Ashley's New Adventure _ 46 Bowfront SW reef

[Gti_Leo]

the PO4 can be removed with waterchanges also with GFO in a reactor. i would take the LR out of the canister and stick with mechanical and carbon in it, just be sure to rinse off the sponges once a week so that it oesn't build up nitrates. this will help keep the water sparkling clear with no smells

LR in the canister is a little pointless to me and if you're going to do that you might as well just run no filter at all. the LR needs to be in whater and you'll eventually have to open the filter to clean it out killing of some life which could cause a small ammonia spike

 

[lilladybug05]

So today I have the rusty /yellow/gold/ brown looking algae I believe to be diatoms.

My ammonia levels are between 0- .25
Nitrites are rising now .5
Nitrates are still super high at 80+

Do I ever take the rotting shrimp out ? or just leave it in to decompose?

 

[Henry405]

I added too much so I ended up taking it out. I believe other members just let it decompose

 

[lilladybug05]

I added two fairly good size pieces , not sure if thats too much?

 

[Henry405]

that should be just fine, I had 4 at one time in my 36g and my ammonia spiked to like 8 ppm haha

 

[lilladybug05]

My ammonia is already going down even though its decompossing , not sure if that has something to do with using 20 gallons of the old tank water and old filter and rocks maybe... im assuming that there was quite a bit of good bacteria in the tank already so its spreading fast there fore making the cycle shorter.

 

[lilladybug05]

Some new pictures of the tank after I moved the rocks again. (off my phone, sorry about the poor quality)

 

[Henry405]

thats a really cool rock you have in front!

 

[Gti_Leo]

looking good lots of caves and lots of ledges for corals

 

[lilladybug05]

thats a really cool rock you have in front!

Thank you, That is actually called an acorn barnacle... you can buy them at reefcleaners for very little (not really rock)
ReefCleaners.org | Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae - Food/Dry


I did get the HOB refugium up tonight nothin in it besides sand and little rock rubble and a chemi pure bag.

Still cycling, ammonia and nitrite still present.

Gonna work on making RODI water in the next few days. so Im ready for the water change when it is time.

 

[Gti_Leo]

how large is the fuge?

 

[lilladybug05]

Its the medium one , thats all I could fit, so 19" Wide by 12"High by 4"Deep I put about a 3" sand bed in.

By CPR

 

[Gti_Leo]

thats not a bad size at all its about 4 gallons.

 

[lilladybug05]

Yup, thats what it said like 4.5 gallons. I feel like I have too much rock in my tank though compared to some ppl. Its like 60 lbs but it just looks like so much. I guess it will hopefully be better for filtration.

Tomorrow I am redoing the canister filter again lol (taking back out the rock rubble I put in)

I have 3 trays I was going to do

top tray = ceramic beads
middle = filter sock of rowa phos & filter sock of pura complete
bottom = filter floss

would that be the right order ?
then there are 4 sponges to the left of those three trays. (fluval 304)

 

[Gti_Leo]

i don't think you'd need a filter sock for the media since you already have the mechanical filters in there.

its a bow front i have a bow front also so there is less space to work with in the back part that isn't curved so there is more stacked but not as thick

 

[lilladybug05]

Yeah it goes clear from top to bottom, but its all in kinda a row. I pushed it more twords the back so there was more open room in the front so when I do get fish I will be able to see them more.

Well IDK but I would think since I'm putting 2 media in one compartment maybe I should keep them separate lol. I just know I have really high phosphates and nitrates and im hoping between the media and the water change I will eventually get to do when my cycle ends that I can control those nutrients. Or I will have a messy algae tank and no fish till I can work it out.

Also my PH dropped again is that normal during the cycle?
I have a buffer used it once , it did work. Ive been messing a lot with the water and rocks, Im guessing thats why, plus just hadda add like 5 more gallons of ro water to make up for the fuge. I guess that might explain it. (i'm not mixing prior to putting it in the tank yet, cause there's nothing in there)

 

[lilladybug05]

Ohh yes and possible rough draft fish list

Green chromis (how many ? maybe 3 ??)

pair of clowns

goby of some sort (maybe yellow)

pajama cardinal

Im not for sure, just throwing an idea out there

 

[Gti_Leo]

yellow watchman?

 

[lilladybug05]

I was thinking yellow clown goby, would a watchman be better ?

 

[lilladybug05]

Well I believe the time has come that my tank has cycled .... Its been 9 days since I put the 2 pieces of raw shrimp in and I believe my levels are correct for the water change.

today's parameters

SG 1.024
temp 79.3
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrates 80+
phosphate .5 ( was 2.0 before I put a filter sock of rowa phos in the canister filter)

I did add rowa phos, chemi pure, and pura complete all in filter socks.
rowa phos and pura complete are in the canister, the chemi pure is in the HOB refugium. Totally is helping keep the PH stable and bring the phosphates down.

So now the question.... How much of a water change do I do ? (this is a 46 gallon bow front) I have 10 gallons of RODI water made up and I can make more if necessary. Just thought I would keep 10 gallons on hand always.