Rocker Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Hey guys & gals! This is where I'll report all the doings of my first saltwater tank. Here's a FTS of what it looks like at the moment: 4/27/09 I know, it's quite sad. It's butt ugly. I get depressed looking at it too. Inside the 10 gallon tank there's: - 11 lbs. of Molokai LR - Koralia nano - Aqueon 10-20 gallon filter (just to move the water around there's nothing in it) - Aqueon 50 watt heater I'll be souping it up this week/weekend. There's an AC 70 waiting to be modded. I'll also be buying more LR at least 3-4 lbs. Those 11 lbs looked bigger in the LFS display tank, I was deceived. & hopefully Petco will finally have their shelf stocked with Caribsea Arag-Alive sand the next time I go. I'm surprised that the LFSs only had crushed coral as the only saltwater substrate. Haven't tested anything yet. I think I'll wait until I get more LR & sand to play scientist. Oh yeah, I bought one of those Instant Ocean hydrometers. I don't know what's up with it, it's always giving me different readings. I left a Koralia 1 running in a bucket for probably 3 hrs. to let it mix & aerate, so I'm not sure what it's problem is. I'll be getting a more powerful powerhead to mix water later. Anyways, I just ordered these items off of marinedepot: - 24 inch Current USA SunDial T5 HO 4x24W w/ Timers & LED - Tunze Nano DOC Protein Skimmer 9002 - Refractometer I feel sick dropping that much money on just a few things, but I'm excited for it to hurry up & get here! I'll be sure to update when I get things done within the week or at least by this weekend. Laters! :] Link to comment
Rocker Posted April 28, 2009 Author Share Posted April 28, 2009 I've got a sheet of 3/32'' thick glass laying around. I was thinking of using it as a lid. Would it be ok or is it too thin? Link to comment
gena Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Nice start! You got some great stuff on the way from MD Hydrometers can be very unreliable. If there's an air bubble stuck on the little swing arm, or ???? You'll be much happier with the refracto! I can't wait to see it with the sand and more rock. I'm partial to 10g tanks and yours isn't depressing or sad.....I haven't seen a tank I don't like. They are all works of art! I'll be watching for your update Link to comment
jm82792 Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Eeek! The skimmer costs more than full 20 gallon setup. Your off to a good start Link to comment
squirrelieygrrrl Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 sweet Rocker, im also a sucker for a sweet little 10 gal. nice selection on stuff! bout the glass, i have no clue! better pick one of the diy-ers brains. cant wait to see how it progresses! tc Link to comment
Rocker Posted May 1, 2009 Author Share Posted May 1, 2009 Nice start! You got some great stuff on the way from MD Hydrometers can be very unreliable. If there's an air bubble stuck on the little swing arm, or ???? You'll be much happier with the refracto! I can't wait to see it with the sand and more rock. I'm partial to 10g tanks and yours isn't depressing or sad.....I haven't seen a tank I don't like. They are all works of art! I'll be watching for your update Oh no, you'll be watching! I'm getting nervous.... sweet Rocker, im also a sucker for a sweet little 10 gal. nice selection on stuff! bout the glass, i have no clue! better pick one of the diy-ers brains. cant wait to see how it progresses! tc Hmm...I'll just try that glass out for now. If it fails it'll be recorded here Eeek! The skimmer costs more than full 20 gallon setup. Your off to a good start You can setup a 20 for that much?! I wish that's all I spent. Everything was crazy expensive... Link to comment
Rocker Posted May 1, 2009 Author Share Posted May 1, 2009 Today I received a big box from the UPS guy! Yay! I didn't expect it to come so fast, I only paid for the cheapest shipping. Ordered it Monday got it today. Here's the goodies: Here's a shot with the new lights: It's pretty humongous! I have to figure out a way to raise it a bit so the Tunze 9002 could fit... Oh yeah, bought 6.5 more lbs of LR but took out a piece around 3-4 lbs. Not much of a difference, but the newer rock had some coraline on it. & there's still no sand.... Link to comment
gena Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Sweet new light!!!!! I also like how you flipped that big bottom rock! Looks great Link to comment
Rocker Posted May 1, 2009 Author Share Posted May 1, 2009 Sweet new light!!!!! I also like how you flipped that big bottom rock! Looks great Thanks! Might not be the final scape since I need to make room for the AC70 & skimmer. Hope there's enough room for that skimmer. That collection cup is huge it's like a bowl! Link to comment
jm82792 Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Very nice light, you'll be able to keep some octocoral nice and blue, since it will fade unless it's T5 or MH. Link to comment
squirrelieygrrrl Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 hey rocker! i like the new rockwork. kind of dr. suesish. a new light is also always a bonus! lookin great! Link to comment
Rocker Posted May 2, 2009 Author Share Posted May 2, 2009 Very nice light, you'll be able to keep some octocoral nice and blue, since it will fade unless it's T5 or MH. Thanks. Hopefully I can find some. I saw someone post an awesome looking one on Reef Hawaii. hey rocker! i like the new rockwork. kind of dr. suesish. a new light is also always a bonus! lookin great! You're comparing my crappy aquascape to the great ol' Dr. Seuss? I think your monitor may be broken. Link to comment
jm82792 Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 What island do you live on ? If it's the big island go to Pine Trees,and look right off of the shore it's everywhere. Link to comment
squirrelieygrrrl Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 You're comparing my crappy aquascape to the great ol' Dr. Seuss? I think your monitor may be broken. pffft! hence the 'ish' Link to comment
Rocker Posted May 2, 2009 Author Share Posted May 2, 2009 What island do you live on ?If it's the big island go to Pine Trees,and look right off of the shore it's everywhere. I'm on Oahu. I need to go on a hunt for some when the tank is ready. Add some sand. The sand is coming...soon I hope. Link to comment
Rocker Posted May 2, 2009 Author Share Posted May 2, 2009 You bought sand ?!?!?! No, but I'm debating if I should. I went to the beach yesterday and filled a gallon bucket up, but didn't put it in. I'm paranoid about the crap that might contaminate the tank even after rinsing it. Link to comment
squirrelieygrrrl Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 i wouldnt! we have black sand beaches here ive toyed with the idea too. but, where the waves crash and create foam is where all of the crud collects. ew. i dont know much about the subject. so take what i say with a grain of salt.... lol. or perhaps a grain of sand in this case. Link to comment
Rocker Posted May 2, 2009 Author Share Posted May 2, 2009 i wouldnt! we have black sand beaches here ive toyed with the idea too. but, where the waves crash and create foam is where all of the crud collects. ew. i dont know much about the subject. so take what i say with a grain of salt.... lol. or perhaps a grain of sand in this case. good thing you said that I was about to dump the sand in... Link to comment
squirrelieygrrrl Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 phew! lol, possible chrisis averted! it could be just fine, i dont really know. i do know that where the waves crash and create foam, is essentially what a protien skimmer does on a much larger scale. so you would be putting all that gunk and what not in your tank. if your really hell bent on using real reef sand, i would say that you could. if you got some from a lower depth, where the sand is never exposed to air. then you would probably have to cure it in a bucket, like you have to cure live rock. Link to comment
Rocker Posted May 2, 2009 Author Share Posted May 2, 2009 Gahh most of that sand was from the shore! I'm going to throw that nasty thing back from where it came from! Link to comment
Rocker Posted May 4, 2009 Author Share Posted May 4, 2009 Alrighty. So, on Friday I finally modded the AC70 and gave it about 48 hrs. to let the silicone cure and be happy. I just put it in the tank this morning and omfg that thing is noisy as hell! The madness was coming from the motor so I emptied whatever water was in there, took out the motor box piece, rinsed it, and reset the impeller. It's still making a rattling/humming noise as I type this, but it's not as bad as when I first plugged it in, but noisy nontheless. Does this thing have a break in period or something? Hope it quiets down soon. There's 3 compartments. The area where the water gets sucked up has some poly-fil in it, next is the heater compartment, and the third area is hopefully for some chaeto or other macroalgae. Depends on what I can find. I'll probably stick some chemi-pure and purigen somewhere in there when there's sand . Here's a pic of it: Top view: Right side. The AC70 just clears the light :phew: FTS 5/3/09: Looks like a diatom bloom is in effect. The rocks started growing brown algea on it. You can really see it on the right side pic and fts. Finally tested the water last night. Here are the params: pH: 8.4 Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 10 Salinity: 1.023 Link to comment
squirrelieygrrrl Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 i dont know nuffin bout those ac filters. but, i do know that your definitely on your way to havin a reef! cuc time perhaps? or are you still toying with the idea of real reef sand? bb tank? im just full of em tonight. or full of somthin at least. Link to comment
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