MKFMedic
Aquarium Advice Activist
Hi All.
Well it didn't take long for me to get addicted to the "Crack" that is reef building and salt water aquariums. This past "Black Friday," my LFS was running a great deal on a 30 gal, Innovative Marine Tank. This is quite a size upgrade from the current Nano 12 gal Nano tank I was running previously.
I started with a new base of 40lbs of sand, which has given me about three to four inches of sand bed. I transferred my live rock, about 18lbs and added another 18lbs or so of cured base rock. I added about 15 gal of "new" water from the LFS and used all of the water I could get out of the Nano Tank.
Equipment added for the new tank. I purchased two Kyrolia Nano 425's for water movement and the tank came with a 327 gpm pump with the rotating stream.
I tested the water this morning, with the following results:
pH 7.8 - 8.0
AM 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0 - 5.0ppm
I used a liquid drop test from API for the above results. I also added a dose of FritzZyme when I transferred most of the original water. During the last two days, I have kept my Percula and Purple Fire Fish with the few pieces of coral of my original tank with some water I held behind with circulation and a heater. Today, I made the transfer of my coral, fish and the remaining water into the tank. I put my CUC in as soon as the water was up to temp and include a fire shrimp, two turbo snails, four hermits, two nassarius snails along with a few others. I also have two emeralds.
A few observations. The glass of the new tank is 8mm and I need a more powerful magnet scrubber. I'm hooked on the larger tank and am excited about the prospect of adding a third or forth fish much further down the road. I'm hoping that with the mix of my original live rock, cured base rock and the original water from the Nano, I won't experience any huge cycling issues, but its going to be a wait and see! After three days of testing, no huge spikes. I can already tell that my little fish seem to love the added space!
The filtration that came with the tank included two racks of three filtration sponges. I kept one of those in place and am using the purigen and chem-pure from my nano in the other. What is convenient about this is their media racks is that they allow for simple and easy use of any filtration medium I want. Any thoughts of "Sponge" filtration?
I'm guessing I'll need to increase the size of my CUC? Any suggestions for something different, or should I just double up on what I already have in the tank, with the exception of the Fire Shrimp?
In addition to the filtration areas, there is a designated spot for my heater, a protein skimmer if I ever wanted to add one (I know that thoughts are mixed), and a place for refugium with a light. Does anyone have thoughts if I should add a bunch of rock rubble to the refugium area? Do you think it will add significantly to the biological filtration of the tank?
I currently am using the lid of Nano tank with 48w CF's for lighting, but should be receiving my new power heads along with a 30W LED Innovative Marine fixture in the mail this week.
If anyone has any thoughts, they are always appreciated!
Best Regards,
Mike
Well it didn't take long for me to get addicted to the "Crack" that is reef building and salt water aquariums. This past "Black Friday," my LFS was running a great deal on a 30 gal, Innovative Marine Tank. This is quite a size upgrade from the current Nano 12 gal Nano tank I was running previously.
I started with a new base of 40lbs of sand, which has given me about three to four inches of sand bed. I transferred my live rock, about 18lbs and added another 18lbs or so of cured base rock. I added about 15 gal of "new" water from the LFS and used all of the water I could get out of the Nano Tank.
Equipment added for the new tank. I purchased two Kyrolia Nano 425's for water movement and the tank came with a 327 gpm pump with the rotating stream.
I tested the water this morning, with the following results:
pH 7.8 - 8.0
AM 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0 - 5.0ppm
I used a liquid drop test from API for the above results. I also added a dose of FritzZyme when I transferred most of the original water. During the last two days, I have kept my Percula and Purple Fire Fish with the few pieces of coral of my original tank with some water I held behind with circulation and a heater. Today, I made the transfer of my coral, fish and the remaining water into the tank. I put my CUC in as soon as the water was up to temp and include a fire shrimp, two turbo snails, four hermits, two nassarius snails along with a few others. I also have two emeralds.
A few observations. The glass of the new tank is 8mm and I need a more powerful magnet scrubber. I'm hooked on the larger tank and am excited about the prospect of adding a third or forth fish much further down the road. I'm hoping that with the mix of my original live rock, cured base rock and the original water from the Nano, I won't experience any huge cycling issues, but its going to be a wait and see! After three days of testing, no huge spikes. I can already tell that my little fish seem to love the added space!
The filtration that came with the tank included two racks of three filtration sponges. I kept one of those in place and am using the purigen and chem-pure from my nano in the other. What is convenient about this is their media racks is that they allow for simple and easy use of any filtration medium I want. Any thoughts of "Sponge" filtration?
I'm guessing I'll need to increase the size of my CUC? Any suggestions for something different, or should I just double up on what I already have in the tank, with the exception of the Fire Shrimp?
In addition to the filtration areas, there is a designated spot for my heater, a protein skimmer if I ever wanted to add one (I know that thoughts are mixed), and a place for refugium with a light. Does anyone have thoughts if I should add a bunch of rock rubble to the refugium area? Do you think it will add significantly to the biological filtration of the tank?
I currently am using the lid of Nano tank with 48w CF's for lighting, but should be receiving my new power heads along with a 30W LED Innovative Marine fixture in the mail this week.
If anyone has any thoughts, they are always appreciated!
Best Regards,
Mike