1st salt tank!!!! my name is Garrett, HI!
- Thread starter legendracer79
- Start date
UPDATE* installed the ATO on the tank, did a 12 gallon water change of RO water as an SG of 1.020, and have been doing all my water testing with the reef foundation pro test kit everyday at the same time in order to get a reading of how much calc i am losing per day so i can dose correctly, i am looking for some help with calc washing, do any of you guys have pointers or a link to a thread or actable that can help me?
I wouldn't worry about dosing unless you have a lot of corals eating up the nutrients. Otherwise they can be replaced with weekly water changes. An ideal SG is 1.025, again you don't want to do dramatic changes (heat, SG etc...) because you may stress the fish out. What I did to raise my salinity is put the ATO pump in a 5 gal bucket of salt mix and monitor it until I hit 1.025.
So this is my plan for this tank, once i get this water a lil more stable and i have so more cash saved up i am going to completely break down the tank, i will store the fish and live rock in a rubbermaid tank while i do the modification to the tank i will be adding an aqueon wet dry filter over flow,
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aqueon-Wet-...262555?hash=item35e40c105b:g:Q8UAAOSwa39Uv5~N
thinking of using this kit i found on ebay.
the sump I'm thinking of using is the eshopps Cube Nano refugium, with the eshopps PSK-75 protein skimmer.
also planning on plumbing in a BRS GFO & carbon mini reactor.
i am also changing the lighting, i have an T5 high out put 24' 2 bulb fixture that i am swapping the bulbs out to the ATi blue plus and the ATi aqua blue special, also going to buy a AI prime Led light along with the T5 for coral growth.
i want to have all of this stuff installed and a solid water quality before april15, so that its stable for me to come to REEF ED on the 30th, get some knowledge and some awesome frags.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aqueon-Wet-...262555?hash=item35e40c105b:g:Q8UAAOSwa39Uv5~N
thinking of using this kit i found on ebay.
the sump I'm thinking of using is the eshopps Cube Nano refugium, with the eshopps PSK-75 protein skimmer.
also planning on plumbing in a BRS GFO & carbon mini reactor.
i am also changing the lighting, i have an T5 high out put 24' 2 bulb fixture that i am swapping the bulbs out to the ATi blue plus and the ATi aqua blue special, also going to buy a AI prime Led light along with the T5 for coral growth.
i want to have all of this stuff installed and a solid water quality before april15, so that its stable for me to come to REEF ED on the 30th, get some knowledge and some awesome frags.
Once the tank is drilled and plumbed i am going to start fresh, new sand, and fresh salt water will be added and i will run just those two element in the new plumbed system for about a week and take daily water test, after 1 week and good water quality i will add the live rock and cycle for a couple more days, with daily water tests. If water quality is good i will add the fish, hopefully all this before the april 30th
Welcome!
An algae bloom is normal with new tanks, I'd stick with the white sand. I'd research the black sand before committing. Here's a link to get you started, http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1801195
Expect a diatom bloom. Cyano is around the corner as well.
Skimmed the thread, so didn't get all the details memorized.
An algae bloom is normal with new tanks, I'd stick with the white sand. I'd research the black sand before committing. Here's a link to get you started, http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1801195
Expect a diatom bloom. Cyano is around the corner as well.
Skimmed the thread, so didn't get all the details memorized.
Algae blooms are normal in first few months of the tank cycling and maturing. Even sand and rock that has not been rinsed (I have made this mistake) will eventually cycle and stabilize itself.
I use sugar sand and crushed coral in my tank for different grain size, but they are separated. The crushed coral is the bottom bed, and sugar sand filled into raised sand beds for biological diversity.
If your algae is abnormally out of control try a little carbon and/or purigen and see if this helps. How heavily are you feeding?
I use sugar sand and crushed coral in my tank for different grain size, but they are separated. The crushed coral is the bottom bed, and sugar sand filled into raised sand beds for biological diversity.
If your algae is abnormally out of control try a little carbon and/or purigen and see if this helps. How heavily are you feeding?
i am very lightly feeding because of how few and small the fish are in the tank currently. barely a pinch of food. so obviously i need to rinse the new sand and coral shards i am changing too before hand, ill use RO water to do so. texco what did u use to create the walls of the raised beds? so that sand didn't spill over?
I used waterfall foam and carved out beds then sealed it with resin and sand to make it look like rock. You could do it as simply as making a small ring of rock and rubble and just pouring sand in there on the main bed though too. Or you could just get out the hammer and flat head screw driver and chisel away at your rocks until you make something that can hold a bit of substrate. Not really any wrong approach to it, just do what makes sense for you and your tastes.
The rocks can be as deep below the water, or completely breaking out of the water as you like- all personal preference, sometimes less is more, good flow and avoiding dead flow areas are important. Google search 'rockscaping aquariums' there are endless ideas for inspiration. My advice is to think about what looks best to you from the angles you view the tank the most and provide necessary habitat for specific livestock (if it requires subdued lighting, or prefers plenty of hiding spots, or is an open water swimmer so minimal rock, sand bed dwellers need deeper beds, etc.)