TekCat's TANK

[TekCat]

After about 45 minutes of acclimation I added new critters to the tank. Summary of current inhabitants:

9 Cerith snais
8 Nassarius snails
6 Trochus snails
4 Turbo Snails
4 Scarlet hermits
4 Red Legged hermits

Any suggestions on livestock selection/addition?

Params:
SG 1.025
Temp 82
pH 8.2
amm 0
trite 0
trate (not tested)

[dhnguyen]

anything but damsels.

[TekCat]

Originally posted by dhnguyen
anything but damsels.

Nope, no way, from what I've read, they are going to bully other fish.

I was thinking to start with a pair of clown fish (Nemo) in about a week. After another 2 weeks Lawnmower Blenny.
Not sure about Blue Green Chromis, Longfin Cardinalfish, and Carpenter's Wrasse. Maybe I'll just stay with 3-4 fishes until tank matures for a couple of months and then add some SPS. Any thoughts on my plan?

[dhnguyen]

3-4 fish sounds about right. Just go slow

[TekCat]

I am all ready to set up a fuge. It will be 10G tank from Petco. I picked it up yesterday. A very cool guy Frogbone from TCMAS drilled it, so I'll have gravity drain from fuge to my sump. So, tonight I'll become a plumber again . Wish me luck not crack the tank while I am tightning bulkhead

[TekCat]

amm 0
trite 0.1
trate 25

I don't have a fuge yet, and DSB is not yet established (no bubbles in the sand's lower layer) Should I do huge water change? Or just wait?

[WaterKeeper]

At this point I'd just do moderate water changes Cat. Things seem to be well in hand and a 5 gallon or so change every few days are all that is needed.

[TekCat]

Originally posted by WaterKeeper
At this point I'd just do moderate water changes Cat. Things seem to be well in hand and a 5 gallon or so change every few days are all that is needed.

5 gallons water changes, lets say, twice a week. For how long? My gut feeling is that I should do it at least 2-3 weeks before I could introduce any fish.

This weekend, I am going to finish up with the fuge, and put some macro in it. Question: is there a macro algea that does not go sexual, or has the least possibility to spawn?

[dhnguyen]

5 gallons once a week or 2 is fine. Your levels are fine to add fish. Just do so slowly and not all at once meaning don't go and add 10 fish at a time. Just a couple of fish and then wait a week or 2 then add more.

[WaterKeeper]

IMO you are better off with Chaetomorpha than Caulerpa. If kept trimmed and harvested it tends to be much less invasive.

BTW, I do 10% water changes once a week. In a brand new tank I do it somewhat more as it helps control nuisance algae during the initial cycle.

[TekCat]

When $hit happens, it happens in quantites more than one. First thing that happend - I cracked my 10G tank that I planed to use as a fuge while installing bulkhead.

If anyone has experience in repairing such crack please let me know how. I am not sure that the faith of the next 10G tank from WalMart will be different - thin galss is very fragile.

While I was fiddling with the fuge, I cracked one of the baffles in my sump ... 1/8" glass... god, they are fragile.

Finally, I discovered the reason why one of my HUGE turbo snails were not moving for tree days from one spot. It quietly moved on, and was rotting for three days. What a smelly bugger. My hands still smell aweful! I did 15% water change, and discovered that I am out of salt...

AAAAA.... I am mad!!!!!

[shinosuke]

Hey,
Been reading along for awhile, I dig the thread. Rooting for ya. I'm at about the same spot you are. I've had my tank sitting for awhile, recently added some inverts. My first fish will come sometime in the next week, probably. Hopefully I'm getting a jawfish, I just need to add a couple of inches of sand to my substrate!
Anyway, I'd stay away from Petco, for dry goods and ESPECIALLY livestock. They treat their animals horribly and most have some kinda disease by the time they're shipped into the store. Just do a search for petco in the new to hobby forum, you'll find tons of info on them. IMO you should stick to a decent LFS, their quality of goods would probably be higher.
Good luck with your sump, those things can be a pain!
~Adam D.

[TekCat]

shinosuke, Thanks for you kind words of encouragement, we all need them in this hobby. I go to Petco only for dry goods. LFS prices are bit higher... but for live stock I'd never go to any of the conglomerate stores (Petco, Petsmart, etc...).
Good luck with adding first fish I'll be a bit behind on that... I'll start adding fish, if my water parameters would stay stable, in a couple of weeks or so. But, I am struggling (mentaly) to wait until December...

[WaterKeeper]

Cat,

About the only way to repair that damage is to replace the entire pane of glass. You need to strip off all the silicone along the seams. In some tanks this will free the glass but in other there may be a putty caulking also used. You need to use a putty knife to remove it then. Have the glass shop cut the glass to size and replace it. Make sure all the silicone is off the areas that you plan to place new silicone. New silicone does not adhere to the old dry stuff.

When securing bulkheads and fitting it is not necessary to overtighten the fittings. Just snug them up and apply about a half turn extra. That should secure the washers in place so they don't leak. If any leakage is observed tighten it gently a half turn at the most.

[TekCat]

Finally! I installed lights!!!! .. legs are crappy, designed for 25" wide tank, I had to bend them to fit into my 12" wide tank. Anyways, here is a photo:


The PH on the left is SEIO 1100, it blows good! But I have a couple dead spaces, do I need to add more powerheads?

[shinosuke]

Wow.. I really like what you did with your rockwork! Lots of caves, but you can see inside all of them!
Bravo!
~Adam D.

[TekCat]

Thanks shinosuke I plan to add another 15 lbs or so. Right now it all holds up by gravity. I plan to secure top rocks with epoxy just to be on the safe side.

[TekCat]

Today, I changed 10% of whater... I think I am getting used to the chore

My broken up fuge was siliconed yesterday, bulkhead was installed, and siliconed again. So, 24 hours later, that is today, I filled the fix-up-10G tank with water for a static test. So far no leaks. Wish me luck, if it holds the water for 2-3 days, I am going to use it as a fuge! I really need one, diatoms seemed to dissapearing, and are getting replaced by green thing. I saw a few hairs on the glass today, so fuge with chaeto is all I need to battle never ending fight with GHA.

Another thing, since I installed lights my water temp jumped from 82 to 84.5... not good. Any suggestions?

[chocolateblnt]

I'm glad to see you were able to fix that crack ... aren't 10 gallons like $10 bucks at petco? I wouldn't think twice but pick up another tank.

How about a regular fan blowing away the stagnant air between the lights and the aquarium top? Do you have a lid? If so taking it off can help cool with evaporation. I think water surface agitation also helps cool the tank... what kind of heater do you have?

[TekCat]

chocolateblnt, I agree that picking up another 10G from petco is a good idea. Thin glass is very fragile, so it is most likely that I'd crack it again (I am not very good with glass). I want to try build an acrylic tank in a future, but for now, if the darn thing does not leak, I'll use it the way it is. I know, I know that there is nothing more permanent then temprary .

As far as adding a fan blowing across the water - an excellent idea. I don't have a lid and the surface of the water is agitated quite a bit by SEIO ph... I just love that ph!

I have 2 heaters, 150W in tank, and 200W in sump. I try to keep water temp around 82.5F.

[rjwilson37]

Looking good TekCat, keep up the good work.

My latest tank creation is basically three years of hard work to get this far, so be patient and you will have a great tank.

[chocolateblnt]

TekCat ... that powerhead is sweet ... definitely what I will be getting for my 29 gallon

I thought having 2 heaters is suppose to stabilize your temperature even further... or maybe it is stable but since the lights have turned on you have to turn the heaters down a bit?! I am not really sure about heaters its something I would love to read about ... anyone know of a good thread explaining exactly how heaters work and stuff?

Anyway the tank is looking sweet man! Really good Idea from that guy to separate the live rock a bit! ... I'm jealous I just found out my Mud Sump/Refugium is on backorder until the 28th GRRRRR! Whatever it'll give me more time to think of what I am doing not to mention save some extra money for nicer things I can't afford in the first place

Are you going to put some sort of backing on the tank? Also what kind of a lighting fixture is that? This website has has lots of mounting accessories... I dunno just tryin' to help those bent legs

https://www82.safesecureweb.com/weba...egory_Code=PA1

[TekCat]

chocolateblnt, The lights are 8x54 Watt T5 They are sweet, while they were on I placed my hand between the tank and the lamps, and could feel moderate wormth. I bet that's the reason my tank heats up. It is mounted 6" above water surface and has acrylic lens. I don't really want to raise them any higher, but a fan or two blowing across water surface just might do the trick. Does anyone know of any quiet yet powerfull fans?

I am still undecided on the background, that is blue vs black. Any thoughts on which one is better? I know that is a personal preference, but still

The heaters are pretty simple devices, they just heat the water. What makes them interesting is that they have temperature sensor that is reading the temperature back, and allows you to control the heating element. In a nutshell, if temperature is less what you've dialed then electrical current is passed on to the heating element, otherwise it cuts the power.

Good luck with that Mud sump/fuge.... backorder SUX!

[chocolateblnt]

So ... if your heater's dial says 81 and your actual temp is 78 ... the heater sucks or isn't powerful enough? I am going to buy a new heater for my tank ... I have a "Tronic" it's a piece of 150 watt Sh*t but tt's simply what I have now ... What is the most reliable heater? Are Ebo Jager's good ... I heard you can pull the blue knob out and calibrate it ... is this myth or fact?

[TekCat]

IMO unless you have digital meter on the heater - the numbers on the dial are aproximate. Mine dialed to 78, but tanks temp is 82.5 I suppose one can take the cap off and place it where the dial corresponds to measured temp. But there are some variations on the measurement method that needed to considered. For example, if you place heater in one corner of the tank, and your temperature sensor at the opposite end, and not enough water flow is going through the tank, then one area of the tank will be warmer then in the other. So you get false interpretation of the performance of your heater.
If you have an adequate water circulation in your tank, then you can safely assume that the heater performance could be measured relatively accurate. Hope this helps