Introduction and new tank build (1 Viewer)

[Guest]

Hello everyone. I'm David and live out in Katy. I can't imagine how this hobby worked before the internet.

This is my first foray into reefkeeping, though I have a 75 gallon cichlid tank that I'm allegedly going to get rid of.

Building is going slow.

I have a 130 gallon tank that I purchased used. It has a drain in the bottom that I've supplemented with an overflow. I have a sump, (that's probably not big enough... 15 gallons maybe... it's two chambers about 12"x18"x18" each) and a 15 gallon 'fuge.

Lighting is going to be 7 80W t-5s running on 3 electronic ballasts, though I'm certainly not going to be running them all at the same time. UPS was kind enough to shatter all 7 bulbs in the delivery so those aren't set up yet, though the replacements should arrive this evening.

plumbing made me crazy. I tried using spa-flex, but instead of being called 'flexible' it should be called, "bendable that returns to it's previous shape." I scraped it and just use PVC with junctions.

RO/DI unit is ordererd, but hasn't shipped yet, so I'm pretty much at a standstill.

I filled it up with fresh water to check all the plumbing and check for leaks. When I turned off the pumps, I promptly started siphoning water through the return back to the floor. Whoops.

It will primarly be a coral tank with a few fishes. My goal is a mandarin but I have to make sure I get those pods working for a while first

Actually I may be more interested in the cleaning crew than any fish (save the mandarin). I love watching shimp and snails and crabs.

 

[toefu]

for a beginner you sure seem to have done quite a bit of research. good work.

 

[ShaneV]

Your taking it slow and doing your research, you should have great success!

Oh yeah:

 

[MarkieB]

Welcome!
and don't forget to sign up for your membership!

 

[Style23]

welcome to the hobby...if you need anything to get your tank going cup of sand, or if you want to trade frags down the road or anything let me know.

i am in katy aswell...i am in lakes of bridgewater about 2.5 miles north of I-10 at Mason Rd.

 

[Guest]

Cool, I'm down on Mason. I'm doing roughly a 50/50 live/base rock mixture, so I should have enough bacteria. Though, now that you mention it, it would probably be very good for my fuge.

I was definitely thinking of starting with frags for coral to see what I like and what I don't, as well as to make sure all my water parameters are good. I'll probably be spending a lot of time at City Pets and the $5 frag tank.

tank updates: Lights came in, but I'm too tired to do anything about it. Maybe tomorrow afternoon when the kid takes his nap. Defintely not tomorrow night, because it's football time.

I put two small acrylic barriers in, to raise the overflow a hair, so that it will use the siphon and the corner overflow. We'll see how that works tomorrow after it cures.

I also repaired the durso with thread tape because it was leaking a bit. Normally wouldn't matter with the pumps on, but since we are doing overflow repairs, they can't run. Also, we want to make sure there's no leaks anywhere, even when it's at a standstill.

I think that's it for now.

Thanks for the welcome, and I'll definitely be joining MARSH. I even already volunteered to help at MACNA :O

 

[BrianPlankis]

Thanks for the welcome, and I'll definitely be joining MARSH. I even already volunteered to help at MACNA :O

Welcome to MARSH and thanks for volunteering!

I would suggest once you plumbing is done that you do a "power failure" test and see if your 15 gallon sump overflows. That is VERY small for a 130. If you can I would suggest getting something bigger.

Sounds like you are doing a lot of good research, feel free to ask questions here, most people are usually pretty helpful here.

Brian

 

[Guest]

Welcome to reef keeping, to Marsh and to Katy! I'm in Katy and also have a 130gal., mostly sps. Glad to hear that you are going to help at MACNA!! 8)
Cheryl

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the welcome, and I'll definitely be joining MARSH. I even already volunteered to help at MACNA :O

Welcome to MARSH and thanks for volunteering!

I would suggest once you plumbing is done that you do a "power failure" test and see if your 15 gallon sump overflows. That is VERY small for a 130. If you can I would suggest getting something bigger.

Sounds like you are doing a lot of good research, feel free to ask questions here, most people are usually pretty helpful here.

Brian

It's more like a 25 gallon because I have bulkheaded and unioned the 'fuge and sump together. However, I did think of that and did overflow them due to siphon action

I am concerned about the siphon overflow because it sits a little low, but we'll see how it goes. I can raise it with the screw adjustment. Honestly the whole thing does make me nervous because my water level seems higher than it is in my cichlid tank. Not much margin for error. I'm tempted to get a new sump as there really isn't enough room in there anyway.

 

[Guest]

We have light!

 

[ShaneV]

I cant tell, do those have individual reflectors?

 

[Guest]

I cant tell, do those have individual reflectors?

Yes. Two Icecap 660s and one something or other

1 -- Giesemann 80W 6000K Midday Sun T5 HO Fluorescent
2 -- Giesemann 80W Pure Actinic 03 T5 HO Fluorescent
2 -- ATI 80W 12000K Aquablue Special T5 HO Fluorescent
2 -- ATI 80W Blue Plus T5 HO Fluorescent

I'm sure I'll be putting them in different spots, but I just wanted them tested

 

[Guest]

Tank is full of saltwater now.

I have a ton of microbubbles due to not having a good place to put my return pump. It's a in sump model, so there's not a lot I can do with it. I'm very tempted to get an external.

My pH is running low, and my temps are a little high. I bought two 120mm fans so running those should bring down the temp enough.

I have a Remote Deep Sand Bed, but my bucket was leaking . I'm going to try to silicone the lid down as that was the issue. If that doesn't work, I'll have to get a better bucket. At least those things are pretty cheap.

I bought about 80 pounds total of live rock from the stores nearby (Fishland, T&T, City Pets, Global) in order to get some life diversity, and I must say that I'm sadly disapointed in the lack of life/hitchhikers in this rock. The stuff from T&T was by far the best, but it's nothing to write home about.

Do I need to do the dead shimp deal to get some ammonia? Could I just add a little fish food and let it decompose on it's own? Would there be enough dead stuff on the rocks to handle that already?

Is there any reason to get pH in line before getting cycled? Though, to be honest, I'm skeptical that I'll have that much of a cycle with all that rock.

 

[Guest]

In my experience the shrimp trick works well, just add one or two even with that size of a tank. Fish food will also decompose, but I'd go with the shrimp. It depends on how much actually died off during transit, sometimes there is more than enough, but from the sounds of it there wasn't much life to begin with. Your PH should fluctuate during your cycle. If there's plenty of aragonite sand you shouldn't have to pay too much attention to the PH.

 

[Guest]

Turns out I have quite a bit of die off as I'm getting ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings. Should I let the algae bloom take care of the nitrate, or should I do water changes when it gets high?

 

[Bakapuma]

You may want to turn of your lights till you tank cycles ( prevents the algae from getting intrenched in your tank. look out for cyano). Frequent water changes is a must during cycling. Make sure you are skimming and you may want to add some carbon to your sump. When your NH4 and NO2 are close to zero, your cycle should almost be complete. Do a massive water change to remove the excessive nitrates. Please tell me that you are using RO/DI water. Treated tap water is no good. No matter what the tap water conditioners say, they create more problems than you can shake a Gorgonian at. Have you thought about some macroalgae in you fuge? That is another means of removing nitrates but it is more for maintance than for cycling. I am sure there is a fellow marshian willing to give some chaetomorpha to get your fuge going.

 

[Guest]

Yes, it is RO/DI. It was recommended that I avoid chaeto until the cycle is complete. The lights only run 2 hours per day.

 

[BrianPlankis]

Yes, it is RO/DI. It was recommended that I avoid chaeto until the cycle is complete. The lights only run 2 hours per day.

Good that you have RO/DI. I would be very curious to hear WHY you were told chaeto should be avoided during the cycle? I can't think of a single negative to having it in there and many benefits.

Brian

 

[Guest]

Kau_cinta_ku from reef central said, "add the cheato after the cycle."

And no one disagreed. I'll bump it to see if there is some more opinion. I can't think of a good reason myself, as getting that fuge going should start my pod population.

Can anyone in west houston (towards Katy) spare some Chaeto?

 

[Guest]

There's no reason to skim or do water changes during a cycle either. I let the ammonia, then nitrites of course, and then wait for it to only read nitrates. I then do a water change and your cycle is complete. Skimming and macro will only hinder your cycle. Carbon I don't really have an opinion on.