12 Gallon Aquapod (first saltwater tank)

arejay

arejay

New Member
I am very excited to start my tank, but I do have two questions:

How long should it take for an ammonia spike after adding cured live rock?

and

After this spike can I add BioSpira to finish off the cycle?

Thanks for any help you can give, I will post some photos as I get things rolling.

—RJ
 
K

KidNano

New Member
the ammonia spike varies. I think average is about 2 weeks... some are much longer. the cycle on my first nano took 4 weeks.

i wouldn't add anything... Let nature take it's course and try to be patient. I don't really know anything about biospira though.
 
T

Trogdor

New Member
Let this time help you develop your patience. This hobby needs a ton of it, especially nano tanks. I wouldn't add anything either, any shortcuts are bound to cause problems later.
 
arejay

arejay

New Member
Great, thanks for the advice.

I found out that I won't be able to buy any live rock until next Thursday, is there anything that I can be doing in the meantime to get the ball rolling?
 
T

Trogdor

New Member
keep your lights turned off and if you have any power heads you can run them just to keep the water moving, assuming that you already put water in. Your cycle is to get the bacteria to start to colonize your live rock so not much you can do until you can get it in the tank.
 
arejay

arejay

New Member
that's what I thought, I'll post some photos on thursday when things get started.

Thanks again. . . :mrgreen:
 
arejay

arejay

New Member
As luck would have it, I found 5 lbs of LR today. My tank is up and running. . .

I plan on adding more LR on Thurday but not sure what to shoot for. I was thinking 12-15 total?
 
T

Trogdor

New Member
I used to follow the 1-1.5lbs/gallon method but you soon learn that if you use Fiji rock that it will take up a lot of space. I would put in as much as you like. 12lbs should cover it but be sure to leave room for more rocks because most frags that you get will be on rocks.
 
arejay

arejay

New Member
Good point, thanks.

I've taken some photos. . . if you can see it in the last one, on the lower left of the foreground rock (the red wormy thing) is this ok, or should I rid myself of it?







 
T

Trogdor

New Member
blader123 said:
Can't realy tell from that photo but could be Flatworm. NOT good see if you can get a closer picture. If it is then you will need
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/11657/product.web they can poison the whole tank in large numbers. Be careful where you get your live stock and live rock. Good Luck
Click to expand...
Flat worms are only dangerous in large numbers if you get a large die-off of them. I have some in my tank (as I'm sure many others do too) and they provide my six line wrasse with some good food.
 
arejay

arejay

New Member
Thanks for the advice. I'll keep a lookout for more, but I just see one now. Upon closer inspection it kind of looks like a centipede, there are many legs on each side of its body.

I don't know if this helps, I'll try to get a better picture tonight.

Thanks again,

—RJ
 
arejay

arejay

New Member
Thanks again. . .

You folks are by far some of the most helpful I've run into.

It looks kind of cool, if it won't bother things I think I'll leave it alone.
 
arejay

arejay

New Member
Well here are the updates:

1. Added 4 more lbs of cured Live Rock.

2. Added 5 Hermit Crabs.

3. Researchd BioSpira both online and in person. The online information was as expected, either advertisements or bashing. The in person inquiries were much more helpful, 5 total people that either worked in the LFS and specialized in SW fish or had SW tanks themselves. The most helpful advice was from someone who was both, and setup his own 12g AquaPod as a reef tank.

4. Bought & used BioSpira. Waited a day and ran tests. Everything seemed ok.

5. Added 3 snails, Tomato Clown, Dottyback.

Here are a couple of CellPhone photos, Ill try for better ones. . .



 
arejay

arejay

New Member
Another question for you:

How loud are the fans in a AquaPod typically? When I turn on the white lights the fan kicks on and is sort of noisy. I know that the BioCubes are fairly quiet, so I am becoming concerned. Also, of the two vents on the top of the lid, air blowing much harder out of the one on the right (also where the noise is coming from).

Is this normal, or am I looking at repairs already?
 
T

Trogdor

New Member
I can't say for sure because I have never had an aquapod before. I would suspect a bad bearing in the fan or the fan not being securely fastened to what ever is holding it. I would try and fix the latter first and see if that works.
 
arejay

arejay

New Member
Thanks, I tightened everything down and most of the noise is gone. The rest just seems to be typical. I had them start the display unit at my LFS, it sounds the same.

Does anyone know what kind of inverts I may have luck with (I have been told that the Tomato Clown will eat most polyps and corals)? Or should I just let everything alone for now?
 
arejay

arejay

New Member
Please say hello to m newest friend. . .



any tips on encouraging a positive relationship with my clown?

—RJ
 
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