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the tank was already established when i bought it, so i rinsed the sand with saltwater, and had about 10g from the previous setup. i used water from LFS and mixed instant ocean reef crystals. last sunday i bought the tank and had the sand in the 10g of water. last monday i filled the tank up with saltwater, last tuesday i added 40lb live rock. saturday i added 75lb dead rock the guy i bought it from had i circulating i think in freshwater but there was no growth on it like the live rock i bought. the live rock was all purple. i have been using my freshwater API master kit to test the tank. now some of the results are off so i bought a universial API kit last friday and found out the ammonia was .5 instead of .25, but now it is at 0. the nitrite has always been blue and that is the same color for both. the nitrate has always been yellow but i just found the color card online so it is a darker yellow (like when you drink all night and your morning pee).
That sounds better.
I'd like to have seen nitrite went up and dropped off but at least the ammonia did.
I would test again the next couple of days to make sure there is no ammonia and nitrite then start adding a source of ammonia to feed your bacterias. You don't want them to starve and decline.
and how do i feed them? what do i do to add ammonia
also i am having some i guess algae on my rocks and sand. it is a brownish color and very small hairs, do i need to get some snails. i want to get a diamond goby but i think i need pods to feed him. the algae seems like a dust that i can brush off my rocks so i don't know what it is. cannot take pics of it, won't be able to see
you should be able to go ahead and put a clean up crew in the tank, that should be the first thing added before any other livestock. just put a small amount of food in there to raise the ammonia.
Cut a tiny piece from a fresh shrimp and throw it in there. It rots very fast and will provide all the ammonia you need. Don't put in a whole shrimp, that would be too much.
The rock should be enough. Wait for tank to cycle, or add a damsel to help cycle. Damsels are aggressive, but 1 in a 72 gallon is should be fine. I have 2 that are mean in my 75 gallon that will only jack with free swimming smaller fish. They wont mess with larger clowns, tangs, dwarf angels, and bottom fish like mandarins and scooters. Or go with chromis like rage stated. I sugest researching a fish b4 purchasing. NEVER BUY ON IMPULSE!!!!!!!! and NEVER ADD MORE THAN 2 FISH AT A TIME, if just starting out.
wish it showed the pic. the research i did on them said they where reef safe and the wifey had to have them so i made her put one in the tank. cannot complain though i really need them. lots of brown algae and detrius.
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