Help! 2weeks to try to prep reef tank?

[marsh]

They get huuuge

Yup, haha worth asking. I've seen them on the beach I was hoping this was a mini

 

[TheTodd]

I used Dr. Tim's "One & Only" and my 75g cycled in less than a week. No live rock or sand. Got a good cycle out of it too. For quick, this should work. Check out their site and consider it.

 

[tampa_nick]

If they are shutting down just try and buy as much live rock from their display tank as you can. It should be very mature if it has been there for a while. My buddy did this and added fish to his tank right a way and it worked out great.

 

[danbstrong]

I used Dr. Tim's "One & Only" and my 75g cycled in less than a week. No live rock or sand. Got a good cycle out of it too. For quick, this should work. Check out their site and consider it.

How long ago did you do this? How big is your tank? And how big is bioload now? And do you have or have you had any algae issues? Reason i ask is ive heard of dr tims just curious of results

 

[ktomminello]

nanos and refugiums and macroalgae- oh my!!

A refugium is a dedicated area to grow macroalgae i find chaeto to be the easiest and most efficient what macroalgae does is feed off nitrates which is the end result of your cycle ammonia-nitrite-nitrate it (chaeto) requires lil lighting to grow and usually is middle compartment of sump although there are hob refugiums as well without removing nitrate via macro and or waterchanges your likely to encounter an algae issue for a cuc what i use and reccommend is for a 55g 3-5 turbo snails 3-5 nerite snails 3-5 cerith snails a serpent star and if doin livesand id say 20 tongan nassarius snails id stay away from crabs their ok when small but appetite grows when they grow ive seen fish fall victim to emerald and sally lightfoot

I use my 10g nano as a refugium, that's why I was asking about a CUC for my reef only dsb tank (10g nano). I'm not worried about crabs killing fish, I don't plan on keeping fish. I just loved seeing my accidental little pink bubble coral, before I moved the LR with it on it into my puffer FOWLR and he's a destructive, messy and mean little bugger who kills EVERYTHING I put into his tank, he even grazes the cyano and eats bristle worms!! My 10g was started once I moved my green spotted puffer fry into his 40g FOWLR because I knew I needed a refugium. My nano is now fully cycled (just hit 7 days straight of perfect readings) and I have plenty of coralline coming in all over my live rock and just need advice on a mini CUC considering I DO NOT intend on keeping any fish in this tank, just easy coral and CUC.

 

[danbstrong]

I use my 10g nano as a refugium, that's why I was asking about a CUC for my reef only dsb tank (10g nano). I'm not worried about crabs killing fish, I don't plan on keeping fish. I just loved seeing my accidental little pink bubble coral, before I moved the LR with it on it into my puffer FOWLR and he's a destructive, messy and mean little bugger who kills EVERYTHING I put into his tank, he even grazes the cyano and eats bristle worms!! My 10g was started once I moved my green spotted puffer fry into his 40g FOWLR because I knew I needed a refugium. My nano is now fully cycled (just hit 7 days straight of perfect readings) and I have plenty of coralline coming in all over my live rock and just need advice on a mini CUC considering I DO NOT intend on keeping any fish in this tank, just easy coral and CUC.

Oh ic then id just do couple assorted snails and a serpent star id stay away from hermits as theyll crawl all over coral irritating it

 

[ktomminello]

Good to know about the hermits- I was looking at blue hermits!!

 

[danbstrong]

Good to know about the hermits- I was looking at blue hermits!!

Good cleaners tho they wont hurt the coral just irritate causing it to close
snails will to but most snails hang out on glass i dont use hermits but most people do i got tired of seein a hermit run accross my zoa colony

 

[ktomminello]

Lol, then maybe I should go with a baby hermit or one of those ugly sand sifting crabs- I have a fondness for the crab- if I don't like the results I can always give puffy tank mate, though I know that he will kill anything within a couple months. He has eaten 8 crabs, 23 snails, 2 peppermint shrimp and 5 clams... I've noticed since I've been putting living crustaceans and mollusks in the tank he's stopped taking food from me and prefers to hunt for himself, 3 days a week he will savagely demolish a handfed table shrimp for me, though, I swear it's only cause he knows how much fun it is for me.

 

[marsh]

How many pounds of live sand do I need to buy tomorrow, tank is 48"x12 footprint?

I was hoping to get about 18 lbs of live rock and the right amount of sand to give me a good depth for a CUC of assorted snails.


And for a refugium, can it just be a Tupperware under the tank? What do I need to make my own, is material like acrylic best or should I use an old glass tank? It SUCKS not having wireless this week! Storms!!

 

[danbstrong]

How many pounds of live sand do I need to buy tomorrow, tank is 48"x12 footprint?

I was hoping to get about 18 lbs of live rock and the right amount of sand to give me a good depth for a CUC of assorted snails. No fish planned in the immediate future.

And for a refugium, can it just be a Tupperware under the tank? What do I need to make my own? It SUCKS not having wireless this week! Storms!!

Can make a fugi out of anything really imo dont really need a dsb id just add enough sand to the look your going for i only have about an inch my last tank had 4" after 3 years it was saturated with nutrients a powerhead fell and blew sand everywhere nitrate spiked over 100 killing alot of coral so if your doin dsb your gonna need sandstirring inverts to keep your sand good thats why on my new setup i only put enough to cover the bottom

 

[danbstrong]

Can make a fugi out of anything really imo dont really need a dsb id just add enough sand to the look your going for i only have about an inch my last tank had 4" after 3 years it was saturated with nutrients a powerhead fell and blew sand everywhere nitrate spiked over 100 killing alot of coral so if your doin dsb your gonna need sandstirring inverts to keep your sand good thats why on my new setup i only put enough to cover the bottom

And it saves money lol

 

[marsh]

Hmmmm so like 10-15 lbs? I used a 20 lb bag of substrate for my 29 and it was plenty deep

 

[marsh]

Oh I found the name of the fish I really hoped to take home from them, he is tiny, called a barnacle blenny. I want to try to buy the live rock he lives in that has a few little soft blobby corals popping out of it. Don't know the technical names yet lol. Are blenny's easy enough to keep?

 

[marsh]

Can I use a HOB refugium and canister filter and forego a sump? The measurements under the tank are tight, I prefer to avoid a sump as I read they get stinky, this tank is behind the couch...

 

[Beengirl]

Can I use a HOB refugium and canister filter and forego a sump? The measurements under the tank are tight, I prefer to avoid a sump as I read they get stinky, this tank is behind the couch...

Yes you can. I have a Fluval 406 on my 55g and also have a hob refugium that I fashioned from a ac30 with a submersible light from inTank, LR rubble, and cheato. I also have a aqua c remora s skimmer. My water is great, but I clean out the filter very well every week.

 

[marsh]

Awesome my lfs friend said the aqua clear hObs can be refugiums too, do I just remove the filter media and add lighting and sand plus "food" like chaeto?


Here is the space on my custom acrylic tank I got off CL-- would a AC30 fit?

Not pictured are circular holes in both back corners 1"1/4 in diameter. The gap I'm talking about measures 1"7/8 by 15"1/2

 

[marsh]

Alternatively, could I use several aqua clear filters and skip a canister filter?

This reef tank is partly my partner's endeavor and he wants to take more of a part in the WCs and testing. We both got FW fish and only my Marshall survived so I really took more of an interest in the planted tank side of things. I garden as well, natural progression for me. He loves SW and I think a canister filter required a lot of constant cleaning from the research I've been doing. Since the canister is "out of sight out of mind" I would hope the HoB filters would be an option.

I'm buying lr today and ordering sand from drs F&S. do you recommend any alternative websites to order from instead? Ill be buying a skimmer (maybe the one you listed beengirl) and aquaclears and perhaps a second heater

 

[marsh]

Another question: for $100 should I jump on this equipment on Craigslist? Only a few miles away-

"Hi I need to give up my saltwater tank because I'm traveling too much to keep it up. Converting to freshwater. So, need to find home for adorable clownfish, clean up crew, stack of live rock, 12gal sump, filtration system & protein skimmer, resin bags & beautiful light system. Everything you need for a salt water system but the tank.

eshopps overflow
current usa mh/t4 combo
tlf reactor with pump currently running with bio pellets
aqueon returned pump
Rio nano HOB skimmer

make me an offer. must sell fish & liverock before end of year, so hurry."