# 30g FOWLR cycling...



## aqua1876 (Mar 2, 2008)

Hey all- This is my first post here & any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I set up a 30g FOWLR about 2 weeks ago. Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate all zero still. Good amount of diatom starting to show up on the rock & sand in the last few days. Here are my questions:

1. Any way to control the diatom during cycling (light levels, etc.) or will this be taken care of over time & a good clean up crew after cycling?

2. What kind/how much of a clean up crew should I use for this size tank when ready? (I've seen some conflicting opinions about blue leg crabs & astrea vs trocus snails...)

3. Aside from my KENT superbuffer is there anything else I should be using to ensure healthy live rock? (Coral Vital, B-Ionic, etc.)

Here's my full set-up:
30g tall
25 lbs cured live rock & ~10 lbs base rock
SmartPaq Daylight 10000°K/Actinic 460nm - on 9 hrs a day
1 1/2" aragonite sand
Eheim Professional II canister w/ carbon & ehfimech
Eclipse hood will be running with Purigen
cycling with 2 dead shrimp

No protein skimmer since I plan to keep up with water changes, but feel free to slap my wrist about that or my use of a canister as well...

Thanks in advance for the help!


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## dallops_of_polyps (Feb 19, 2008)

i can help you with 2 and three. 2 you only need about 1 hermit and 1 snail every 5 gallons right now becuase there is virtually no algae. three the only thing you need for live rock is buffer and prime(if your nitrates are high).


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## aqua1876 (Mar 2, 2008)

Thanks for the help dallops.
Anyone out there think going skimmerless for a FOWLR is a really bad idea?


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

You dont need one if you are good at weekly WC's. The PS wouldn't hurt in a FOWLR, though. Of course, if you slack on your WC's, I would reccomend getting one.

Dallops, from what I heard, I thoguht it was a snail for every 2-3 gallons, and a hermit for every 5 gallons. I have a thread on the Nano Reef forums I should find for you, Aqua.


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