Cycling/ stocking part of a tank

[neilp2006]

Hi there- I'll try to keep this succinct...

I'm putting together a 125. 72x18x22. 40b sump, at 22 gallons. I have a question regarding stocking and cycling part of the tank first, then the rest a little later.

First phase- deadline is 10 weeks July 7th. Daughters 1st birthday and wife doesn't want empty tank sitting in view.

40 lbs brs reefsaver, been in a bucket with rodi to remove phosphate since last week. Plan to continue that until it drops to zero, aquascape after it has dried, then cycle in a tote + saltwater + biospira to get the bacteria established. Will move to tank once cycled. 10 lb more treated the same in sump. I plan to have this part in the left side, 24 inch section. Meanwhile, qt ttm 2 clowns and 3 blue chromis for 5 weeks, then put them into DT with reefsaver rock, 2 inch bed of sand the weekend of July 4th, all going well.

Questions- will the 50lbs fully cured reefsaver support bioload from 5 sub-1 inch fish? Despite the water volume being 150 ish, im only trying to support 5 inches of fish, so I don't need all 100 lbs of rock ready to go, right?

Thinking I would 'dam' off the two foot section to contain the sand, leaving 4 feet bare, until phase two. How do I contain the sand? Any ideas?

Phase 2- started last week also. 50 lbs brs pukani and a 21 inch long tonga shelf. In a rodi container stinking up the place, getting rid of organic and phosphates. Cure is expected to be 8-12 weeks, then cycle using biospira. Will add to tank once fully cured, wait 4 weeks then add some more livestock. Will fill in rest of sand bed when I place those rocks into DT.

Doing 2 phases fulfills need to have something in tank in 10 weeks, while giving appropriate time to cure and fir bacteria to populate the pukani before adding it to DT. I'm keeping the bottom bare on the right hand pukani section because I'd rather not have to scrape sand aside to place the rocks (will be on starboard platform due to aquascape idea). Rather it go down on bare glass.

I'd have to remove the fish before the seconds sand addition, due to cloudiness, but I'll have the QT set up again for that.

Missing anything obvious? Would like to hear from anyone who's done a similar 2 stage stocking process.

Cheers!!


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[mcgyvr]

man you make reefing sound like a PITA... :p

And here I just throw rock/sand/saltwater into the tank.. fire up the powerheads... sprinkle in some flake food for a couple days...wait 4 weeks and start adding creatures.. :shrug:

Are you even measuring any phosphate in the BRS rock?

[thegrun]

The 50 pounds of cycled rock should handle that bio-load in phase 1, although the chromis may kill each other off until only one is left as is their habit. I would just stop the sand at the half way mark, no need to dam it off; if a little blows over to the phase 2 side no big deal. I would use dry sand well washed to remove the fines, especially in phase 2. No need to remove the fish if you clean the sand.

[neilp2006]

man you make reefing sound like a PITA... :p

And here I just throw rock/sand/saltwater into the tank.. fire up the powerheads... sprinkle in some flake food for a couple days...wait 4 weeks and start adding creatures.. :shrug:

Are you even measuring any phosphate in the BRS rock?

Nah, not at all! Just trying to be thorough and do things right. Don't want to be chasing issues for months when I can head a bunch of them off up front.

As for the rock- the reefsaver is super clean, and almost zero phosphate after the week. I'm doing another test over the weekend once my own kits come in. I never expected much to come off the reefsaver in the first place, but had the time to check out how my rodi and mixing containers were working out too. Spectrapure and food grade rectangular brutes, should be fine, but I like knowing my baseline numbers.

The pukani, on the other hand, is dirty. It maxed out the low range test, and smells nasty. I might bring the temp up a bit to 80 to speed it up a touch, but the wife says something every time I open the garage door. I'm considering blasting it with muriatic acid at the weekend and going from there. It might even catch up with the reefsaver and I can do it all at once, but the 2 step plan at least could work if I'm careful and need to stagger the scaping etc.

Cheers!

[neilp2006]

The 50 pounds of cycled rock should handle that bio-load in phase 1, although the chromis may kill each other off until only one is left as is their habit. I would just stop the sand at the half way mark, no need to dam it off; if a little blows over to the phase 2 side no big deal. I would use dry sand well washed to remove the fines, especially in phase 2. No need to remove the fish if you clean the sand.



Thanks for the info. I wasn't aware chromis would kill each other. Any way to avoid that, or is there an alternative small fish that I can keep a mini school of?


Good tip to thoroughly prewash the sand. I'll make that the plan but have QT on standby in case I upset something.

Cheers!

[A sea K]

Thanks for the info. I wasn't aware chromis would kill each other. Any way to avoid that, or is there an alternative small fish that I can keep a mini school of.

Cheers!

Chrysiptera hemicyanea, the Azure Damselfish. They get a bad rap because they are a damsel but these little gems are pretty well mannered and should make a nice group in your 125.

[neilp2006]

Nice looking fish. I'll put it on the possibles list

Cheers


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