roninmagik1 Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 Hello all, I'm starting up a 25 gallon tank, upgrading from my current 10 gallon setup. I'll be hopefully keeping track and posting pictures as the saga of my new tank happens! I found a 25 gallon tank w/ Coralife quad 50/50 96 watt lights and a good amount of rock for a pretty low price, so i picked it up. Right now, all i've done is build the stand, and put the tank on the stand, throw in the rock and add some saltwater. Pics to come.... Link to comment
roninmagik1 Posted December 27, 2007 Author Share Posted December 27, 2007 Oh, don't know if anyone who might read this knows, but....the Coralife light i got, the small plastic attachments don't stretch out enough to balance on the tank. If you look at the pic above, i had to put a piece of wood on top of the tank, and that is what two of the plastic stands rest on. They are adjustable, but if i pull them out further, i have a feeling they may break, one of the stands has a especially bad problem with snapping off and i had to use pliers and a hammer to get it in there good and make it stay good. Anyone know of a good place to get new plastic light stands? Link to comment
spanko Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 See here. http://www.marineandreef.com/shoppro/power...ight_fresh.html Link to comment
roninmagik1 Posted December 27, 2007 Author Share Posted December 27, 2007 Aha!!! Thanks Spanko, i was googling myself and so i got some new knowledge, those plastic thingys are called.....MOUNTING LEGS!!!! I think i may purchase the adjustable mounting legs since those look like they mount on the side, whereas the standard mounting legs mount on the front and back. I've included pics of my current situation w/ the mounting legs. Link to comment
spanko Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 Glad I could help, if I did. Link to comment
roninmagik1 Posted December 27, 2007 Author Share Posted December 27, 2007 Yes, you did, thanks for helping!!! Now on to the next dilemma for setting up this tank....I'm debating whether to spend $4 and get some "Quikrete" Play sand from Lowes or Home depot, or spend $30 or $40 bucks to buy actual Aragonite sand. Anyone from the Miami, Fl area used play sand to success? If so, please let me know which play sand you bought, and from which store! Link to comment
spanko Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2003/feature.htm http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/faq/12.htm Link to comment
roninmagik1 Posted December 27, 2007 Author Share Posted December 27, 2007 Thanks again Spanko!!!! That first article was some rough reading, but the second one was alot more simpler!! I think i will just suck it up and buy some aragonite sand, and mix in some "live" sand from my 10 gallon tank! I'll post up more pics later today cuz i'm adding more saltwater and of course i'm adding the sand! =) Link to comment
spanko Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 Yeah if you are using a substrate aragonite is probably the best. Link to comment
roninmagik1 Posted December 28, 2007 Author Share Posted December 28, 2007 Well, i ended up using this sand.I washed it in a bucket 6 or 7 times, and it still was cloudy in the tank for a couple hours.And here is the semi-cloudy tank, I also added the Aquaclear filter to the back, and the powerhead i took from my ten gallon tank. Link to comment
lilredneckman Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Well, i ended up using this sand.I washed it in a bucket 6 or 7 times, and it still was cloudy in the tank for a couple hours.And here is the semi-cloudy tank, I also added the Aquaclear filter to the back, and the powerhead i took from my ten gallon tank. You are still going to add more saltwater right?? Link to comment
roninmagik1 Posted December 28, 2007 Author Share Posted December 28, 2007 Yuppers, today i'm getting 4 gallons from the fish store and I think that should top it off! Here are two pics that i snapped this morning before i went to work. Now for anyone that reads this, i have a couple questions/thoughts.... 1. I have a ten gallon nano-tank that has been up for about 9 months now. Can i just transfer all the contents of the ten gallon into this new tank and bam, i'm done? Or would i have to move some of the "live" sand from my ten gallon, and maybe a piece of the "live" rock into the new tank, and let the whole seeding process occur? If so, how long would you all wait for the new tank to be ready? 2. In my ten gallon, i used to change out 2 gallons every week, and i've never had any problems, but how much for this new tank? Anyone out there w/ a 25 gallon tank, how often do you do water changes and how much water do you change? 3. Aquascaping - Since this tank is so high, i'm not sure how to aquascape this thing. Any thoughts? I read one thing about using pvc underneath the rock to create height and I read another thing about using egg crate material to create levels, but if anyone has real life experience, i'd appreciate your input! Link to comment
spanko Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Yuppers, today i'm getting 4 gallons from the fish store and I think that should top it off! Here are two pics that i snapped this morning before i went to work. Now for anyone that reads this, i have a couple questions/thoughts.... 1. I have a ten gallon nano-tank that has been up for about 9 months now. Can i just transfer all the contents of the ten gallon into this new tank and bam, i'm done? There is no BAM in reefkeeping Emeril. Or would i have to move some of the "live" sand from my ten gallon, and maybe a piece of the "live" rock into the new tank, and let the whole seeding process occur? If you plan on shutting down the 10 gallon as a display I would move all of the rock and a cup full or two of the sand into the new tank for seeding. If so, how long would you all wait for the new tank to be ready? No real time frame except when your ammonia and nitrites spike then go back to ZERO let me say that again ZERO. 2. In my ten gallon, i used to change out 2 gallons every week, and i've never had any problems, but how much for this new tank? Anyone out there w/ a 25 gallon tank, how often do you do water changes and how much water do you change?I change 10% per week in my tank. So you could do 2-2.5 gallons a week. 3. Aquascaping - Since this tank is so high, i'm not sure how to aquascape this thing. Any thoughts? I read one thing about using pvc underneath the rock to create height and I read another thing about using egg crate material to create levels, but if anyone has real life experience, i'd appreciate your input! No experience with eggcrate or PVC in scaping. Just make sure whatever you do the rock is stable enough to prevent critters from causing a landslide. JMO Link to comment
roninmagik1 Posted December 28, 2007 Author Share Posted December 28, 2007 LOL, that Emeril thing had me laughin =)...I appreciate the advice, i am taking down the ten gallon, so i will move some sand and most of the rock over to the new tank tonight! Link to comment
roninmagik1 Posted December 29, 2007 Author Share Posted December 29, 2007 Well, was a busy Friday, but managed to add in a couple gallons of saltwater, transferred about 3 cups of "live"sand from my 10 gallon tank, as well as two pieces of live rock and some of the rubble that was in my Aquaclear filter to the new tank. Played around with the aquascaping, nothing fancy, but at least it's something. Link to comment
spanko Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 I kinda like the scape. You could attach coral to the rock face of the tall one and it would look cool. Did you get your legs for the light yet? Link to comment
roninmagik1 Posted December 30, 2007 Author Share Posted December 30, 2007 Still haven't gotten the legs for my light yet, but hopefully today. Yesterday, i took in a sample of water to the fish store and it tested zero ammonia and zero nitrites! I'm wondering how that could happen so quick, could it have cycled so quickly since i added live rock and sand from my ten gallon tank? The fish guy at the store mentioned something about mini cycles...wierd...anyhow.. Link to comment
spanko Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Yup then the cycle has not started yet. Get some test kits of your own so you can do the testing. Link to comment
scarfish Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 I dig the Eeyore stocking Link to comment
roninmagik1 Posted December 31, 2007 Author Share Posted December 31, 2007 Scratch that...was thinking of adding a damsel to kickstart the cycling process, but decided against. I did add another piece of live rock from my ten gallon with a big ol' bristleworm in there, i wonder if that will help as the bristleworm either dies and decays into ammonia, or stays alive and gives off ammonia waste? Link to comment
roninmagik1 Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 Just tried to change up the rocks a little. because it's a high tank i sorta have to work going upwards. Originally i wanted a 20 gallon Long, so i could get a more open scape, but beggars can't be choosers Link to comment
roninmagik1 Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Haven't done a thing with the tank today, new years and all...I will look for a place online to order the mounting legs and a maxi-jet for more water flow tomorrow. And a test kit too...hmm...this is starting to add up...lets see.. Original purchase: 25 gallon tank, coralife 96 watts lighting, about 20 or 30 pounds (i'm terrible at estimating) of dead rock that used to be live rock, Aquaclear 30 filter, magfloat glass scraper - $100 (gotta love craigslist) Tank stand - $70 Sand - $15 So far $185 Link to comment
roninmagik1 Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 OKay, i'm on day 9 now, the rocks are browner, and tomorrow i'm gonna get a test kit and test for ammonia and nitrites. Still not happy w/ the rock work, need to find some way to make a high tank seem more spacious and wide.... Link to comment
roninmagik1 Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 Redid the rockwork, i finally am jhappy with it! Link to comment
roninmagik1 Posted January 6, 2008 Author Share Posted January 6, 2008 went to the LFS and water tested good, no ammonia, no nitrites. Figured out i really don't like the rockwork, spent hours today playing with it and although most of the rock is in a bucket, i figured out i'm better off only using a few pieces of the live rock and putting the rest of it away for now...i think...we'll see Link to comment
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