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Greg’s new 90 gallon build


GregEmmitte

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Hey guys! So I picked up an entire 90g system and am in the process of starting a new reef. 
 

the last time I started a new reef I took a 20gallon established reef and dumped it into a 60 gallon tank and just added water.

 

If anyone has any tips on cycling a new  I’d appreciate it.
 

ive got ALOT of old dead live rock. The bacteria should still be alive right?

 

 

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Thats a beautiful stand! If you plan to use rock that was once live, but has since dried out completely - no it wont have anymore living bacteria on it. You will have to cycle from scratch. Its possible that the rock still has dead organics in it that will jumpstart the cycle. But if it doesn’t thats okay, just add a little pure ammonia. 

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We restained the stand and canopy gray. And I put on 2 anchor pulls.

 

 

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1 hour ago, mitten_reef said:

Dude! Been a while, guess the 60 cube is gone then.  Never got to see how the NPS turned out. 

It was cranking! But it got very expensive in water changes and feeding. 😞

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2 hours ago, Elizabeth94 said:

Thats a beautiful stand! If you plan to use rock that was once live, but has since dried out completely - no it wont have anymore living bacteria on it. You will have to cycle from scratch. Its possible that the rock still has dead organics in it that will jumpstart the cycle. But if it doesn’t thats okay, just add a little pure ammonia. 

My thoughts exactly.. the organics rotting will help with my cycle. I thought some bacteria could survive a dry out though?

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6 minutes ago, GregEmmitte said:

We restained the stand and canopy gray. And I put on 2 anchor pulls.

 

 

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It was cranking! But it got very expensive in water changes and feeding. 😞

I like the stand.
Good to see you back. 😊

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Very nice! Welcome back to the world of reefing! You did a great job cleaning up the tank. I love the new stain that you put on. The brown looked very old and dated. 

 

I would suggest grabbing a cup full of sand from your LFS (if you are running a sand bed) as well as a couple of pieces of Living rock to seed your older white rock.

Thats what I did:

I bleached all my old rock + some sand in a big vat with a 1:10 bleach and water solution for 2 weeks. (1 week would have sufficed but I got lazy)

Since I stored the rock outdoors - there was a bunch of dead bugs/ dirt in the cracks and crevices. I am certain after dumping out the rock and sand that I got just about everything.

 

 

 

Gray is the new black! Welcome back!

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On 2/11/2020 at 6:11 PM, GregEmmitte said:

If anyone has any tips on cycling a new  I’d appreciate it.

Sounds like you need a good reef book that has basics like that in it:

Marine Aquarium Handbook: Beginner to Breeder: Martin A ... or his other one The Marine Aquarium Reference By Martin A Moe, Jr. are both awesome for essential reading and are complimentary to one another if you want both.  (Start with the Handbook if you can get only one.)  That subject is covered very completely -- you won't be missing anything important.

 

Your rock will still have bacteria, but they'd be dormant by now.   Re-wet the rock with new saltwater and start the bio-cycle SLOWLY (ie 1-2 snails or crabs, and zero, or almost zero, feeding) and it'll come back within 30-40 days without you having to add anything special.  Just always remember to add critters only a few at a time and with lots of waiting time (weeks) before you add more. (That's a nutshell summery.  Again get one or both of those books so you can have the complete process and tables he's got in there.)

 

On 2/12/2020 at 8:54 PM, GregEmmitte said:

Canopy on and 1 kessil 360. I plan on changing to two AIs as I’ve got one AI on my 20 gallon and am getting good growth

Both good lights, but I think Kessil does a better job with spread and blending....I'd get a second Kessil. 😉

 

6 hours ago, GregEmmitte said:

I was just gonna let it deteriorate

That is the grossest way to start a tank and SOOOOOOO completely unnecessary.

 

Plus you're encouraging some potentally VERY NASTY heterotrophic microbes by doing that....not so much nitrogen-cycle bacteria that you think you're encouraging.   It's a method used to start the bio-cycle in some sewage tanks/digesters.  😓  This is rotting meat!!!

 

Ditch the shrimp sooner than later IMO -- into the trash or sewage tank where it belongs! 

 

Either go natural and just use time (it's not that long) or select a modern bacterial product like Instant Ocean BioSpira if you have less patience.  👍

 

 

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4 hours ago, mcarroll said:

It's a method used to start the bio-cycle in some sewage tanks/digesters.  😓

 

 

 

Ditch the shrimp sooner than later IMO -- into the trash or sewage tank where it belongs! 

 

Either go natural and just use time (it's not that long) or select a modern bacterial product like Instant Ocean BioSpira if you have less patience.  👍

 

 

Thanks for the tips! It’s been a few years since I’ve started a tank from scratch. Most of the time I’ve just upsized and started new tanks from existing tanks.

in my experience the LPS tends to like Kessil and SPS prefers the AI. I used to be a fan of kessil. 
 

I will chunk the shrimp. 
 

and I always thought the bacteria would survive a dry out- thanks for that. 🙂 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
GregEmmitte

So I’ve got my first month behind me. So far everything seems to be normal. Lots of Dinos gone and replaced by green algae. I’ve added  a few snails and inverts. Did my first 20% water change yesterday. Looking to add a fish this weekend. Took a rock from my nano with hardy polyps and a fan and added them 4 days ago. 

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