check it out, birth of my tank!

[srgetz]

Empty assembled tank

 

[srgetz]

I am posting a series of pics, keep reading the following posts...BTW, its a 45g aga in cherry oak (she loved the furniture!), 30lb reef sand, 30lb fiji live rock (getting 30lb gulf from liverocks.com when cycled), 2 aquaclear powerhead 802 400gph, emporer 400 biowheel. Currently looking for decent lighting & skimmer. Will be adding 15g refuge with dsb, skimmer, heater once I learn more about it. Feel free to make any comments!

 

[srgetz]

sorry about the duplicate pic... here's more

 

[srgetz]

the next night

 

[srgetz]

that pic was actually 48hrs later...

 

[srgetz]

today! on my way to pick up some damsels!

 

[reefrunner69]

Excellent!! Keep up with the pics as the tank progesses

 

[cookiemn]

srgetz,
love the way you can't spot the damsel but you did catch a reflection of yourself in the last shot.

BTW, are you planning to keep the bio-wheels on the emperor? I have heard that they arent that good to have on a salt setup.

As for your fuge, if you want to get a custome made one, I know this guy who does a good job. I am planning to order a 12" fuge from him for my 10 gallon nano.

I think your tank will rock once you have it finished. What lights are you planning to add? I just got some Tek T5s for my 60 gallon and they produce llight somewhere between PCs and MHs.

 

[srgetz]

Thanks guys this is my first sw and a learning experience...
cookiemn,
I would like to slowly phase the HOB filter out in a few months as I get more live rock, a cleaning crew and a 15g refugium established. It will be good to have for an occasional carbon filtering, as it seems to keep the water crystal clear. BTW, why is the bio-wheel not good on a salt setup? I heard from a reputable reef guy, his brother has a successful 1+ yr old fowlr with the same filter in a smaller setup like mine. That is not to say it is ideal, though.

For the refugium, I am thinking of just using a 15g (below) for cost savings, I am not sure how to plumb it yet though. Can I just push water up to the tank with a powerhead and do a gravity return? I am really big on getting the extra 33% water capacity as a cushion, along with the other benefits.

I don't know much about lighting yet; it has the standard 20w hood. I was thinking of quickly going to something like http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2375677926&category=46314

 

[Electrobes]

Are you going for a FOWLR or a reef set up? If I were you I would not go for that lighting unless you were possibly going for a FOWLR... but even that may not be the best for liverock lighting. I also have a 45G main tank, and with it a 29G refugium. I went the reef route (stonies and soft corals)... couldn't be helped - But anyway my lighting is 250 watt MH at 10,000K, with two 55 watt (being overpowered to 64 watts) 03 actinics. Just as a side note, when you get actinics, don't let the LFS people trick you into getting anything BUT "03" actinics... no day lights, no 50/50, just 03 if you want true blue.. but I am getting ahead of myself. If you want to know just about everything in the lighting side of reef aquariums... well aquariums in general I'll write you up an entire explanation unless we have it in the article section

 

[dansemacabre]

Electrobes: You know, just a thought, but perhaps you could write up an article and see if an admin wants to put it in the articles section.

srgetz: Nice looking tank. W/ the addition of more LR and some good lights, it should be kickin'. Best of luck, and keep us posted!

 

[Electrobes]

hehe I should I guess, what stinks is hat I wrote a complete explanation before, I think I even posted it on some random post for a person but can't remember where it is. Shame too it was like 2-3 pages long with an inclusion of DIY kits which saved a lot of money, and the good/bad on all things explained in options!

 

[srgetz]

here they are, 2 yellowtail a black and a saddleback...they eat & seem happy as can be

PH wants to stay around 7.9, should I just leave it alone or try a buffer?

ammonia reading is 1.5mg/l, at what point should I change some water?

thanks for the lighting info Electrobes, maybe I will wait & get some that are good enough for corals too so im not limited later down the road...

 

[BillyZ]

ack... see if your LFS will take the damsels back. It's really stressful (by way of toxic levels of amonia, nitrites and nitrates) to have the fish in the tank as it cycles. "So how do you cycle without fish?" We have a great article here on how to Cycle Without Fish that uses a cheap grocery store solution (much cheaper than the 3 damsels you have in there now). Many LFS will buy back the fish, particularly the ones they sell as "cycle fish". Check out that article as well as the other great articles in our Articles Section (most are member written, hint hint, nudge nudge Electrobes! )

 

[yaksplat]

BillyZ: What LFS do you hit around here? I haven't seen any that have really impressed me.

Jim

 

[Brad]

Getting water out of the tank and into the 'fuge/sump

I notice that you've not drilled the tank for any overflow. Unless you're willing to do that you will be using some sort of siphon to get the water to fall down into the 'fuge/sump.

Then you'll need a pump to push it back up into the tank. You will probably need more than a powerhead to do that...depending on the distance and plumbing (head pressure 5ft?).

I just went through all of this with my tank (added a sump). While siphon overflows are always controversial, I give my approval to the CS50 siphon box. Siphons are tricky...they simply MUST continue to flow or you have a wet problem. The CS50 uses a powerhead to suck any air out of the siphon in order to keep it working. You may be able to use one of your existing powerheads to do the job.

Great shots, BTW!

 

[Brad]

"Cycle" fish...

My yellow tail damsel went into the tank as the first fish (I was nervous that the tank wasn't fully cycled). He is still in there, 11 years later. He got attacked and lost an eye in 1996, but otherwise, he's fine. Tough little b*ggar.

 

[srgetz]

I think they will get through this, the ammonia has dropped to near 0, and the nitrites are rising already, so the cycle is moving along swiftly it seems...maybe due to LR & cycle additive

Brad: thanks for the refuge advice, can I email you directly for more specifics? Got any pics posted? I am very interested in doing that, I'm at srgetz@joimail.com glad to hear about your damsel!

 

[srgetz]

Update
There has been some concern from a few members expressed about putting fish in so early on. Put it this way, if I was not going with LR, and starting with a new mechanical biological filter I would certainly have used the shrimp method. Per the Concientious Marine Aquarist, "with well-cured live rock you may never see the usual nitrogen cycle progression". The was started with 30lb of cured FIJI LR, and a cup of live sand from an established tank, a bottle of cycle and some marine flakes for an ammonia source and a water temp of 84 to promote bacterial growth. All measurements were very low before the damsels were added, indicating the rock was well-cured and did not spike the tank. In case you are not aware, well-cured means biologically sufficient, with loads of ammonia & nitrite eating bacteria. The day after the damsels were added, 20lb Tonga LR from another LFS (cured 3+ months) went in. The ammonia is 0 and now the nitrite level is an acceptable .25mg/l, PH is 8.1. Soon I will remove the bio-wheels from the filter before they get really cultivated, and just use that for carbon filtration. There is almost 20cycles / hr circulation (not including hob) through the live rock, I think that was a key to it's success also.

So I didn't just fill the tank and get damsels as some lfs may recommend. I was very informed from many sources. I think it's those who assume, jump into this uninformed or don't spend the money and get the LR or are advised by a greedy LFS, etc., who get the bad lethal cycles. JMO

Also of note, I bought the cycle from a very busy store who does online sales, www.thatfishplace.com, ensuring the bottle was fairly fresh. Although I believe the live rock is 99% responsible for this swift cycling, I would have to say I recommend Cycle, especially if you know it hasn't been on the shelf long.

 

[srgetz]

the ammonia and nitrites are both at 0 now guys!

BTW, I have to say to anyone starting a sw tank, put in cured LR from the get go, it works!

I will post some more pics in the morning