New tank, critique my progress!

[dkedrowitsch]

My tank has been setup for about 2.5 months now. It seems stable and my current residence seem to be happy. Here are the specs:

75 gallon AGA tank
Matching AGA stand
CPR 800 GPH overflow
Home made acrylic sump/fuge approx 20-25 gal sump & 10 gal fuge operating volume. Holds about 45 gal when completely full.
Berlin Triple Pass Turbo skimmer
Ebo 250w heater
Mag 9.5 return pump
2x MJ1200 power heads
PowerSweep 240 power head
2x 175W 10,000K German MH on Advance Core/Cap ballasts
2x NO 32W 48” T8 Coralsun Actinic 420 on Howard Ind high power electronic ballast (114% BF)
Fuge is lit by 20W mini PC “screw in” 50/50 10000K/Actinic in a clip on utility light
200lbs Southdown DSB w/20 lbs “live” aragonite from LFS on top layer to prevent sand storms – had nitrification bacteria but no critters

Live stock currently consists of::
2x juvenile Percula Clowns (just got Saturday, tank raised, CUTE, happy and healthy, eat very well)
3x yellow tail blue damsels (use to cycle, have been moved into ‘fuge till I can return them to LFS this week)
1 piece of 7lbs LR, purchased cured and in reef tank from LFS. Has some button polyps and a feather duster
Bunch of blue leg hermits and 3 turbo snails

I do not have an RODI system yet and have been using well water from my tap. Water contains 20 ppm nitrates right out of the faucet. No phosphates. Will be adding 5-stage RODI very soon!!

Water params are 78 deg, A/N/N 0/0/20 (nitrates from tap). pH is 8.2. Spec grav is 1.025 (adjusted for temp). My calc seems to be near 2200 ppm (if that is even possible). Alc was around 2.9 (I can’t remember the units). I think the high calc could be from the initial use of Southdown and my hard well water. This will drop when I get my RODI finally installed and do some water changes. I am trying to avoid any water changes for now because when I added my sump, I mixed a bunch of fresh salt water to fill it and had a major cyano outbreak that took two weeks to clear. It may be because I was using cheap Crystal Sea salt mix from my LFS and the well water. Just adding a gallon or two of fresh water per day for evap never causes the algae out breaks. I have also switched to Oceanic salt and will never go back. This stuff mixes crystal clear in like 2 minutes and test’s perfect! As soon as I get my RODI setup in a week or two, I will do a 20% water change once a week until the Calc drops to a normal level of 400-500ppm (so I read). As for the extremely high calc readings, any suggestions? I will do the alc and calc tests again, to be sure of the results. Are there any other water properties that could affect these readings?

The 'fuge has nothing in it yet except for an inch of southdown and a small hermit to eat the remaing cyano from the earlier breakout. The damsels are still there until I return them, but I may do that tomorrow. I'd like to put some macro algae in there but none of the LFSs have any so I'll have to order it soon.

I also think I will be needing a substrate crew that I read about that keeps the sand from packing. Any suggestions for the best place to order from? I already have the hermits and some turbos.

So, do I sound like I’m on the right track? The fish look happy. I’d like to start adding some more live rock to make this look better and move towards adding coral in the near future, but I’m torn between my LFS’s crappy cured rock they sell out of their “reef” tank for $8/lbs, or should I take a longer drive to a more reputable place (That Fish Place and another called Something Fishy) get some better rock that needs to cured for a month or two? My LFS has no idea where the rock comes from. They do have tons of Figi rock that that they claim is cured and ready to put in the tank, but it’s in near stagnant water under like 20w of light from only actinic bulbs that look like they are 10 years old. The rock I have now came from their reef display tank…looks OK but had some aptasia anemones pop out that I had to keep killing off with hot salt water mix injected into/on them. I’d hate to buy more rock from them and turn this into an ongoing battle to kill them off.

If anyone has any suggestions for me about my progress, please let me know! Where should I go next?

Dieter

 

[insearch]

Just a thought. I get all my fresh water needs from the Glacier water dispenser in front of my super market. 35cents a gallon RODI, Ultraviolet sterilization, Carbon filltered, ... anyway 5 step process. No nitrates, cloramines, metals of any kind, posphates, and steralized. I go through about 10 gallons a week for make up water. Just keep an eye on the frequency of filter changes witch are printed on the machine.

 

[J.Howard]

The thing I might add is that you probably should have gotten more rock to start with. It could be quite disasterous adding rock of unknown curing status to your establishing system you've obviously been keeping pretty good tabs on. You may want to consider taking that drive and getting LR from a store that can provide cured rock to your liking. If you can get good rock, only add small amounts at a time, just in case there is any additional die-off. Your baby percs will thank you for the additional hiding spots and patience on your part. As far as the Fiji your LFS has...as long as it has been running in their systen for some time (2-4 weeks) the amount of light it's receiving isn't as important as sufficient time for die off. LR will adapt to your specific lighting filtration etc. over time anyway, so it's initial appearance really depends on the shape/size that is appealing to you.

Other than that, it sounds like you have done your homework. Never heard of such high calcium numbers though...definitely re-test and post the results. You may have to avgerage results from 2-3 tests in a row to get a more accurate reading. Also make sure the test tube you are using in the Ca kit is thoroughly clean w/no deposits of any kind. Make sure you rinse the tube right away to prevent deposits from forming and possibly messing up the results of the next test. Vinegar works good for cleaning if deposits are present. BTW, I've had great experience with IPSF for sand diversity critters. Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[ricky1414]

I can critique more effectively with pictures. :wink:

 

[dkedrowitsch]

Pictures? Here you go! These were taken over a week ago after changing from 175W MH 5500K Venture bulbs to some "German" That Fish Place brand 10000K bulbs. They were very blue at first and have whitened up a bit since then and look better. I also had a cyano outbreak from adding my sump requiring me to mix up a fresh batch of salt water to fill it, about 25 gal of water. I don't have RODI yet and wanted to use up the last of my crappy Crystal Sea salt before making the switch to Oceanic. So the tank looks MUCH better now, whiter light and no more Cyano. Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera so I cant snap new pics until I borrow one again.

Also, my Damsels are in these pics and have since been replaced by my new pair of baby Perc Clowns.

In the sump pic, there are a pair of hoses running over the open door on the left ….these are from my canister filter I have packed with floss to polish off the dying cyano. When the cyano dies, the skimmer freaks out and starts skimming off dead cyano like crazy so the canister helps ease the workload. It has since been removed now that the cyano is finally gone. The sand looks SOOO much better. Now my hermits have to look around for food rather then sit in once place and munch on cyano all day.

So, let me know what you think…

 

[ricky1414]

Throw some more live rock in there!!!!!! :wink: It will look sooooo sweet with some aquascaping in it. you are going the correct way from the get-go. good lighting, a sump, good skimmer. Definately jealous of your setup! :wink:
Oh yeah, don't ever pay $8/lbs for live rock. That is beyond insane. Only problem is now you have to make sure you are getting quality CURED liverock. It has to be fully cured before going into your tank to prevent you livestock from dying. Better yet, if you have a place to stash you fish in, like a QT tank, there are places on the internet that you can get pretty cheap uncured LR. you can even cure the LR in an unused plastic trash can. http:www.premiumaquatics.com has a 66 pound box for $148.50. Thats like 2.25 a pound off the top of my head. Best way to go.
HTH

 

[dkedrowitsch]

Oh I'd never though any uncured rock in here! I will be curing it in a trash can in the living room next to the tank. I live in an apartment so space is limited. HEHE

I only paid $8 because I was in a pinch and it was fully cured and growing polyps in the LFSs display reef. That Fish Place and a few other good stores are not far from me, so I may pick up some cheeper GOOD uncured rock and cure it in the trash can.

Thanks for the comments!

 

[J.Howard]

There you go! I wish more people did the proper research first like yourself. I agree w/ricky1414- uncured is cheaper, and there is a good possibility that most of the cool stuff on it will survive the curing if it is shipped properly. The only thing is it can get really stinky while it's dying off so be prepared with water to change out during the process. Old tank water works great. Nice set-up BTW. Would be cool to see the changes once you've finished aquascaping.

 

[dkedrowitsch]

Well, I'm a network administrator so I spend all day infront of a PC. Every spare minute I get I browse messages boards, skim through the marine/reef news groups, read up on personal web sites, etc...anything I can do to learn more. Plus I've had some really nice FW planted aquariums for the past 15 years or so, so I'm not jumping into this totally unaware of what I'm doing. 8)

As far as curing the rock...is a skimmer necessary? I don't have any spare skimmers but I was thinking of buyng a cheep Seaclone for $75 even though they are not the best and doing the common modifications to get it skimming at least enough for live rock curing. Would this be OK?

Thanks for all the positive, remarks! I'm the only saltwater guy I know personally, so I'm in this alone. It feels good to know I'm on the right track.

I will try to pick up some more rock locally soon. I'd hate to mail order if I have a decent source in the area. That Fish Place isn't the cheepest for live rock, but they have TONS of it (many different kinds too) curing away in gigantic bins with massive filters and skimmers so it would finish curing much faster then mail order stuff. I could fill buckets with salt water and transport it home without letting them dry out. There is also a fish place reccomended by Champion Lighting (15 minutes from where I work) called Something Fishy. According to the site, they have tons of live rock too, so I would like to go check them out too. Maybe I can make some new reef friends and join a Reef group too.

 

[dkedrowitsch]

Here is the Reef place that is not too far from me. Champion Lighting reccomends them on their page, so they must be half decent. Anyone use them before?

This is a link to their online store, directly to the live rock section. Does this pricing look fair?

http://www.toofishy.com/customer/home.php?cat=258

 

[ricky1414]

Pricing looks ok if they will charge the same for a walk-in customer. some LFS' in the LA area will charge about $4.99-$6.99 for quality LR. No real hitchikers to speak of, but good coralline growth on them. On the other hand, if the rock in the store near you looks like the rock they have on their website, your dancing. :wink: Looks like it has good sponge growth on them as well as coralline, maybe even rivaling florida aquacultured rock.

 

[dkedrowitsch]

I just called, friendly guy who knew what he was talking about. Same price in the store as on the web. AND, they have been fully cured and are ready to use. If I fill some buckets with saltwater and pop lids on them, I should be able to transport the rock safe and sound to my house and plop them right in the tank! 8)

EDIT: I forgot to mention the pictures on their site ARE pictures of the rock they sell.

 

[krullulon]

skimming tub where the rock is curing is a GREAT idea, as is keeping the water circulating and keeping the temperature stable -- basically, the more you can do to keep the water quality reasonable while you're curing the more stuff you'll be able to keep alive.