JOM20's 38g Reef Build

[fishmonkey]

lol RO/DI ice

 

[JustOneMore20]

Pics of some boring, but necessary stuff that I have bought lately:

RO/DI filter minus the full size DI (I have it, just not in the pic)

30lbs of dry Aragonite (have 20lbs already)

3 5g buckets! Got them from Walmart....so hopefully they are ok after a rinse or two

 

[fishmonkey]

why do ou need to rinse them? are they dusty or something?

 

[Etunes]

Lol, i got those EXACT same buckets for my tank. Even the same color.

 

[JustOneMore20]

why do ou need to rinse them? are they dusty or something?

Not really, but I figure rinsing can't hurt before storing water in them.

Pics of equipment tonight!

 

[fishmonkey]

cool i eagerly wait.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Stuff!

And salt:

I still have a few test kits to buy (kh/alk, nitrate, and magnesium) but I'm going to get the salifert brand and its cheaper at aquacave.com where my skimmer will come from. So, that will be ordered with the next paycheck.

Next week, I am going to check out the live rock that my lfs sells. Its 5.99/lb and will probably be less than buying online (and paying shipping), so I am going to atleast check out what they have. I plan on getting only about 20lbs worth. I'll use most of the base rock I got (today!!) but not all 50lbs of it.

My plan is to figure out my ro/di hook up (still discussing with the parents about how I can hook it up) and figuring out what exactly I need to hook it up....then get it going to make some water and mix up some salt water. Then maybe next week (I'm off 3 days in a row) I can get the sand and base rock in and probably water before I get some live rock. Regardless, I'll make sure the tank has water before I buy some live rock!

So yeah, those are the plans for the next couple weeks. Once my base rock goes in I'll grab a couple shrimp from the grocery store.

Tell me....how bad is the smell? The tank is in my room, so I'm a little nervous.

Lighting will be the last thing I buy. I have a 36" fixture that I can use before I get my T5HOs though just to have some light.

 

[fishmonkey]

hey earlier in the thread you posted a picture of the RO but not the DI part. whats it look like put together? just wondering because im considering getting one and I want to know how big they are? could you post a picture of the entire thing? its kind of hard to tell how big it is in the picture...

 

[Etunes]

Once my base rock goes in I'll grab a couple shrimp from the grocery store.

Tell me....how bad is the smell? The tank is in my room, so I'm a little nervous.

I am learning saltwater now and i know almost everything i need too. But what is the shrimp from the grocery store for and what smell are you talking about?

*EDIT* were did you buy you salt from?

 

[fishmonkey]

the shrimp is too add an ammonia source to help with the cycle. as it decomposes, it gives off ammonia which seeds the cycle. as it decomposes, it might smell bad because well its a dead rotting shrimp. i havent personally used the shrimp method so I am not sure if there would be a smell, but im guessing that there might be a slight aroma.

 

[Etunes]

Thats interesting. It makes since but couldnt you just do a regular cycle without any of that?

 

[fishmonkey]

well its more helping to start the cycle and to keep it running. see, the cycle NEEDS ammonia. the bacteria feeds off of the ammonia. if there was no ammonia, there would be no cycle. there are a few ways to have an ammonia source in your tank, and the shrimp technique is only one of the ways. if you want to know other ways, you could PM me and I could tell you ALL about them, I just dont want to get too off topic here in this thread lol.

 

[fishmonkey]

and wheres the base rock pictures! i dont care if its still in a box! give me my
PICTURES

 

[InfernoST]

the shrimp is too add an ammonia source to help with the cycle. as it decomposes, it gives off ammonia which seeds the cycle. as it decomposes, it might smell bad because well its a dead rotting shrimp. i havent personally used the shrimp method so I am not sure if there would be a smell, but im guessing that there might be a slight aroma.

Fishmonkey, The shrimp method is great because you don't have to constantly dose the water with ammonia and really doesn't smell at all while it's in the tank but just make sure you put a cloths pin on your nose when it's time to remove the remains. Peeeeeeeewwwwwwwww.

 

[JustOneMore20]

hey earlier in the thread you posted a picture of the RO but not the DI part. whats it look like put together? just wondering because im considering getting one and I want to know how big they are? could you post a picture of the entire thing? its kind of hard to tell how big it is in the picture...

Yeah, I'll get a pic of the whole thing together today some time. The DI part looks just like one of the chambers in the RO part...its full size.

And I'll get pics of the base rock!!

*EDIT* were did you buy you salt from?

I bought my salt from Drs Foster and Smith online.

Thats interesting. It makes since but couldnt you just do a regular cycle without any of that?

Base rock is dead, so it won't add any ammonia to the tank, so you'd get no cycle. My live rock will be cured and while it may have some die off that causes ammonia, it won't be alot because I'm only getting like 20lbs of LR. So, I'll need something for an ammonia source to cycle the tank. That's where the shrimp comes in. And the part about the smell is from decomposing shrimp.

Fishmonkey, The shrimp method is great because you don't have to constantly dose the water with ammonia and really doesn't smell at all while it's in the tank but just make sure you put a cloths pin on your nose when it's time to remove the remains. Peeeeeeeewwwwwwwww.

Thanks! Yeah, I'm not one for nasty smells, so I'll have the clothespin ready.

 

[fishmonkey]

you are going to want to put the shrimp in some kind of bag. ittl keep the shrimp peices from floating around the tank, and it will make it easy to remove. I got the idea from severum mama, and I have no idea where she got the idea but its supposed to work great!

 

[InfernoST]

I did that too.

 

[fishmonkey]

yes because I wouldnt want to be sitting there trying to net out little peices of shrimp for an hour lol

 

[JustOneMore20]

Good idea! I have heard that before, but forgot about the bag. Thanks for the tip!

What kind of bag did you use, Inferno? Maybe some type of mesh bag?

 

[severum mama]

A nylon stocking will work well, or a filter media bag.