SETTING UP NEW 30G SALTY TONIGHT!

So I went to a local grocery store and the Seafood emplyee give me a large raw prawn for free. I have it wrapped in a netting type bag and clipped at the top. How long do I leave this in the tank for...and is this thing gunna stink after awhile hehehehe oh the joys of a liquid hobby...LOVE IT!!
 
of all the hours I spent reading this forum, I don't know why I didn't see that post, thank you. So i took the prawn out, tested the water and it's reading 0.5 ammonia, and 8.0 PH the salt is reading 1.027 so I am going to do a water change with just fresh and try and get the salt level back down to 1.021-1.022
 
oh ya and I also bought 2 Koralia #3's on ebay cheap cheap, might only just need 1, with the one that I already have, or I may remove my original one, and replace with both the Koralia's will see if it turns into a whirlpool or not LOL. Hopefully my skimmer comes soon.
 
I bought 1 turbo snail, and 2 hermit crabs, one blue and a scarlet, my PH is 8.0 my ammonia is now at 0.25 I did a 10% water change, and I have only used RO water. I seem to have greenish brownish algae in the tank is this normal on a cycling tank, the guy at the LFS suggested the small cleaning crew to help cycle and clean the tank.
 
chevyguy86 said:
of all the hours I spent reading this forum, I don't know why I didn't see that post, thank you. So i took the prawn out, tested the water and it's reading 0.5 ammonia, and 8.0 PH the salt is reading 1.027 so I am going to do a water change with just fresh and try and get the salt level back down to 1.021-1.022
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You need to leave the prawn in there till your ammonia is reading about 4 or 5ppm.....Aim to get your SG to 1.025 as an average....


chevyguy86 said:
I bought 1 turbo snail, and 2 hermit crabs, one blue and a scarlet, my PH is 8.0 my ammonia is now at 0.25 I did a 10% water change, and I have only used RO water. I seem to have greenish brownish algae in the tank is this normal on a cycling tank, the guy at the LFS suggested the small cleaning crew to help cycle and clean the tank.
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It wont really help to cycle the tank....As i see it, your cycle is not complete, so, clean up crew is best not to go in there...If it already is, then just keep a close eye on them.....The brown algae is Diatom algae, it happens to all new marine tanks, nothing to worry about and will pass shortly....
 
1 - The person that told you it was ok to leave that liverock out for a day should be forever scratched from your list of people you accept fish advice from. Selling you a clean up crew while cycling was also bad, but then, he probably expected a repeat sale when those die.

2 - Pull everything living and let that shrimp dissolve completely. It'll take time, but your tank will have a very strong cycle and be ready for a full stocking within a few weeks.

3 - Don't skim the tank while cycling, as it sort of defeats the purpose.

4 - Crack open that 150 gallon bucket of patience and use some of it.

If you had set the tank up, then added your liverock within a couple hours of pulling it out of the shop's tank, your tank would have been pretty much instantly cycled. As it is, you are re-curing the liverock you paid all that money for. It's a mistake lots of people make, so just learn from it and move on.
 
I was going by a previous post, that someone else had posted a link to a sticky saying to pull the prawn out after 2-3 days which I did after 3 days, the post was the following http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums...ad.php?t=91273 . This is what is frustrating mixed information seems that everybody has different opinions of cycling SW tanks. I was following what was in the sticky. The prawn was in the tank for 3 days the smell was horrible I wanted to leave it in longer but since the room was just painted I did not want that smell to sink into the fresh paint, and when I read the post in regards to cycling a tank and it said to remove after 2-3 days that's what I did. I have lots of patience, however the only reason I bought a snail and 2 crabs was because it was suggested, I can wait a year, it doesn't bother me, I am thinking I am going to pull out 2 pieces of LR and replace with 2 new pieces and do a direct transfer, and not leave out. The cost is the least of my concern I have already dumped close to a grand into a tank that I got for free. I just want it to be right and get the best of the best and not worry about upgrading it later. Eventually I want to convert my 55 and my 100 gallon FW tanks to SW tanks. This 30 gallon is just a starter for now to see if I can make it all happen.
 
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Here are my own methods of setting up a sw tank..

Method #1: Expensive and fast..

1 - prep the tank
2 - put in 100% livesand (not that bagged crap, either..)
3 - put in 100% liverock to instantly cycle the tank.
4 - done

Method #2: Cheap but takes a while..
1 - prep the tank
2 - put in 80% dry sand (Caribsea Seaflor)/20% live sand (again, not the bagged crap)
3 - put in 100% base rock
4 - throw in 1 large shrimp per 30 gallons, let the shrimp melt completely. It's going to stink, live with it or use some pure ammonia.
5 - wait 4-6 weeks
6 - after the cycle, add 10-15lbs of nice liverock to help seed the other liverock with some macro life.
7 - done
 
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