My first tank (w/pics)

[bckey]

I finally got all my equipment in. I took a few days off from work and assembled the stand and plumbed the tank and also painted the back of the tank black. I finally made enough ro/di water and filled the tank. It was finally up and running monday night (Jan 24th). No leaks and the tank is clear after days of some really cloudy water. My liverock arrived thursday from liverocks.com and that was placed in the tank.

I still need some algae for the refugium and a few other things but nothing major. My stock list is looking like this:

Naso or purple tang
Foxface rabbitfish
Lawnmower blenny
Convict damsel
Blue damsel
? Probably a clown fish

The damsels can be removed later if they cause any problems. I'll just take them back to the lfs.

My system consists of the following:
75 gallon Oceanic reef ready tank
Current USA PC 48" light with moon lights
ASM G-3 protein skimmer
Sump/refugium designed by looking at one of Melevs
110 lbs aragonite sand (80 live 30 not)
60 lbs base rock from hirocks.com
40 lbs live rock from liverocks.com
300 watt visi therm heater
Return pump (quiet one 3000) not very quiet
2 maxi jet 1200's
RO/DI unit from auqasafe
32 gallon brute trash can for water
Mag 7 to mix water
Test kits
Refractometer from Drs. Foster and Smith
2 GFI extension outlets (3 outlets each)
Coralife 12 inch pc light for refugium (probably change due to heat)
Instant Ocean salt
Seachem reef builder
Seachem reef advantage calcium
Stand from Dayton Inc.
Canopy from Dayton Inc. (not yey assembled)

Water parameters from friday:

SG 1.024 32 PPT
Ammonia 0.50
Nitrite 0 PPM
Nitrate 0 PPM
PH 7.8
Calcium 330 PPM
Temp 80.5 F

I'm working on bring the salinity up to 35 PPT and calcium will need to come up too.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/78338rc-2.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/78338rc-1.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/78338rc-3.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/78338rc-4.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/78338rc-5.jpg

Could use help in identifying items in pictures 4 & 5

[flycut]

Nothing like setting up a new tank. Looks good.

["F" is 4 Fish]

do you already have fish in there???? i strongly recommend to take it out pronto!!!!!!!!! your cycle seems to have not finish yet.

[bckey]

2 damsels. I shouldn't get a high ammonia spike with 80 lbs of live sand and 40 lbs. of live rock. If I'm wrong please lmk and I'll remove them. They were added yesterday.

[Cichlidius]

You are just starting your cycle by the looks of it. Was the LR fully cured? Even if it was you will get some die-off and a cycle (maybe big, maybe small). You don't need fish to cycle with LR, the rock is capable all by itself. I would leave the tank with just the rock for a month. That is my opinion though, but the longer and slower you stock and make changes the happier you will be with your tank and the healthier your tank will be. The hardest part is patience.
Nothing good happens quickly in a reef tank.

Just my 2 cents, YMMV.

Good luck.

[reefamania]

you probably will experiance a bigger cycle in the next few day's. if it was me i would take back the fish and wait 4-6 weeks before adding livestock. better to be safe than sorry. you'll love your asm skimmer!! i have a g-2 on a 65rr with a 20g sump and it kicks butt. happy reefing:D

[bckey]

thanks for the respnses everyone.

[smcnally]

Good luck catching those damsels...I've been trying all day to catch my two yellow tails.

[bckey]

Feb 7th my water parameters are:

SG 1.265 35 PPT
AMMONIA 0
PH 8.0
NITRITE 0
NITRATE 10
CALCIUM 425 PPM
DKH 10.4
ALK 3.71


I did a 12 gallon water change on the 5th.

[slc]

Get rid of those Aptasias in pics 4 & 5 FAST! They will take over your tank in no time. They are very hard to control once they take hold. They will sting everything else. If they are pestered they split into 9 more! Do some research here to find out the best way to kill them before you try to kill them and only make them reproduce instead. Get serious while there are only a few!

[JessB]

IMO,
#4 looks like aptasia...eliminate this ASAP!
#5, not sure...at first glance looks like aptasia...but then seems to have a calcium skeleton....bigger/closer pics would help...
The damsels, you might aswell consider them as part of the tank now....you won't be able to catch them unless you use a fish trap...good luck on those...

[bac]

bckey,
Just wonder what size is your sump/refigium and how did you partition it? What is the size of the pipe from the overflow and return?

Thanks,
bac

[bckey]

I know. I bought some Joe's juice. They killed a beautiful rose anenome that came on my live rock. I took out all the rock and caught the damsel. What a pain.

My sump/refugium is 36x14x17. I made the sump 12x14 and the refugium 12x14 with the baffles taking up room in the middle return area so that I got exactly 12x14 on both the refugium and sump. With the baffles 1 inch apart that should make the return area about 9x12 if you consider the 1/4" width of the acrylic also.

The inflow pvc is 1 inch and the return is 3/4". I use a quiet one 3000 for my return pump.

[jhunko]

Leave the damsels in for the cycle, let the amonia do the hard work for ya :) Just kidding, that would be cruel. The damsels will become a pain in your rear soon enough, and they are pretty smart fish. When I was catching mine, they would go into caves, and holes in the rock.

[bckey]

February 14th water parameters

15 gallon water change 2/13

Ammonia 0
PH 8.0
Nitrate 5
Nitrite 0
SG 1.265 35 PPT

[255 255 255 0]

picture 5 looks like two sun corals to me. just my spootid 0.0002 cents. im most likely wrong on this one

[NEWFIE1964]

Originally posted by bckey
Feb 7th my water parameters are:

SG 1.265 35 PPT
AMMONIA 0
PH 8.0
NITRITE 0
NITRATE 10
CALCIUM 425 PPM
DKH 10.4
ALK 3.71


I did a 12 gallon water change on the 5th.

No No No...do not do water changes till your cycle is done...about 4-6 weeks...just top it up with fresh (RO) water when it evaporates....also are you using tap water...if so...don't do it...take it from experience...I had lots of trouble cause I started off with tap water...leave it for now...when you cycle is done then do a water change with RO water.

[bckey]

I only use ro/di water. As far as the cycle goes I think it is done. My ammonia has been at 0 for a while. I used 80 lbs of live sand and 40 lbs of live rock and a damsel. It will be 4 weeks this weekend.

[H2OLUVSME]

put a little food in there (as if you were feeding two fish) for a few days and see if your readings hold true with no water changes. if all goes well with that i would feed the tank minimally for a few weeks with no fish to help boost your micro-fauna.

[bckey]

My fish want list has changed also.

revised list:

purple tang or white cheek tang (sold as powder brown on every website I have checked so far. Robert Fenner points that out in his book. Big difference on survival rate and care)

Flame angel, coral beauty, cherub, lemonpeel, mimic, bicolor, half black, potters, or heralds. Need suggestions on which one is best and why. (Im only getting 1 of these for my tank)

Gold striped maroon clown

Lawnmower Blenny.

Maybe a onespot foxface or bicolor foxface or copperbanded butterfly.

I only want about 5 or 6 fish total with a variety of invertebrae.

[Iphis]

I'm assuming that rock is florida/carribbean based, at least rock #5. I have the same corals. You will need to feed them when you finish your cycle.

Lemonpeel angels are one of my favorites. They are hard to keep alive, though. Potters and Coral Beauty are both beautiful. Get the one you like the look of. Personality on these guys are hit or miss.

Angels in general will normally nip at your corals. If it has little tentacles shooting off it, they will bite it. (Depending on personality of course). Those sun corals are included.

Careful with the copperbanded butterfly. A lot of people have trouble actually getting them to accept food.

Iphis