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Chungy's Spec V - retiring this tank


Chungy

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Hey all, this is my first saltwater tank.

DwQc2U.jpg

Check out the spoiler section for my first post, which has a picture of the initial setup. I am not quite happy with the aquacape, hopefully a coral or 2 will make it look more presentable.


Current setup:

  • Fluval Spec V
  • Nanobox Tide with storm controller
  • InTank media basket
  • Filter floss, Purigen, CPE (in that order)
  • Marineland Mini-Jet 606 pump
  • Hydro Flo Rotating Water Deflector
  • 5 lbs of live Rock
  • 5 lbs of live sand

Live stock:

  • 2 False Percs
  • Randall's goby
  • Tiger pistol shrimp (Died from heat wave)
  • CUC
  • 3 cerith snails
  • 3 astrea snails
  • 1 nassarius snail


Original post:

Hey all, after reading the forum for a while, finally decided to start 1 of my own.

This weekend, I picked up a Fluval Spec V, 5lbs of LR, 5lbs of LS, some saltwater, and other misc items from the one of the LFS (30 minutes away).

Here is the current picture of the setup:

post-85193-0-49472200-1405477666_thumb.jpg

I placed an order with the inTank guys and have the following items coming this week:

Fluval Spec Media Basket
Marineland Mini-Jet 606
Filter media to go in the Media Basket (Filter floss, CPE, Purigen)
Hydor FLO Rotating Water Deflector
Initial setup was fine, it took me a couple of hours to get the rocks the way I wanted it to be (with what I have), water was then added, it settled over night and so I did my initial testing the next morning. There was a good amount of Ammonia, Nitirite, and Nitrate present which indicating the cycle has started.

The problem: the Salinity was 1.020 which was too low from what I understand. So yesterday afternoon, I went to the LFS that is 5 minutes away from my place and asked them to check the saltwater I have in the jug with their refractometer (I was suspecting that my refractometer is not calibrated properly without a proper standard solution), sure enough 1.020! So I asked them to dump the remaining water in the jug and refill it with their own, I asked them to test their water with the refractometer just to be sure, it was spot on @ 1.025.

So I asked the guy if I should just let the water evaporate and top off with the saltwater to slowly bring the salinity back to 1.025, he suggested that since I don't have anything in the tank except LR and LS, I can just do a complete water change, which I did.

This morning, when I tested the water, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate was all at 0! Looks like I have disturbed the cycle with the water change and the nitrogen cycle has never complete.

post-85193-0-48500800-1405477665_thumb.jpg

Now I am debating whether I should add in something to try to spike the Ammonia again (I read I can just put some flake food in there)? Thoughts? What should I do?

Thanks for reading the long post!

 

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First of all just relax and take a deep breath. Then tell yourself this is just a box of water and at this point there is not much you could do wrong to the tank to hurt anything.

 

I dont know where the 1st LFS got their water from but the testing you did (Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate were all detectable doesn't mean a thing about your cycle, it just means it was obviously either used water or water that had been sitting around for too long.

 

About the low SpGr, some stores mix their water trying to use less salt hence less cost. If I were you, i'd either buy RO/DI or distilled water and a good salt mix and mix your own. It's very easy and much, much cheaper than buying pre-mix. Later on you could get an RO/DI unit for your home.

 

One last thing is that the most important piece of advice I can give you is to have PATIENCE. This hobby is all about going real slow and not rushing anything.

 

So, change all the water (if you haven't already done so), refill it with water that you're sure about. and just let it run for 2 or 3 days before testing anything. After that, go ahead and test to see where you are and decide what's next. DONT just run out and start adding dead shrimp or anything to jump start the cycle until after the systems been running for several days and you know where you are.

 

And remember, Your tank will cycle all on its own even if you do nothing more than just let it run.

 

BTW. Welcome to the forum. AVIATOR300

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I dont know where the 1st LFS got their water from but the testing you did (Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate were all detectable doesn't mean a thing about your cycle, it just means it was obviously either used water or water that had been sitting around for too long.

 

That is true, maybe I should have done a baseline testing to know the initial parameters of the water, when I saw the presence of those things the next morning, I automatically think the cycle has started.

 

 

About the low SpGr, some stores mix their water trying to use less salt hence less cost. If I were you, i'd either buy RO/DI or distilled water and a good salt mix and mix your own. It's very easy and much, much cheaper than buying pre-mix. Later on you could get an RO/DI unit for your home.

 

Good idea, I'll look up the difference options of salt mix and see which is best (although I assume they don't vary much).

 

 

One last thing is that the most important piece of advice I can give you is to have PATIENCE. This hobby is all about going real slow and not rushing anything.

 

Thank you, I guess I am just really excited. I am really enjoying the process of getting started on a tank, I find myself sitting in front of the tank just staring at the rocks (more like looking for creatures :) ).

 

 

So, change all the water (if you haven't already done so), refill it with water that you're sure about.

 

I did, I will wait a few days to see if anything changes.

 

Will post updates once I got something or have more questions. :)

 

Thanks!

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Updates!

 

So the Ammonia had a spike few days ago to 2ppm (API test kit), nitrite (1-2ppm) and nitrate (10-20ppm) also spiked following that. I got one of those Seachem AmmoniaAlert patch to monitor when it would drop to 0 before I check the parameters again.

 

post-85193-0-72515800-1405892342_thumb.jpg

 

Woke up this morning with the indicator on yellow (Safe level), so I checked the parameters and they are as follow:

 

Ammonia: 0ppm

Nitrite: 0.25ppm

Nitrate: 5 - 10ppm

 

Salinity: 1.026

 

Look likes the cycle is progressing along, once the Nitrite and Nitrate goes down the 0, I plan to add a CUC as I am seeing a diatoms bloom on the rocks and sand.

 

post-85193-0-44693300-1405892593_thumb.jpg

 

I also noticed a ribbon worm looking creature coming out of one rock, anyone know what it is? Should I remove it?

 

post-85193-0-46642800-1405892708_thumb.jpg

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The stuffs I ordered from inTank should be here today :D, can't wait to get home!

 

I will check the parameters once I get home, if everything looks good, I will head to the LFS to get a CUC, the diatoms are getting worse! I also noticed small white ticks on the glass (pods?).

 

Oh...anyone can help ID that worm on the previous post?

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Good start to a Spec V dude, keep up the efforts it'll pay off.

I'll be very simple in my suggestions cause' I feel too repatitive all over other Spec V threads haha...

 

  1. If you "skipped" your cycle and are thinking of adding something, just toss a shrimp (from the grocery) for a day. It'll give you some ammonia and it's super cheap. (Much cheaper than pure ammonia dosing chemical from the LFS.)
  2. I don't know about that worm you're seeing in there. Doesn't look like any worm I've seen (bristles etc.) When in doubt - take it out. I'd personally take it out simply because I wouldn't want anything at all in a fresh new reef.
  3. I see some green algae on one of your rocks.. I'd take care of that sooner than later before it comes a huge pain in the rear.
  4. Small white pods are good :)
  5. CUC - Get some astrea/ turbo snails. I used to be 100% against hermit crabs but since I added 2 baby hermits they've eaten lots of the green algae in my reef so I'd suggest you find some tiny tiny blue, red, or zebra hermits. (by tiny I mean make sure they're smaller than your snails. Astrea / turbo's can "spin" their shell to flick off hermits too, if they attack them.)

 

Goodluck mate! :)

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are you sticking with the stock light or upgrading it?

 

I'm planning to upgrade as I would like to keep some softies/LPS, but still haven't decide which light to get yet. The nanobox mini tide with storm upgrade seems really good, but not sure if it would be overkill? I'm also looking at the USA current orbit or a par38 bulb.

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Good start to a Spec V dude, keep up the efforts it'll pay off.

I'll be very simple in my suggestions cause' I feel too repatitive all over other Spec V threads haha...

 

  1. If you "skipped" your cycle and are thinking of adding something, just toss a shrimp (from the grocery) for a day. It'll give you some ammonia and it's super cheap. (Much cheaper than pure ammonia dosing chemical from the LFS.)
  2. I don't know about that worm you're seeing in there. Doesn't look like any worm I've seen (bristles etc.) When in doubt - take it out. I'd personally take it out simply because I wouldn't want anything at all in a fresh new reef.
  3. I see some green algae on one of your rocks.. I'd take care of that sooner than later before it comes a huge pain in the rear.
  4. Small white pods are good :)
  5. CUC - Get some astrea/ turbo snails. I used to be 100% against hermit crabs but since I added 2 baby hermits they've eaten lots of the green algae in my reef so I'd suggest you find some tiny tiny blue, red, or zebra hermits. (by tiny I mean make sure they're smaller than your snails. Astrea / turbo's can "spin" their shell to flick off hermits too, if they attack them.)

 

Goodluck mate! :)

 

Thanks Kijho, I think I have spent hours reading your build thread from beginning to end, very entertaining. :)

 

Whats the best way to get rid of those green algae? They were on the rock when I first got them, didn't really pay much attention to them and just dumped them into the tank. I should be able to just take the rock out and clean it and put it back in the tank without causing too much disturbance to the water chemistry?

 

Good idea about when in doubt, take it out! The worm is on the same green algae rock, so I might be able to get them all at once.

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Thanks Kijho, I think I have spent hours reading your build thread from beginning to end, very entertaining. :)

 

Whats the best way to get rid of those green algae? They were on the rock when I first got them, didn't really pay much attention to them and just dumped them into the tank. I should be able to just take the rock out and clean it and put it back in the tank without causing too much disturbance to the water chemistry?

 

Good idea about when in doubt, take it out! The worm is on the same green algae rock, so I might be able to get them all at once.

 

Honestly I just threw my rock out that had soo much GHA hahaha but when I put some hermit crabs in (red/blue/zebra) they are full herbiovers and just munched so much of it instantly.

Bubble algae is my problem right now haha....

 

I haven't taken mine out yet but I continue to read up on peroxide scrubbing so that I can do that to get rid of bubble algae.

Since you have nothing in your tank you have a pretty free open playing field for the time being. I'd get everything perfect or try atleats. Maybe put your CUC soon with some hermits and if it doesn't help then remove and scrub.

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All parameters were looking awesome when i got home this evening!

 

PH: 8.2

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 0

 

I think the cycle has completed, so I went to the LFS to get some snails and take a peek at what saltwater fishes they have available. I will let the CUC do it's job for a few days before deciding live stock to put in there.

 

Spent the last few hours putting in all the new equipment in the tank.

 

post-85193-0-67716300-1406011245_thumb.jpg

 

OMG, so much floss...

post-85193-0-98610600-1406011265_thumb.jpg

 

InTank Media Basket

post-85193-0-60854100-1406011276_thumb.jpg

 

The deflector

post-85193-0-96927100-1406011382_thumb.jpg

 

Added 1 nassarius snail, 1 cerith snail, and 1 astrea snail. The nassarius has already jetted to the background, it moved fast! The other 2 sort of still sitting there, The cerith looks like an empty shell, I don't see the body in there.

post-85193-0-59556600-1406011492_thumb.jpg

 

What I noticed with the skimmer on is that the water level in the pump chamber would get really low due to the added power of the mini-jet 606. Took me a while to get the Hydor deflector on properly, I think the extra fitting might be restricting the flow a little bit, when I connect the deflector directly to the existing 90 degree fitting right the original pump, the flow was so strong it just blew it right off the fitting. With the deflector on, the flow doesn't seems enough to simulate a reef enivronment, I might have to take it off or get a hydor powerhead (240?) I saw at the LFS for extra flow.

 

post-85193-0-67814100-1406011924_thumb.jpg

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what about just using the stock return instead of the deflector? I tried the deflector too and didn't like it much in this tank.

 

Agree, it just doesn't seems to do much, although I can see the pump is already doing a better job in pulling water into the media basket chamber. I'll try that today when I get home.

 

Btw, I love the aquascape in your spec v, that rock is so awesome, is it multiple pieces glued together? I am kinda upset I didn't take my time to pick some good live rocks, I just went with whatever was easy to get in the LFS.

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Ah yeah...the cerith snail still hasn't shown a sign of movement today, so I took it out this morning since I don't know if it is dead or not. The nassarius sort of just burrowed after it pooped all over the glass, the LFS that is close to my house only have those 3 species, I am going to stop by another LFS close to my job today to get a few more.

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Brought home another 3 cerith snails yesterday, it took them a few hours sitting in the tank before getting to work. Woke up this morning and lots of the diatoms have been eaten. I can't seem to find any trochus snail in the LFS though.

 

I also just ordered a Nanobox mini tide from Dave. :naughtydance:

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Brought home another 3 cerith snails yesterday, it took them a few hours sitting in the tank before getting to work. Woke up this morning and lots of the diatoms have been eaten. I can't seem to find any trochus snail in the LFS though.

 

I also just ordered a Nanobox mini tide from Dave. :naughtydance:

 

Nanobox! woooohoooo

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Sorry about the poor picture quality, I really need to get a tripod so I can take better pictures with the DSLR instead of my phone.

 

I have been searching for a yellow clown goby the past few days and could not find it in any of the LFS around the Seattle area, so I finally got a Randall's goby and loves it!

 

2 days ago, after acclimating.

post-85193-0-20618400-1406313164_thumb.jpg

 

I went all over Seattle to look for a pistol shrimp, only 1 store has it in stock, brought it home and acclimating

post-85193-0-10681500-1406313165_thumb.jpg

 

Discovered a corner and began digging!

post-85193-0-22659300-1406313166_thumb.jpg

 

Before the shrimp noticed my goby is under the rock

post-85193-0-20716600-1406313167_thumb.jpg

 

Found you! Moved in, and start rescaping under the rock. Took them a whole minute to pair up. ;)

post-85193-0-23430200-1406313168_thumb.jpg

 

This morning when I got up, they totally restructured the sand bed, and moved to the other side (opposite side) of the tank under another rock. I was in a hurry to get to work so didn't take any picture, I will do that once I get home.

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You'll love / hate that shrimp in 3 months time hahaha... check my recent shots, he literally picks the entire branch up and carries my hammer coral around lmao.

 

Awesome pair though, that was fast!

 

My fist Goby was with my shrimp the first night in - but when my Goby jumped the tank and I brought a new Goby home, it took them a week to become friends. Kind of sad really, because - perhaps the shrimp knew the new Goby wasn't actually the same one. They have some intelligence!

 

Looking good man! Nanobox ehhhh - baller !!! $_$

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You'll love / hate that shrimp in 3 months time hahaha... check my recent shots, he literally picks the entire branch up and carries my hammer coral around lmao.

 

Awesome pair though, that was fast!

 

My fist Goby was with my shrimp the first night in - but when my Goby jumped the tank and I brought a new Goby home, it took them a week to become friends. Kind of sad really, because - perhaps the shrimp knew the new Goby wasn't actually the same one. They have some intelligence!

 

Looking good man! Nanobox ehhhh - baller !!! $_$

 

I purposely drop the shrimp to the corner where the goby was hoping they would acknowledge each other, and it worked out perfectly!

 

What was funny is that the goby was just hiding under the rock since it first got in and wouldn't come out to eat the mysis shrimps or pellets at all. Until the shrimp and goby become best buddies (for a whole 5 mins), all of a sudden it decided it wants to have some food. I use a turkey baster to drop the food directly in front of the cave, the goby would have a bit and then the shrimp would gather all of it and pull the pile into the cave to share with the goby, what a lovely couple. :D

 

Yeah, it took some real consideration to whether or not I should go with the nanobox since it costs more than the entire setup of the tank + live stocks + other upgrades, but I am betting on the durability of the product, hopefully it will last for years to come. Besides...as long as my wife don't know...it's a "cheap" item as far as she knows...shhhh...hahahaha

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  • 3 weeks later...

Been super busy lately looking for a new place to move to before September, but the Nanobox got here a few days ago (Thanks, Dave!). It's has a carbon fiber housing with silver accent, I really like it!

 

FTS, Sim Mode at 58%:

DwQc2U.jpg

 

Notice all the new frags on the sand bed, just have to figure out where to put them. I might leave them on the sand bed for a while until they grows bigger.There are nine frags, got them from a local guy who had 2 beautiful 70g in his house, found him on CL. :)

 

I can't even recall all the names of the ones I picked up from him, here is the 4 that I remember:

  • Green Stylophora
  • Bam Bam zoas
  • Watermelon Zoas
  • Devils Armor 2
I actually went there specifically for a head of frogspawn, but we decided last minute not to have him frag it because the 2 heads were too close, so he will let me know once it's ready.
Also, added 2 small false percs into the tank. :lol:
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In other news, it was 92 degrees outside a few days ago (the same day the lights arrived), my tank's temp got up to 84 degrees, and it looks like my pistol shrimp didn't survive the heat wave. :(

 

I had suspect something was wrong with it since the Goby and the Shrimp didn't come out to feed for the past 2 days, and they always do when I drop food in the water! So this morning I noticed the goby was outside it's cave on the opposite side of the tank hanging under the rock, which is super weird as it never does that, I observe for a few mins and no shrimp in sight. I dropped some food in the tank to see if it would come out, and nothing. 2 snails were also inside the cave, weird again, the snails never ventures that way, unless there is food. :blink:

 

So I flipped the rock where the cave was built underneath it, there it was, laying upside down inside the cave dead. :(

 

We try to keep our portable AC (central AC in Seattle is rarity) on now to keep the room cooler, will need to find a good fan for the tank, any suggestions?

 

RIP Shrimpy.

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