Tank Maturity

Leadfootedracer

Non-member
My 40b peninsula is nearing its 12th week of running and I’m feeling like it’s hit a plateau in the maturity. I started the tank with all 100% dry rock and a bottle of bacteria. I have a small cuc (4-5 astrea snails and 4 blue leg hermits) and they are doing just fine. I did have 2 clowns and a yellow tang, but the tang has since passed and the clowns are in QT due to ich. The “uglies” have stopped coming, but have also stopped dying. The water stays clear, the bubble algae won’t die, and it isn’t getting any worse. Mechanical removal has proven to be ineffective. My refugium is bare bottom and has 2 small pieces of rock, that were also dry when started.

Should I be purchasing cured live rock? Maybe something out of someone’s system with some history and hitchhikers? Should I increase my cuc? Any input and advice is appreciated.


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Did you test your water parameters during the cycle? Did you see ammonia rise, and then nitrites, and then nitrates and then ammonia and nitrites declining to zero? What is your current parameters? I am only asking because some people think that their tank cycled, when it actually never did.
 
Did you test your water parameters during the cycle? Did you see ammonia rise, and then nitrites, and then nitrates and then ammonia and nitrites declining to zero? What is your current parameters? I am only asking because some people think that their tank cycled, when it actually never did.

Yes, the tank went through what appeared to be a traditional cycle. Was slow, but it did.

Current parameters unknown. I’m at work. I will grab them later.


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No matter what, I need to add to my fuge. It’s very empty. LoL. The 2 rocks in there are around the size of a fist, each. The fuge holds close to 5g of water.


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Sorry if I missed it somewhere but if you started with a 100% dry rock, then where did the bubble algae come from?
 
Sorry if I missed it somewhere but if you started with a 100% dry rock, then where did the bubble algae come from?

I’m assuming it was part of the cycle and it never went away? I don’t know. I used bottled bacteria to start the cycle in the tank, and possibly over fed it when it was fishless.


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Bubble Algae can only come from another tank via Live Rock, Corals and water. It doesn't just appear in your tank as part of the tank cycle.
Diatom, cyano, dino, hair algae and a few others can appear out of nowhere as part of the tank cycle.
 
Interesting. Well, some of the rock was being dried out on a shelf when I got it, so I considered it dry. The rest was definitely that bright white color fresh out of the box. I didn’t wash/soak the rocks prior to putting them in the tank. I do have a pond foam wall, not sure if that’s a possible source.


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The skimmer was used (dry) and one of the two mag5’s was used (wet) but that system has no bubble algae.


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Temp: 79F
SG: 1.024 (hydrometer)
pH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm

That’s all I have been testing.


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FWIW there is cycling, and then there is maturity. Sounds like you are well cycled, but to really mature a tank will need a good amount of life forms seeded because they are things that can't appear spontaneously no matter how long a tank cycles (like bubble algae, but of course we all would rather be without that). As tanks mature, we see more and more diverse life forms being seeded and getting established. As this happens we get more and more complex and balanced food webs, bacterial populations (beyond the basic nitrogen cycling bacteria), and generally cool little critters popping up, seemingly out of nowhere.

What usually happens with systems started with dry/dead rock is they get traditionally cycled (as yours probably has done), and then as we add frags and or colonies of coral, many of those organisms come in on the frags and the rock/frag mounts they are attached to, effectively doing the seeding. If you haven't been adding corals of some sort, and no live rock, then that's why you are lacking diversity (as it sounds like you are already suspecting). Also if you are really good about QT and dipping protocols, you may not be introducing much diversity as you add livestock (nice catch 22 ay?).

So yes, getting some nice LR, Live sand, or anything out of a well established tank or tanks that have minimal nuisance species present will do a lot to boost your diversity and move your tank toward "maturity". As for maturity, at least in my mind it typically takes at least a year or more to even begin to be "mature" (unless of course you got a large amount of rock/coral out of an already mature tank, in which case things could happen quite a bit faster, but still will take a lot of time).
 
This is EXACTLY where my head is at. The tank is CYCLED. But isn’t showing signs of any progress from where it sits.

I haven’t put any coral/colonies in the tank. Aside from fish and inverts, nothing has been put in the tank.

Should I be shopping the cured live rock at the LFS, or should I be scrounging the forums for sell outs and tear downs? My sump is going to need 10-15lbs of rock.

My display/aquascape is pretty much set the way I like it, and adding any display rocks would be very limited. Colonies/frags would be ok. I will start looking into getting some.

Is my cuc sufficient? Should a 40b have more than 4-5 snails and 4 hermits?


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This is EXACTLY where my head is at. The tank is CYCLED. But isn’t showing signs of any progress from where it sits.

I haven’t put any coral/colonies in the tank. Aside from fish and inverts, nothing has been put in the tank.

Should I be shopping the cured live rock at the LFS, or should I be scrounging the forums for sell outs and tear downs? My sump is going to need 10-15lbs of rock.

My display/aquascape is pretty much set the way I like it, and adding any display rocks would be very limited. Colonies/frags would be ok. I will start looking into getting some.

Is my cuc sufficient? Should a 40b have more than 4-5 snails and 4 hermits?


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Honestly it's tricky getting good LR for seeding purposes. IMO most of the LR I see in the stores is pretty low in life/diversity and often way too expensive. Getting used LR from a tank breakdown can really be hit or miss unless you can take a good look at the tank while it's still up and thriving (or up and declining being overgrown in nuisance algae and little else). You want to be able to evaluate for diversity, desirable organisms, and undesirable organisms. Getting some LR out of a well kept and thriving tank will do you real good. That said, most tank break downs aren't thriving at the time of break down. Think of it like getting a tattoo, chose wisely, and when you find something nice be willing to pay whatever price for it. (I know Chris "cilyjr" is/was breaking down his beautiful tank. If he has any rock left to part with that would be a great source for your needs, and IME he is very fair about pricing things).
 
I go with about 1 snail per gallon ( depending on thesnail size) I have about 30 snails in a 29 biocube

I’ve heard this before. Seems like it would be totally overkill, but maybe I’m just over thinking things. I will definitely ramp up the cuc population though.


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John, thanks for the advice. I will look into getting some decent rock to fill up the fuge with.


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Met up with Shooter McGavin and got a mess load of rock for the sump. Still waiting for the new power heads to come in, but I’m hoping this is the step in the right direction I was looking for.


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A little before and after. The sump is an utter disaster. I’m not sure if I should be cleaning it or just leaving it. Thoughts on that?




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