My version of patience... a build thread.

No, if you had the HQI I would expect more evaporation.

You are better person then me, I have never been able to leave the lights off during a cycle. The rational behind leaving the light off or limiting their use is, you may see a reduced algae bloom. After the diatoms die off, you sometimes see a GHA bloom. Leaving the lights off is said to reduce the intensity of the bloom and duration of it.

 

We're not leaving them off, just wondered if we were going to do any harm by doing so. It's much more entertaining to watch it cycle with the lights on!

 

So far so good! I'm looking forward seeing the build over the next few months. I'm a big fan of biocubes. I love the look, really nice tanks. Is this your first tank?

 

Yeah, this is the first shot at it. We like the BioCube so far... it does have a nice look and it's super quiet which is something I was worried about.

More to come as we progress...

--EW

 

A very nice start and Kudos for all the pics. If you'd like some inspiration for "going big" check out Otty's build thread or mine (I'm actually getting ready to start on my build for the second time around).

 

Holy crap! What an emotional roller coaster! Beautiful though... I'll definitely be following along as you rebuild.

 

We took a sample of some water into the LFS yesterday to have a full panel of tests on it just to make sure we were reading the kit right (turns out they use the same API test kit we have). Their readings were:

SG: 1.025
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0
Alkalinity: 6
pH: 8.8
Calcium: 340

We hadn't been measuring ammonia or nitrite, so it was kind of cool news to see them both at zero.

We were thinking that maybe if the parameters were right we'd maybe throw a creature or two in there. We were thinking a couple hermits or something.

The main LFS guy was of the opinion that we should throw a damsel in there along with a shrimp and a few hermits (very salesy, didn't dig it really). So we're looking around and a different LFS guy came by and said the fish were more likely than a shrimp to tolerate the water quality instability that is likely over the next month or so and to keep it slow which is more consistent with what I've read and made me feel a little better. He also recommended against the damsels on account of they're mean and really hard to get out of the tank if you need to, also consistent with research. Another point for that guy! Anyhow, we decided to go ahead and give a couple fish a shot.

So, we ended up with two Pajama Cardinalfish and two really small Red-Leg Hermit Crabs.

Here they are about to be introduced to their new home.







After about 15 minutes and a few turkey basters full of our water, in they went! They hid out under the rocks for a while, but came out to explore after about 30 minutes or so.





The LFS guy told us they'd eat flake food (vegetable based), but we read up on the PJ's and found out they were carnivores so we stopped and got some frozen brine shrimp. We fed them about 6:30 last night after they'd been in the tank for about 4 hours. They ate that brine shrimp like it was going out of style!

This guy.....



...has already decided he didn't like the shell he had, so he picked a new one out this afternoon.

Tested water tonight (including ammonia and nitrite) and parameters haven't changed from above. We'll be testing everyday for the next week or two to make sure nothing starts to get out of whack. We haven't figured out who our next inhabitant will be yet, but our plan is to wait for about a month before we add anything else so we have some time to figure it out.

Search continues for a LFS that gives me a good vibe... If any of you are in Colorado and have a really good recommendation please PM me.

Any quirks I need to know about the Pajama Cardinals that isn't in all the literature?

 

He changed back to his original shell last night before we went to bed, and this morning, he's changed to a different new one! I think we need more options for him... ;D

 

Ok, so water parameters and history are as follows:

Water added on 6/11, topped off with distilled water on 6/18. 2x PJ Cardinals added on 6/18.

Current parameters...
Temp: 76
SG: 1.024
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
Phosphate: 0
Alkalinity: 6
Calcium: 340
pH: 8.8

All have been relatively stable.

Based on the research I've done, an elevated pH is typical in new tanks during cycling etc... However, my expectation was that it would start to drop as fish poop and other stuff were introduced to the system. Here are day by day pH readings:

6/11: 8.6
6/12: 8.4
6/12 - 6/21: 8.8

Is this something we should worry about at the moment, or is the "wait and see" method advised? Thanks guys.

--EW

 

Anyone..... Bueller.... Bueller...