29 gal FOWLR, eventual reef

[Ashurbarnipal]

Lights and camera are here! And I bought three more rocks. Two were normal, one was kinda smallish.






I'll be testing for ammonia and possibly nitrate later tonight. Have no idea how fast it'll cycle with these rocks and net of sand I got from the store, but I've no intention of rushing things, either.

[Ashurbarnipal]

No nitrate, but maybe a bit more ammonia, not sure. Color cards are so vague.

[Ashurbarnipal]

Ok, I hate to quadruple post, but it seems a small snail has hitchiked into my tank. Is it gonna be alright? Can inverts handle the cycling process?

[kaybee]

Many hitch hiking inverts, usually the kinds you can't purchase (e.g., small snails, pods, micro-sea stars, crabs, pest anemone's, bristleworms, fanworms, etc), can withstand the cycling process, though some die-off may occur.

Nice start, by the way!

[Ashurbarnipal]

Thanks.

I don't think I'll bother testing again until the weekend.

I have two questions: one, does this seem like enough live rock now? And two, when and how should one introduce inverts? My book talks a lot about introducing fish, but little about inverts.

[labnjab]

It doesn't look like quite enough rock to me. I had 2 29 gallons until I merged them into a 75 gallon 2 years ago. I'll post a picture of each with the amount of rock each had

Here is one of them with roughly 35 lbs of rock.




and the other with around 50 lbs of rock

[smaug]

I think you need more but actual weight of rock can be deceiving. This is my 58 gal and despite the looks like I have alot of rock it is barely 45lbs in there. Your rocks seems pretty dense whereas mine is very lacey and lightweight.
26nov.JPG

[Ashurbarnipal]

Well, is it enough to cycle the tank in a reasonable amount of time with (considering this all came from established tanks, plus the net full of sand from a reef tank), at least?

I can get a good bit of dry rock for much cheaper the weekend after next.

I'm pretty sure these rocks way at least 40 pounds altogether, for what it's worth. They're sturdy Fiji rocks, mostly.

[Cliff]

You could add some more dry rock to improve your tank's filtration once it becomes live. You will have to stock your fish very slowly to make sure your bactria can keep up with the demands.

When you pick out your dry rock, look for rock that is very porous, almost looking like there is holes part way through it. The more porous it is the better filtration it will provide. Also, look for a uniform almost off- white color. A little discoloration from that is OK.

Example below

[Ashurbarnipal]

Yes, I've been reading up on dry rock. For what it's worth, I've been researching for about a year. Reread that book more than once.

Anyhow, I can either get more fully cured rock now and a little dry rock next weekend or get a bunch of dried rock next weekend. I just don't want to sabotage my cycle.