New to saltwater tanks, pics of setup so far (1 Viewer)

[trb]

Well, my twin boys, (age 8) have wanted a saltwater tank for a while now, since they've had a freshwater one for about 3 years. So based on the great deals I found on here and Craigslist, we now have a new tank!

Got the setup from Mike - Hanson77. Live rock came from Ken, along with a protein skimmer to be installed later. Thanks a lot guys for the stuff and help!

I'm probably needing some more rock to hide the skimmer in the corner, then we will be ready to get some starter fish and get this tank going.

My helper Zach:

Whole tank:

Close ups:

 

[Guest]

Looking nice. Is the skimmer a hang-on-back model?

Do you know what algae that is growing on some of your rocks? Bryopsis?

 

[trb]

No it is a sump style, but I will try it in the tank. If it does not work, I'll retrofit it to mount on the side. I think it can be done easily. I have no idea on the algae, Ken said I could scrub it off if I wanted to, but I figured I would leave it and see if the fish I get like it. LOL!

 

[Guest]

Good luck retrofitting an insump skimmer to hang-on-back. I think it can be done, but it won't be trivial.

Watch out for bryopsis, people have torn down their tanks because they couldn't get rid of it.

 

[flexrac]

by starter fish if you mean damsel, please don't unless you plan to keep him. you can add a fresh unfrozen cocktail shrimp in the tank and it will do the same thing. once your tank has cycled, remove the hang on filter, no need fot it, skimmer and LR with LS will be your filtration.

for flow you can try a close loop system, easy to do.
http://www.melevsreef.com/closedloop.html

not sure how you got bryopsis so fast, goodluck getting rid of it.

 

[Guest]

flexrac: Closed loop is tedious once the tank has been filled with water and live-rock added. You'd have to remove the sand bed if you want intakes on the bottom.

 

[trb]

I'm not sure if the algae is bryopsis or not. It does not look like a fern like all the pics I've looked up. It is more like fox tails, puffy in the center and tapered at the top and bottom. But if you guys think I should get rid of it, I will clean the rock up and hope for the best.

We did get some damsels, a couple of yellow tail and 3 bar ones. We do plan to keep them, as long as we can. Eventual plans are maybe a snowflake eel, a fire angel, and some things to clean the tank bottom and rocks. Probably not much for corals and such if we do get an eel. Any recomendations on tankmates?

I did turn off the maxi-jet 1200 since the poor little damsels were fighting the current too much. The Koralia provides some flow, but not enough to blast them across the tank.

I was thinking about putting a small acrylic hang on tank big enough to hold the skimmer in place of the HOB filter. I could mount the pump inside the tank connected by a rubber hose. Mike has the stand set up for up to a 20L sump and I guess I could go back that route. I was looking at the HOB overflows, and I should be able to set it up if deemed necessary.

Thanks for the info guys. Hopefully we will have as much luck and fun with this tank as we've had with our FW 55 gal.

 

[Reefaddict79]

looking good, your setup looks like a good application for a Tunze 9002 skimmer

 

[trb]

Got some more rock and a couple of new tankmates for the damsels:

I decided to go ahead and work on a sump for the protein skimmer to give me a little more water volume. Hopefully I can get an overflow and everything plumbed up in the next couple of weeks.

I did clean the green algae off the rocks. I've got some growing on the rest of them now, but the snails and lawnmower are working on that.

 

[flipside]

Looks very nice, man! How long did you cycle last???

 

[trb]

I tested everything twice last week and pH was 8.2-8.3, ammonia, nitrates & nitrites were all zero. I added some Cycle to the tank last week for a few days. Tested again yesterday with the same results. Had some diatoms early this week, but they are mostly gone now. I guess the 2-3 yr old live rock I got is doing it's job.

 

[flexrac]

that blennie may starve to death if he does not have enough algae to eat in that tank, watch his/her stomach carefully. is it taken to regular food? you may have to tye some nori to a rock to suppliment it's diet. tank looks good.

 

[Guest]

Welcome to Marshreef. The tanks looking great. As flexrac said, watch that lawnmower, those guys are tedious if they dont get their algae. Hopefully hes eating regular foods, that'll help alot.

 

[Guest]

Watch out for the snowflake eel, they are ridiculous jumpers. Have you put eggcrate on top of your tank yet? Google this issue a little, you will find tons about snowflakes jumping.

 

[trb]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll check with the LFS and see what he was feeding the lawnmower. He had him in the same tank as the eels, for the past month or so that I know of. I've been watching them at the store since before we got the tank, but as of now, I think I have plenty of algae growing on the rocks. He's been going to town on them.

Yes I've read about the eels escaping. I've thought about a 3" glass ledge around the perimeter of the tank like several of the LFS have on their tanks. So you think eggcrate would work? I wasn't sure if they could wiggle their way out through something like that or not. I thought about getting some window screen frame and mesh and making a screen for the top.

 

[cstewart79]

Nice looking set up so far.

A few things. I would remove the rocks with hair algae and scrape all that stuff off.

Second that price of holy rock in the center, the pointed white one. I would remove that entirely. I find them to be problematic with their density and their ability to leach out impurities.

good luck and keep us posted.

 

[cstewart79]

Nice looking set up so far.

A few things. I would remove the rocks with hair algae and scrape all that stuff off.

Second that price of holy rock in the center, the pointed white one. I would remove that entirely. I find them to be problematic with their density and their ability to leach out impurities.

good luck and keep us posted.

 

[cstewart79]

Nice looking set up so far.

A few things. I would remove the rocks with hair algae and scrape all that stuff off.

Second that price of holy rock in the center, the pointed white one. I would remove that entirely. I find them to be problematic with their density and their ability to leach out impurities.

good luck and keep us posted.

 

[trb]

Nice looking set up so far.

A few things. I would remove the rocks with hair algae and scrape all that stuff off.

Second that price of holy rock in the center, the pointed white one. I would remove that entirely. I find them to be problematic with their density and their ability to leach out impurities.

good luck and keep us posted.

Thanks. I did remove most of the algae from the rocks that had it. I still have some, but the lawnmower is liking it.

I wondered about the holy rock, so I asked the LFS about it before I put it in and they said it should be OK. It was in a FW tank for a little while. I kind of wanted to remove it when we got more live rock, but my family protested, so I left it in. Maybe I can remove it now that someone else agrees it should not be in there!

 

[flexrac]

I have holy rock in my setup, no issues.
will take forever to get coraling algae on it though.