Cycling

Now everything is in and ready to go. The tank “Cycle” begins. Again with the research I’ve done there are a few different ways to cycle a tank and get my dead rock loaded up with good bacteria.

1. With 80% dead rock and 20% live rock (which I’ve done)
2. Using a hardy fish to raise the ammonia levels which will also kick start the bacteria in my rocks. Although this is pretty cruel as the ammonia levels in the tank will get high and could burn the gills of the fish. Not recommended but some people do it.
3. Using a dead shrimp, prawn or adding fish food to the tank. This will also raise ammonia levels.

I’ve gone for the live rock and fish food option. I already have the live rock in place so i just need to add the fish food. apparently you can add any kind of food, i have some flake food that i got free with a Hydrometer (Ill come to that later) which i will add. Most people on the net are saying just to add it to your tank but it will make a bit of a mess as it decays on the sand. I don’t want this so I’ve added some flake food to one of my pads in the filter…

Hopefully this will decay and the ammonia will pass into the tank without any or the mess. Then after i can just replace the pad. the small rena pads next to the poly filter are for removing green algae in the water which is sometimes a problem in cycling, so i thought id beat it before it starts. Its not essential and probably not necessary but I’m over cautious.

No protein skimmer and lighting

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about protein skimmers and the filtration benefits. Unfortunatly my tank will not allow one unless it is modified, which means id have to loose the trickle filter as parts would have to be drilled out for an external filter and protein skimmer. If i decide to go down the protein skimmer route it would add another hefty cost of the tank.

Also there are a lot of opinions on the net that the standard lighting in my tank is also inadequate. People are saying that the entire lid needs to be removed and replaced with a LED, Metal halide or fluorescent hood lighting system. This again is possible but will carry another even larger cost!

I was starting to reconsider the whole thing as costs were starting to spiral out of control as all i was reading was doom and gloom…and then i saw a youtube video of a professional fish keeper in Australia. Listening to this guy was a breath of fresh air! I’ve since looked him up (Paul Talbot) on youtube and his websites. He has given me a load of new ideas and alternatives to the normal.

Here is the video i mentioned before, the tank in the video is very similar to mine…

Salt water and Live rock

Just been to my local fish store and bought myself the RO/DI salt water for the tank and the storage container underneath, 150 litres. Also I’ve bought 25 litres of fresh RO/DI water to add in replace of evaporation. You cannot replace evaporated water with more saltwater because its only the water that leaves the tank, the salt stays in.

Also i have bought 2kg of live rock to seed my dead rock. You’ll notice the live rock in the tank is covered in coraline algae that is coloured purple.

Filter

After cleaning out all the old media and crap left over from the previous owner I’ve decided to go for a thin carbon sheet and a think poly filter sheet in the trickle filter. The trickle filter in my tank is situated in the lid behind the light unit. there are a lot of different opinions about the trickle filter not being adequate for the aquarium.

I’ve done a lot of reading about different filters and sumps. sumps seem to be the ideal way to go as it acts as i secondary tank which you can have all of you kit in along with filter, protein skimmer, refugium ETC… but for a sump you need plumbing going through the bottom of the tank so water can trickle down and a pump sends it back up.

I’m just going to start with my trickle filter and 10% water changes every week and see how things go.

Wavemaker

This is my wavemaker i’ve added. The wavemaker will simulate sea like currents and keep the water moving, which also helps filtration. These underwater fans also help oxygenate the water by pointing them at the surface to agitate the water. The particular one is a cheaper option from “all pond soultions” I’m going to point mine at the rocks until the cycling has finished then i may get another smaller one to put at the bottom.

Click the image underneath for all technical jargon…

Aquascape

Now to put the rock together how id like it displayed. Im no expert on reef rock beds but i just plan to build it up so it looks good in the tank and give shelter to the fish. Its important to secure the rock together so there is no chance of it falling and killing the livestock or even worse breaking the grass! im going to glue my rock together using Aquascaping putty. This putty is the colour of coraline algae (redish).

This putty is used to fix the rocks (live or dead) together. Im going to glue mine together in small sections so its not impossible to remove from the tank if it all needs cleaning in the future. The putty comes in 2 bars which needs mixing together just like epoxy glue. It takes about 3-4 hours to set. this putty also can be use to fix rocks together and attaching corals under the water, just takes longer to harden.

Substrate

There are literally loads of different sands and gravel options out there to use and even more opinions on what and what not to use and how to use them. i cant even start to go into it! although there seems to be one common denominator among the opinions…. be careful off dead material or waste food getting mixed up in the substrate, this will cause problems later on.

There 3 basic options with your substrate. Live or dead sand (same principle as the rocks) or none at all. There are pros and cons with all 3 options. with my tank and the research I’ve done i’m going with a 1mm crushed coral sand, about 5kg which makes about a 2cm layer. From what I’ve read it seem like the best substrate to keep clean so less likely to build up any bad bacteria that will cause an ammonia build up.

Dead rock to live rock

Im starting my reef off with “dead rock” rock that was once “live rock” that has been used in someones tank or come from the sea and has been dried out. Dead rock is cheaper but takes more time to cycle in the first months of the tanks life. In time this dead rock will become live again.

Live rock is porous seas bed rock that is full of good bacteria that acts as a natural biological filter keeping all the waste products of the fish at bay, Mainly Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates. Live rock can prices vary from £10-£15 per kilo and im looking to use 10-15kg.

I managed to pick up 12kg of dead rock from eBay for £30 Bargain!