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Innovative Marine Aquariums

Spec V Build - Beginner Style!


Texag12

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Hey all,

 

This is my first salt water tank and very excited to get it going. I recently returned from my honeymoon and wanted to bring some of that tropical visual into my everyday life... thus the idea for a SW tank was born.

 

I am planning to take my time and work slowly. I will be doing a small residential move in 7 months, so I intend to take it easy on the coral growth just in case something does go bad in the move (it's just a few blocks down the road).

 

 

Here's my setup right now:

 

- Spec V (zero upgrades)

- 50w Heater sitting in the display side (keeping water 78 - 82 F)

- 5 lbs of live rock

- 5 lbs live sand

- API reef testing kit

- 5 gallons sea water

 

 

Questions:

- What is the first thing I should upgrade? I see alot about the minijet 606 and then I also see alot of talk about lights.

 

My goals for the tank:

- Have coral, invertebrates, and 1-2 fish living together in harmony

- Enhance my understanding of salt water tank keeping

 

Where I'm At:

I've been monitoring my test levels to watch for cycling the past week and have not had any spikes to signal one beginning. I also see no algae growth as of yet.

 

I will be picking up a timer from Home Depot/Lowes to assist with light timing. I am thinking I should upgrade the light before the minijet 606 since light helps with algae and I plan to grow my invertebrate livestock before introducing coral. What is a good budget pre-built light setup? I've seen mentions of the nano, but being a newlywed it's a bit out of my budget for now.

 

I picked up 2 Astraea Turbo Snails and 1 peppermint shrimp. I did this before I realized that adding pre-existing ocean water would not prevent a cycle spike from happening. Hopefully they make it through if a cycle occurs. These were planned to be the beginning of my clean up crew.

 

I will attach pics later today. Thanks everyone, I've been learning a lot from reading the pico and Spec V threads the past few months!

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You will NEED a new light so do that first. Current Orbit Marine LED is very popular with the Spec V if Nanobox is out of budget. Where are you getting your saltwater from? Also make sure to use RODI water for top off. You should also consider a media basket for chemical filtration like Chemipure Blue.

 

You may not have a cycle if you are using live rock from a local place (meaning no die off due to shipping). If you do have a cycle, snails are very sensitive to nitrite so they may not make it.

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Welcome to the club. +1 on new light and +1000 on the Minijet 606 (although heads up on mine the only way it fit was to take off part of the housing when means I can't adjust the flow).

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Welcome to the club. +1 on new light and +1000 on the Minijet 606 (although heads up on mine the only way it fit was to take off part of the housing when means I can't adjust the flow).

 

Current Marine LED comes with the ramp timer pro so that kills two birds with one stone, next would be the minijet 606.

 

You will NEED a new light so do that first. Current Orbit Marine LED is very popular with the Spec V if Nanobox is out of budget. Where are you getting your saltwater from? Also make sure to use RODI water for top off. You should also consider a media basket for chemical filtration like Chemipure Blue.

 

You may not have a cycle if you are using live rock from a local place (meaning no die off due to shipping). If you do have a cycle, snails are very sensitive to nitrite so they may not make it.

 

Thanks everyone! I will make the upgraded lighting my priority over adding the minijet 606. I've seen mention of the Current Marine LED so good to see that as a recommendation here as well. I'll be hunting for a used one on here or ebay today.

 

I wish I could get my heater out of the display area and into where the flow pump is, but that space is so tight for a 50w heater and existing pump. I had issues making it work due to sticking out above where the Spec V lid fits over said chamber.

 

Question - Should I be feeding my peppermint shrimp and 2 Astraea anything? I've just been letting them hunt for stuff on the live rock/sand. Have yet to see any pods... is it worth looking into a jump start for those since I may have added my intro clean up crew a bit too early?

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Welcome to the Spec club, and best of luck! :)

 

+1 on upgrading the light. The Marine Current's are great, I personally use a Par38 however if I were to start over would go the Marine route. Looks cleaner IMO.

 

Good job on the 606 upgrade, I never did that - but many have and it's great. (I however do have a 240gph powerhead in mine.)

 

I don't think you'll need to feed those guys anything right now, especially if you've put a live rock in there.

However - definitely monitor your levels to make sure you're not cycling with them in there. If you find any levels too high you'll need to combat with some good WC's. If you haven't seen a spike in anything yet, you can slowly add (very slowly) and monitor it closely. I had a very small cycle with my tank.

 

Post pics soon ! :)

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Hey guys, thanks for following! I absolutely am thrilled by the community here. May be a silly question, but is the Current Marine LED 18 - 24 inch the one I want? Seems like it, but just wanting to make sure before I pull the trigger.

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Hey guys, thanks for following! I absolutely am thrilled by the community here. May be a silly question, but is the Current Marine LED 18 - 24 inch the one I want? Seems like it, but just wanting to make sure before I pull the trigger.

 

Yes it is the Current Marine Orbit you are looking for. Mine was shipped today for my Spec V.

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Ok just to provide some images and give you a visual for some questions...

 

 

12/31 Morning Chem Test

 

12-31morning_zpscb135356.jpeg

 

 

12/31 Evening Chem Test

 

12-31night_zpsac4691fc.jpeg

 

Questions:

  • PH is noticeably higher in the evening tests compared to the morning tests. Any idea what is causing that? Increase in temp? White light on all day?

12-31 Tank Front

 

12-31front_zps554d8228.jpeg

 

Questions:

  • See that fuzzy thing on the right side of the left rock? Been trying to figure out what it is if anything to see if I need to zap it. Any ideas what it could be? It just looks white and fuzzy right now.

12-31 Tank Back

 

12-31back_zps1a54ef0a.jpeg

 

Questions:

  • Any idea what that reddish/brown thing is in the sand? I woke up this morning and it was there... I was thinking it could be the start of my peppermint shrimp molting (he's upside down in a live rock cave in this pic)
  • My liverock came with seaweed stuck in it, I didn't bother to take it out... is that a concern?
  • In this pic you can really get a visual for what 1 days worth of evaporation looks like. Tank temp when I got home was 82, so I've adjusted my heater to bring that back into the 77-79 F range.

 

 

 

Other Notes:

  • Tank temp was 82 F when I got home, a bit higher than I believe it should be. Should I remove the heater or should I turn it down to mid 70's and wait for the water to adjust?
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heh, now i see why u want that heater out of the tank =P

Yeah, it's a nice EHEIM Jager Aquarium Thermostat Heater 50W, but it's ugly and big.

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Just ordered the mini-jet 606 and the Current Marine LED 18 - 24 inch! Should be here Saturday/Monday. Hopefully things continue to look good chemical wise and I may just increase my inverts and add some coral.

 

One thing I need to read up on more is frags vs colonies. I see places selling both and am not really sure when it is best to buy which.

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I ordered both from amazon. I'm a prime member so I just called around locally and then price

Checked. I did see one some on eBay that were slightly used at a discount too.

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Anyone grown macro algae in their spec v with coral? Thinking some macro algae could be an aesthetically pleasing mix with the coral and other animals.

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Wondering if I should order some copepods also, has anyone juiced their tank with them? I've read they're good for corals and such as food. Since I don't have any corals yet I'm wondering if it's a good idea to give the copepods a jump start?

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Chad Walters

I "dose" with reefpods tisbe but that's only to make sure my red scooter dragonet stays happy in my spec. He eats some pellets to. Pods will come so I wouldn't worry about it at this point.

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I "dose" with reefpods tisbe but that's only to make sure my red scooter dragonet stays happy in my spec. He eats some pellets to. Pods will come so I wouldn't worry about it at this point.

Sounds good, will hang off on that for now

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so I have read that Zoanthids are a great beginner coral because they tend to be hardy. Well, I was doing some research to see what people wear when handling them or any coral in general and came across this link.

 

I've got a dog so I'll be moving forward with elbow high latex gloves when handling my corals in my tank (as well as when I get to the point of fragging).

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i am in the camp that gloves are not needed when handling corals. i bought gloves when i first started and never wore them cuz it's cumbersome. unless u r fragging, u probably dont need gloves.

Interesting, I may just use them as a precaution but we'll see. Hey I was taking a look at your Spec and it's beautiful. What's the green that you are growing on the side where the flow and sump area are? I think I saw some red dragon macroalgae as well?

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