Vince's 55g Starter Tank

vince0 · #1 04-26-2011, 09:56 PM

Are you saying I should add more live rock to the set-up, if I wanted this to jump along a little quicker? And also, with adding a couple dead shrimp, how long do i leave them in there? And should I put them anywhere specific, or is there somewhere that they will have the greatest impact.

I was also curious about adding a sand bed? I like the idea of sand, and wanted to get a symbiotic shrimp/goby combo, or at least try for it. What is involved in adding sand bed? What is the best time to add the sand bed? Should I wait until the tank is cycled completely?

Thanks again for the info, and any additional info is great!

vince0 · #2 04-29-2011, 02:37 AM

I added 2 raw frozen shrimps to the tank last night, and when I go up this morning I found a lot of tiny dead shrimps and copepods. It would appear that ammonia is starting to register on the test kit. Also, since I added the raw shrimp, my skimmer has stopped producing micro-bubbles! Im starting to notice some alge and diatom growth. I can't wait for it to be safe to add more live rock

lee9 · #3 04-29-2011, 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vince0

I was also curious about adding a sand bed? I like the idea of sand, and wanted to get a symbiotic shrimp/goby combo, or at least try for it. What is involved in adding sand bed? What is the best time to add the sand bed? Should I wait until the tank is cycled completely?

I have a Yellow Watchman Goby and Tiger Pistol Shrimp pair. In hindsight, I wish I would have used a coarser substrate for my sand bed. I currently have a mix of fine live sand and aragamax sugar-sized sand. The Tiger Pistol Shrimp is like a little bulldozer. It's a permenant construction zone at the bottom my tank. haha It's cool to watch but it makes a mess of things with the fine sand. I can't really put anything right on the substrate or it gets partially buried. My bottom live rock gets a lot of sand on it too. My tank is very small though (28 gallons) so it probably won't be as much of a problem for you.

That's just my experience with the pair so far. I really enjoy them though.

vince0 · #4 04-30-2011, 12:12 AM

Did you add your sand right away, or did you wait till later?

Magma · #5 04-30-2011, 12:28 AM

I added mine before I filled the tank, it still clouds the tank but not as bad, if you want to add it after it will take a day or 2 for the sand to settle and your tank will look white.

But then your rock will be touching the glass already and be more secure.

lee9 · #6 04-30-2011, 09:42 PM

I put my live sand in after the saltwater. A few days later I added all my live rock.

vince0 · #7 05-01-2011, 04:08 AM

Thanks for the comments guys... I think im going to wait for this part of the cycle to get done and over with before I add the sand, just to make it easier on clean up for now.

On a side note, I've noticed quite a few orange/blue bristleworms

vince0 · #8 05-01-2011, 05:32 PM

Ammonia is now at 1.0

Nitrite is at .25

Didn't bother testing for nitrate yet.

Can anyone tell me when I should be removing the raw shimp and replacing them with fish? Should I add more live rock before I add more shrimp to bring up the ratio of live to dry rock?

I'd provide an updated pic, but thing haven't really changed with this tank.