In the Beginning. . . New Tank photos! Input?

[AslanTheKing]

Hey all

I finally got around to posting my first photos. Right now, I have live rock, sand, a tank, and a sump filled with basic mechanicals. For those seeking specifics, here ya go:

Tank: AGA 90 gallon RR
Sump: AGA MegaFlow Sump: Model 2
Protein Skimmer: Deltec Turbo 1250
Lights: NO Flourescent until my Tek 6 bulb fixture arrives
Circulation: Tunze 6060
Return Pump: Eheim 1250 (waiting on a 1260)
Heaters: Two Gen-x Titanium 300w
Live Rock: 80 lbs of assorted rock, including 64 lbs of Sumatran, ~15 lbs of Indo-Pacific, 1 piece of Fiji, 1 piece old Tonga Shelf, and one large piece of base rock cured with saltwater for 6 months
Live Sand: 90 lbs

Now for the pics

Full Frontal:


Left Side Closer Look


Middle:



Right:



The Sump:



It's a start anyway. Don't kill me, but let me know what you think!

Peace

Kevin

[2fishy]

I think it looks awesome! I like the color of the rocks and lots of swimming, hidey holes!

[markandkristen]

looks great i have a 90 as well.
good choice on equipement.
rockwork looks nice as well.
now you can hurry up and wait ...
just ordered me a tunze 6060 . was using two seio 2600's

[AslanTheKing]

morning bump

[NORTHBAY(707)]

Looks Good. Know the waiting game.


Later.

[cham]

You need to unhook that skimmer and send it to

1925 Americus Minor Dr
Winter Garden, FL 34787

[lt34]

Looks great. Beautiful rocks. Nice coloring. Now you can really enjoy it, but suffer the waiting game.

[Criminal#58369]

Originally posted by cham
You need to unhook that skimmer and send it to

1925 Americus Minor Dr
Winter Garden, FL 34787

I thought the AGA MegaFlow Sump: Model 3 was for a 90
I got model 3, the bigger the better i think lol. I mean it cost i think $250 if i recall. I think the price was a bit high though.

[techrach]

Looks good.

[MJAnderson]

Nice. My only suggestion is some variety in the height of your rockwork.

[Sk8r]

There's room enough to add a couple of well-shaped rocks at the top. My highest rocks are about 8" from the surface, and a few things like being up there...creates some peaks and variety of habitats.

But a great job of setup---should be a beautiful tank!

[meco65]

Looks great well done. What type of tank will it be?

[Criminal#58369]

Im sure everyone would agree of removing those bio-balls, some at a time.

It looks great keep up the good work!

[wds21921]

Good eye Criminal! Yeah, I'd suggest slowly removing those bio-balls before you get things going to far.
Remove a few a day until they're all gone. They're a harbor for nitrates and are really not necessary in a sump. It works good for freshwater but for salt and especially reef, get rid of them.

I too have a 90 and love it.

[GlobaLPimP]

looking good

[AslanTheKing]

Let's address each of these in order:

Cham: I bet you had a shot at this skimmer already. I got it off the Used Drygoods forum. Price was ridiculously low for a Deltec.

Criminal: I started out looking for a sump for a 55g and got this reasonably priced (if anything in this hobby is ever really reasonably priced) When I upgraded to the 90 gallon tank, I decided to try it. I like it as theres more room in the cabinet, while it keeps enough water volume for the sump.

MJ and sk8r: I'll have to look into a couple of medium-sized Marshall Island Rocks eventually. Still have some drygoods out from a LFS that went under while my order was in (pre-paid, of course). If the RK2 and Oslmolator get in soon, I'll have the cash to pick up some nice rock. Otherwise, it'll be a while. Good news is that I'm not intending to add anything to tank for at least a month.

sk8r: I hope to start with a few softies (xenia, zoos, mushrooms), then add a couple of lps (candy cane and one of the euphyllia sp.) Ultimately, I want the crown of the reef to house a variety of sps. I'm particularly fond of monti caps, which may actually inhabit a few points midway down.

Current livestock dreams in order of addition: clown goby, fridmani pseudochromis, yellow watchman goby (adding a pistol shrimp much later), oscellaris clown, Kole Tang, Coral Beauty Angel, and a Green Mandarin (yes, I intend to add a hob fuge)

Bioballs: A diifferent lfs guy suggested keeping them, but strongly recommended giving them a thorough rinse in saltwater once a month during a routine water change.

Current paramters:

NH4= 0
N02= 0
NO3=2.5
dKh=10
CA=350

Peace

Kevin

[wds21921]

Your LFS guy then is creating another form of needless maintenance for you to perform.

The purpose of the bioballs is to capture and promote one form of capturing bacteriawaste and then allowing it to be broken down through the waste process. Most of us know this doesn't work since it only captures and allows that form of bacteria/waste to accumulate to often dangerous levels.

By having to rinse it monthly, it's performing a useless task. Your capturing the material and then rinsing it off. At best it's a temporary holding media that does not aid in the breakdown process.

By him telling you to rinse it monthly it's already saying that 1) there is a problem with that media and 2) what it's doing is at best, is being washed away monthly. You can get the same results by simply adding a media pad on the first top grate to capture large particles which WILL allow things to go through there breakdown process and is much more user-friendly when it comes to maintenance.

You can leave them in there and watch the nitrates slowly increase over time and then scramble to lower them when it begins to get toxic if you want.

[j_beau_13]

how have you decided to hang you tek fixture?? with the legs or hanging.

[AslanTheKing]

This is precisely the kind of feedback I was looking for. It sounded decent in theory as the guy was talking, but went totally against my research. So, a simple question, why remove slowly? Nitrates are currently in check. There are no animals. There are no inverts, save at least one hitchhiking baby feather duster. I can do the patience thing, but I'm curious as to why it's essential in this instance.

Thanks to all who have provided feedback. Anyone else got anything?

Peace

Kevin

[AslanTheKing]

JBeau: Tek light will go on with legs and acrylic shield. I've read the reports about the legs, but I'm not too concerned about getting them up to the max height. It also seemed like an easy fix with a couple of turns past basic tight.

Any other concerns?

Peace

Kevin

[wds21921]

By removing slowly your allowing the other bacteria's waste to take up and process small amounts of the excess.
If you simply remove them all you would very likely see spikes through out all your levels but especially in the nitrite and then nitrate breakdowns.
By flooding any of the levels into your sytem (filtration) you'll upset the balance and could cause an imblance that will take much longer to process through and even then perhaps not very succesfully.

[AslanTheKing]

Again, thanks and precisely the ikind of info that is needed. I need to buy some additional mats. How often should that media be replaced?

Peace

Kevin

[wds21921]

Keep in mind most LFS only keep there animals for several days to several weeks. There approach to handling things is in a fast paced enviroment and they're there to provide stablilization if they can, where as we are hoping for long-term success.

Worst of all, they often times relay information provided by manufacturers (or myths from customers) who are skewed towards sales rather than long term care and well being.

Take any advice by a LFS employee with a grain of er uh salt.........

[AslanTheKing]

Four bioballs down, tons more to go. By 2007, I should be bioball free! ;-)

[wds21921]

LOL Look at the bright side, if any neighbors come over you can simply leave them lying around tell them they're life pods , just leave it at that and watch the expression on there faces.