Dnorton's 125 gallon assemble project.

[dnorton1978]

Well I call this an assemble project because of the fact I am not building it like some of you experts.

My new tank was set up on Tuesday night, the 26th.

So for starters, I have an all glass 125 gallon drilled. So far I have 90lbs of carib sea sugar sand, and 20lbs of live sand(carib sea). I have added 60lbs of live rock.

I have been working on and off with the aquascaping for the past few days. I have it close to what I want, at least the 60lbs.

I have one of my light kits arriving tomorrow. It is a vho kit with 440 watts. I am adding another kit in 4 weeks or so when I get some more money.

I went with a wet dry, and my take on it is if I keep my filter pad clean on a regular basis I shouldn't have to worry about the "nitrate factory" issue. If I ever start to have a problem, I will just remove the bio balls.

In roughly 4 weeks I am taking my old tank down, and adding the 55 - 60lbs of live rock from itm and hopefully a couple of my fish and corals. I will post some pics in the next couple of days.

 

[dnorton1978]

A few pics, but it looks much better in person. Hard to see all the caves and stuff from the pics. THis is only one side of the tank, I need to fill the other side when my other tank comes down.

 

[dnorton1978]

Oh, it is not in front of a window that is just the reflection..

 

[SnowManSnow]

looking nice so far.

i really like the way the rock is now haha... i like sparse rockwork

 

[dnorton1978]

Thanks. I agree. I do not want the wall o rock look by no means. I want to build up another tall cavern type on the other side, and take it from there.

I need to add some fish poop or something, because all levels are great. I have a small amount of nitrate and thats all. Right around 5.

I have been debating on how to force the cycle.

Any ideas??

 

[dnorton1978]

I have been debating on how to force the cycle.

Any ideas??

By that I mean, the live rock I bought came from another tank, so the die off was minimal. I did only get a small amonia, and nitrite spike.

I am trying to figure out what I can add to create the full cycle. I thought about some nasty cheap rock or something. I could use a damsel, but will have to much trouble getting him out when complete.

 

[Old Man Of The Sea]

Norton, Looking as nice as it is, I might however make to you one suggestion if you have no offence too it. My suggestion is to stack you LR differently then you have them now for much in the way that you have them now is as if you were to own some moray species other then having a reef tank and also know that most corals that you would be getting would also come with a small piece of LR. You might find it better as well if you were to paint the back of your tank.

 

[dnorton1978]

No offense taken at all. I plan on being careful as to what fish I put in. I am going to paint the background next weekend. I bought the paint and supplies, just did not have the time. I bought a dark blue color, and some poster board. I will paint the poster board and slide it in place.

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Doni

Looking good. My rocks always seam to look like a pile of rocks.

 

[Old Man Of The Sea]

I have the back of my twin eel tanks painted blue and when it comes to reef tanks, that wouldn`t matter much as the tank ages but just the same, I go with a black background if anything if this is to be a reef tank.

Also the other thing is, you not want you LR stack to high for later on you will as I said be adding corals with LR pieces and its too bad you not live somewhere near for in my 240 all the 600# of LR are too small to my liking that later I will pay the new lfs that I'm switching too switch half of the LR from the 240 into the 180 and half of the LR in the 180 into the 240. I'm saying this because I cannot manage this without hurting myself more then I am already. This was another thing which I had complained to Jeff about that most everything he did was not of my liking.

If you seen my post on about the MH lights, I am now figuring on going with 400 watts MH and what is on the 240 is 4x 175 watts and I'm figuring on going with 5x 400 watts. Sorry too had drifted off the topic a bit and also I will be getting in a 220 line, I not be able too without it.

 

[Nautilus1]

Looks good with the caves. Those rocks will be covered in green hair alage if u dont remove the bioballs. You will with out a doubt have a nitrate factory and replacing the filter floss everyday is not going to prevent it.

 

[dnorton1978]

Those rocks will be covered in green hair alage if u dont remove the bioballs. You will with out a doubt have a nitrate factory and replacing the filter floss everyday is not going to prevent it.

Does this make sense to anybody else. I have seen people with bioballs before and it did not cause this. Perhaps Nautilus just had a bad experience???? I have also read that periodically it is wise(every 6 months or so) to take half of the bioballs out and clean them.

I hope I am not coming off as rude, because that was not my intention.

Thanks guys.


I put a small cup of sand from my old tank in the new one last night(in a mesh bag) to help introduce more stuff to the tank. I am thinking about adding Hermit crabs to help the cycle too. Any suggestions.

Only asking because my levels are normal. I am not being impatient, I just want to make sure the cycle starts.

 

[Anonymous]

No reason to leave the snad in a mesh bag. Some critter may not be able to crawl out. If your levels are good you can start adding things like hermit crabs. If it were me I would give it a week or so and recheck things.

 

[Anonymous]

dnorton1978, I used to run a wet dry on my reef, in the long long ago, and I didn't have nitrates or hair algae, although I understand that can be a concern. We eventually took it off just because the space was needed in the sump for other things (such as a refugium). I used to run an "overkill" set up, and gradually took things off as they either became a chore to maintain, broke, or got in the way.

If you don't like the wet dry you can always take it out later. I find that no matter how much I plan a set up, I always change things later anyway.

 

[dnorton1978]

I find that no matter how much I plan a set up, I always change things later anyway.

Isnt that the truth. I have already had to make a few changes. I do plan to add a much larger sump further down the road and have a refugium. I think one think about the hobby is we must always be prepared to make changes.

Wazzel, should I take the sand out of the bag, or just remove it all together? Also as for waiting a week before adding hermits, do mean an extra week, or 1 full week? Tomorrow(tuesday the 3rd) will be 1 full week. Thank you as always.

 

[bleedingthought]

Just pour your "aged" sand over your current sand to "seed" it. No need for the bag. A full week after the cycle should be good enough to add some hermits/snails, IMO.

But quick question, why do you feel the need for bioballs? :? I use a filter sock only when I change my water because I blast my rocks before I change the water out. It's only in there for one day to catch all the floating particles that go down my overflow. And even so, I probably would be ok without it since I let it settle and I suck out a thin top layer of my sand and clean out my sump when I change the water. HTH.

 

[Nautilus1]

Perhaps if you have a DSB to process all the nitrate coming from the bioballs it can work. I did have bad experiences with bioballs. Bioballs are in the same category as undergravel filters in my book. Its something we used in the 80's when we did not know any better.

 

[dnorton1978]

Thank you all, for I value all feedback received. As for why keep the bio balls, I am thinking that I may not fill the tank with LR, and the added bacteria on the bioballs would be a help. That is if I can prevent it from becoming a nitrate factory. At the first sign of a problem(even the slightest) those bad boys are gone!!!

 

[dnorton1978]

I just checked my amonia-zero, Nitrite-zero, nitrate is 5-10ppl. I understand nitrate is the final part of the cycle, but it has only been 6 days. I am adding 10 scarlet hermit crabs today.

I always thought water changes should be avoided until the end of the cycle. What should I do, if anything?

 

[dnorton1978]

Oh btw, the lfs gave me his advice in general. It was to take out all of my rock now from my old tank and add it to the new tank. He also said to just put my existing corals on the bottom of my old tank until ready for the new tank. Then he said to add my two damsels to the new tank to add waste to the new tank.


What is your take on this advice. It seems a bit to fast paced for what I was thinking, but if that seems to be the norm, then I will jump on board.