Hello all from the Ratliff's

[Spazz67]

Hello, from Eastern Kentucky. My wife has 20+ years and I have 7 years with FW but newbies to SW so any advice is accepted.

Our Readings as of 9/1/08
Nitrite= 0 Nitrate=0 Temp= 75
PH= 8.2 Ammonia= 0

Our Equipment List
Lighting/Hood = RO1636 Model#36PSDX Rated 120 VAC 60 HZ 40 WT
Bulb = Eclipse Natural Daylight F30T8 36in with a 22 on the end of the bulb.

Tank = 46 gal bow face H=21in W= 3ft Short D= 12in Long D= 16in with glass cover.

Powerheads/wavemakers= 1 Zoo Med Power sweep 30 gal wt pre filter (rotating)
2 Wal-Mart stationary power heads

Heater = 2x UL 100 wt (getting another one tonight)

Filters= 2x Whisper 10-30i with Biofilters
3in (100 lbs appx) live sand bed (4/50 lbs bags of non sicila playsand mixed with 25 lbs of reef
orster shells and seeded with 20 lbs of actural live sand and
cycled for about 8 weeks. Still have about 120/140 lbs dried,
sealed, and stored in our building.
Bio Pro Sk-40 Air Driven Protein Skimmer (not in use at the moment)

Livestock= 1 A.O clownfish
1 sandsifter snail
1 Coral Banded Shrimp(He's going back to pet store from Thursday to Saturday it had my sons red leg hermit hanging out of its mouth. It pulled it out of it's shell as we watched.)

 

[neilanh]

Welcome to AA!

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard

 

[cmor1701d]

I take it this is a FO (fish only) tank.

Congrats on the move the salty side.

Where did you find non-silica playsand? What is the sand composition?

 

[Spazz67]

Yes Cmor, as of right now this is a fish only tank. Don't want to overload by putting alot in at once.
As for the sand I'll be happy to tell you what I know about it it came packaged in a bag like morter or concrete. The only writing on the bag says OLD CASTLE Landscaping/playsand. My wife has a friend that works for a land scaping company that was going out of business, she told us that they had some very old sand cheap, if we wanted any for out sons sand box. We got a few bags then my wife found a test on a websight to test the sand. Take cider vinegar, pour some on the sand and if it fizzes, bubbles, or foams, it has no or very low silica content. so she took a sample and when she tested it, it fizzed and foamed over the top of the cup. So she ordered 10 bags @2.50 a bag. Is this test wrong? And am I wrong in calling it Non sicilca?

 

[Zagz]

Welcome to AA. Very glad to have you here.

 

[roka64]

Welcome to the site! Yep, if it fizzles like that it is aragonite sand.