A complete newbie who needs a way to start!

To get the cycle going, does it have to be a raw shrimp or can it be something else, like a raw prawn for example?
 
I think I bought cooked prawns by accident, haha. They look raw? They definitely look raw to me. I'm guessing it would still rot in the water if I added them.

I noticed my living room has started smelling a bit like sick. Is that normal due to the salt?

Just hoping the sand settles down now! Hasn't done so far.
 
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I wish I had seen this thread sooner. I had a 10G marine tank and I upgraded it to a 20G long and it was no more trouble or expense. My Biocube 29 was more expensive though.
 
I think I bought cooked prawns by accident, haha. They look raw? They definitely look raw to me. I'm guessing it would still rot in the water if I added them.

I noticed my living room has started smelling a bit like sick. Is that normal due to the salt?

Just hoping the sand settles down now! Hasn't done so far.

I think the seafood needs to be raw and if you haven't added anything to the tank yet, it should not stink.
 
The smells either gone or I'm used it by now, not sure. Right, guess I'll be eating these prawns instead!

My water hasn't cleared up one bit. I'm considering setting up my canister filter to clear the water up.
 
Right, so after more than 36 hours and my tank still looking like mud water, I set up the canister filter and stuffed it with filter floss.

Here's the results:

My tank one hour before I set the canister filter up:

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One hour later:

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Chuffed with the result. Filter floss works brilliantly and there is no silt on the sand either. It's all settled really well and I've got a piece of live rock already! :)

Just waiting for my PAR38 which should arrive tomorrow.
 
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People will tell you that canisters are the worst thing for marine tanks BUT they can work wonders in an emergency situation --if used on a temporary basis.

Maybe you know this but that ain't enough rock.
 
Yeah, the canister is only to get all that silt out the water. Once it's clear as crystal, I'm going to take it right off and pack it away.

Yep, that's only 2KG. Still need another 3 or 4 which I'll get over the next week.
 
A powerfilter will do the same thing. There will be times when you want to polish your water and canisters are great for that...as you just showed.
 
Yep, does it's job. Here's how it looks so far. I still see a slight haze in the tank but that's nothing a few water changes won't fix when the tank begins to establish itself.

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Having a bit of trouble with micro-bubbles though. My power-head keeps spitting them out continuously. Not sure why.
 
Tank looks good, the powerhead must be sucking air from somewhere. Can you move it lower?
 
It seems to be the main pump, actually. Tried moving it around to get some air out and it's a little better.

My long term goal. :)

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What's the Anemone in the tank?
 
Oh, I figured anemone's are the one's with dangley soft things. Haha, guess I'm still in the process of learning. :)
 
Was just testing my water to see if my ammonia had kicked up. Looks like I've got something.

Does anyone else's API test kit do this? When I added the second bottle of Ammonia test solution, it made it into little weird cloudy segments. Never did that with my freshwater tank.

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I haven't had the time to get hold of any shrimp. Is it worth it anymore since the cycle has started? And should I be adding more rock asap seeing as that is what needs to get used to the bio-load of the tank? I assume that's what I need to get in there as soon as in order for me not to face another cycle, right?

Another thing was, I'm getting a little bit of this green algae sort of stuff. I wouldn't say it's growing rapidly. It was there before but it seems to be growing somewhat.

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