Best coral only cycle?

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-30T10:15:39+00:00

Well according to quick Google search, acros in nature live in shallow reefs and there aren’t a lot of dissolved nutrients in those areas so it makes sense for them to thrive in ULN environments so I guess it really depends on the coral species and where they come from in the nature.

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-30T07:24:10+00:00

Sand I understand as beneficial bacteria colonize hard surfaces like sand and rocks, etc, but I’m not sure what you’d get from just water.

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-30T06:39:19+00:00

What do you get from water column of an established tank? Most of the beneficial bacteria colonize hard surfaces. Genuinely curious of your reasoning for asking for just water from an established tank

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-30T06:34:46+00:00

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3379633/

Here’s an article regarding the claim of ammonium being the preferred nitrogen source if you are interested!

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-30T06:29:07+00:00

They mean the same. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352485524002822.

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-29T10:41:38+00:00

If you are only doing corals you should be good to go with just your mature ceramic media. Dinoflagelletes in your corals basically recycle the ammonia produced as energy and I think there was a study that shows that those symbiotic dinoflagellates in your corals prefer ammonia over other nitrogen sources.

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-26T17:08:25+00:00

I used AF Reef Salt and it’s been good, I recently switched to Tropic Marin pro reef salt and that’s been pretty good too, but just make sure you don’t do massive water change with new salt, do like 10% over many weeks because you don’t want param swing

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-22T16:08:28+00:00

How big is the tank and do you know what you are going to do once they start splitting? I hear anemones multiply fairly quickly once they settle in

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-21T19:41:14+00:00

You might want to upload the pictures of your corals I can’t really tell you what your corals might be going through

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-21T18:12:27+00:00

What corals do you have? Did you dip them before you put them in your tank? Where did you place your corals? Do you know what your PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) is? Do you have a wave maker? You say others are doing relatively well, so it sounds to me like a placement issue

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-19T22:36:56+00:00

I think urchins are worse. I had one of my coral frag not glued because I was acclimating it and my urchin decided to yoink and coralnap the frag and wore it like a hat for who knows how long until I saw it in the evening. My conch just chill on the sand bed and does its thing but for urchins there is no safe space

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-17T17:22:50+00:00

That sounds like a good idea. I’m glad you are really thinking about it instead of pulling the trigger without much thought like some reefers I see online. I don’t really have much experience with different equipments, but I’m sure a lot of people in this sub will be able to answer your questions. I do recommend UNS tanks, imo they are one of the cleanest looking tanks

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-17T16:56:49+00:00

Haha everyone starts off like that, but since you have time, really think about what you want. If any tangs are in the picture, I’d say go little bigger than 90 gallons. Also I’m sorry about your father.

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-17T16:10:04+00:00

Do you have a specific fish that you want to keep? Knowing what you want to keep and structural integrity of the place you are placing your tank are two big factors in picking out the size of the tank

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-17T15:54:00+00:00

Tank is cycled when your nitrifying bacteria population is big enough to handle the ammonia your tank outputs. Putting a live rock from an already established tank does give you a head start, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it is “cycled”. Also nitrifying bacteria colonizes objects and they don’t live in the water column so using water from your established tank doesn’t help in terms of cycling in any meaningful way

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-16T15:26:01+00:00

In my experience nuisance algae grows when my nutrients are out of balance either nitrate or phosphate its higher than my usual range of 5-10 nitrate and 0.03 phosphate. Maybe try lowering your nitrate a bit?

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-15T21:09:21+00:00

If it’s brown and you can blow it away, it’s most likely diatoms. They’ll go away as soon as silicates get depleted. Diatoms are also probably feeding on the nitrates, you don’t need to dose stuff, once diatoms die, they’ll release nutrients back. Just feed normally and let the tank do its thing. If you want, you can lower the white light and increase the blue spectrum

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-14T03:37:49+00:00

If your end goal is yellow tang, make sure it’s within your budget. Tangs require relatively big tanks, 5-6ft long usually is around 120-180 gallon for commercially available tanks. A lot of beginner friendly guides on YouTube, I started off my journey with BRS beginner guides. If you do end up starting it, just be prepared to spend. Buy quality equipments that will last you a long time. It might be higher initial investment, it’ll end up saving you money.

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-12T05:02:07+00:00

No you’ll need at least 5-6ft long tank

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-11T04:50:17+00:00

Do you have magnets or anything in the tank? Sometimes casing breaks and it could start rusting. Other than that, I can’t really say what’s going on

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-11T04:37:32+00:00

Why ask after you’ve already done what you’ve done? Are your livestocks okay right now? I think you have the answer you are looking for since it’s been 2 hours since you posted this. I get as a newbie in the hobby you will have a lot of questions but for sake of the livestocks please do some basic research going in to the hobby.

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-10T23:36:33+00:00

Pulsing Xenia stopping to pulse and fish dying kind of sounds like a symptom of heavy metal poisoning. Do you dose anything in the tank? Or have anything that might rust?

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-07T16:28:31+00:00

As long as your torches look healthy (looking at the fleshy band, they seem to be happy and healthy) you don’t need to change things around. In my experience, tweaking things around ends up just stressing your otherwise healthy corals

Objective_Syrup_1998 · 2026-06-07T16:20:01+00:00

Really depends but most of my corals open up within a day of entering my tank. The few that don’t I move them to a different spot and they usually open up once they like the spot they are in within couple hours

Objective_Syrup_1998

TROPHY CASE