bstock Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 i have had a 30g aquarium for about 2 years and now i am starting a 110g i put live sand in it and some damsels fish in (5) my sand is turning brown and bubbles coming from it i don't know if i have enough stuff in my sump i have never used a sump before and was wondering what i need in there i have a skimmer in it right now it is a trigger TS36BR sump there is also a Refugium in it to what do i need in it if some one could help me i would greatly appreciate it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dhayden Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 How long is it up and running? Is there rock in there or just sand? Whats in the sump? anything or just the skimmer? Some would argue weather or not to even skim while cycling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 If you can catch them it would be a good idea to take the fish out. There is a good chance they will die from the cycle and most people regret damsels later anyway. They can be very aggressive. Your tank can cycle with new live rock or a small piece of shrimp. As for the refugium. You can put some live rock rubble in there and some macro algea to help reduce phospates and nitrates. They are also a great place to have your pods multiply. A heater on a controller would be a good idea as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bstock Posted October 13, 2006 Author Share Posted October 13, 2006 the fish have been in there for i week now no rock right now just sand nothing in the sump but the skimmer i thought that damsels were good to cycle with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejaustin Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 I think damsels were recommended before people realized that the life on live rock is enough to establish the beneficial bacteria populations, which is sort of the point of cycling a tank. I don't know of any sources that recommend this any more, though. Damsels were recommended because they are hardier than most marine aquarium fish, but the cycle is unnecessarily hard on the fish and, as Gabriel pointed out, they tend to be aggressive as they get older. You can get some live rock to add to the tank to move things along. The biggest thing in cycling a tank, though, is patience. ej Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bstock Posted October 13, 2006 Author Share Posted October 13, 2006 thanks for the input. but, what about what you put in the sump. if you put nothing in but the skimmer i don't understand how the system works. i know they work, but please explain how. what about my sand turning brown with air bubbles coming out of it i have never had this happened before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeK Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 The brown algae is nothing to worry about. It's just diatoms - the simplest algae. As your tank matures you'll go through several blooms like this. I would remove the fish and repatriate them to the LFS and add much more live rock. I'd also start putting some macroalgae in the sump to help with the Nitrates as you start to develop those. It's also great to jumpstart the pod growth. If you want a handfull, give me a PM and I'll pull some out. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 Sounds like you have already gotten a lot of great basic help. Let the tank mature for about 2 months after the cycle is complete before getting fish. Start buying a few snails and hermits each week. You'll really need them later. Also start looking around for live rock. Buying in bulk saves money. Oceanhomes, a sponsor, generally has awesome prices if you buy a lot at once. River City, another sponsor, is usually well stocked with nice pieces to choose from if you do it piece by piece. I agree with getting rid of the damsels. A friend had to rip apart his 40g to get one out. I told him when we set it up, no damsels. 3 weeks later he tells me he bought 5 of them. Then there were 4. then 3. Then 2. They were killing each other. He added some clowns a few months later when only 1 damsel was left, it killed both clowns as fast as they hit the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dhayden Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 The sump really isn't "for" anything. It is a really convenient place to put all of our "stuff" like skimmers, heaters, top offs, etc..... Keeps the "stuff out of our display. Some also put refugiums down there. It also acts as more volume of water, but with 100g you don't have that worry. Like others state I would just put rock in and let the tank mature a month preferably two. I know that is tough, but you would be amazed at the amount of life that breeds with no preditors in the tank at all. I still would not bother with the skimmer either for a month or so. Just more organics you will pull out of your "cycle". Two months with nothing but water and rock should give you a very stable tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefman Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 As far as the live rock, you will pay more for it, but I would recommend picking pieces that already have a lot of coraline. When I started my first tank 8 months ago, I bought uncured live rock and allowed it to cycle. I have over the past several months been supplementing like crazy to get coraline to grow (once it starts growing well it will help keep the bad algae from growing). I'm just now starting to get some decent coraline growth in it, and if I had it to do over I would definitely pay the extra to have started it off with it. I'm still have issues with the green algae in that tank. Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bstock Posted October 14, 2006 Author Share Posted October 14, 2006 hey everyone helped me out a lot i am going out of town for the weekend and as soon as i can get some LR i am there and getting rid of the fish i really thought that fish was the only way to cycle thanks for all of your help and if anyone else has opinions then let me know i will be back on Monday thanks bryan stock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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