onthecake Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 This is my first time with a saltwater environment so be gentle. Equipment: RSM 130D Tunze 9002 Skimmer Tunze Osomlator Koraila EVO 750 Stealth 150W Heater InTank Media Rack and Tunze Cup Filter Guys 75GPD RO/DI Filter Purigen (Not in use yet) Chemi-Pure (Not in use yet) InTank Filter Floss 40# Bali LR 40# Arag-Alive Special Grade Reef Sand Creatures: 2 Crabs A couple featherdusters After a couple months of browsing the multiple reef forums I decided on an RSM 130D. I ordered it and waited. About a week later it showed up via Fedex Freight. We ended up taking it apart on the trailer because they didnt send one with a liftgate. Here some unboxing pictures and the stand setup. Unbox: I waited about 4 days to place an order of the rest of my stuff as the first purchase had burned most of my cash. Finally after the wait I ordered 40# of uncured Bali LR from Premium Aquatics along with some Arag-Alive sand. The guys I talked to were very nice and helpful picking out which LR to get. Since it was Friday they waited until Monday to ship the LR. I was able to just use UPS ground and get it in 2 days which saved a lot of money. The LR arrived in a cardboard box but inside that was the Styrofoam container which they had packed with ice/gel packs. Each piece was wrapped in a separate piece of wet paper which was still very moist. There was no foul smell and only a tiny bit for breakage. I pulled each piece out inspected it. This stuff looks great (ok.. not an expert but it looked nice to me). There were a couple crabs attached to 2 different pieces and I think I saw some other things. I removed about 1/2 the water from the tank into my trusty home depot 5G buckets then added the sand. The water turned cloudy and stayed that way. I went ahead and decided to just drop the LR into the tank until I could turn the powerheads back on and clear up some of the water. I waited about 3 hours and it was clear enough to start moving the rock around. I pulled most of it back out and then started from the bottom. About 1/2 way though the water became cloudy again and I started just kinda stacking. I was trying to get the most colorful pieces in front. Once I was done I filled it back up and turned the powerheads and skimmer on. Here are some of the LR pics before I put them into the tank: Right now I have just the filter floss and skimmer cleaning. I plan on keeping it like that until the tank has cycled. I will then add the purigen and chemi-pure to the media rack. My PH is a little low at 7.85. Salinity is at 1.024-1.025 Have not run any other tests yet. Some more pictures of the tank with the LR in (sorry about the murky water): I will post more when it clears up. Link to comment
luvmyacans Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 Looks good. I wouldn't worry about putting the most colorful pieces in the front, chances are you'll get some die off and eventually it'll all be covered up anyways! Link to comment
onthecake Posted July 15, 2010 Author Share Posted July 15, 2010 Thanks. I am going to move some rocks around tonight to get some better placement and prevent shifting. I am kind of worried that I dropped those crabs in the tank after reading about some of the issues they can cause. Based on the picture above does that look like a hostile crab? I read that if the claws are black then they are bad. I think this one has brownish claws. Link to comment
StevieT Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 Great Start I have added you to the RSM index thread Link to comment
onthecake Posted July 17, 2010 Author Share Posted July 17, 2010 Just moved a couple rocks around and tried to get a bit of the die-off removed from the rocks. They were definitely a lot nicer looking two days ago but I am sure they will make it back. The water cleared up a couple hours after the rocks went in. I still am in search for the crabs that I think I am going to take out. Current tank parameters: PH 7.95 Salinity 1.025 Temp 78.5 Ammonia 0.25-0.50 Nitrite 0.1 Nitrate 10 I guess those are decent for tank just starting its cycle? Link to comment
onthecake Posted July 22, 2010 Author Share Posted July 22, 2010 I just did my first water change. I mixed up about 3.5 - 4 Gallons in a 5 gallon bucket and let it sit with a powerhead/heater overnight. I dont know that I am going to continue using the red sea coral pro salt or go with another type. I seem to keep having a low PH but have not determined if its the salt. After changing out the water I did a quick PH and ALK check. I will test the rest tomorrow after it has sit for a day. The rock seems to be getting some life back to it. I have been changing the filter floss about every 3 days. The water is still crystal clear. I have re-done the rockscape about 4 times at this point. I think I finally have it where I really like it but think I might need to set it with some epoxy. Definitely going to look into getting a ATO device as this tank is evaporating about 32 ounces a day. PH 7.89 ALK 3.2 Salinity 1.025 Temp 76.8 Ammonia 0.25 (From test day before) Nitrite 0.1 (From test day before) Link to comment
onthecake Posted August 3, 2010 Author Share Posted August 3, 2010 It has almost been 3 weeks since I started curing my LR. I have added a Koralia EVO 750 and a Tunze Osmolator. My ammonia and nitrites are almost at 0 so getting ready to add some livestock soon starting with snails. Some pictures of the Tunze ATO and current tank pictures: Link to comment
onthecake Posted August 13, 2010 Author Share Posted August 13, 2010 I added a couple new additions last week. Bluefin Damsel --- (Was told he was a semi-aggressive/reef safe damsel at LFS) After finding out more about him I don't agree with that at all. Now I know why he was separated from the other damsels. Assortment of snails 5 Hermit Crabs The hermit crabs seem to do nothing but eat and they have really cleaned up my rock. I love watching the snails pop out of the substrate and make a mad dash when I feed the fish. LR has really come along in the last week since I have had the lights on for 13 hours a day. Link to comment
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