stocking really low to start, and monitoring params frequently to see how it goes. The challenge will be to balance the nutrient import and export, which is no different than any other tank.

Good or Bad, I’ll let everyone know....isn’t the internet great, better than TV. Oh wait it can do that too

Pittsburgh 2 – Montreal 1 http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hock...ncanada/idesk/

great scape man.......

bio-balls????.....LR is far more effective for colonizing beneficial bacteria and doesn't need to be cleaned...... a no brainer IMO......unless I'm missing something

Hi fishytime,

I agree with the live rock. I have less than what is recommended for a tank this size so I'm hoping that this does not become an issue. I'll be adding a sump later on, but would prefer to not add more rock. Looking for an alternative if needed.

Looks like Ammonia is on it's way down.

April 23, 2010
http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_2227.jpg

May 07, 2010
http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_2327.jpg

After about 24hrs from my last test when I noticed the decline, Ammonia is now undetectable. I will continue to monitor as it might spike as the bioload changes. Not too worried about the Nitrite and Nitrate at the moment since we will be fish only for some time.

That will give me a chance to work on the sump.

May 8th, 2010
http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_2328.jpg

One of my favorite scapes in recent memory I love it. I was bummed when I saw you went bare bottom though. My first tank was sandless as well and while it's more work keeping my sand bed clean now I could personally never look at another bare bottom again.

One neat thing I have noticed is that I have algae growing on the bottom of my rocks. I certainly never had that in my first tank so obviously the sand does a nice job of reflecting light up too.

Looking forward to more. Happy cycling!

Yesterday I needed to transfer out the fish from another tank which I'm taking down (2 Percs and 1 Blue Tang). I also added 5ml of Seachem's Prime as a precaution. Did another test today to make sure there were no spikes and everything seems to be okay. Ammonia and Nitrite are 0 and pH is 8.2

May 10, 2010
http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_2423.jpg

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_2425.jpg

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_2426.jpg

I also noticed a few snails appearing from a couple pieces of rock that was in my older tank. From what I can tell so far Collonista snails. They are just algae grazers and will cause no harm. I hope they don't get out of control.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_2326.jpg

A week has passed since I've last updated and waiting for my RO/DI replacement filters to arrive. In the meantime I've had my first algae bloom. Only on the rocks (at the moment) closest to the top....can't wait till I get my new filters. For now the algae gets darker throughout the day with the lights on, so I will be keeping them off for now.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_2459.jpg

Today's Forecast:
Temperature = 78° F
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 40
pH = 8.0
Alkalinity = 7 dKH
Salinity = 1.022