And out popped...

[stonkers]

...a lonely little Brown Button Polyp. I don't know where it came from, but about a week ago this little guy showed up on his own. I e-mailed a friend who sent me a link showing me what it was. He had me feed him a brine shrimp and, wow, that's cool.

Anyway, I didn't have any live rock in the tank yet, only the little chunk (smaller than a dime) that he sprouted out of (purple). He had me pick up a piece of Live rock for him to multiply on. So I did, and laid his little rock on top of the big rock and am feeding him one brine shrimp a day with tweezers.

I'd appreciate any advice I can get. I got my RO/DI in the mail a few days ago and set it up (just connected to a faucet so far) so no more tap topping. Don't have the skimmer yet, and with taxes due now, it may be a little while. I don't have a lot of light, and thus, don't know how the polyp made it, but am glad he did. I've got a 35 watt 50/50 and a 15 watt reptile bulb (whatever that is) sitting on the glass (54 AGA corner). A couple inches of live sand from Critters in the bottom of the tank. The amiracle sump with bio-balls (I want to dump these but was told to get rid of them gradually). One 3.2 lb. peice of live rock (lots of purple) from Mini Critters (first large tank on the right - yesterday - yep, made a liar of myself already but Jimmy and Mark weren't there at least - got the smooth talkin head shakin dude that knows everything and calls the female workers "My Girls"). One pretty big starfish (very limber, everyone thinks he's an octopus). 6 hermit crabs.

Right now I've got the parts and am building a Silent Overflow (http://home.att.net/~rstockman/overflow.htm) . What's going to be cheap to keep this thing going until I recover from taxes? Live sand in the sump instead of bio-balls? If so, how much and where should I get it (critters)? Someone talked about seeding dead sand (Menards type sand?). What should my light cycle be set at? Temperature (76 now)?

[Travis]

Stonkers,

What ro/di did you get? I have an Oceanus from Aquatic Reef Systems. I love it.

Don't buy any of the skimmers at the LFS's here in town. I actually had a "Big Mombasa" that I got at Safari when I started my tank. All it did was overflowed all of the time. A real waste of $150.

I have a Turboflotor in my sump. I plan to upgrade to euro reef soon and will probably sell the Turboflotor.

You will probably want a minimum of 1lb. live rock per gallon for filtration. After you have acheived this you can take three bioballs per day out of your sump(that is what I did). Bio balls are a nitrate factory.

As far as the sand goes. Get fine sand. Aragamax will work. I ordered a bunch from ESV--the finest stuff around. You can seed it with sand from other reefer's tanks(I can give you a cup). If you put a DSB in your tank you shouldn't need any sand in your sump. I checked every hardware store in Sioux Falls for the Southdown sand that everyone talks about here and didn't find the stuff.

With that lighting you can have your light cycle at 12hrs on 12hrs off.

I keep my temp at 80. I would recommed 78-80.

[stonkers]

Here's the RO/DI (http://www.h2ofix.com/) I got. It was recommended highly by someone on the Utah reefers forum who has the same tank as me. I like it so far. Easy to set up...

I am planning to get the Euroreef ES5-2. Lunchbucket recommended it, I did some research, and it seems to be a winner. I can't get this until I've gotten a new sump going because the amiracle is only 8" wide and that skimmer has a 9" X 9" footprint. I want to build a DIY sump for a refugium and the skimmer. It will be a strange configuration because of the wierd size of the space under the 54 corner. 3 acrylic boxes lined up in a triangle maybe. I'll solicit help when I'm ready for that step. I'll start with just the box for the skimmer once I've gotten the skimmer.

What's ESV?

Looks like Home Depot is the place for Southdown Sand: Link (http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen23.html)

I just read about DSB's (everyone keeps talking about them). SO, I'd have to get rid of the live sand that's currently in there. That sucks, it was pretty expensive to get at Critters (Mark acted like I had no choice but to get it if I wanted to prevent another $400 fish massacre). Sounds like the DSB can be useful either in the tank, or in the refugium (in which case I could keep the live sand on the bottom and not feel like I threw my money away AGAIN). Any advice?

Man I wish I would have found this forum 2 years ago!

[mtellin]

Not to bum ya out but none of the stores around here carry southdown, and I wouldnt recommend any of their other sands being silica based. If you need a lot I'd recommend www.purearagonite.com pretty good prices there.

[stonkers]

I've got an e-mail into Home Depot to see if I can get Southdown Tropical Play Sand ordered close to here. If I can, anyone else interested. Looks like I need 100 lbs. for my 54. I talked to a guy at Home Depot who said if I can find a SKU number, he may be able to order it.

[stonkers]

OK, I was going to post a "before" pic in "my gallery" of my tank now, but my camera creates pics that are about 350 meg. Is this because my camera is ancient? I was also going to put a picture of my new overflow silencer. Really quiets the tank down a lot and didn't play on my tax paying ability... Guess I'll have another beer instead.

[Travis]

Check out the website: www.esvco.com

It has the smallest particle sizes compared to any other sand on the market. It is aragonite. It is also very cheap. $22.75 per 50lb pail. The only downfall is that you have to pay for shipping from New York. If I remember correctly the cost=shipping=double cost($45.00) which is still not that bad. Then I mixed this with aragamax sand from Safari Land and some aragonite sand from my display to get a good array of particle sizes.

I tried Home Depot in Sioux Falls about 4 months ago. They do not carry Southdown at their location and they will not order it for you unless you order a whole palate.

What kind of LS did you get from Mini Critters? If it is crushed coral from their tanks it will probably save you money and frustration in the future to redo it.

IMO it would be best to have a dsb in the display because it will immediately filter the water instead of the water having to go to a sump/fuge first. The only downfall would be aesthetics.

I like the dsb's that I have in my refugium and grow out tank so much that next weekend I am adding one to my display.

Travis

[stonkers]

I got the crushed coral looking stuff they have in the back room on the right side. Is this not good stuff?

Anyone have pictures of a DSB in a display tank?

[Travis]

There is no right or wrong sand. However, a dsb can process nitrates. It also provides the right particle sizes for a lot more biodiversity (critters). Many of these critters are detrivores and eat detritus. Also, when these guys spawn they are creating food for your corals. And you never have to clean your dsb.

I spend a lot of time just watching the critters in mine. Don't have any pics.

[stonkers]

I went surfing and found a pic of a DSB. What's everyone complaining about? All the articles talk like it's an eye sore. I think it looks pretty cool (especially in the taller tanks where you have plenty of room height wise). I'm there. Anybody going to the Critters gig in 2 weekends. Looks like they'll have Fiji for $3.25/lb (50 pound boxes). I need that much, should I get it there or would it be better to order online? Also, do I have to get my light wattage up before I get the live rock so I don't kill all the critters? I'm thinking about building a DIY MH.

[Travis]

What gig is Mini Critters having? If it is in two weeks I can't go because I'll be at IMAC. Sounds like a good deal on the live rock. I would definitely check it out. Don't worry about the lights for now. I've heard of people leaving their live rock in the dark for 6 months to establish a good population of pods/plankton.

[stonkers]

The 26th. Sort of like an open house with sales reps and whatnot there. They have a few seminars and offer some pretty big discounts for those who come in on that day. I just called and there appear to be no strings attached. You have to order the rock in 50# boxes. It's not there, you just have to order it on that day (I'm guessing pay for it). No club memberships...

[Travis]

I'm guessing that the rock would be shipped to critters rather than you're door. Knowing critters they would probably let the rock sit dry in their store before they call you and tell you it is in. I would not buy the rock unless it is going to be shipped direct to your door. I'm not sure how much it is to order rock online but if it is about the same price I would buy it online. Then you would be dealing with the person the rock comes from directly. If there are problems you will probably receive better customer service IMO. If there were problems with the rock from critters you could only complain to them not the people the rock actually came from. I guarantee you critters would not help you out if there was a problem with your order. Screwing people out of their money is what they do best IMO.

Travis