etane Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 I started the planted tank hobby in 2012. Started with an ADA 60F shrimp tank then "graduated" to a 60P when I wanted to keep more fish. Just moved to an apartment thus decided to go back to the 60F. What to do with the 60P I asked? Either fancy goldfish or Nemo. I went with Nemo. After deciding to do a saltwater tank, I looked at my planted 60F and thought wouldn't it be neat if I had another 60F right next to it. So, I decided to buy a second 60F and keep my 60P in the garage. Started reading up on nano salted tank keeping. My first lesson in this hobby is that the correct term for what I am trying to set up is called pico not nano. A planted tank's nano size is actually a salted tank's pico size. My second lesson is that saltwater tank LEDs are so much more expensive than freshwater ones. Third, rocks are not only for aesthetics but also for filtration. Fourth, plants are not really part of salt water tanks. Fifth, salt water tanks require a lot more water movement than freshwater tanks. Sixth, it's important to top off the water on almost a daily basis because a little water loss could greatly affect tank paramter especially in a pico tank. I learned all these from reading other people's 60F and Spec V tank builds. Facsinating reads. I am glad I started reading them after they have finished building their tanks up otherwise I'd be agonizing over the wait to see what happened next. Sorta like watching a whole season of TV drama all at once. I got 2 week vacation starting this Friday. I've purchased virtually everything I think I need to get the tank started. Let me start listing them: Equipment: Tank - ADA 60F with lid and mat Filter options: 1) None plus Tim's one and only and a dead fish 2) Eheim 2236 canister. If I use this, I plan to fill it up with live rock and nothing else. 3) Tunze ATO, MAME Nano Overflow, and an Aquatop 2gallon cube as refugium 1/4/2015: Mame skimmer, dead coral and caribsea fiji pink live sand Light - Still suffering from sticker shock but my top 3 are 1) Truelumen Pro 12k 24" (already have it on my planted and can switch it over) 2) Aqualighter Nano Marine (might need two of these. just found out about this brand like two days ago. ordered one to try out) 3) AI Prime which is going through production delay. 1/4/2015: Truelumen Pro Marine Fusion 24" on ramp timer Powerhead - Jebao WP10 (being delivered by amazon) 1/4/2015: Jebao DOA. Using Hydor Pico 180 for now. 3/11/2015: replace Hydor Pico with Ecotech MP10 Rock: Tufa mainly. I have yet to aesthetically adjust over from iwagumi type of rocks to reef looking rocks. Sand: Whatever the LFS recommends not sure whehter I want white or pink. Won't use fine grain. Don't want a dust cloud. 1/4/2015: Tufa didn't turn out so good. Fish Possibilities: Yellow Damsel Neon Goby Orange Stripe Prawn Goby Yasha White Ray Shrimp Goby Canary Damsel Fancy Ocellaris Black Percula Invert/CUC Possibilities: Sexy Shrimp Porcelain Crab Bloody Fire Red Shrimp Purple Short Spine Pincushion Urchin Coral Possibilities: Dunno anythng about corals. I like seafans and sps based on what I see at lfs but are told these are demanding. Not wanting to go through hassle of using RODI probably elimantes many possibilities. 1/4/2015: 2 Clownfishes and 1 pink and gold paly 3/11/2015 Fish: 1 Wyoming White 1 Blue Neon Goby 1 Firefish Coral: 1 Purple Bonsai 1 Green Plana 1 Mariculture SPS Green 1 Top Shelf Paly 1 Aussie Green Torch Water: Using office's 3M RO filter. Mineralize with Reef Crystal. Inspiration 1/4/2014: tank looks nothing like this. Instead, it looks like this: 3/11/2015 Link to comment
SgtBhaji Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Looking forward to seeing it. I've got a 60F and love it. Link to comment
Odyssey350kc Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Sounds like you have a good start. Its good you have done your research. Love the idea of the 2 tanks side by side by side. there is another member who has done this and it looks awesome. Here's a link http://www.nano-reef.com/featured/_/2014/dafil-r89 RODI water is very important, not only for corals but algae growth as well. RO water is good but you'll find that it only gets you so far, for example my faucet water comes out at about 220ppm, the RO filter brings it down to about 120ppm, but the DI filter takes it down to 0ppm. Link to comment
etane Posted December 17, 2014 Author Share Posted December 17, 2014 My RO water is about 5-8 ppm. Still too deficient for marine life? Sounds like you have a good start. Its good you have done your research. Love the idea of the 2 tanks side by side by side. there is another member who has done this and it looks awesome. Here's a link http://www.nano-reef.com/featured/_/2014/dafil-r89 RODI water is very important, not only for corals but algae growth as well. RO water is good but you'll find that it only gets you so far, for example my faucet water comes out at about 220ppm, the RO filter brings it down to about 120ppm, but the DI filter takes it down to 0ppm. I've got two. Looking forward to seeing it. I've got a 60F and love it. Link to comment
Odyssey350kc Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 5-8ppm seems pretty good. Should be ok i guess. Link to comment
etane Posted December 19, 2014 Author Share Posted December 19, 2014 Want to start the tank but... what rock to go with. I want to start with dry rock. I haven't found anything really appealing to me yet. http://s458.photobucket.com/user/etane1/media/DSC_4716.jpg.html'> Link to comment
etane Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 went to lfs after work. coral collections just moved from hb to lf. matt spent a good hour with me on tank set up. he thought having a protien skimmer will make a big difference. so, am looking into the shortest length protien skimmer out there. it will go into an 8" cube which will sit in a shelving with 13" interior height. if i go this route, this means i'd have to be more committed in moving away from natural filtration and getting the protien skimmer, mame of and return pump. matt also recommended i get an ato. i didn't fully understand the explanation but something about keeping the protien skimmer working right requires stable water level. i think tunze 9001 ... Link to comment
East1 Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 I'd definitely suggest the tunze for a smaller tank, they're glorious. An ATO prevents you having to open your cabinet daily or bi-daily and check the water level before topping off, it makes life easier and the water parameters more stable for your inhabitants, but when combined with a protein skimmer that requires stable water levels it's absolutely invaluable. You've just reminded me to refill my reservoir Link to comment
etane Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 I'd definitely suggest the tunze for a smaller tank, they're glorious. An ATO prevents you having to open your cabinet daily or bi-daily and check the water level before topping off, it makes life easier and the water parameters more stable for your inhabitants, but when combined with a protein skimmer that requires stable water levels it's absolutely invaluable. You've just reminded me to refill my reservoir so ato really is an requirement for protien skimmer. crap i thought i could put off this purchase until later. where is the journal for the 60f you've retired? Link to comment
East1 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I didn't make a journal for it Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I'd go with an ATO before a proien skimmer. You can get by with water changes & Chemipure Elite/Blue for added filtratration. Add the skimmer later if you think you need it. ATO will make your life a lot easier, small evap changes make a big difference in salinity in our tanks. I have an 8 gal, fill up the ATO resivior & it's good for a week, never have to worry. I bought the Hydor ATO, had mixed reviews, but its been working flawless for me, was like 59.99 plus the Tom's AuaLifter. I also bought a skimmer, but have yet to use it (3 months in) Link to comment
etane Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 I'd go with an ATO before a proien skimmer. You can get by with water changes & Chemipure Elite/Blue for added filtratration. Add the skimmer later if you think you need it. ATO will make your life a lot easier, small evap changes make a big difference in salinity in our tanks. I have an 8 gal, fill up the ATO resivior & it's good for a week, never have to worry. I bought the Hydor ATO, had mixed reviews, but its been working flawless for me, was like 59.99 plus the Tom's AuaLifter. I also bought a skimmer, but have yet to use it (3 months in) i just moved to my new place a few months ago. it's closer to the ocean than where i was before. and, i am seeing very little evaporation in my fw 60f planted tank with lid. i can probably get by with a weekly top off for the saltwater. down the road, i could get a fw resevoir and use it to top off both my fw and sw tank. they will be sitting right next to each other. Link to comment
etane Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 a change indirection. first, i was wanting to go with natural filtration. second, i was going to go with protien skimmer in refugium with mame overflow, return pump and possible ato, now i want to scale back to the first scenario but add a mame in the tank skimmer. this way i can keep the mnimalist set up of the natural filtration while minimizing number of water changes/maintenance with the protein skimmer. win win hahahahhahaha.... read that protein skimmer will remove trace minerals... btw, a pic of my fw 60f with a second 60f right next to it... ready to be salted. http://s458.photobucket.com/user/etane1/media/12-21-14-1.jpg.html'> Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 The skimmer is not going to get you away from water changes unless you dose the tank, the coral will use up minerals from the salt mix, skimmer will remove some. You need to get it back somehow, either waterchanges or dosing. I ran a tank for 5 years with only LR, heater, powerhead & small internal filter w/floss & carbon. Worked good, had it stocked pretty well, only fed every 2/3 days, coral once a week. But, 20% weekly/biweekly water change, not only to take out the bad stuff, but to put the good stuff back in. No SPS tho, that's a different monster. Link to comment
etane Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 The skimmer is not going to get you away from water changes unless you dose the tank, the coral will use up minerals from the salt mix, skimmer will remove some. You need to get it back somehow, either waterchanges or dosing. I ran a tank for 5 years with only LR, heater, powerhead & small internal filter w/floss & carbon. Worked good, had it stocked pretty well, only fed every 2/3 days, coral once a week. But, 20% weekly/biweekly water change, not only to take out the bad stuff, but to put the good stuff back in. No SPS tho, that's a different monster. Just noticed that your name/username is also probably not only used by reefers but also by loan sharks or billiard players. Yup will still have to wc just not as often. Hoping it will be monthly instead of weekly with the skimmer. And, have to talk to lfs about the trace elements either dosing or what not. Anticipating a learning curve here.... ------------------------------------------- Received my Jebao wp10 last week. And, recently read that there's wp10 with white impellers and blue impellers out there. A reviewer on amazon stated the blue one is more powerful and reliable. Sure enough, I got the blue one. Well, it being less powerful is a good thing since my tank is small, and there's not too many power adjustment arrays on the controller. Anyone else here checked what color their wp10 ph's impellers are? Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Just noticed that your name/username is also probably not only used by reefers but also by loan sharks or billiard players. Lol, pretty good billiard player, not so good at loan sharking, never get my money back!! Haha Link to comment
etane Posted December 28, 2014 Author Share Posted December 28, 2014 Ok where did I leave off since last update.. oh I wetted the tank. next morning. notes: 1) live rock is actually a dead coral. i think it's a blue ridge coral. and, it's a bit too tall for my tank. i plan to cut it down right where the branches split from the base. that will lower the rock by about 2 inches. and, the base can be used as a "island" for coral frags. 2) i plan to get a clown fish and really wanted to get an anemone for it to host. but, those get too big for my tank. i could trade in for smaller ones, but that's probably more hassle than it's worth. so, no anemone for clown fish. 3) i plan on getting one or two maxi mini carpet and get some sexy shrimps and porcelain crabs to host. 4) i purchased salt water from lfs. my refractometer read 1.020 which seems low. and, my tds meter read 88ppm before i mixed it with sand and about 780ppm after i mixed it with sand. is tds a parameter worth keeping track of like they are in fw tanks? 5) sand is caribsea fuji pink live sand. Link to comment
Auto Midnight Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 Love the side by side setup, it's going to look awesome once it's established. Link to comment
etane Posted December 28, 2014 Author Share Posted December 28, 2014 tried to cross drill into the dead coral. broke a drill bit. damn this thing is hard.... i need professional help. Link to comment
jabeuy Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 4) i purchased salt water from lfs. my refractometer read 1.020 which seems low. and, my tds meter read 88ppm before i mixed it with sand and about 780ppm after i mixed it with sand. is tds a parameter worth keeping track of like they are in fw tanks? 5) sand is caribsea fuji pink live sand. I'm pretty sure the tds in mixed saltwater will always be > 0 since there'll be well...solids mixed haha. Not sure if 88 is good or bad though. Link to comment
etane Posted December 28, 2014 Author Share Posted December 28, 2014 I'm pretty sure the tds in mixed saltwater will always be > 0 since there'll be well...solids mixed haha. Not sure if 88 is good or bad though. yes but is there a standard for sw tds before and after mixing with sand? i try to stay under 200ppm in fw. Link to comment
jabeuy Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 yes but is there a standard for sw tds before and after mixing with sand? i try to stay under 200ppm in fw. I've got no idea lol. Not sure if theres a certain range. Don't even know if anyone measures tds of mixed sw Link to comment
East1 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 tds isn't really a concern unless it's unsalted RO Link to comment
Rehype Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Awesome looking setup. Love the dead coral look... Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 You don't measure TDS of saltwater. If your RO system is producing 150ppm water after your membrane, then your membrane is bad. Your membrane should be 95% rejection or higher or something is wrong, 220ppm tap and 150ppm post-RO is 31% rejection. And if you are keeping coral, you need to add salt to your water from the LFS or tell them that they're not mixing to reef standards. Needs to be 35-38ppt. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.