New tank check in.

[BigJPDC]

No way I could resist this - I tossed a couple of the small pieces in the tank and I can see a bunch of neon orange and pink spots under the actinics. I hope my OCD lets me line these pieces up in a cool way. =)

[newreefbishop]

those spots may turn out to be coral, or coraline algae....start testing your calcium...trust me....keep it at about 420-440 PPM and whatch it grow like crazy. Within 2 months I had coraline growing everywhere....and its ok if you put the rock in....and redo the aquascaping over the weekend......this will help with the curing process and the seeding of yours sand. Just make sure your salinity is between 1.024 and 1.027

[newreefbishop]

You may also want to look into a fan soon too...remember what we where talking about? Your water volume will decrease, which mean the temps will fluctuate more.

[BigJPDC]

I've been shooting for 1.023, so I'll see about the tank numbers before I put the big pieces in. If I am going with a tower, I'll have to experiment with epoxy and cutting up plastic hangers and such. I am ready for a big water change, so I can swap out that bulkhead.

'Rock in the tank is money not in my bank' - I need that as my autosig.

[Liquid Hobby]

Nice! Just a few more days for me...

Keep that rock in water. It shouldn't be out of it's element for long!

[BigJPDC]

LH - I have it in a big tub with a heater and PH. We should be good for this weekend. I'll be interested in seeing how it looks when I get home - the water was starting to cloud up when I left it last night so I think the die-off or cycle is happening.

I also can't wait for my skimmer to start doing something besides adding to my bubble situation.


'Rock in the tank is money not in my bank' - jp

[BigJPDC]

OK - couldn't wait any more, the water in the tub of rock in the basement was still clear last night so I went for it.







Observations:

LOL that rock displaced enough water so that my sump is almost full. I figured I'd just leave it and do a big water change tomorrow.

I don't think I need all that much more rock, if any. I'd like the mound on the right to be more of a tower, so maybe one more big flat piece and I think we should be OK. My biggest goal was to have many flat places with different amounts of light coverage, plus a big sandy area for an anem or clam.

The skimmer is doing nothing, I wonder if I have the water level too low or else it's just breaking in.

It's been cold here in VA, so the temp fluctuation yesterday was between 78.5-80.

I worked my SG up to 1.023, and will get it higher with the water change.

The hairline scratches I was so worked up abount are invisible with complex rock shapes and colors behind them, instead of the open space. The bubbles seem to be less eye-catching as well.

Photoperiod, the second one I've worked out so far:

5:30am - 6:30am - Moonlights.
noon - Actinic on.
2pm - 11KK on.
8pm - 11KK off.
9:55pm - Moonlights on.
10pm - Actinic off.
11pm - Moonlights off.

enjoy
jp

[newreefbishop]

THe rocks loook great.....personally even with an anemone, a large carpet, or LTA I would still get at least 40-60 pounds more rock.....

The rock allows for better water quality, and filtration to occur. get epoxy and stack them vertical with a nice base, to maximize the reef cliff look and sand bed for clams, or anemones

Your skimmer will gradually start picking up more and more....mine didnt do anything till the end of the first month and now its going crazy....lol

Continue to get your salinity up to at least 1.025-1.027 pretty much the best reef conditions....Also if you dont have a heater get one PLEASE.....marine depot or something set it to 78.5 degrees and watch your temp for 24 hrs or so.....so basically your temp never goes below that......get the fans blowing good on the water, and your temps should stay pretty stable...Last thing you want is a temp spike to kill everything.

Anyway, things look great my friend...I took some pics last night FINALLY and will be updating my thread today.

[BigJPDC]

Cool - thanks nrb, you rock. I'll place another order with the same place and will ask for two more large flat pieces and a couple of the pine cone shaped smaller ones too - however much that weighs is what I'll get. I know I can't imagine trying this in a tank that isn't 18" wide like the 65.

Heaters - I have (2) Stealth 100's in the sump, and it's not going lower than 78.5, even during the day. I'll crank those both up a degree or two, to stay around 80.

The CL and SS are giving me great flow, I am so happy this worked out. I see things flapping all over the rock, and can see where an anem would park itself right down in front of the outlet in the front left and under the full force of the T5's.

I'll be looking for those new pics in your thread.
jp

[newreefbishop]

I myself will also be adding another 20 pounds of rock in about 2 months.....for a total of 120.

As far as the heaters keep them right there....that temp will be perfect dont bump em up to 80....a 2 degree variation is pretty standard.

And lastly, anemones love great indirect flow, depending on the type it may go in front of outlet, but your flow is great so no matter where it hoes it will be healthy.


NEW PICS ARE UP

[Liquid Hobby]

Looking good!!

What is the sand you're using on top?

[BigJPDC]

I don't know what I did with my camera, but these pix look good. I also think that my actinic bulbs woke up. The first one really shows off how wide the tank is.





Hey LH - I put down 40lbs Indo-Pacific Caribsea, then mixed 20lbs Indo-Pacific with 20 lbs Tahitian Moon sand, then repeated the 20/20 mix again for the top layer. I copied the mix lil princess form this board used in one of her threads. I love the look so far, but wished I had done a 20 indo-40 moon for the last batch. I think it could be blacker and I'd still like it

I was freaking last night because it looked like the rock was bleaching. Today I see a bunch of purple.

jp

[newreefbishop]

LOL nice looking stuff man.....VER VERY VERY NICE!!!!

The rock itself wont really bleach per say....but expect the coraline to breathe....it will look like growth is slow then POW....basically give it time, also in a couple daysyou may start seeing fan worms, and other stuff growing on the back of the tank....when are you getting the new rock?

[BigJPDC]

I bet I never find that white balance setting again, LOL it didn't save it when I turned it off.

The owner said they were getting a new shipment in today, so I'll do like last time and order on Monday so it arrives when I am home Thursday. I am not looking forward to being up to my armpits on a chair arranging rock, but then again - how cool is that? =)

Weird that my sump water level is so high it's over the baffles and the water has never been clearer - is that the rock, or keeping the pump super submerged . . ?

Also, when can I start dosing calcium? Any recomendations on products, procedures? I saw that dfs sells 5ml one-time use vials of Kent calcium - that seems like a good way to make it easy.

I see what I think is bleaching again, but not as bad as last night - it's those 11KK T5's, they wash the purple away when they're on. Hopefully I'm not melting the life on the rock.

jp

[newreefbishop]

Well the rock is pretty much cured so bleaching really wont happen to that extent. And dont worry the life in and on the rock wont melt away....

As far as dosing I recommed get yourself a good calcium test kit. I notice you have been doing regular water changes so that in itself replenishes the calcium, the point at which you truly start dosing is when you see calcium levels drop in between the periods you specify for water changes....Personally after gathering some information,i found that if I keep my calcium at or near 475 ppm and keep alk at 8.2-8.3 things grow extremely fast. As far as what product to use http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewIt...product=TL1151

or get pure calcium and a alk buffer to keep alk correct. I dose pure calcium.

The sump levels should equalize after evaporation takes effect. Just think the overflow only drains as much as the pump puts out as long as its below maximum drain capacity, like i said levels will improve with some evaporation.


Last thing, things will move quickly from this point so get a notebook, or document progress on the PC.....keep track of all changes so if anything happens you can trace the cause. And also document test results.

Anything else let me know.

[BigJPDC]

Updates:

OK, after all I decided to not do a water change. It was nice to not have to add T\O water every other day with the sump level so high, I wish I could extend my return baffle another three inches and I might just start filling it up over the baffles anyway. The inlet on the return pump is at the bottom of the tank so it almost makes sense that I would see less bubbles with a higher water level. The only downside I see right now is that I don't know how that kind of water level affects the skimmer.

Speaking of the skimmer - I actually had something in my collection cup for the first time, about 1/8" of liquid, but when I poured it into a clear glass it was pretty clear fluid, so I still don't think I am skimming anything.

That also makes sense, because I ran through a full battery of tests and am reading zero (0) for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate. Where is this cycle I keep hearing about? It does look like the LR is growing a couple patches of brownish algae, and I used a turkey baster, blasting off tons of white powder and other junk from the rock. My SG is still between 1.022 and 1.023, so I'll T\O with saltwater to try and ease that up. I know now that I should have done a better job of cleaning that LR off before I put it in the tank.

KW - I'm not all that thrilled about mixing up and maintaining solution somewhere, so I picked up Kent Marine liquid calc and also their dKH buffer. I'm going to try and add a different one every day, and I'll test again in a week or so to see if there are any affects. My tests showed me at 420 for calc and 7 for dKH. The dKH may have been 8, depending on when the vial really changed from pink to yellow. It's amazing to me that the LFS says to use the chemical kits because the test strips aren't accurate, then it comes down to when you think something is purple or blue and then multiply by 20 - meaning your margin of error is 40.

I am working on an order for more LR to finish that part of the build off. Hopefully that gets done this weekend and then I can be set up for that water change the following weekend, and then think about the cleanup crew the one after that.

I ordered an eheim 1260 to try and quiet things down, the Mag7 is just terrible. I am also going to try and epoxy a mag float to my maxijet, so it will stick inside my sw Brute can.

jp

[newreefbishop]

Good stuff...so far so good....The cycle so to speak may never trully happen becuase the rock is pretty much cured. I didnt have one at all. Once you see algae starting to grow you may look into the clean up crew, but as you said do it after you add you last set of rock. I was in the same boat as you because I could have also done a better job cleaning the rocks, but my snails, and crabs and shrimp made up for my silly mistake

I am also in the process of ordering a small clean up crew, even though my tank is up and running for over 4-5 months I made an error which costed me all my shrimp and most of my crabs. One of my fish had ich and I lowered salinity to do hypo-salinity treatment, at the same time feeding heavily with garlic, and dosing meds. I should not have dosed meds...i killed pretty much al the crabs, which cause a small cycle which caused cyano.

In anycase...thats why I have a thread...to document these things so that we dont make mistakes again. The fish eventually got over the ich and I never saw it again. I was pretty mad about my cleaner shrimp biting the dust though. the hermits are that expensive so that didnt bother me. In any case....good stuff.

[BigJPDC]

I can see where I am going to need a QT\acclimation tank, and am leaning towards one of those all-in-one nano tanks they sell at Pet-x to make it easy. I don't know how I am going to QT 50 or so snails and hermits, but I guess I cross that bridge when I get there.

Good to hear I might not see the whole tank overrun by green soup.

jp

[newreefbishop]

I doubt that the tank will have that much algae growing in it....lol

As far as the QT, thats a good idea, however I dont think you will need to qt snails, crabs, or shrimp...IMO someone correct me if Im wrong.

[BigJPDC]

It will be interesting to see how creatures get added and removed from my tank, that's for sure. I didn't really build in easy access. The Barbie nano tank with built in light, heater and filter for $70 seems like a no-brainer to me, just keep the filter sponge in the sump and toss after the QT period.

Interesting read on the Kent Marine site:

Calcium testing in marine systems is fraught with difficulties. Test kits generally don’t work well in the ranges that we run in reefs and many ions in marine water interfere with the kit. If your calcium level does not make sense, try diluting the aquarium water sample 50/50 with distilled, deionized or R/O water and testing. Multiply the result by 2. This will both save on valuable reagents in your kit and generally give a more accurate reading. (You may want to consult with the kit manufacturer to determine that doing this will give valid results with your brand of kit).

I was thinking this same thing last night when I needed 21 drops to get to a calc result of 420 (drops x 20). The bad news here, lol again, is that if I'm not sure if it's purple or blue, the swing could be as much as 80. i.e. my calc would have been either 400 or 440.

[BigJPDC]

Holy algea batman, I have a ton of brown algea tonight and it's bubbling something as well. I think it's time for the cleanup crew. My second order of LR should be here Thursday.

[Liquid Hobby]

I've got little bubbles all over one of my rocks too. So, there is life in there after all!!

[BigJPDC]

I should have the last of my rock coming in on Thursday, and now my concern is that there will be a ton of algea in there by the time it gets into the tank, at least one or two days later after I've had time to watch it in a tub. Plus I don't think I want to stack on top of rock that has algea on it, since nothing will be able to get in there and eat it.

Should I add a small clean up crew now and then add the new rock on Friday with them in the tank?

jp

[newreefbishop]

OK so good new and bad news....the good news....the algae goes away...dont sweat it...the bad news bubbles could mean a couple things....take some pics and post.

BIGJ, wait till you get the rock and put it in the tank....trust me when I say the algae issues wont be too bad.just do your best to keep your glass clean. Do your aquascaping let the tank sit for a couple days and run tests. You should have a minimal spike if any at all. At that point add your cleanup crew in its entirety. So basically wait one week, from thursday. I would clean the rocks in salt water, and put them right into the tank ASAP, and let things run for a couple days......keep lighting to a minimum. This will also cut down algae growth.

Once you put the rock in and the clean up crew, they will pretty much take care of all the algae. Snails, crabs, etc.....if you need help on picking out some let me know, I have tried pretty much all in my tank....AND GET MORE PICS....AND YOUR SALINITY UP WHILE YOUR AT IT....lol

Lata man..take care and happy reefing

Mylton

[newreefbishop]

Oh for the sake of coversation...here

http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_...cfm?pCatId=494

http://www.etropicals.com/product/pr...45&pCatId=1766

get the 55 gallon setup.....