Custom 29 gallon rimless build

[Sniperhank]

In my case yes as I have well water. Your plan would probably fit your situation better. That is why I said that there are many variables.

[BLUEaquarium06]

Well I ordered the 4 stage aquatic life one. And rearranged the rock it's all secured in place now and now I'm just waiting for the water lol

[Sniperhank]

Sounds pretty solid. I ordered the 3+2 setup I wanted too.

[BLUEaquarium06]

Okay so couple questions, I got some ro water from Wal-Mart and filled up the tank. When should I start treating the water? And when should I start running the skimmer? And is salinity of 1.024 good or should I push that up to about 1.026?

[BLUEaquarium06]

Testing not treating

[Sniperhank]

Provide your ammonia source and you can start testing the next day. Your salinity is fine, 1.024-1.028 is the range that is acceptable.

[BLUEaquarium06]

Okay so my cycle has started, I filled it up on the 19th so this is roughly day 3 and day 2 of testing. Ive got a good bit of ammonia some nitrites and some nitrates, so the cycle has begun. My question is what I planned to use for my ammonia was about 10lbs of uncured Fiji rock. Will that be a good enough source of ammonia as it cures or should I supplement that?

[BLUEaquarium06]

Originally Posted by BLUEaquarium06

Okay so my cycle has started, I filled it up on the 19th so this is roughly day 3 and day 2 of testing. Ive got a good bit of ammonia some nitrites and some nitrates, so the cycle has begun. My question is what I planned to use for my ammonia was about 10lbs of uncured Fiji rock. Will that be a good enough source of ammonia as it cures or should I supplement that?

Also should I be doing water changes during the cycle or only once ammonia and nitrites hit 0

[Sniperhank]

No water changes. Just let nature take its course. Once the ammonia and nitrite levels are 0, you do water changes to bring the nitrates down.
As long as the lights are off you won't see much algae or cyano growth from the parameters.

[BLUEaquarium06]

I've got a weird issue I can't figure out, my salinity level seems to be all over the place simultaneously in my tank. Right now in using a swing arm (I know how unreliable they are, a refractometer is on it's way from Amazon) and if I measure in the middle of my tank it reads 1.028-off the chart, if I read in the corners it's roughly 1.024 and towards the bottom it reads about 1.026. Can the swing arm be that inconsistent, I really don't understand why this would be the case

[Sniperhank]

That isn't something that is physically possible. Sounds like air bubbles on the arm of the hydrometer.

[BLUEaquarium06]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

That isn't something that is physically possible. Sounds like air bubbles on the arm of the hydrometer.

I understand, this is why I'm so confused though. It is consistently like that in those spots I mentioned. I've restarted several times and I get extremely similar readings in those spots every time. Should I just wait until I get the more accurate one and forget the swing arm?

[Sniperhank]

I would do exactly that.

[BLUEaquarium06]

3 days ago the ammonia and nitrites both reached zero, they have been zero since then. So yesterday I went and picked up my first residents. I'll be holding off on anything else for awhile. I might get some mushrooms or something maybe a small colony of zoas but I'll still wait a bit. It took awhile to get my salt levels where I wanted. I got a platinum percula clown and a misbar black ocellaris.

[Sniperhank]

Though really nice pickups, you shouldn't mix clowns. They will go postal on each other. They should be kept with the same type. Either stick with percula or ocellaris.

[BLUEaquarium06]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

Though really nice pickups, you shouldn't mix clowns. They will go postal on each other. They should be kept with the same type. Either stick with percula or ocellaris.

I was told that ocellaris and perculas were fine together? As long as they were introduced small and at the same time. They even told me that they can breed with one another. They seem to be getting along well, they won't leave each other's sides

[Sniperhank]

I've heard it is possible, but it isn't a guarantee.

[BLUEaquarium06]

i'll keep an eye on them, worst case scenario i'll bring back the platinum and get another black ocellaris once the current one grows a bit. But another topic, I have a birthday coming up and i have the opportunity to get some new goodies for this tank. I would love this to be a high tech tank with some great stuff. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to get? I was considering an ecotech mp10, but i just want to be the best tank i can make it so i'm open to any ideas. I can probably get 2 things one in the 200-250 range and another in the 50-100 range. I was also looking at the seachem tidal 55. But that one is sort of unnecessary it seems.

[Sniperhank]

What is all on the system now? MP are great powerheads. I have 2 MP40 on my 55...along with most of ecotech products.
What do you think the next step is for your tank?

[BLUEaquarium06]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

What is all on the system now? MP are great powerheads. I have 2 MP40 on my 55...along with most of ecotech products.
What do you think the next step is for your tank?

My goal is a reef tank, I want to focus on corals more than anything. All of my current equipment is
1) AI prime HD
1) aquatic life 115 internal protein skimmer
2) sunsun jvp 530gph
1) Heater i honestly don't even know what brand