New Tank Is Setup!! Need Advice

[RockTheCasbah!]

I set up my new 75 gallon reef tank the other day. I have 100 lbs of live Fiji Rock and 180 Lbs. of live oolitic (whatever that means) aragonite sand. For the week prior to the setup, I had been curing my live rock in rubbermaid containers and when the sand arrived, the ammonia levels in the rock water had already spiked and were starting to go down. After putting the sand in, I let things settle for a couple of hours, but had to put the rock in because I didn't have enough heaters and powerheads to maintain that many separate tanks going. There was still alot of sand cloud in the water which I have been able to clean off the rocks using a turkey baster and small toothbrush lightly sweeping it. However, much of the glass on the aquarium walls were coated with the sand dust (calcium?). I was able to use an aquarium scrubber wand to get most of the calcium off the walls, but some is stuck like concrete-anyone have a suggestion as to how to get it off. I know we're not supposed to put metal objects in the water, so a scraper is out, unless there is a plastic scraper out there that would work? I've been checking the ammonia levels for a few days since putting rock and sand together and the ammonia levels are at zero. I'll be checking nitrites shortly, but does this mean that the sand cured the rock much faster? The sand did not appear to have any critters in it (nothing moving around) do I need to add some? If so when?
Also, I'm creating the reef to be it's own filter so I need advice about the animals I put in and when. All in all, I'd like to have 2 clowns, 1 tang, 2 grammas, 1 green mandarin (much later) and possibly some blennies or wrasse. I'm willing to skip the tang if that would be too many fish. I'd also like to add a blue Linkia Star, 1 Fire shrimp, and some other reef cleaners. In addition I would be putting in some anemone, sponges and coral. I plan to start with 2 clowns and go from there. Can i put the shrimp in next when test levels are normal? Is there a "Best Order" to use in putting these animals in? Thanks in advance for the advice.:rolleyes:

[RockTheCasbah!]

I also did the rest of the water tests: Nitrate = 0, Nitrite = 0, Phosphate = 0, Calcium = 165mg per liter. PH is holding steady at 8.0, I've tried adding some baking soda to raise it but it doesn't budge. How else can I get it up? Is it safe to keep adding more baking soda??

[ReefMole]

R-T-C,

I wouldn't use straight baking soda...here's a link to a recipe for homemade buffer:
( http://www.hawkfish.org/infoctr/homebuffer.htm )

Have you checked your alkalinity? You didn't mention how long your tank has been setup...I battled low alkalinity and low PH (8.0) for the first few weeks of cycling my tank. After about 3 weeks of slowly adding liquid buffer that didn't work (RedSea) I added some Kent brand powdered buffer (mixed with DI) and the PH and alkalinity were PERFECT! I don't know if the tank just needed to cycle more or the Kent Marine buffer did the trick.

As for the sand dust, you didn't mention whether your tank was acrylic or glass. If it's glass, I've heard of people using razor blades to scrape the glass. Acrylic scratches easily so I'd be very careful when cleaning the inside. Kent makes a black plastic handled scraper with a red plastic blade for acrylic aquariums that works good and doesn't scratch as long as you don't have any sand under the blade. I've also heard of people using credit cards. Personally, if the tank is new and nothing is in it I'd just stick my hand in there and try to clean the stuff off if possible. I had a problem with bubbles but not sand on the acrylic.

I would 'think' you'd have tons of critters from the live rock. ???

Lastly, I myself am a newbie so take my advice for what it's worth...not much!

[Impaler]

It sounds like you are off to a great start! Oolitic means, basically sperical in shape. But the sand is probably going to take a while to establish.Did you buy it live already? Or a dry bag? If the sand was dry, it will need probably a month to start filtering properly, but the rock should compensate for a light bioload initially. My snails actually have put a dent in the white film on the glass. Just try to use an aquarium safe scrubber as best you can and get some snails to take care of the rest. It's tedious, but a clean razor blade can take it off fairly well. Be warned though, it takes a LOT of elbow grease!

The tang would be a bad idea, as I understand it. They like to swim a lot, and really ought to be in 100 gallons or far more. You may need to put together a refugium to keep a mandarin, but in a tank that size the rock may hold enough bugs for it in time. I understand that grammas don't get along well with anything resembling them. My neon pseudo and gramma were always at odds, and I had to take the gramma back. They work in schools, though, from what I have read about them.

What lighting are you running? If you want any hard corals, they will need a saturation of high intensity light. Soft corals don't typically need MH, but still need quite a bit. I have read that anemones need a bunch of light, too, so be careful what you get if your lighting is insufficient.

At any rate, you're doing great! I'm still fairly new at this, so take or leave what I say. I can definitely be mistaken! Congrats on the tank, and good luck!:dance:

Dan

[RockTheCasbah!]

I'll try the razor blade because nothing else is working. The sand was live and wet, came from someone else's reef tank although I couldn't see any critters in it. The rock looks good, has alot of purple and green coralline algae. The lighting I'm using is a set if 4 DIY power compact light kits each at 55 watts. 2 are 6500K bright light and 2 actinic. They also have special reflectors that are supposed to boost the light by 60%. Is that sufficient for most corals? I've heard from others that anemones don't need alot of light to live, but they won't have alot of color if they don't have good lighting. So if I can get my PH up to par, and my other readings stay good, am I ready to add a couple of clowns?? Do clowns immediately need an anemone, or can I wait a little while to put one in?

[Impaler]

Hmm, well. Let's see. You're running a total of 220 watts? For what it's worth, I'm running 350watts on a 40gal. From what I've read and heard, 9 watts per gallon is a good number to shoot for. I CAN BE MISTAKEN!

Yeah, I'd say go for the clowns, They are pretty hardy for the most part. It's keeping the drain stuffer.......er, anemone, that can be difficult. The pH is fine in my opinion, but ot keep any corals you may want to work on it some. Time is the game here. Patience is paramount in the reef hobby. I've been running for a year, and just bought my first "official" coral yesterday(shroom hitchhikers are very healthy). I prefer to take it slow, build what I can, save for the best that I can't build, and read as much as possible.

Get the clowns, and look into the blennys. I like the neon pseudo, but they can be temperamental to some.

FWIW
Dan

[Skipper]

Hey folks, a ph of 8.0 is fine and nothing to be concerned about. My ph varies from 7.9 to 8.3 as measured by a Pinpoint ph monitor. How are you determining what your ph levels are?

You are not likely to see too many critters in the sand when you first put it in. After several days, you should begin to see some worm holes and little piles of sand. They are particularly noticeable along the front glass.

Anemones do need alot of light, and will do best under metal halides. You would really be pushing the limits to try to keep one with just pc bulbs. Before I added any fish or invertebrates, I would want to verify the the tank has cycled, and not just the holding tanks that you had the live rock in.

[DgenR8]

As per DR.Ron, anemones can be kept with what most of us would consider insufficient lighting, if kept well fed. I wouldn't argue with the good Doc., but I think that keeping anemones is better left to those with some experience and some powerful lights.
I believe it when DR. Ron says that the high intensity lights are not absolutely necessary, but they certainly will help you be successful. Clowns don't NEED anemones, and to be honest, they can be a REAL PIA!! They don't stay put and many times wind up in the intake of power heads and the like. A dead anemone can also play hell with your water quality. They should at least be researched heavily before purchase.
As stated above, take your time, add animals one at a time and know about the animals you want to add before buying them.

As Skipper said QUOTE:

Before I added any fish or invertebrates, I would want to verify the the tank has cycled, and not just the holding tanks that you had the live rock in.

That's excellent advice.

[ShipMate]

I see that you plan to keep sponges, that s fine but let me tell you from experience (mine and many others) that most are extremely delicate creatures, and will perish if:

you disturb the sand bed and create a cloud of sediment (will clog micropores, =dead sponge)

you run a protein skimmer (removing many nutrients necessary to sponges survival)


your water comes from an RO/DI system (removing silica which is what many sponges use to build their 'skeletal' system)


most sponges live in a zero light or "cryptic" area (should probably be a separate area of the tank (or "cryptic refugium" without any lighting)


some refugium critters eat sponges


...


need i say more?


:reading: