55 gallon reef - First Saltwater Build Ever!

[Ausfish]

Where abouts in Oz do you live? When I started my tank I bought some snails and a peppermint shrimp (9g tank). If you life away from sewage plants and factories you can actually collect a lot yourself like natural salt water and snails from the rocks.

 

[matthewh133]

I live in Narre Warren in Victoria. It's about 20 minutes to a beach, so not far. I honestly wouldn't know what was safe to collect? And the natural salt water at the beach, is that the same as you would purchase from a store?

 

[carey]

Wow! That looks awesome! The lines are so clean!

 

[matthewh133]

Thanks Carey! (15characters)

 

[matthewh133]

Hey guys, any recommendations on a starter test kit package? I do have a refractometer on the way, but what else do I need to measure?

Ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, what else? I want to make sure I get the test kits I need, but not a whole bunch of stuff I don't too Also any idea how long 25 test strips are meant to last?

 

[Ausfish]

Forget test strips, they're usually not accurate enough! Get the API master kit for SW, that lasts forever. If you want to keep corals measuring calcium, iodine and so on will help but the API kit is pretty much all you need!

 

[matthewh133]

Great thanks mate!

 

[matthewh133]

So, I've put my sand and water into the tank (not the sump yet, I'm waiting on the return piping glue to dry). I have a powerhead going, and the sand and water have been in about 3-4 hours. The water is really murky, I can't see the wall behind the tank really, but I can distinctly tell the water from the sand bed.

It looks to me as if the water is really dirty or something? I did rinse the sand before I put it in, maybe its possible there was still dirt on it? I'm not sure, it just doesn't look like there's sand up in the water, just that it looks dirty. The substrate is 1-2mm coral sand.

Any opinions/ways to fix this?

 

[TLTGF]

Wait it out, too my tank about 48 hours before it was clear.

 

[Ausfish]

Wait it out, too my tank about 48 hours before it was clear.

Same here, this just takes some time. Make sure to watch your pumps if any are running because this can be bad for impellers

 

[matthewh133]

No worries thanks mate thanks. There seems to be these dirt looking things getting blown around by the power head, do I just pull them out if I get a chance?

 

[Ausfish]

Yes, why not? Make sure you clean the powerheads frequently, I destroyed two last time I did this

 

[matthewh133]

Great thanks. I also went to pick up live rock today but when I got to the guys house it was all covered in aiptasia. God that stuff is gross! Left it and going to wait out another week or so until the sump is fully functional and water temperate correct.

 

[matthewh133]

I'm a bit worried about the glue used to glue the plumping together for the return. I mean, the water is flowing through those pipes and obviously coming in contact with the left over glue residue (albeit completely dry).

Does anyone know if this is a danger or toxic to the water?

 

[paulweck]

No its fine just let it dry for 24 hours and rinse it real well before using. Allot of people use pvc for there plumbing including me.

 

[matthewh133]

Thanks Paulweck, the glue just smells gross when I rub my finger over it, even when it's dried (been on for 8-9 hours now), so I was a bit worried. So just rinse the piping in some fresh water and it should be safe?

Sorry, just don't want to expose any poor creatures to toxic glue lol

 

[paulweck]

Freshwater will work just make sure u let the pipe cure for 24 hours and u will be fine.both of my tanks are plumbed out the same way

 

[matthewh133]

Ok, so the rest of the water is about to go in so I can get the sump operational. The water is much clearer than before, but still murky, I'm hoping once the sump is operational the rest should clear up!

I would like to ask a question about the sump before I fill it please How deep should I have the sand bed?

Here is a picture I quickly whipped up in paint so you can see what I'm working with:

 

[matthewh133]

Ok so I've filled up the tank fully and the sump half way.

Everything seems to be working, return pump is flowing, overflow is working. How high should the water level be in the weir? It is very noisy from the splashing of the water falling down to nearly the bottom of the tank.

 

[matthewh133]

Also the skimmer cup is already half full of dirty looking water and I need to empty it, not quite sure how to, didn't expect it to fill up so quick!