MPSchenck Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Hello Everybody! First Post! Woohoo! Now that's out of the way. I only recently joined this form, but I've been visiting and reading on and off for a couple of years. What prompted me to join finally was my wife was sitting in my man cave the other day and said "it would be nice and relaxing to have a huge saltwater aquarium along that wall". I was like ok gimme the credit card and it'll be done, but she guffawed at the potential expense. I, however, was not going to let the opportunity to get into SW go to waste. {You can skip this next bit if you want} Here's the deal, I've had FW aquariums basically all my life (I'll be 38 this year). My parents had a 55g in the living room with angel fish that were huge with saucer-sized bodies, when I was a little kid. Some time in late middle school I took over that tank and throughout high school added more and more FW tanks. When college rolled around my room was full of tanks - lots of 10g, a few 29g, and the trusty old 55g. I broke them all down and sold or gave away massive amounts of livestock and plants. When I did this the 55g was a heavily planted, rare [read: spendy] pleco tank with the only other fish being a large school of Pristella Tetra. This was about the time when so many new plecos were coming out South America that the scientist couldn't keep up with the naming so they just got numbers like "L066". Anyway, no real tanks in college, but I kept a 2.5 gallon betta tank for the fun of it. After college, back in with my parents for a bit, they basically forbid me from having any tanks. Work...marriage...house...kid etc. We've lived here for 11 years and I've managed to mostly keep it down to Fluval specs (IIIs and Vs mostly) and such. I have had recently a decently aquascaped Eheim Aquastyle 9g tanks with Orange Sakura Shrimp only. As fun or neat as the pics of them look they are crazy boring. My daughter, soon to be 5 loves hitting the LFSs with me on Saturday mornings. She has her own 20gL with blue gravel, several types of anubias, and two small fancy goldfish (aptly named Goldy and Blacky - guess what colors they are). I grew up vacationing in Grand Cayman with my parents - snorkeling the reef along Seven Mile Beach is amazing, the humidity is not. My own family now makes regular (3-4 times a year) trips to the Georgia Aquarium - mostly for their 164,000g Indo-Pacific barrier reef aquarium which is also amazing. {Back to the interesting bit} My entire fish keeping life I have wanted a SW tank, hence the lurking on this forum and others, so I'm finally jumping in. I have done a lot of equipment research over the years, and the only thing I feel like I've taken a leap on is the Halo light. There aren't many reviews or use cases. I guess we will see. JBJ Lighting JB7338 Rimless Cube, 30-Gallon JBJ Aquarium Cabinet Stand, Black InTank Rimless Nano Cube 30 Media Basket Poly Filter Pad 4 X 8" Seachem Matrix Bio Media 250ml Seachem Purigen 100ml Cobalt Neo-Therm Heater, 100 watt Tunze Comline DOC Protein Skimmer 9001 Jebao WP-10 Wave Maker with Controller Aquarium Pump AquaticLife Halo Deluxe LED Reef Fixture Aquatic Life Halo Mounting Arm 18" HDE LCD Digital Fish Tank Aquarium Thermometer Marina Floating Thermometer with Suction Cup Salinity Refractometer, Aquarium & Seawater - Dual Scale Standard Seawater 35 ppt Refractometer Calibration Solution - 60 ml API Saltwater Master Test Kit CaribSea Ocean Direct Natural Live Sand 40 lbs I feel like my next equipment purchase will be a heater controller, I don't have any experience with them and the reviews are all over the place. Suggestions, experience, and thoughts are very welcome here. Possible Future upgrades... Protein Skimmer - I don't want one sticking 4-5" out of the back. Wave maker/circulation pump - I just can't see a VorTech being worth THAT much money. My LFS has some really nice ready to drop in the tank live rock with little critters and coraline all over it for $7 per lbs ($14 per lbs with shrooms and things growing on them). I'm looking for a good scape, but planning on trying to put somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-35 lbs in there along with 30-ish lbs of live sand. Livestock plans are pretty straight forward right now... Pair of nice Picasso Clownfish Some form of goby, blenny, firefish etc - I really want a Stonogobiops nematodes but not sure about the Alpheus randalli as this combo is supposed to require a very deep sand bed. Suggestions, experience, and thoughts are very welcome here. Fire Shrimp Lysmata debelius Thinking about one of the blue captive bred Indigo or Sunrise Dottybacks. Suggested tanks sizes vary wildly among online retailers. Suggestions, experience, and thoughts are very welcome here. CUC and I'm pretty sure I'm not getting any hermits as it seems like I've read a lot of comments and posts of their potential negative behavior. As for corals I'm interested in... Shrooms, Man There are Zoas of such arrayed bewildering colors it's almost unbelievable. If I only had a Brain (sorry couldn't help it). Just easy stuff to start off with. So that's it. Suggestions, experience, and thoughts are very welcome as are criticisms about my selections, grammar, and punctuation. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Welcome to NR!! You're on the right track. The $7/lb rock sounds good. The corals you want to keep are all pretty decent beginner corals. I'd start w/shrooms, move on to Zoas, then do the Brain. Dottybacks are beautiful and cool fish, but can sometimes get very aggressive. If you get one, I'd add it to the tank last. Good luck!! Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 Update: Most of my stuff came today, but the tank was smashed. Amazon wants me to send it back but they are paying for it so whatever. Bad thing is they are out of stock. So we'll how long it takes to restock. Any suggestions on a standalone heater controller? Link to comment
Hammerstone Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Oh that sucks!!! Sorry about your tank, and Hi! Lots of nice people here! Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Any suggestions on a standalone heater controller? A fantastic one is made by ReefSafeSolutions. The double benefit it it controls both your heater AND a fan in case your tank starts to heat up. http://reefsafesolutions.com/shop/ I have the JBJ 45 rimless cube- fantastic tank! Nice equipment list, post up some pictures when you get going Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 Thanks for the suggestion HarryPotter That's an inexpensive fancy box for an Ink Bird meter seems like a good choice. Update: The second tank arrived...smashed. They are sending me another one, but if this arrives smashed I found a not so local (2 hours away) fish store that can order one and I'll just go pick it up. Some equipment changes... JBJ Lighting JB7338 Rimless Cube, 30-Gallon JBJ Aquarium Cabinet Stand, Black InTank Rimless Nano Cube 30 Media Basket Poly Filter Pad 4 X 8" Seachem Matrix Bio Media 250ml Seachem The Bag Seachem Purigen 100ml Cobalt Neo-Therm Heater 100 watt Tunze Comline DOC Protein Skimmer 9001 Jebao WP-10 Wave Maker with Controller Aquarium Pump Jebao RW-4 Wavemaker with Controller AquaticLife Halo Deluxe LED Reef Fixture AquaticLife Halo Mounting Arm 18" Kessil A360WE Tuna Blue Kessil Spectral Controller Kessil Gooseneck Kessil 90° Adapter HDE LCD Digital Fish Tank Aquarium Thermometer Marina Floating Thermometer with Suction Cup Salinity Refractometer, Aquarium & Seawater - Dual Scale Standard Seawater 35 ppt Refractometer Calibration Solution - 60 ml API Saltwater Master Test Kit CaribSea Ocean Direct Natural Live Sand 40 lbs Soon to be added equipment... Avast Auto Top Off kit w/o float w/ peristaltic pump *Need to find an RO/DI reservoir that fits in my stand - I might try making my own out of acrylic ReefSafe Solutions RS1 Link to comment
Hammerstone Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Two smashed, what a let down. I'm sorry that happened to you! Good luck!! Link to comment
Newstead Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Sounds like a great build. What a bummer they came smashed. Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 18, 2016 Author Share Posted January 18, 2016 Ordered today... Avast Auto Top Off kit w/o float w/ peristaltic pump ReefSafe Solutions RS1 heater controller IM MiniMax AIO Media Reactor and some PhosGuard to go in it. The 3rd tank should be here Wednesday. Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 My 3rd tank is being delivered tomorrow. Let's all cross our fingers that it's not smashed. Please Link to comment
Newstead Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Good luck tomorrow! Our new tank is coming tomorrow as well and I have nightmares it will be broken - or worse, we will break it bringing it in! Let's hope we both have success and NO smashed tanks! Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 Good luck to you as well! Link to comment
Newstead Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Good luck to you as well! Mine arrived intact! Hope that bodes well for you too! Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 Well I just got home and it was sitting on the front porch, cut the box open and all appears well = not visibly broken. Going to eat dinner and dig into it.Congrats on your intact arrival! I feel lucky today. Edit: Got it out of the box and into my man cave. It looks great! I have read about older JBJ 28 cubes separating, but this thing is built like a tank (sorry couldn't help it). Newstead, what size is the tank you had delivered today? Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 21, 2016 Author Share Posted January 21, 2016 I still need to test fill it and clean the tape residue off the inside bottom, but I couldn't resist setting everything up. Still waiting on my Avast ATO and ReefSafe RS1 heater controller. Link to comment
Newstead Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Looks great! I am still sitting in den staring at 3 giant boxes and wondering why in the world I let my husband talk me into a bigger tank ;-). We have a biocube 29, this new one is a SCA 75 gallon that cones with stand and a giant sump. WIsh me luck! Looking forward to seeing yours go forward. Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share Posted January 22, 2016 a SCA 75 gallon that cones with stand and a giant sump. WIsh me luck! Sounds awesome and GOOD LUCK! Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share Posted January 22, 2016 Moved build thread to Members Aquariums area here. Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 23, 2016 Author Share Posted January 23, 2016 I am going to post this here since this is more of a beginner's thing and I think there's higher traffic on the Beginner's board than the Member's Aquarium board. 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? I had an Astraea snail hitchhike in on one of the rocks and he 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
Simulated Fish Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 I am going to post this here since this is more of a beginner's thing and I think there's higher traffic on the Beginner's board than the Member's Aquarium board. 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? I had an Astraea snail hitchhike in on one of the rocks and he 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? That looks like green bubble algae to me 99% positive. Your test are on par with the colors. Because you used live sand and rock your could very well have little to know cycle. I didn't see on your MA tread that you are dosing any ammonia. Without a source your going to read 0-0-0. The best way to know your cycled is to dose ammonia then test an hour later - you should be reading ammonia and no nitrates/nitrites. Then test again 12 or 24 hours later. your ammonia should now be zero and elevated nitrites and slightly elevated nitrates or even no nitrates and only nitrates if you have a large bacteria population. the goal is to make sure your bacteria population is robust enough to handle the bio load of new livestock. This is also why you should try to never add more than one or two fish at a time. Sure you finished your cycle and the bac can clear up the ammonia you dose but once you add livestock your adding a lot more ammonia, and there is not enough bac to handle it thus the bacteria conninies have to grow to accommodate the new bioload. during this your ammonia levels are elevated which will stress, damage, and even kill your livestock. Link to comment
Rural Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 welcome. good to see fellow newbs... take plenty of photos and make an online journal of it. bubble algae. remove it. also on a chemistry note: be patient. nothing good happens fast. I was amazed looking back through progression pictures. my advice: plan out your coral selection... get some fast growing hardy ones to start and make everyone happy with your investment, also to test your husbandry. then, take it slow and methodically stock the tank. I am now into placement issues myself 1.5years in. hard to part with stuff ive been looking at for almost 2 years. click the pic to see my tank! and welcome. Link to comment
MPSchenck Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 Hello, I'm new here so I may be missing some unwritten protocol, but I don't feel like I'm getting much traction on the Member's Aquariums board. NBD I posted a bunch of pics last night with a big update... http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/369646-mattys-30g-rimless-first-adventure-into-sw/ Check it out if you have a minute or two. Input, thoughts, and suggestions are more than welcome please Link to comment
jakepen Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Awesome, excited to see this build progress. Whenever the wife gives you the green light for a new hobby, makes it so much easier ha. Link to comment
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