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Viewed: 255 -- Replies: 4 | ||||||||
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| Posted | setting up new system |
| 28-10-2007 13:50 by smiggy |
is it possible to mature my new tank with just salt water and live rock until im ready to put my live stock in to it. plus i will add a skimmer and power heads for water movement through rock and also an heater, but does it still need lighting or does,nt it really mater with no live stock in there yet any help would be really appreciated. |
| 28-10-2007 16:24 by JOHANSWAN |
you will be okay with no lightning,but a actinictic is recommended for the first week burning 4 hours a day and you can put some mollies in to mature your tank just adjust the mollies slowly to the salt and when you ready you can adjust them to freshwater again |
| 29-10-2007 08:14 by D.R. |
Throw a small piece of SPAM into the tank.
No joke, the ham will decompose porducing ammonia. It also has Sodium Nitrite, thereby curing the second stage of bio filtration |
| 01-11-2007 13:19 by akuku |
Your live rock will become dead rock if you do not run lighting or add calcwasser because your PH will be extremally low and kill all marine live. |
| 01-11-2007 14:16 by Alan |
Arghhhhhhh
Stop and talk to someone in the shop where you are buying the live rock. The live rock you get should be fully cured and as the live rock is your filter your filter will be matured from the get go. When setting the tank up run the lighting for at least 6 hours a day max 8 hours a day. Once fish and corals are being added bring the lighting up to 8 hours a day. Also have all the equipment running such as skimmer pumps etc etc from day one. Test the water as well to check to see if you get an ammonia spike sometimes you do with new live rock as there may be a slight die off due to the new orientation of the rock in your set up. Providing you get no ammonia spike turn off the protein skimmer for the first 7 weeks by doing this you will not be removing any potential food source for copepods and the like for the first 7 weeks it is set up no fish should be added this will ensure the set up is parasite free. Every couple of days add a small amount of food for the animals that will be living on the live rock you will probably find after a couple of weeks after lights out the glass of the tank will be covered in small critters they are the size of pin heads these for the very base of the clean up crew once the fish have moved in though much of these will be eaten. However it is worth encouraging these from the start. If within the 8 weeks you get an algae problem, don't be surprised if you do, you probably will, add appropriate grazers to keep the algae under control make a choice between hermits and snails as the best snails will be munched by hermits the 2 are not fully compatible although dwarf hermits are usually ok with turbo snails its if you want to utilise nassarus and cerith snails that problems with hermits will occur. Stock the grazers appropriate to the quantity of algae growing the idea is to obtain a balance. After the 8 weeks you can start adding fish very slowly I would avoid damsel fish they are sods however green chromis make a good choice as a small shoal in a tank if the tank is big enough otherwise something like a pyjama wrasse is a good first fish. Get a *** good book to. Also watch for phosphates and silicates so use a good phosphate remover from day one. Within this 8 weeks I would carry out a partial water change every week if the water is becoming less than ideal otherwise every 2 weeks no more than 20% should be necessary. whilst using spam on a freshwater tank would be a good way of maturing it you would probaly kill all the critters on the live rock if you were to do this. |
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