W1ngz
08/22/2014, 10:07 AM
I'm not completely new to aquariums, having started with a fairly successful planted tank last December. In June I picked up a free 75G tank and stand (abandoned before someone moved). Decided it would make a great starter reef, got it home, wiped, rinsed and leak tested with tap water and vinegar. Drilled it 4 times to make a BeanAnimal overflow, and had water flowing through a 25Gal sump by mid July. Added salt, and then landed about 80Lbs of live rock from a tank shutdown someone was doing. Spread out the rocks to see what crawled out, and saw nothing but a few bristle worms.
After leaving it alone for 3-4 days in the dark, then testing ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to guage how much (if any) dieoff happened in the rock things looked good (0 NH3, 0 NO2 and just barely some NO3). What small amount of dieoff seemed to be taken up by what lived. I decided to dose ammonia up to 5ppm to check the cycle, and in about a day and a half was back to 0, and up considerably on NO3. I never saw any NO2 at all.
From there I re-stacked the rocks, added a mix of crushed coral and coarse sand to make about a 1" substrate, and had the skimmer, heaters and circ pumps going. With plenty of tubeworms, sponges and coraline already on the rocks, I started with a few hermits. I gradually brought it up to 5 scarlet hermits, 5 blue legged, 2 emerald crabs, a peppermint shrimp and a cleaner shrimp. 2 weeks since my last addition, everything is still alive. Nitrates have slowly come down from 40ish to about 5 as of now. Coraline is starting on the glass, overflow and return nozzle. I see small filter feeders on the glass, and even a copepod or two late at night. I still need to add some snails.
Current water params I've tested:
Temp 26C
salinity 1.024
pH 8-8.2 depending on time of day
NH4 - 0
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 5
dKH - 9
So my question is this. I think I'm right where I want to be to start introducing fish at a rate of 1 or 2 every 2 weeks. Is there anything I've missed?
My stocking plan is this, not counting more inverts as things progress along the way.
Week 1 Six Line Wrasse
Week 2 Blue/green Chromis (3)
Week 4 Black Clownfish (2)
Week 6 Bangaii Cardinal
Week 7 Royal Gramma Basslet
Week 8 Black Sailfin Blenny
Week 9 Watchman/Pistol shrimp pair
Week 10 One Spot Foxface -OR- Tomini Tang
After leaving it alone for 3-4 days in the dark, then testing ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to guage how much (if any) dieoff happened in the rock things looked good (0 NH3, 0 NO2 and just barely some NO3). What small amount of dieoff seemed to be taken up by what lived. I decided to dose ammonia up to 5ppm to check the cycle, and in about a day and a half was back to 0, and up considerably on NO3. I never saw any NO2 at all.
From there I re-stacked the rocks, added a mix of crushed coral and coarse sand to make about a 1" substrate, and had the skimmer, heaters and circ pumps going. With plenty of tubeworms, sponges and coraline already on the rocks, I started with a few hermits. I gradually brought it up to 5 scarlet hermits, 5 blue legged, 2 emerald crabs, a peppermint shrimp and a cleaner shrimp. 2 weeks since my last addition, everything is still alive. Nitrates have slowly come down from 40ish to about 5 as of now. Coraline is starting on the glass, overflow and return nozzle. I see small filter feeders on the glass, and even a copepod or two late at night. I still need to add some snails.
Current water params I've tested:
Temp 26C
salinity 1.024
pH 8-8.2 depending on time of day
NH4 - 0
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 5
dKH - 9
So my question is this. I think I'm right where I want to be to start introducing fish at a rate of 1 or 2 every 2 weeks. Is there anything I've missed?
My stocking plan is this, not counting more inverts as things progress along the way.
Week 1 Six Line Wrasse
Week 2 Blue/green Chromis (3)
Week 4 Black Clownfish (2)
Week 6 Bangaii Cardinal
Week 7 Royal Gramma Basslet
Week 8 Black Sailfin Blenny
Week 9 Watchman/Pistol shrimp pair
Week 10 One Spot Foxface -OR- Tomini Tang