55 gallon reef - First Saltwater Build Ever!

[matthewh133]

Sorry, it was a bad picture, the divider doesn't go all the way down Didn't notice I did that in paint lol.

I figured out how to empty the skimmer and turn the pipe to open/close the water outage. I turned it so it's nearly fully closed. Now I just have to get some live rock into this setup and let the cycle begin!

I'm thinking about buying it from this reputable company that collects it and sends it straight to the airport for collection, rather than buy it at an LFS where it's been dying off for some time.

 

[matthewh133]

Ok, little update I figured out the skimmer, thanks Carey! It was actually quite simple, I was just dumb lol.

Today I picked up about 13 pound of live rock, as that's the nice stuff I found at the LFS. I'll be ordering some more fresh live rock to be collected and delivered to the airport early next week. Here's a picture for now:



Question: I have LED lighting (1:1 white/blue), how long should I have my lights on for while cycling? Also, the white/blue have independent switches, should I have both blue and white on, or just white, just blue?

 

[Ausfish]

Technically you don't even need lights while cycling as long as you don't have fish or corals in there. I would put them on for a little while every day to keep critters an inverts alive that might come with the live rock

 

[matthewh133]

Thanks Ausfish. I may leave it on for 4 hours a day then and ramp it up every week of the cycle by an hour? Sound like a good plan?

I have a sign of life in the tank! It's a little worm that came on the rocks. It's clear, with king of a black line following down the length of it's body inside. It seems to have 3 little antennas. Any idea what this could be? Good/bad?

EDIT: It was just under an inch or so long, and I just saw it dig into the substrate.

Also, I will obviously be adding more live rock. Probably another 45 pound or so. Should this be added gradually over the cycle period? Say, 10 pound or so each week? Or should I go out and buy the rest in one go?

 

[carey]

I would get ALL the live rock you can while cycling so you get the ammonia die off benefit. If added after your cycle it might have to be cured in a separate container if you have livestock in the tank. base or dead rock can be added at any time at all.

 

[matthewh133]

Ok guys, just wondering where I should put my second power head? As you can see on the pic, my first one is on the right, I have another. There is also blow disturbing the surface coming from the return in the top left of the tank. Any ideas?



Also, I should be picking up the rest of the rock tomorrow. I'll get a picture when I come up with a rough aquascape

 

[Ausfish]

I would put the rock in the way you like it and then place the ph according to dead spots. Usually it's good when they face each other to create turbulence

 

[TLTGF]

Yup, one of the most common tips is to point the PH's upwards towards surface of water, while pointing towards each other, and also directed at front or back glass so the streams meet in the middle of the glass.

 

[matthewh133]

Ok, so I picked up my live rock rock from the airport today. Not sure how I feel about it lol.

One positive (I think) is there was a hitchhiker snail. It's got a green/brown kind of shell, with 2 black antennas. The negatives.. the rocks are huge. I mean, my tank is only 3 foot and I got one piece of rock that was about 2 foot long and weighs like 20-25 pound. The other pieces aren't as large, but they are still very big. There's also a oyster, or mussel shell on one of them. Should I remove this?

Is there a solution to these large pieces of rock? Is it recommended to go hacking at these pieces with a chisel or something to get them smaller? I'm not sure what to think, it's a bit hard to aquascape with only 5 pieces of rock, and they are all very large.

 

[redsea]

Ok guys, just wondering where I should put my second power head? As you can see on the pic, my first one is on the right, I have another. There is also blow disturbing the surface coming from the return in the top left of the tank. Any ideas?



Also, I should be picking up the rest of the rock tomorrow. I'll get a picture when I come up with a rough aquascape

The tank looks very clean. Can't wait to see it with the new rock!

 

[Pschmitt]

Yes. Hammer and chisel.

 

[Ausfish]

Just break it with any means necessary don't worry, there's little chance you kill anything

 

[matthewh133]

Yeah, I'll have to hack into them and break them down, there's no way of aquascaping these pieces.

Here's some weird things I've found attached to the rock:

Not sure what this thing is. It is soft and waves in the flow:



These next three things are very hard, not quite sure what they are but I'd like to remove them as I don't like the way they look.

 

[Ausfish]

The first one is some kind of nem/Xenia/? And I would definitely try and keep it alive. The other one is dead sponge I think and won't get any nicer

 

[matthewh133]

Unfortunately the tank is about to cycle after adding this rock, xenia wouldn't survive that surely? Also, any tips on removing that dead sponge? Chip it off with a hammer and chisel? It's super hard so I can't just rip it all off I don't think.

 

[Ausfish]

I had some sponges and dead coral on my rock when I got it, I left it on! Most of it's facing the sand now and over time it will be covered in algae, corals or what not anyway. But it's up to you, chisel should work

 

[matthewh133]

I decided I'm really not happy with this new rock at all. Really frustrating, because I was really looking forward to it too. I'll just have to count my losses and try and sell it all off.

Because of all of it's odd shaping, and very large sizes any aquascaping ideas I had are just not possible, and there's only like 6 pieces in there.

Just going to try sell it all off and go down to the LFS and pick out some new pieces that are the size and shape I like.

 

[matthewh133]

Ok, so my cycle has officially started. 1.5 ammonia as of today. Problem is I'm trying to sell off this large/bumpy useless rock, so once I sell it I'll have to buy more which will start the whole 6 week cycle again Really annoyed how this rock purchase went down. I know now to only buy rock I can choose piece by piece.

 

[Ibrahim]

Ok, so my cycle has officially started. 1.5 ammonia as of today. Problem is I'm trying to sell off this large/bumpy useless rock, so once I sell it I'll have to buy more which will start the whole 6 week cycle again Really annoyed how this rock purchase went down. I know now to only buy rock I can choose piece by piece.

Why don't u buy base rock

 

[matthewh133]

Well, I had 11 pound of live rock in there before I got this new stuff that was too large. I'll be keeping that.

You reckon I should just sell off this new rock, keep the only 11 pound of live rock and add another 30 pound of base rock?

Won't that mean a really, really long cycle?