Crusty Old Noob

[Ffej]

Good Day Folks,

Been lurking on this site for a bit and decided to join after a long hiatus in the hobby. I've been out for a few years and things have changed significantly since I was into this. I've decided to go small and set up a 26 to house small fish, live rock, and some softies. I'll be starting up shortly - thus far I've got this for filtration:

small canister w/built in 9w UV
a Remora C Nano skimmer w/pump
a 96w T5 fixture (2 10k bulbs, 2 actinic)
2 Koralia 425 l/h powerheads

Got tons o' questions and it looks like there's tons of wicked smaht folks here. Here's a few thus far:

a) specific gravity for live rock/softies - 1.026 ok? I was used to lower w/fish only.
b) cycling process - I don't really want to use fish for this - I'd prefer to toss in a piece of raw shrimp and let nature take its course. I assume I'll do this with the rock first, then, as things get cycled, start with some fish, then the softies. Or am I mistaken? What method works best for you?

 

[The Ng Thing]

Sounds good thus far. I personally don't like using fish for cycling so I do the raw shrimp method as well.

Equipment looks good, I'd tweak things as you to make what works for you. You can survive without the UV and skimmer, there will be some debate that it is necessary but I think you can do without it. Ultimately it's personal preference (just my two cents I'm not saying it needs to go).

Looks like your off to a good start keep us updated!

 

[Reefer140]

I would suggest keeping your salinity 1.023-1.024. Your current 1.026 salinity is kind of high

 

[Behrmon]

I'm a fan of 1.025.

 

[The Ng Thing]

All of the previously mentioned specific gravity numbers will work. It is more important to be able to keep them consistent. Corals/fish will adjust.

 

[frank180reef]

1.025 might be a tad better

welcome btw

 

[Great Scotch]

I haven't done the raw shrimp start. I got some LR that was well cured. My tank was cycled in a week! I still waited about a month just to make sure. Honestly if you dont want to pay for LR and are starting with dry I'd say go and grab yourself a heaping scoop of live sand from a LFS if they have good feedback. It'd be a much quicker cycle this way and you can eat that shrimp insted of wasting him!

~Scotch:.

 

[Ffej]

Thanks for the suggestions, folks; they're much appreciated. I think I'll be going the dry rock route w/live sand when I want to start up and cycle. Should I keep the lights off during this process to eliminate cyano & other algae?