1AaronTravels

Whoa! I'm relatively new to this hobby. I've had a tank for about 4 months and started researching this stuff last January. I only have a 14 gallon Biocube (your tank may be huge) and I would not have attempted to put anything in it so soon. Often times the chemicals we add slow down or obstruct natural processes which are needed in order to maintain a tank long term. I always suggest patience to everyone if they ask. Almost all the problems I had with my tank when getting going were due to trying to rush things. Be careful as a crash would be VERY expensive.

Some suggestions include, if something goes wrong and a solution you try doesn't work, be patient.

An example of this kind of patience was the Christmas Break Hair Algae Attack. I went away and a friend took care of my tank for me. When I got back my clownfish had hosted the hair algae that had taken root. I had been planning on introducing a sea urchin since before the break and decided that I would go ahead and introduce the urchin (all parameters in the tank were in tune just nutrients were out of wack). Introducing the urchin along with some new hermits, turning the daylight bulb off (it puts out more par than the actinic), frequent water changes, and VERY little feeding (feeding is the bane of a small tank - it kills things), and a little elbow grease (I pulled out some of the algae out myself and blew off the rocks with a turkey baster occasionally) and finally my algae was gone. The whole process took about 2 and a half three weeks to complete.

Now, back when I originally set my tank up I had gotten a similar bloom of algae. Not knowing what to do I went to my LFS and bought some algaecide. It worked, kind of. Only problem was the algae came back very quickly because I wasn't smart enough to dust off the rocks. Additionally, I could have very easily overdosed my tank and killed by fish. The whole process took about 2 to 3 weeks and then I gave up and allowed the algae to stay but advance no further. In the ensuing months the algae receded and went away (until Christmas time). The presence of the algae had more to do with my maintenance habits than it did anything else.

I also killed a ton of snails with my impatience. In the past I would simply add buffer or calcium/mineral supplements by the 1/4 teaspoonful. What I didn't realize was how much that was dropping my pH and wreaking havoc with all my more sensitive tank mates. I now do everything with more patience and get better results. I now slowly drip all supplements into the tank water over a period lasting as long as 6-8 hours (usually overnight). This helps me avoid my pH swings that killed some snails and some shrimp in the past. I also introduce the buffer at a slightly faster rate than the calcium and I always do calcium and the buffer at the same time to help them negate each others' effects on pH.

The moral of these two stories is that patience is a virtue, but your tank will do better if you practice it. You'll go no where or backwards if you aren't careful and that will lead you to get discouraged. This is a great hobby and I love trying to get people interested in it. I would hate to see people leave.

If it were me, with a new tank I might be hesitant to feed a ton. You might find that the tank will not be able to handle the increased nutrients and contribute to a larger algae bloom. Hopefully someone can chime in, but you might be in store for a diatom bloom as a result of the cycling process. Keep an eye on it and think about decreasing feeding so you don't have to deal with more than you bargained for.

The tank is a 120, right? Ah, I'm sure it'll be fine.

Am thinking my next purchases will be the cleanoing crew, some hermit crabs and snails, maybe 1 coral...???

id hold off on putting anything else in till you get the no4 down. Try feeding every other day the fish wont starve. I know how tempting ot is to getting moving with livestock after all the work you put in to getting a system up and running but speed breeds disaster in this hobby. remember that everything that grows in a reef adds to the bio load even the little critters in the rockand sand that we strive to get going in the starting cycle needs time to find a balance and so the circle of lfe

+1 to reduced feeding. Your fish can live with very little food, even if they seem hungry. Feed too much and nutrients, specially Phosphate (PO4) will accumulate in your sand and live rock, and it will take MONTHS to get rid of it. Happening to me right now.

Go slow, add stuff slow. The only exception I would say OK to is the clean up crew. That should have been the first additions. But keep it small for now, don't "overcrowd" as they won't have enough for all of them to eat so they'll start eating each other...