Tank Journal Archive

[dimitri]

So the new tank was set up with NSW, Live Sand, maybe 5kg of live rock (very fresh, no die off) and the rest of the rock 'Real Reef Rock' (inert)

coming up to week 3 now and no ammonia at all, I did the same tactic as before and stocked instantly to test if I would have any die off (Hydra-Pure & all that ) - I stocked with yellow staghorn damsels and blue/green chromies - 10 of each. at day 3 and 4 of the set up, no deaths after a week so I put in a long nose hawkfish, still nothing, all systems stable and perfect.

My thinking is, if i used live sand and technically living water I wouldn't get an ammonia spike and true cycle would I? there would be enough bacteria + the hydra to keep the system perfectly stable, hence why no fish losses.


Is that possible? does it even work like that? should I still expect a cycle?

 

[bimbo]

Too hard too fast and you will get a nitrogen cycle IMO as the nutrient load will be far greater than the existing bacterial colony can process. But there are a lot of factors involved like tank size/water volume, how much nutrient is going into the tank (feed) how live the sand actually was etc. For what its worth there is very little bacteria in the water - the bacteria we want colonise surfaces like rock sand and glass etc.
I personally wouldn't stock a tank that way - like they say nothing good ever happens fast in this hobby, only bad.

 

[dimitri]

Too hard too fast and you will get a nitrogen cycle IMO as the nutrient load will be far greater than the existing bacterial colony can process. But there are a lot of factors involved like tank size/water volume, how much nutrient is going into the tank (feed) how live the sand actually was etc. For what its worth there is very little bacteria in the water - the bacteria we want colonise surfaces like rock sand and glass etc.
I personally wouldn't stock a tank that way - like they say nothing good ever happens fast in this hobby, only bad.

feeding a small pinch of flake and some frozen every day - 3 times a day.

total system is 525litres approx.


the system doesn't really rely on bacteria now does it?

it's just present and doing its thing but its not the defining factor to keeping the system stable - the hydra is.

i realise there isn't a lot of bacteria in the water itself but it is different to ASW we mix up so?

i've proved your last sentence wrong already in the last tank journal with the hydra, i cant help it if people like to keep heads buried in the sand.

just trying to push it a bit more this time and see if i can make it crash, and what other effects the live sand and NSW might have.

 

[Savage Henry]

Don't know much about Hydra-Pure except that it appears to capture NH4. I'm neither for nor against Hydra-Pure, just a bit sceptical. I don't doubt that it would capture NH4 - I have worked with ion exchange resins and they are brilliant, but they normally retain the ion captured (in this case NH4).

Isn't this just delaying the cycle as your limiting the production of bacteria that metabolise NH4. In turn, you are limiting the bacteria that metabolise the Nitrite that your NH4-metabolising bacteria produced. In turn limiting the production of bacteria that metabolise the Nitrate that your nitrite-metabolising bacteria produce.

So, I guess you have to wait until your Hydra-Pure is exhausted before you begin a natural cycle??? Then what?

I'd just be a bit careful in case you do reach a point where the Hydra-Pure is exhausted and then you get an ammonia spike.

 

[dimitri]

a very valid way of looking at it. i guess as long as i change the cartridge before the 12month lifespan it'll be ok

the first tank went through a normal cycle, admittedly i used more LR, it was just fairly condensed and without the ammonia spike/dieoff/fish loss - everything survived.


Will see how it goes over the next few days