Carey's 40b Reef Build

[mr_X]

I wouldn't remove any of that rock. I think it looks nice the way it is.

 

[Macscale]

The urchin is really nice! And as always the tank looks great. Next time the dollar per gallon sale comes up in gonna grab a 40b and buy my rock from amazon. My local petco is actually pretty decent. The staff is normally nice and helpful. There is a good amount of test kits/filter media/fish. They happen to sell love rock for about $2.50 a pound. Just got 21lbs of it for a ten gallon an it came out to like $40.

 

[carey]

Yeah, loving the 40b footprint. Its like having a minature 125g lol. It got great front to back room and a decent length.
I was thinking of trying two islands of rock, I have been meaning to do that one day in one of my tanks but never have. The idea behind how I have the rock now is that it all connects and the holes are visible from the front so when crittters hide in them I will be able to see em. lol

 

[Macscale]

The two island rocks would be Interesting. The ones I've seen look really good.

 

[huma-huma]

it would be fun to see what an upside down rockscape looks like

 

[carey]

Haha I have seen almost entirely upside down rockscapes but way too much work for me lol.

The cycle has begun. Dosed the dr tims I was supposed to and dosed up the ammonia.
Here is where we are at right now

 

[huma-huma]

welp looka like youre about ready for some fish!

 

[Macscale]

Haha yeah it's fish time, lol. Anyway looks good!

 

[carey]

So whats the deal with this dr tims stuff? When the ammonia goes to zero am i done?

 

[mr_X]

Supposedly, but I would add more ammonia after it zeros out to make sure you have adequate bacteria to support livestock.

 

[TheTodd]

So whats the deal with this dr tims stuff? When the ammonia goes to zero am i done?

I treat it like a normal cycle. When you get zeros with elevated nitrates, dose up to 3-4ppm ammonia and see if it drops within 24 hours. They have day by day directions of how much to dose , and when, on their site.

 

[carey]

Ok, so it looks like Dr tims may actually work.

Got nitrite readings already! Here is where I am at test wise:

 

[TheTodd]

Told ya so!

 

[carey]

tested today and we have .50 of ammonia and about 1.0 of nitrite. havent tested the nitrates yet.

Should I be dosing ammonia again since it is dropping?

 

[redsea]

Hey Carey, did you use your Dr. Tim's right away? I am thinking that may be why mine didn't work as well as I thought it would.

I am so glad things are progressing so fast! Love the Urchin too!

 

[carey]

I used it the day it came. The tank had been setup with water for a few days but I didnt dose it til I got the dr tims.

 

[redsea]

That makes sense. I waited a few days before adding mine to the tank, that may be why I had issues.

 

[carey]

Well, it looks like I have cycled with the dr tims in just over a week.

Ammonia and nitrites went down to zero and I now have about 20-30 nitrates.

Starting to get some diatoms too. lol

I'm actually impressed with this dr tims stuff, going in I really doubted it would do anything but hey, I;ve been wrong before. lol

Gonna add my few corals later and then think about a fish or two this weekend. Nothing large of course, I'd like another clown goby and maybe a sifter goby, depends on what is in stock.

I also was at petco the other day and the banana wrasse I had been eying for months was still there and the fish guy sold it to me for half off the $50 price tag! He is now in the 90g with the other wrasses. he was chased the first night but yesterday he was fine with the other fish, no chasing and he is quite friendly, coming up to the glass when people come by the tank. woot!

 

[carey]

I guess i went a little crazy on fish today. LOL

Got 2 for the 40b and 2 for the 180g.

here are some photos!

 

[TheTodd]

Cool...can't make out the second set (darn small screen on iPhone)...Falco hawk and some kind of Goby?