swampy Posted July 14, 2003 Share Posted July 14, 2003 Hello all! I am new to the group as well as very new to saltwater tanks. I have had a freshwater tank for 18 months and now am venturing into salts. I just completed the initial setup several days ago. Here are the stats so far... 29 gallon glass tank Eclipse 2 hood 2 15 watt daylight bulbs that came with the tank and a actinic blue bulb to replace one of the originals on order should be in next week crushed coral base about 4 inches deep 15 pounds of LR, some creatures moving on the rock 1.021 salinity 78-80 degrees depending on time of day I added Inland Seas Biotrace and Calcium Supplement on the recomendation of another individual at the LFS. I need a bit of advice from you all. I have been feverishly reading and preparing to start this tank and I am running into a few pieces of info that are some what contradictory and gray. 1. Do I have enough live rock in the tank currently to cycle the tank correctly and in a timely fashion or do I need to add more? 2. The guy at the LFS said to add two Damsels as well to cycle the tank, but from what I have read so far doesn't seem like many folks do this so I didn't. Should I have? 3. Any additional advice to help the cycling process would be greatly appriciated! Thanks in advance! This place has been a great place for info so far!!! Swampy Link to comment
Rocket_155 Posted July 14, 2003 Share Posted July 14, 2003 1. Do I have enough live rock in the tank currently to cycle the tank correctly and in a timely fashion or do I need to add more? You'll be better off adding more in, the general thumb is 1-2 pounds per gallon. It wont affect your cycle in anyway except for time. IMO you should add more though 2. The guy at the LFS said to add two Damsels as well to cycle the tank, but from what I have read so far doesn't seem like many folks do this so I didn't. Should I have? no,no. You shouldn't ever cycle with fish (even damsels). The best way to start a cycle off is to put in a piece or two of peeled cooked shrimp. People shouldn't cycle with damsels due to the facts 1. its cruel, and will cause unnesessary stress to the fish. 2. you'll be stuck with a rouge fish after the tank is cycled. 3. Any additional advice to help the cycling process would be greatly appriciated! You can do water changes or not it totally up to you, although it can help along with the cycling prosses. Good flow seems to help as well. Link to comment
Deimos Posted July 14, 2003 Share Posted July 14, 2003 Number one...bump up that salinity!! You should be in the 1.024-1.025 range. Number two...get some better lighting...NO fluoros aren't going to hack it. Number three..ditch that Eclipse hood. Number four..damsels aren't necessary and neither are cooked shrimp...your LR should be all you need to cycle the tank..there will be at least SOME die off..there always is..and this will provide the ammonia you need to get the cycle started and over in a relatively short amount of time. Number 5..ditto on the more LR response...pump it up..I've got 48lbs in my 29 and I probably am going to have to add even more (just not liking the aquascaping right now). Make it look aesthetically pleasing to you and get a good bit of rock stacked almost all the way up to the surface...as you'll want this when placing higher light corals after you upgrade your lighting. HTH Link to comment
swampy Posted July 14, 2003 Author Share Posted July 14, 2003 Deimos, Ligting, I know you are a metal halide supporter, but according to others and what I have seen this is going to be cost prohibititive. I have blue actinic on order, what would you recommend replacing the other one with (other than MH). LR, Can I add cured LR in incraments during the cycling process or do I have to do it all at one time? say 10 pounds a week until I reach capacity? Thanks again all! Swampy Link to comment
EdgeKrusher Posted July 14, 2003 Share Posted July 14, 2003 Defenitly add more LR, but do it all at once. The reason being, every time you add a peice the cycle will start over. So if you're adding one peice a week, that's going to be a long cycle. I don't know who in their right mind told you to add the damsel. First they're little bastards when it comes to adding other live stock, and they are hard as hell to catch. I cycled my tank with just the LR and LS, I have a 12g eclipse it took about 2 weeks. I have about 21 lbs of LR. For lighting i would check outHellolights.com. They have a wide selection of quality hoods and lights. They are also having a sale right now. You can maintain SPS with PC lighting which is cheaper than MH and produces very little heat. Oh and any time someone at the LFS gives you information take it with a grain of salt. Most of them are there to make a sale and could care less about the fish. Find a good LFS, and start a conversation with an employee, you can then get a feel for their knowledge on the subject. just my 2Cents Link to comment
swampy Posted July 14, 2003 Author Share Posted July 14, 2003 Thanks! Most of the folks at the local LFS are very good and know there stuff. The guy I talked with the day I bought the LR was the first one I have run into that really didn't seem to know what he was talking about. I later cross checked his info with another employee and then the web. Swampy Link to comment
swampy Posted July 15, 2003 Author Share Posted July 15, 2003 alright, I have added an additional 20lbs of LR to bring my total to 34 lbs. I have also retested my water and it is now reading 1.023 salinity. Here is a photo of the tank and LR set up. Swampy Link to comment
offsprg01 Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 sweetnees dude. now all you need is patients. Link to comment
Deimos Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 Little bit higher on the SG...good with the LR additions...as far as the lighting goes..while I'm a HUGE MH supporter and would really like to see it over every tank (and I think it usually does eventually..just a matter of trying the rest and finding out that MH is the best.. )...I'd suggest stepping up to at least PC's. Link to comment
swampy Posted July 15, 2003 Author Share Posted July 15, 2003 Thanks Deimos! I was talking with the guy at LFS and he was showing me a PC that would give me 110 or 155 watts of light and would fit in my hood. I only have space for a 2 bar system 18" long so I am a bit limited. I am also considering MH if I can find a fixture that I can slap in without a ton of modifications. I am not very handy if you know what I mean! LOL! Any suggestions and approximate costs? Thanks, the advice has been great! Swampy By the way Deimos, I was just in Niagra Falls but on the Canandian side over the 4th of July with the family. The place was awesome, especially the Maid of the Mist! Link to comment
swampy Posted July 15, 2003 Author Share Posted July 15, 2003 Ok, I just looked at lighting fixtures from hellolight.com and seem to have settled on this one, what do you think? 130 combined watts of power, I may have to modify my eclipse hood a bit to fit it, but the price seems to be pretty good. http://www.hellolights.com/242xcoraqpch1.html Thanks, Swampy Link to comment
Deimos Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 No MH's will go into Eclipse hoods..they'd just melt the hood down (heck..some PC's will do that too..be careful!). The PC's will be fine for now..but when you want to step up to play with the big boys (lol)..you'll either have to build a custom canopy or buy a pendant type fixture for the MH. Yeah..I live on the US side..but my girlfriend lives in Guelph, ON (about 1 hour from Toronto)..so I go back and forth all the time...matter of fact..Niagara Falls, ON was where I spent many nights drinking and clubbing (and seeing some of the finest strippers in the world!! lol) as the legal age is 19 over there. Hope you had a good time! Link to comment
EdgeKrusher Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Man that won't fit under your hood. It's not a retro fit, it's a stand alone hood. And with that much light you may produce too much heat if you could somehow get it into your hood and not have it right on the water. Good choice though you'll do well with that light maybe eventually you'll be able to get SPS growing with that, It's been done under PC lighting just check out Johnny Brooklyn's 10 gallon, it's tight. Peace Link to comment
Korbin Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 yeah, that won't fit in your hood. Its made to be its own hood. They usually come with leg stands, I think? You will be able to keep just about anything with that light, except for most acropora and some other SPS corals. You should bump your specific gravity (salinity) up. I keep mine around 1.026. If you don't already do it, I would suggest testing your pH and alkalinity (kH). And your calcium. Get the test kits, and then buy the additives you need (I suggest Kent part A and B ). If you maintain the right alk and calc, your corals will thank you. By the way: are you sure thats a 29 gallon? I dont think I've ever seen one with those dimensions. Link to comment
swampy Posted July 17, 2003 Author Share Posted July 17, 2003 Positive on the size of the tank. As far as the light goes, I was going to remove the portion of the hood containing the light entirely and place the new light on top, not inside of the eclipse hood. I may have to modigy the existing space once I remove the old light portion so that is a bit flatter on the sides. right now there is a slight downslope from back to front. I quick job with a dremmel or router will shave off enough to make it flat so the light wont slide. Think it will work? Swampy Deimos, Niagra was great! Highlight of the vacation! Link to comment
EdgeKrusher Posted July 22, 2003 Share Posted July 22, 2003 Dude, Just get rid of the damn hood. What advantage will it serve? to keep the evaporation contained? or to hide some plumbing? Evaporation happens. The heat produced in the tank from the light being that close will not be good. the stands are all of $6. Check out Jdsabin1's tank Scroll down four or five threads . That's what the light looks like in action. Just my opinion man, each to his own. edge Link to comment
Fire Marshall Dave Posted July 24, 2003 Share Posted July 24, 2003 What purpose does a hood serve? Hmm.... Well, my son (2 1/2) thinks the pool was put in just for him to throw rocks into. I really don't want him to decide that my tank is a wishing well and start tossing pennies in there. I'll keep my hood. Link to comment
MrConclusion Posted July 24, 2003 Share Posted July 24, 2003 PCs will not "melt" an Eclipse hood! I have a 10 gallon nano running with an Eclipse TL converted to dual 28-watt PCs (one 10K & one Actinic) and it does not overheat even witn no additional cooling or ventilation. This tank grows killer coralline, and I have overgrowth of LPS (branching Frogspawn) as well as GSP and various frags. There's no way to back up the claim that PCs don't work in Eclipse hoods. Anyone interested in the parts list and procedure for doing this conversion (it will also work for the Eclipse 3 in question, but if you end up using the larger, hotter 55 watt PCs I would drill a few 1/4" holes for ventilation.) might check out: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=10065 If you already have the Eclipse hood, and you are a little bit handy with DIY projects, you can do the entire conversion, including bulbs, for well under $100. Plus, you maintain the clean, integrated look of the Eclipse hood. Thread includes parts list and step-by-step process for retrofitting with cheap and effective parts... the ballast only cost $14 and is running strong after more than a year. Bulbs are the biggest cost at about $20 - $25 each and last 6 months. They will continue to burn after that but their output goes down drastically. Link to comment
MrConclusion Posted July 24, 2003 Share Posted July 24, 2003 Wow it's crazy looking at that old thread with final photo of my tank on "Day 1!" A lot has changed in there over the past year. That little 5-headed branching frogspawn (sadly collapsed in the photo because he was only 10 minutes out of the bag) now fills 1/3 of the tank and has 13 heads. The firefish are starting to look nervous. I guess a lot of people are anti-eclipse, but it does "hide the plumbing" very nicely. The filter tray (I don't use a filter cartridge but I do run the bio wheel, as I'm a heavy feeder) has a little baggie with an ounce of phos-ban in it, a little LR rubble, and tons of 'pods that have made it their home with no coaxing from me. Automatic, built-in, unleakable mini-refugium! I think the moving water through the filter tray has a significant cooling effect as I lose about 20-24 ounces of water daily to evaporation. I don't have a heat problem. The tank didn't heat above 78 degrees after 11 hours of testing the lights (way back in the day), so I have a EJ heater set to 78 and never experience fluctuations. Now, how to reinforce another eclipse to take a 70 watt HQI? If I pull it off, you all owe me a dollar! Link to comment
swampy Posted July 25, 2003 Author Share Posted July 25, 2003 Thanks for the advice MrConclusion. I agree, I like the Eclipse hood, no fuss, no muss. I get really good circulation and filtration using it. My lighting is my major concern right now. I will check out your setup! Link to comment
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