Feed pods etc while cycling/curing new tank?

lastlight · #1 11-08-2009, 02:47 AM

My tank is 2 days old now and I've got a few pods crawling around in my Chaeto ball and a couple feather dusters, a bristle worm and a brittle star at the very least on the small piece of live rock. All of this is in the fuge and 2 additional pieces of rock are in the display but I've yet to see anything on them (pretty high flow up there!)

Should I shut flow to the fuge off for a few hours and add a few drops of phytoplankton or something to help the pods multiply/thrive? I don't imagine there is anything at all in the water column/on the rocks to support the little life I have in there. I'm new to this seeding a giant pile of dead rock thing and need advice. Ammonia levels are <0.25 as of last night but of course they will climb. Maybe the pods won't even survive the spike?

Any and all advice regarding this would be great thx.

GreenSpottedPuffer · #2 11-08-2009, 06:10 AM

Anytime I have ever fed my tanks phyto, the pod populations explode a few days to weeks later, so I would imagine it couldn't be a bad thing for a new tank.

lastlight · #3 11-08-2009, 06:14 AM

Awesome because I'm dying to feed ANYTHING to my tank lol.

How much would you toss in a 10 gallon fuge? And would you kill flow through it for a bit while doing so?

GreenSpottedPuffer · #4 11-08-2009, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lastlight

Awesome because I'm dying to feed ANYTHING to my tank lol.

How much would you toss in a 10 gallon fuge? And would you kill flow through it for a bit while doing so?

Hmmm, someone else may give you a better dosing amount because I haven't used it in a long time but I remember in my old 24G nano, I used to dump in a ridiculous amount all at once lol. I don't think it can really harm anything at this point.

May as well kill the flow to the fuge for a bit...your skimmer will just take a lot of it out if not.

lastlight · #5 11-08-2009, 06:20 AM

If I *really* strain and look between the lines you're basically saying I'm ready for tangs and sps aren't you? Hmmm...

GreenSpottedPuffer · #6 11-08-2009, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lastlight

If I *really* strain and look between the lines you're basically saying I'm ready for tangs and sps aren't you? Hmmm...

Well yes but I didn't want to just come right out and say it. But only if you pour the entire bottle of phyto into the tank and then wait at least a day.

JDigital · #7 11-08-2009, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lastlight

If I *really* strain and look between the lines you're basically saying I'm ready for tangs and sps aren't you? Hmmm...

Your tank isn't big enough for tangs... You'll have to upgrade before you can keep tangs... Someone should have told you that to begin with I guess..

As for feeding phyto, I can see how it would hinder the cycle... If they survive the spike, you should have a nice population when you start stocking. If they die during the spike I would assume it would just feed the cycle process, No