Ehudd's Nano Journal

[Ehudd]

all 11 hermits are alive and very well. all my rocks are clear of algea, now you can see the real growth of the rock, lots a different types of macro.
Ammonia has come down alot over the last couple of days.

None of my tanks have ever crashed, i just didnt have time to maintain them.... When is enough.. enough? I can speak on behalf of everyone here, its NEVER enough!

P.H. 8.2
KH 8
Ammonia 6ppm
Nitrite nill
Nitrate nill
Calcium 450ppm.

 

[Ehudd]

last thing I wanna do on this site is make enemies, im listening to you guys about the hermits, and i know they dont do well, even more so in high nitrate. BUT knowing this, i have never had a problem with adding hermits in the 2nd week. And believe me, they look more than happy at the moment. If I see any signs of stress they will be out, but they're not showing any.
I am listening, and PLEASE keep dont stop posting in my thread, i really do like hearing personal experience and fact for that matter.
Im not ignorent, but in the 4 years i have kept a marine tank, this has always been my way, and has never failed.

 

[ben1987]

no one is doubting that it may have worked in the past. The reason why people get so pissed off, it that they care greatly about the creatures in the tanks we keep. They didnt ask to be netted up and put in your tank. Its your duty to make sure you replicate their natural environment to the best of your ability, to make sure they live as long as possible.

Putting livestock in water where ammonia isnt ZERO is not their natuaral environment. Infact its poisonous to fish and inverts. How many thousands of people keep marines? how many journals do you read where people wait til the cycle has finnished before adding CUC? Most of them. This is because its the best and safest way. Things become the accepted way of running a tank for a reason.

Would you like it if someone took you out of your big house, put you in a tiny box full of poisons?

 

[Ehudd]

no one is doubting that it may have worked in the past. The reason why people get so pissed off, it that they care greatly about the creatures in the tanks we keep. They didnt ask to be netted up and put in your tank. Its your duty to make sure you replicate their natural environment to the best of your ability, to make sure they live as long as possible.

Putting livestock in water where ammonia isnt ZERO is not their natuaral environment. Infact its poisonous to fish and inverts. How many thousands of people keep marines? how many journals do you read where people wait til the cycle has finnished before adding CUC? Most of them. This is because its the best and safest way. Things become the accepted way of running a tank for a reason.

Would you like it if someone took you out of your big house, put you in a tiny box full of poisons?

I guess its like taking a fish out of the ocean and putting them in a tank. We are all guilty of it. Im sure you have lost a fish or to to water quality, everyone here has. As i said, sign of stress, they will be removed. People use hermits as Mantis shrimp food, I always have. Not saying they do not have the worth of an expensive fish or anything. What about the crabs and fan worms that are killed during a cycle? we just put the LR in and let the tank go, regardless of what effect it has on the creatures that live within it.
Anyway, lets not make it go this way. Im pretty sure my tests are wrong.

Edit: My first tank i was adviced to put a damsel in there to speed up the cycle, knowing full well what the cycle consists of (high ammonia). I was advised from this very site. This is not my original account.
I think people are getting angry because they know what to do, they are telling me, but they think im just a noob not listening to them and just going to kill everything. Lets just see how the tank turns out

 

[xxBarneyxx]

As Ben said people just dont like seeing animals being dilberatly kept in enviroments that will kill them (and 6ppm of ammonia will kill them, maybe not right away but in the short term its going to be doing them serious damage).

Yes people use them for mantis food, however there is a distiction between being eaten relatively quickly by a natrual predator and being slowly poisioned.

You are right about the LR as well but most of us go out of our way to make sure that the life in our tanks gets the best possible conditions we can give it.

With regards to the water changes during the cycle effecting the amount of biological filtration you have at the end. This is just a myth (probably comes about where people fishless cycle FW tanks with the plan to imeddiatly fully stock their tank afterwards).

You can (and I would say should) do waterchanges during the cycle. This will give you the least amount of die off on the LR and it will not effect the bacteria that is present at the end. The bacteria isnt in the water (so you wont remove it with a water change) and yes you will be lowering the ammonia (so potential less food=less bacteria) but who fully stocks a marine tank right after the cycle anyway?!?

Anyway, aquascape looks good mate.

 

[SkiFletch]

Agree with Barney, and great lookin scape

 

[Ehudd]

thanks for the comments, i took now time with the rock, i just put it in, maybe i should keep it this way.

 

[Ehudd]

i took the crabs back btw, ammonia is still high, thought it was going down but its not.
Its been 2 weeks now, and its still soooo high.
Why?

 

[Truck]

glad you took the crabs back, seeing as they show no facial expressions or physical expressions as to how theyre feeling anyway, how could you tell theyre unhappy? that of course is irrelevant now

 

[Ehudd]

glad you took the crabs back, seeing as they show no facial expressions or physical expressions as to how theyre feeling anyway, how could you tell theyre unhappy? that of course is irrelevant now

yea sorry, i was being abit arogent, i apoligise.

Any thoughts on the ammonia? I have never had such high ammonia, and for so long! 2 weeks now, and the ammonia is off the chart

 

[Truck]

glad you took the crabs back, seeing as they show no facial expressions or physical expressions as to how theyre feeling anyway, how could you tell theyre unhappy? that of course is irrelevant now

yea sorry, i was being abit arogent, i apoligise.

Any thoughts on the ammonia? I have never had such high ammonia, and for so long! 2 weeks now, and the ammonia is off the chart

when ammonia is off the chart it can actually kill out bacteria, when it gets above 8 your in the danger zone, i would do a water change and bring it down to 5ppm

 

[seffieuk]

I'm really glad you took the hermits back

And to the slow, patient side of reef keeping ( lets start again )

Your ammonia is so high and it has been for so long because your lr was uncured - it takes much, much longer to cycle a tank with uncured rock as first you have to cure the rock do as Truck has suggested, regular water changes until the ammonia level starts to drop. Read up on curing live rock. Keep up regular water changes have lots of flow and you will get there in the end, just be patient.

Use the time you have to do lots of reading and planning - it will pay off in the end. It will be interesting as well for other people who buy uncured lr to watch and read about your progress. So keep the updates coming

Reading and research is just as much fun as setting the tank up

Seffie x



Just had a quick look on the net and this site was the first one I came across - I have only read the first few paragraphs, but looks interesting

http/www.livestockusa.org/CURING.html

 

[Ehudd]

well im not sure if it was cured or not, how can i tell??

 

[Ehudd]

I have sooooooo many amphipods, like they are infesting the tank, im not complaining, but i got such high ammonia i dont get how there are so many, they multiply by the day, i wipe the dront glass, they are on there the next day by the hundreds!

 

[Ehudd]

just tested my nitrate its around 15ppm.
Do im not going to water change ne more, thank god its finally starting to cycle!