Clown Monarch
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Well, the pickup and setup went pretty smooth and without incident, thanks in part to the seller who was very organized, helpful, and generous (he gave me lots of extra stuff that wasn't even listed in the auction - including a $250 reverse osmosis unit).
The tank is now up and running. I managed to take back 25 gallons of his water, bio balls, and gravel which should insure a smooth transition, hopefully. The live rock (80 lbs) looks great with tons of growth including lots of those little featherdusters. He showed me a few pieces that he said had coraline algae growth but now I don't see it. I have 4 powerheads running currently.
I was very pleased to see the lights he had appear to be very nice. He didn't describe them well in the auction, but there are 6-55 watt coralife compact lights.
The only part not yet setup is the wet/dry (which includes the skimmer and UV sterlizer). I don't really want that big ugly pre-filter in the tank, so I'm building a siphon system with PVC including a valve to regulate flow to match a pump. I don't think I'll need a pre-filter with the HOT magnum filter which seems to keep the water pretty clear. I'm going to have the inlet hose just dump directly into the 10 gallon box rather than through the hole on the side of the box. The hole and that side of the box (which is all cracked) is going to be covered with a flat piece of plastic and sealed with silicone.
I'm pretty nervous about the wet/dry. It seems there's too many opportunities for disaster - leaks, uneven flow etc.
Which brings me to the questions -
1. Do you think my plans for the wet/dry are good?
2. How can you tell what is dead on the live rock and needs to be removed?
3. How much light should be provided for the live rock?
4. I added 2 small hermit crabs which appear to enjoy the live rock. Will they eat beneficial life on the rock?
The tank is now up and running. I managed to take back 25 gallons of his water, bio balls, and gravel which should insure a smooth transition, hopefully. The live rock (80 lbs) looks great with tons of growth including lots of those little featherdusters. He showed me a few pieces that he said had coraline algae growth but now I don't see it. I have 4 powerheads running currently.
I was very pleased to see the lights he had appear to be very nice. He didn't describe them well in the auction, but there are 6-55 watt coralife compact lights.
The only part not yet setup is the wet/dry (which includes the skimmer and UV sterlizer). I don't really want that big ugly pre-filter in the tank, so I'm building a siphon system with PVC including a valve to regulate flow to match a pump. I don't think I'll need a pre-filter with the HOT magnum filter which seems to keep the water pretty clear. I'm going to have the inlet hose just dump directly into the 10 gallon box rather than through the hole on the side of the box. The hole and that side of the box (which is all cracked) is going to be covered with a flat piece of plastic and sealed with silicone.
I'm pretty nervous about the wet/dry. It seems there's too many opportunities for disaster - leaks, uneven flow etc.
Which brings me to the questions -
1. Do you think my plans for the wet/dry are good?
2. How can you tell what is dead on the live rock and needs to be removed?
3. How much light should be provided for the live rock?
4. I added 2 small hermit crabs which appear to enjoy the live rock. Will they eat beneficial life on the rock?