MPSchenck Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Hello Everybody! Moving over from my Beginner's Discussion to start my build thread here. Equipment List... JBJ Lighting Rimless Cube, 30-Gallon JBJ Aquarium Cabinet Stand, Black InTank Rimless Nano Cube 30 Media Basket x1 Poly Filter Pad, 4 X 8" Seachem Matrix Bio Media, 250ml Seachem The Bag Seachem Purigen, 100ml Cobalt Neo-Therm Heater, 100 watt ReefSafe Solutions RS1 Heater Controller (calibrated with lab-grade mercury thermometer) Tunze Comline DOC Protein Skimmer 9001 Innovative Marine MiniMax All-In-One Media Reactor Seachem PhosGuard, 500ml Jebao RW-4 Wavemaker with Controller Avast ATO Kit w/ peristaltic pump w/o float Letica 2 Gallon Food Safe Bucket w/ Lid (RO/DI reservoir) Kessil A360WE LED Tuna Blue Kessil Spectral Controller Kessil LED Light Pendant A-Series Gooseneck Clamp/Mount Kessil 90 Degree Adapter for A Series Gooseneck Mount Two Little Fishies Nanomag Glass Cleaner Innovative Marine AUQA Gadget Gourmet Defroster Salinity Refractometer, Aquarium & Seawater - Dual Scale Standard Seawater 35 ppt Refractometer Calibration Solution, 60 ml API Saltwater Master Test Kit Acu-Life True Easy Syringe (get exacty 5ml of water for test tubes everytime) Seachem Ammonia Alert Turkey baster Two Little Fishies Julian's Thing Multi Purpose Tool CaribSea Ocean Direct Natural Live Sand, 40 lbs Ok, so it took 3 shipments but I finally got a tank delivered that wasn't smashed. I got it all put together and leak tested... So today I hit the LFS and picked up 34 pounds of wet, cycled live rock and 25 gallons of pre-made SW. I assembled the rocks pretty much the way I had in mind on the bare bottom, loaded in approximately 20 pounds of live sand, and poured in right at 23 gallons of the water. So now it looks like I filled it with skim milk... Now I'm just letting the pumps run, getting the water up to full temp (78°), playing with the Jebao RW-4 settings. I do not have the skimmer or reactor running and I do not have the Purigen in place. Notes about rear sump layout - I bought only one InTank media basket for this tank because I believed the other side would be taken up by the skimmer. However, the skimmer wouldn't actually fit in that compartment and still utilize the magnet that will control it's height in the chamber so it's in the second chamber in. I put back in place one of the stock media baskets on that side with nothing but the sponge cubes that came with the tank on all 3 levels. That was great because it actually let me run the ReefSafe temp probe behind the stock media basket. The Cobalt Neo-Therm and IM MiniMax are in the secondary chamber on the same side as the InTank media basket. So far I'm very happy with the way everything has fit in. I do have to still mount the Avast ATO pressure sensor and fill line back there, but I think that will go in the center chamber as the return pump hoses are very much towards the front of the chamber. We shall see. Some interesting facts... The wet, cycled live rock was transported, fully submerged, in the 75° water it was cycled in and kept at 75 degrees during the transplant process. The new pre-made SW was approximately 75° before it was added into the tank. I do not anticipate much, if any, die off of the organisms and bacteria on/in the live rock, so I'm wondering how my cycle will progress. Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Looks really good so far and some nice equipment too. If you want to test your tank it should be able to fully process 2ppm of ammonia in 12-24 hours. But if you used live sand and fully cycled live rock then it's probably already good for a small fish. Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 23, 2016 Author Share Posted January 23, 2016 Looks really good so far and some nice equipment too. Thank you! But if you used live sand and fully cycled live rock then it's probably already good for a small fish. That is what the LFS owner said. I'm going to wait until Sunday I think to test it. I had an Astraea snail hitchhike in on one of the rocks but I can't find him now. If the test turns out ok I'll put a very, very few CUC members in there as there was a little algae in a few spots. Here's what it looks like now... So it's clearing up. I'm not crazy about that second from the bottom right rock, I'm going to flip it 180° longitudinally and see if that better. The rock on the very top creates 2 caves/tunnels so when things hide they should still be pretty easy to see. It also provides a relatively large surface for high light corals in the future, in addition to some shadier spots on the sand for lower light beginner corals and shrooms. I took care to give myself enough room to clean the glass around the rocks and there is some gap between the rook and back panel so gunk doesn't collect there. Also the two largest rock in there, the two on the bottom, are MASSIVELY porous. I mean HOLEY! BUT I'm asking for rock placement suggestions. Let me hear. I can take it I promise. Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 23, 2016 Author Share Posted January 23, 2016 I should include my planned livestock list. Fish... Clownfish, pair (not hugely picky, but I would like a higher than normal amount of white, Picasso or Snowflake) Midas Blenny Yasha Goby or Hi Fin Red Banded Goby (I do not plan on pairing with a pistol shrimp - This seems to be ok. Thoughts?) Inverts... CUC - to include dwarf hermits Fire Shrimp Rose Bubble Tip Anemone (eventually in the future) Corals (pretty much in the order I plan to add them)... wild colored mushrooms - blue, neon green, stripped brightly colored Zoas - Rasta, Red Hornet or Superman, Blondies, Valentine's Day Massacre, and Tubb's Blue or African Blue Hornet (too many to choose from) LPS - brains, bubbles, hammers (or frogspawn or torch) *I know I have to keep aggressiveness in mind when buying and placing a lot of these. Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 23, 2016 Author Share Posted January 23, 2016 I couldn't wait so I tested to see what my water parameters were after approximately 24 hours. Since I used Live sand and already cycled wet live rock that was keep at 75° and I heated my new SW to approximately 75° before adding it. Test results... Looks like... pH: 8.1-ish range Ammonia: 0 ppm Nitrite: 0 ppm Nitrate: 0 ppm I should note here I'm very slightly color blind so I might be off a little. I usually have my wife look at these tests but she wasn't home. So could it be that due to the live sand and the cured, wet, live rock kept at temp didn't cycle and it's ready for a very few critters or has it not had time to blow up yet? My hitchhiker Astraea snail was alive and well when I was messing around in there a little while ago. Also, I found this while I was messing around in there and was hoping for an ID from someone? and another angle... It's fairly hard or rigid, though I didn't pinch it too much. So what might that be? Link to comment
specore Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Bubble algae. It's a nuisance, try and remove all of it now while you don't have to worry about livestock. Don't burst them though. Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 So could it be that due to the live sand and the cured, wet, live rock kept at temp didn't cycle and it's ready for a very few critters or has it not had time to blow up yet? Your tank will not experience a cycle because the rocks and sand already have the bacteria you grow with a cycle. If I was you I'd at least add a decent clean up crew and be deciding what I want for my first fish . Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 Your tank will not experience a cycle because the rocks and sand already have the bacteria you grow with a cycle. If I was you I'd at least add a decent clean up crew and be deciding what I want for my first fish . That's pretty much what my LFS guy said when I bought the live rock. Advice noted and acted upon... Four snails of various types and 3 dwarf hermits. Plus they had 2 tiny little shrooms they practically gave to me - a purple and a spotted. We will see how this goes. Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Big day... Params still looking good and found the crabs and snails from yesterday still doing good. Found some more hitchhiking life in there like this tiny starfish... and tiny feather duster... Startfish is a little smaller than a dime and the feather duster is about al long as a pin. I tried to get a decent pic of the mushrooms but it just didn't work out. The spotted one really filled out today and looks great and the purple looks ok. I might need to reposition it. Link to comment
TFish77 Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Big day... Params still looking good and found the crabs and snails from yesterday still doing good. Found some more hitchhiking life in there like this tiny starfish... and tiny feather duster... Startfish is a little smaller than a dime and the feather duster is about al long as a pin. I tried to get a decent pic of the mushrooms but it just didn't work out. The spotted one really filled out today and looks great and the purple looks ok. I might need to reposition it. Looking really good so far. God you cannot beat the shimmer from those freakin kessils!!! Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 I now have 2 of those little starfish on the glass. Should I leave them alone and see what they grow into or should I ditch them back to the LFS? I've read enough about starfish that I'm pretty sure I don't want any long term. Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 I now have 2 of those little starfish on the glass. Should I leave them alone and see what they grow into or should I ditch them back to the LFS? I've read enough about starfish that I'm pretty sure I don't want any long term. Asterina starfish are good algae eaters. They will break off arms and clone themselves into dozens over time. I've probably got 50 now from what started with only two or three. A few species are known to eat coral polyps but they are extremely rare in home aquarium and yours looks just like the ones I have so I wouldn't worry. Link to comment
vlangel Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 It looks likeyou are off to a great start! You are going to love having a midas blenny, they are a great fish. Watch though as they are jumpers. You might want to look into building a cover for the tank. Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 My Avast ATO still isn't here. I think it got held up in the blizzard. I came down stairs this morning to my return pump sucking air due to evap. Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 My Avast ATO is out for delivery today, YAY! Added an tiny Ocellaris Sunday with some more hermits. He is doing great. Test results from Monday... Plans for this evening: install ATO and water tests. Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 Hello Everybody, Big update tonight. The Avast ATO came in today, and I got it installed which means all the equipment is in place. I like the ATO, but man that peristaltic pump is on the large side. So I thought I would share some pics of the whole set up. Water params from this evening... Pic colors didn't turn out great, but it looks like pH: 8.2, Ammonia: 0 ppm (the Seachem Ammonia Alert detector in the tank is lighter than the <0.02 ppm bit), Nitrite: 0 ppm, Nitrate: 0ppm, Salinity: 1.023* * I started with the 1.022 "fish water" my LFS suggested. I wanted the 1.026 "reef water" they also have so I'm actually raising it very, very, very slowly by using the 1.026 reef water for my top offs currently - it's only gone up 0.001 in the 4 days I've been doing this.Aquascape... I ended up using 32 lbs of live rock after I took a rock back to the LFS and got some smaller pieces. I also cracked one in half with an old (but cleaned) screwdriver and a hammer. A couple of notes here. I'm going to move the digital thermometer probe to the sump because I don't like seeing the suction cup. I need to store my Two Little Fishies (TLF) Nano cleaning magnet in the cabinet. The glass thermometer and Ammonia Alert card pretty much have to stay in the display area. I also see a MP10 in my future. Let's see the whole thing... Pretty sexy, no? I'm going to have a black acrylic cover made to cover the sump area, you'll still be able to see the cords and ATO hoses, but it will look much cleaner, I think. Let's see behind those doors... Decently tidy. That Avast peristaltic pump is much larger than I expected, and I'm not in love with my ATO reservoir, but what's with the black stuff on the bucket BTW? This was bugging the crap out of me... Sooo I happened to have some pretty high quality vinyl carbon fiber laying around... Buckets are round and usually a little smaller at the bottom than the top so I only covered like 3/4 of it. I also forgot to take an after pic from the outside. Looks decent though the ATO reservoir will probably evolve. Both sides... Pretty neat, and I've got the basics. ReefSafe Solutions heater controller, food defrosting cup, turkey baster (I thought people were exaggerating how much they used these - they weren't), test kit w/ a child's dosing syringe for getting exactly 5ml of water for those test tubes, refractometer w/ case, some left over chemicals, drip acclimation bowl, drip tubing, and my TLF Julian's Thing. Side pic... It's hard to get a good shot of that little clown. He does leave his corner occasionally for food and after lights out he's all over the place. You can also see one of my 2 asterina starfish up near the overflow as well. Other side taken later... That digital thermometer is crazy inaccurate, I'll probably just remove it altogether. That is a pretty sweet looking coral skeleton in the lower left hand corner I found in the live rock container at the LFS when switch out the rock. One more, I told you all this was in my man cave so I thought I would provide a placement pic... Ok, so half the room is mine and the other half is my daughter's hence the pink castle in on the very right. My half is clean, her half looks like a bomb went off, but the boss leaves us alone down here. Link to comment
olemanwinter Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Your tank wont cycle without some ammonia anyway. There is a better than average chance you wont cycle regardless with your setup, but I would add your fish slowly. You probably have some bacteria, but they may not be able to process a high bioload of an addition of 3 or 4 fish. In other words, given your circumstances I'd add a single fish and see if you get a cycle. If not, then proceed. EDIT: Just saw where you added a clown. Sounds good. GL with the tank. Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 Your tank wont cycle without some ammonia anyway. There is a better than average chance you wont cycle regardless with your setup, but I would add your fish slowly. You probably have some bacteria, but they may not be able to process a high bioload of an addition of 3 or 4 fish. In other words, given your circumstances I'd add a single fish and see if you get a cycle. If not, then proceed. EDIT: Just saw where you added a clown. Sounds good. GL with the tank. Yep, I added him Sunday afternoon, and he's doing well - eating, swimming around, breathing normally etc. I'm feeding him frozen mysis daily and putting in a bit extra for the hermits. I'm getting a little algae on my sand bed in the front left (facing the tank), so I'm thinking about adding some more snails. I have a few snails, 3-4, but hardly ever see them. I may be putting in too much food. Hard to judge for one tiny fish and a few hermits. The mushrooms are doing well, full extension, vibrant color (for what they are) etc. Overall, I think things are going very well. Input, thoughts, and suggestions are welcome Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 29, 2016 Author Share Posted January 29, 2016 I got my hands on a lab-grade mercury thermometer so I could calibrate my ReefSafe Solutions heater controller and it was less than 1° off, so I'm pretty happy with that. I did test the thermometer in a tall plastic cup of ice chips and tap water, after sitting a couple of minutes it read 32°. Did I mention my wife is a pharmaceutical quality control chemist? In any case, I'm removing the cheapo digital thermometer and I'm dropping the glass one in the sump just as a back up, so no more unsightly thermometers in the display area. Anyway, something disturbing popped out today... Uh, what the heck is that thing? A close up... I'm shining a flashlight through the glass at an angle so as not to interfere with the camera. I looks like a coral kinda, but it also looks like a plant. It's waving around in the current. I have a video I'm trying to get uploaded now. Until then any ideas? I got some decent pics of the two mushrooms in the tank... The spots are kind of a blue-ish green, while the the rest is a deep red. The other other one... Is a deep purple. The actinic light from the Kessil really wash out color in photos. I tried some basic color correction and got some back. Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 I got my hands on a lab-grade mercury thermometer so I could calibrate my ReefSafe Solutions heater controller and it was less than 1° off, so I'm pretty happy with that. I did test the thermometer in a tall plastic cup of ice chips and tap water, after sitting a couple of minutes it read 32°. Did I mention my wife is a pharmaceutical quality control chemist? In any case, I'm removing the cheapo digital thermometer and I'm dropping the glass one in the sump just as a back up, so no more unsightly thermometers in the display area. Anyway, something disturbing popped out today... Uh, what the heck is that thing? A close up... I'm shining a flashlight through the glass at an angle so as not to interfere with the camera. I looks like a coral kinda, but it also looks like a plant. It's waving around in the current. I have a video I'm trying to get uploaded now. Until then any ideas? I got some decent pics of the two mushrooms in the tank... The spots are kind of a blue-ish green, while the the rest is a deep red. The other other one... Is a deep purple. The actinic light from the Kessil really wash out color in photos. I tried some basic color correction and got some back. Don't be scared, its a Kenya tree Link to comment
PieMan2k Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Agree with Harry's post. Kenya tree, soft coral and it grows at a decent rate. Keep it there and see how it does, if it starts shrinking or "wilting" see if you can move it to either higher light or higher flow. Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 29, 2016 Author Share Posted January 29, 2016 Don't be scared, its a Kenya tree Whew! My LFS does have it growing in several tanks. Agree with Harry's post. Kenya tree, soft coral and it grows at a decent rate. Keep it there and see how it does, if it starts shrinking or "wilting" see if you can move it to either higher light or higher flow. What if I don't want it to grow there? I think that may be an inconvenient place given my layout. It is attached down in a hole in that rock. Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Whew! My LFS does have it growing in several tanks. What if I don't want it to grow there? I think that may be an inconvenient place given my layout. It is attached down in a hole in that rock. You can cut it with a razor as close to the rock as possible and glue it somewhere else? Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 29, 2016 Author Share Posted January 29, 2016 You can cut it with a razor as close to the rock as possible and glue it somewhere else? That does sound like a plan. I have another one for you. I turned the light back on tonight after it being off for 5-10 minutes and saw this... I know it's blurry. Another angle with different light... So it looks to be about the size of a large peanut. That oval-ish shaped bit on it back in the first pic really looks like one side of a clam shell. It looks like a slug with half a clam shell on it back. So after I typed that last sentence I thought "Holy crap! I can google that!" Seems to be a Stomatella or abalone sea snail? Link to comment
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