At the one week mark

N

newtofish

[A week has went by and I did my first water test. I bought a cheap test kit to start off with I think I will get a pinpoint Ph when another payday rolls around. So here is what I have;
One week after adding 5 lbs of GARF Grunge to the tank I have stuff growing everywhere in there (Most of it green) the water tested
Temp 79
Sal 1.024
Ph 8.0
Ammonia <.025
Nitrate <10
Nitrite .8
This seems to be the hardest part, just watching an empty tank. I sit there and stare at it imageing how good it is going to look in six months. :p]
 
[Well, sounds to me like everything is going well!

You were at this last meeting, right? If you were, I was the one that asked you to keep us updated on the GARF - they have a spotty record, so it would be interesting to see how you do.....

But waiting for that cycle will be worth it! :nod:]
 
[The Rev. has been running Garf method for about 2 years. It works and works well.
'Cepting I don't do the Garf plenum thing as it seemed to be useless IMHO.]
 
[Good for you! Following instructions is always a good thing when you are engaging in a new endeavor. Certainly, I strive to do that.

As in music, you first learn the notes, then the chords, then songs and then music theory so that when you start playing jazz, you can vary many things and still have great music.

So we can both say, 'the Garf method, whether you do the plenum or not, works well'

I use marinedepot.com for my SeaChem additive source as they seem to have the best breaks on quantity. Lemme know if you find cheaper...]
 
[??? Is there anything that I should or could add to my tank to help in the growth of good algae? Or should I just keep the parameters right in the middle.
I have no LR or LS, just seeded it with the grunge.
Thanx,
Richard]
 
[Your doing great man! Its a bummer to watch an empty tank but if you rush into it and put livestock in there with ammonia you risk losing them ( unless you want damsels-UGH!! ) .Your gonna get algae very soon id imagine - and its probably not going to be the kind you want. Youll get the dreaded brown algae that accompanys new tanks, followed by green algae ( at this point youll have hermits and snails ) followed by the coveted Purple corraline. Hang in there sir it will get better. Im in the same boat you are right now and Im hating it too. Your Nitrite reading indicates the ammonia phase is almost over. Wont be long till your ammonia is at 0 and livestock isnt too far away!]
 
[those little purple pieces of rubble I gave you the other day should help jumpstart your corraline growth. Whenever you start getting livestock, you can start dosing to get your calcium and alk levels right...those are some main factors in good coralline growth. Be patient, before you know it you will be scraping the stuff off the glass. Good luck.]
 
[The Garf method prescribes a series of SeaChem additives to be done on a daily basis through make-up water as well as on a weekly basis. Things like calcium reactors and kalkwasser and b-ionic and other stuff are just right out of the question.

That SeaChem Reef Complete is like super steroids for coralline!]
 
[The algae bloom is in full swing :very sad: Not much to look at but I'm still looking :smart:
Picked up some cleaners yesterday from DM and they went right to work, Did not get enough will have to wait until $$day to pick up some more.
So far everything is happening right when you guys said it would. Thanx for the help and encouragement.
Richard]
 
[I wouldn't worry too much about getting high numbers of clean-up crew. I ordered a bunch from Garf when I was first starting and they were busy as heck for a few days. Then I started noticing that the numbers were declining - the hermits wind up attacking the snails for their shells so your number of snails will start to decline. Then the hermits will start to die off due to nutritional requirements and because they will grow out of their current shell and go seeking a shell that does fit. If they can, great. If they can't then the crab dies off fairly quickly.
So your cleaner crew will drop in numbers to just a small subset of what you started with. However, the snails will lay new eggs about every time you do a water change - egg trail looks like somebody smeared a milky-white stream of silicon along the inner glass - pretty distinctive when you see it.

A treat for your hermits: broccoli stems. Take a small stem of it, heat it on high in the microwave for a few seconds to kinda wilt it, and drop it into the tank. Man, those Hermits are like frat boys at 'Free Beer Nite' and will be just all over it!]
 
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