20 Gallon Reef Tank - Cycle from Day 2 to Day 30! Success!
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- Опубликовано: 6 окт 2024
- This was a great experience and I'm so glad I was inspired to document the process. CJs Aquariums and Nathan Willard - between the two of you, you've created a monster.
I put CJ's video tutorials to use and learned how to use iMovie, and decided to spare you all from my ramblings....added in some music....I hope you like it.
Details:
20 gallon display tank
15 gallon sump
Sicce return pump (no idea what size - 350gph maybe?)
Reef Octopus 50-something something nano skimmer
Fluval E100 heater
Eheim Jäger 100w heater
About 15 lbs of Marco dry rock
One litre of Seachem Pond Matrix
Carib Sea Special Seaflor Aragonite sand - 20 lbs (shallow bed)
Two Koralia 240 nano powerheads (just swapped both out for a Jebao wp10 wavemaker powerhead)
AI Prime LED light running at 20,000 K, 100% with no weather effects
Hand Balance Redux by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommon...)
Source: incompetech.com...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Thank you so much for making this video. I'm cycling a tank right now and have watched this video about 10 times so far. It's one of my favs.
Hey, I'm so glad it's been helpful. I'm about to start a new build so will have a whole new series of videos. And please feel free to ask any questions you might have about running a small system. I'll do my best to share my experiences (I've made a lot more videos since this one). When it comes to small spaces you might be interested in my Coral Wars playlist. Thanks so much for watching and please subscribe if you want to follow along.
I just cycled my new 32 Gallon Bio Cube in similar fashion. For nutrients I used about two teaspoons of canned salmon cat food (the cat didn't notice), and a tablespoon of sugar. I got zero Ammonia for days and days, and I had the same brown dusting on the rock and sand. About 15 days in, I finally popped Ammonia showing at .5 ppm. It stayed high for about five days, then quickly dropped back to zero. Throughout this time I kept the lights on schedule all day and eventually got hair algae sprouting up. At that point I added two emerald crab. Four days later, the emerald crab had chomped up all the algae sprouts and the tank is in perfect balance. I have a tiny Chaeto refugium on the bottom of the media tower, and I just got a nice 24 watt LED flood light at 660 nm. Its very low profile so I was able to tape it to the backside without adding too much bulk to the backside of the tank. I used 20 lbs of rock, one bag of live sand, 1 box of marine pure balls in the first intake chamber, some dollar store scrubbies, a DIY zeovite and charcoal filter setup in the tower above the Chaeto. I inoculated the tank with one piece of live rock added to my 17 lbs of purchased dry rock, the live sand, and about two gallons of my friend's tank water. I also added some purchased bacteria culture every other day. I probably didn't need it. There is so much biological filtration in this tank I never did produce measurable nitrates/nitrites. Next I will add copepods into my chaeto refugium area. I plan to stock the tank with hard and soft corals and some lovely pipe fish, mandarins and seahorses. Pretty amazing to be able to do this in a tiny 32 gallon tank with NO sump.
That sounds amazing! I love the idea of AIO tanks though I’ve never had one. Will you be sharing any videos of it? I’ve subbed your channel and hit the notification bell, if you decide to publish any. 😁
I'd try and keep the lights off until you are closed to finished cycling. Whenever I left the lights on during cycling it ended up taking longer and there was always sooo much brown algae. Thanks for the video! I hope you are still enjoying your tank :)
Oh also try keeping the skimmer off. The last thing you want during a cycle is to gobble up that good bacteria.
Fr0ntSight I run skimmer during cycle and all tanks have done well no gha outbreaks or cyano
To be honest, it's probably better to just dump half the bacteria bottle into the tank the first day, wait a few days or a week and dump the rest in. It's because bacteria grow exponentially as long as there are available nutrients. So if you start off with a higher number on day 1, you will get a much higher number of bacterial cells by day 10 than if you were only adding a small amount each day. Of course the real answer requires scientific method, my suggestion is just a hypothesis, we'd have to know the bacterial strains and the nutrient levels... anyway, just a thought
Thank you for not talkin! I love your video and I have the same tank
nice video.. i enjoyed watching the process and your tank changing from week to week. I did pause a few spots to read tho lol. I think the cheato helped big time introducing bacteria and reducing nitrates.. many roads that can be taken to get the same result. well done and bonus is you got to save your breath because talking fast enough to keep up with short scenes is not easy trust me lol... thanks for the recognition in the description. looking forward to next update ...
+CJ'S AQUARIUMS Yeah - the reading, lol, I did my best to leave a long enough time and I guess I'll have to watch that. That 7 and a half minutes started out as almost 2 hours of footage. I have even more respect for you and your videos now man - mine is nowhere near your quality and it took me hours and hours. But I learned a lot and it'll be faster next time.
Thanks for the comment, really appreciate it.
I had no issue reading, any slower and it would have been unpleasant. Great video, tank looks very nice. :)
Very informative, Thanks for the post !
I prefer cycling with no lights & recommend that to my clients. (I’m sure others have mentioned it) but you have a nice setup 👍
That setup was an amazing learning experience! If you’re interested, I have a recent video of my newest tank that is a tour of the contents. Thanks for watching!
Reefgrrl I just watched one. Beautiful Tank & I hope everything goes smooth with the transition to the new home when it’s ready. Have a wonderful day! ☺️
Thanks so much for taking the time to do that! And I appreciate the good wishes! 👍🏻
Nice video. I know its older now but wanted to check it out to see if you did things I have never done. AND You did! Might take some of this into consideration when I cycle my 180 in a couple weeks.
Hey BL, thanks for checking it out! There are changes I'd have made (flexible hoses for plumbing so they could be cleaned easier when the white slime hits for example - check out my Hacksaw to the Plumbing video). As for the cycle process, I'm sure it went better with the chaeto in the sump than it would have without it. I have never had cyano, dinos, or indeed much algae in this system and I'm convinced it was because I let it cycle for a month. I guess I'll find out with the new build, whether I just got lucky with it!
I usually let my tanks cycles for 3 to 4 months. But mostly because I build my tanks on a tight budget. So after buying one component I save money for the next piece. However on this 180 I may what I need at the beginning since this will be a focal point in my house.
Hahaha, I hear you. Nothing nice about a big mess of parts sitting around waiting to be put together until that one final piece arrives! Plus, we want our tanks to look beautiful, the sooner the better (always bearing in mind we have to be patient).
Excellent video
Thanks Tony! It’s a very early one and I’ve learned a lot since then! 👍🏻
damn love that aquascape :)
+NEMO20G Thanks! Wait until you see my "Pillar of Sticks." 😮 I've been getting the final few acros cleaned up and moved over from the 29. Planning the update video for later in the week.
Reefgrrl this will be good :)
I love this song omg
I'll call it patience tank.
You dont need light when cycling
Thank you so much for responding to my comment. It means a lot. I have a 29 gal tank that I'm cycling . For 2 weeks I had no change in my levels at all. Then I added bio spira and a shrimp and got readings on everything. I'm not sure you've ever used this product but I'm wondering how long should I leave my shrimp in the tank( not alive/ from seafood store). What kind of levels should I be looking for? Do you still feed the tank ammonia when it becomes present? I'm very confused by this whole thing. I've been reading all I can and everything says something different. Thank you in advance for any help you can give and I look forward to your upcoming series of videos.
Hey Veronica! Once you have ammonia readings, you can stop adding ammonia and go ahead and remove the shrimp. At this point you've created food for the nitrifying bacteria that will process the ammonia. This is where the bio spira comes in.
In one or two days, you should begin to see levels of nitrites (I assume you'll be testing for them). The key is to be patient and wait for the various types of bacteria to establish themselves. And then, at some point you'll see nitrates showing on the tests, which means there are enough bacteria to process the nitrites and produce nitrates.
You may already be somewhere along in this process. Once you see zero ammonia, zero nitrites, and some nitrates, do a large water change, maybe 50%. If you then want to test your bacterial stability at this point (before adding creatures) add a small amount of ammonia, wait a few days, and then test for ammonia and nitrites. Both should be zero. If they aren't it wouldn't hurt to add more bio spira to help the bacteria levels. Then check again.
I see a lot of discussion about adding fish immediately when using these quick-start bacteria but it rarely ends well. There's just an entire natural process that needs to happen, so the tank reaches its own equilibrium as an ecosystem.
The time you invest now by going slowly, will pay off with fewer short-term problems.
Also, the best time to have livestock in quarantine is during the cycle, so they are ready when the tank is. Quarantine can be anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks, which allows plenty of cycle time.
I don't know how much this helps, and I've seen all the conflicting information out there, but my personal experience is you can never go wrong by going slow.
Lights on or off! I see that’s a huge debate? Starting my setup as soon as the 25 lagging IM shows up in mail!
General wisdom is lights off during the cycle unless you want to start growing algae early on. 😂 As bacteria colonize on the rocks and create biofilm, it becomes harder for algae to attach and grow. I’ve just finished cycling a tank, and it’s been in a dark room with no windows, lights on once a week when I go and check it, and all the rocks and sand are still white. Lights to be installed next, then I’m putting fish in. Good luck - I hope your tank arrives soon!
Reefgrrl ok, I just don’t want to cycle with no lights and then all of sudden after cycle and put fish an coral in, go through a diatom or algae bloom when lights finally come on!
Lol I hear you! You could maybe install the lights and run them on the empty tank for a week or two, see what happens, before putting any livestock in....🤔
Reefgrrl hello quick question I have a 32 biocube that I just settled 2 days ago should I leave the protein skimmer on and if so how would that help the tank . Thanks
Hi. Could it be that having the lights on during the cycling phase, the algae erupted? According to a LFS, the lights should be kept off during this phase.
I read many conflicting opinions. I started out with lights on, then turned them off except for recording video. Skimmer off, then on, then off. I never had the nuisance hair algae that lots of people get, just the brown stuff which I now believe is a completely normal and natural part of the cycling process. In the end, I'm not sure how much of it mattered, lol! Thanks for watching!
This music sounds like Phantasy Star Online
Oh man I used to play that!!
Good
did you clean the glass while cycling, because my tank still cycling and its full of diatom algea on the glass
I don't recall cleaning the glass - I don't think it needed it during my cycle. I would think it would be fine if you wanted to clean it - would get the stuff into the water column and then into the filtration system....
I grow macro algae in my tank and never seen nitrate spike.
Aren't you supposed to cycle with the lights off tho?
Yes, that was one of the things I learned during the process. I did turn them on for recording video though.
Could you list out what you did as you did it? A few more things and ill be filling up my 300
Hi, there are videos leading up to this one, that show the whole process, hopefully you might find what you’re looking for there. Thanks for watching, and good luck! 👍🏻
lucky 7 weeks mine has been set up an still got diatoms
Yeah, it was very interesting to watch as the bacteria colonized and were visible as perfectly round white spots, then ate the diatoms as they spread outwards. Thx for watching!
What light on the refugium
It’s a par38 bulb I got on ebay.
Eager to ask u whether u used live sand and rocks if yes then why cycle the tank for a month won't it be alright to add fish instantly after getting all things started
I used Marco rock (dry rock) and Caribsea Seaflor Special Grade sand, which is not live. The issue with using live rock that isn't from your own tank is that you won't know what undesirable critters might come along as hitchhikers.
The most important tool for me in this hobby is patience - I have had to force myself to be patient as the natural process unfolds. But having said that - it bothers me a lot when something dies through my actions so I'm probably overly cautious.
It's also really interesting to watch as the cycle progresses, because you get to see how things look under various parameters. I had to learn how a sump system works, get things fine-tuned, and figure out how to keep everything stable so the extra time allowed for that as well.
Feel free to ask questions any time! Tell me if you want the 30 second answer or the 30 minute answer and I will try to comply. 🤓
Hi, what is the temperature of your heater? Do you have a chiller?
I don’t have that tank any more, but I generally keep my tanks at around 78 F. I don’t use a chiller because we have central AC in the house and it keeps the room temperature stable.
did you water change in your cycle?
Hey Amtrak, after nitrates started showing up, I did a water change to bring them into range. No water change during the cycle though. So hard to watch all those ugly diatoms and just let it ride....😂😂
how's your stand doing so far? i have the same stand and also a 20g display and 15g sump. im worried it wont last a year.
I don’t have that tank any more, but I had it for over 2 years and it was still in perfect shape when we sold the system. 🤷♀️
what brand and model was the battery back up? great vid
+eric olsen Thanks! It's an "APC Canada BE650G1 Back-UPS 8 Outlet" - got it on Amazon for about $100. The fish that died cost me $80 (not to mention I feel so bad about losing him) so when I think of the huge dollars invested in livestock, $100 is a drop in the bucket. I had thought about it many times, just "never got around to it." Sigh.
+Reefgrrl Thanks for info. How much time would you estimate the battery back up would give you to keep power head and heater running? I know it is a tough question
+eric olsen With the low wattage I have plugged in there (it's about 220W) we think it would run for about 4 hours if it were on constantly. But - as long as I was home when a power outage happened - I would run it intermittently, probably for 15 minutes on and then 30 minutes off. There are frequent short outages in the small town where I live but the 11 hours was the longest by far since the big blackout that happened all over about 12 years ago. What killed my Pygmy hawkfish was the cold, I'm pretty sure. The temp dropped to 66F overnight and honestly, I expected more losses and consider myself lucky that nothing else died.
is that seeded live sand? if not use some and use already mixed stuff to instanly get cycle going
Hey, thanks - that was two tanks ago and is certainly good advice!
Having 0 ammonia even after 15 days doesn't seem right. Are you 100% sure your rock AND sand is live?
I don’t have that tank any more, but I suspected at the time that the chaeto I had in the sump pretty much from within a few days of filling it with water, took up much of the ammonia at the beginning. That tank was very much a learning experience. 😁
@@Reefgrrl Nice! Have you moved on to any cool new tanks? :)
Haha, I’ve moved on, for sure! I now have a Red Sea Reefer XL 425, and an Innovative Marine Nuvo Fusion Mini 40 - there are lots of videos on my channel if you’re interested! 😁
Did you do water changes during the cycle? if so, what days?
No water changes until the ammonia and nitrite were zero, and nitrate was up around 30ppm, if I remember correctly. It would have been at about the six-week mark. Thanks for watching!
Thanks!
Is this a normal 20 g high?
What size bulkheads do you have for the overflow and return?
I don't exactly know. It was already drilled when I got it and I no longer have it. I'm thinking the overflow was 1.25" and the return was 1", something like that. Sorry!
I have started my 1st reef tank bt it's been 10days already n nt seeing any difference..lights r on mandatory? Bec I dint switch on lights
Hi, lights should be off during the cycle and turned on when it’s finished. I turned the lights on for recording video. Once your cycle is done (ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate present) and you turn the lights on, you’ll see changes. Good luck!
@Reefgrrl I dint turn light till 10days..tn I dint c any difference tn switched on..still no difference..
Have you tested for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?
Ya did last week..water is nt ready yet..tested person told me 2 wait 1more week
do u remember wat type of sand u used?
I’ve always used CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade. I don’t know if you can still get it though.
Hi I have a question hopefully you can help. I'm setting up a quarantine tank and will be using filter media from my already established tank and also using bio spira and was wondering how long I should let it cycle before I add fish? I know it says you can add fish one day after adding the BS but I'm not sure how safe that is. Thanks in advance for any advice you have.
Veronica
Hey Veronica, I don't know how much I can help since I've yet to set up a QT myself, but I have done some research into it. It really depends on whether you plan to use medications in the QT. If you use anything that contains copper, you'll kill the bacteria that's seeded in your media. If you're planning to maintain hyposalinity, I'm unsure the bacteria will survive at very low salinity levels, don't know how low you can go.
Most of the ones I've seen, set things up so they have options as to treatment if anything shows up on the fish. So they take tank water from a water change and use it in the QT, then acclimate the new fish to it. They use a sponge filter to collect detritus, and add a heater and powerhead for temp and flow. They put pvc pipe sections in to give the fish places to hide - various sizes for different sizes of fish. Then, they do large water changes every few days while testing for ammonia all the time. If copper is used, they use a copper test kit to maintain the correct levels and so they know how much to dose.
So really, once you have something set up for filtering, temperature, flow, and structure for the fish, you can pretty much add some tank water and the fish and go from there.
I'd suggest checking out FishofHex and Bay Area Reefs for their QT videos, they might provide some further insight to what I've said here. I had to get my head around the fact that QTs aren't separate full systems, they're temporary housing for fish that need observation to make sure they're healthy, before putting them into the display. I'm not sure how much this helps! 🤔
Reefgrrl that does help. I have watched a lot of fishofhex videos. I will go back and see what I can find out. It's do confusing sometimes . Since I'm not making a separate system that does make since. I thank you as always for taking the time to answer my questions. It makes me feel good to be able to ask you about these things. Not much help in the city I live in.
My pleasure Veronica! Let me know how it goes.
What powerheads are you using?
Those are Hydor koralia 240gph - I still use them in my big tank on a Hydor Smart Wave controller. They don’t last forever - about 2 years - but they’re cheap and easy to clean.
no change water?
The water change was about 2 weeks later, when Nitrate was getting high.
I wouldn’t have kept the light on
I didn’t. it was only on when I recorded video. 🙂
@@Reefgrrl 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
Blue light only during cycle
No light is best though. 👍🏻
go to peluches reef tank and give me some tips pliz
why i cycle my tank in day 9 alredy .. and just have a little brown diatom :( .. ? anyone help me please
Hey Robert, can you give more details? Are you ghost feeding? Have you got any ammonia readings when testing? Every system is different, so there are many variables, and what you have there might be normal for your system....
Reefgrrl tks for ur answer , actually i dont have test kit ... But can u tell me hows ghost feed ? Whats mean ?
Hey Robert, ghost feeding is when you put food into the tank even if no fish are in there. So the food decomposes and creates ammonia to make the cycle begin. And you will need to test your water somehow, or you won't know when your cycle is progressing. Maybe you can take it to your local fish store and ask them to test it?
Reefgrrl oh i see , thank you ^^
hi, what is the name of the blue on the background of tank? did you paint it
Sorry, I have no idea. We bought this tank already drilled and painted so I don't know what the colour name is. Thx for watching!