Thinking about starting a reef tank again

[Chris-Nicol]

Quick question I have bought a return pump which is maybe a bit overkill. Basically double the return the tank manufacturer recommends. Will this be a problem?

[BigRedsReefs10]

No you can get a gate valve to match your return to the overflow. Honestly it's better for the pump too

[Chris-Nicol]

Ok I will have to look into this. Just as long as my pump doesn't outrun my overflow

[Chris-Nicol]

Originally Posted by BigRedsReefs10

No you can get a gate valve to match your return to the overflow. Honestly it's better for the pump too

Thanks for the info. I will have a look online is it best to fit the valve on the outlet?

[Chris-Nicol]

Ok so I'm almost ready to put my ro water in my tank. I have about 50 gal in containers atm. I need another 40ish gal but have no more containers.

Can I put the ro water I have into my tank with my rock and sand and use a powerhead to keep it moving while I get the rest of my water put through the ro unit? I haven't added salt yet was just going to add this once everything is in the tank.

Thanks in advance for any help

[Sniperhank]

It won't hurt anything. You want the rock and sand in there first due to displacement anyway.

[Chris-Nicol]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

It won't hurt anything. You want the rock and sand in there first due to displacement anyway.

Yeah I'm just waiting for another couple of pieces of egg crate to get my rock in position then I'll put my sand down.

Have you ever had oily residue come off power heads before? I dipped and rinsed mine but I put one in my 50gal container just to keep the water moving and now there looks to be some oil residue on the surface of the water

[Chris-Nicol]

Still need to scape it but here we are so far

[Chris-Nicol]

Also is non toxic polyethylene (pe-x) pipe ok to put in my tank? It's the closest thing I could find to use as rods for securing live rock

[Sniperhank]

I'm not familiar with that type of pipe, but I do know that PVC is fine.

[Chris-Nicol]

Some progress today. Still not enough water though. Just waiting for the last 5 gal or so then I'll add the salt

[Sniperhank]

I'd add the salt now. Then I'd test and see how much more water it would take to dilute that solution to where I want it to be.

[Chris-Nicol]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

I'd add the salt now. Then I'd test and see how much more water it would take to dilute that solution to where I want it to be.

Ok thanks. I will add it when I get home. Just use a calculator to figure it out?

Also where do you think I should position my powerheads? I have both pointing up to agitate the surface. Am I best having them at the back pointing to the side and up? Or on the side pointing at the opposite side and up?

[Sniperhank]

You can. I'm sure there are fancy math techniques or something to figure it all out...I look at my salt mix as to how many cups it takes to give me the salinity I want. After all these years I can simply eye ball it.
As for the powerheads, I like them to be low and aimed up. If you have one on each side, point one up and at the back glass and one at the front glass. Should give a more 'chaotic' flow pattern. You can fiddle with it.

[Chris-Nicol]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

You can. I'm sure there are fancy math techniques or something to figure it all out...I look at my salt mix as to how many cups it takes to give me the salinity I want. After all these years I can simply eye ball it.
As for the powerheads, I like them to be low and aimed up. If you have one on each side, point one up and at the back glass and one at the front glass. Should give a more 'chaotic' flow pattern. You can fiddle with it.

Ok thanks!

What do you recommend I put in my sump? So far I just have filter socks and my skimmer. Do I need anything else to start with or do I just wait and see further down the line? I was thinking of setting up a refugium and growing algue to keep nitrates and phosphates down

[Sniperhank]

Sounds great so far. You can build on it from there.

[Chris-Nicol]

Ok so I decided to do a fishless cycle but using the marine colony as well as dosing ammonia.

I never really got much of an ammonia spike (0.2ppm) was the highest it went. Nitrites never really spiked either but the nitrates did get to about 15. So I did a couple of water changes and added a cuc at the beginning of the week! (I dosed ammonia to make sure there was no trace after 24hrs)

Today I am a bit confused though. My nitrates were sitting at 3ppm yesterday. I have just tested my water today and my nitrates are sitting at 0!!? I have checked 3 times. The only thing I have done is clean my filter socks. Is this possible? I had a diatom bloom as well and quite a lot of that has disappeared today!

I didn't think nitrates could disappear without doing water changes or introducing algae to hold them? Does this sound normal or do you think it could be a faulty kit?

[Chris-Nicol]

That is using the Red Sea marine test kit

Other parameters are

Ammonia 0
Ph 8.3
Alk 5.5
Sg 1.024
Temp 76

I know alk is a little low. I'm not sure why this is either but my ph has been pretty consistent.

I have just realised I am also mixing my water wron so maybe this is something to do with it?

I am using Red Sea coral pro salt and have just found out I am only supposed to mix it for a couple of hours rather than the couple of days I have been doing

[Sniperhank]

The only parameters that matter during a cycle are ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Ph will fluctuate throughout the day, don't even bother testing it. Same goes for alk and other such ones that corals will use up.
When was the last time ammonia was added?

[Chris-Nicol]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

The only parameters that matter during a cycle are ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Ph will fluctuate throughout the day, don't even bother testing it. Same goes for alk and other such ones that corals will use up.
When was the last time ammonia was added?

Oh right ok. I added ammonia on Friday and tested Saturday and got no ammonia reading. So I did a 20% water change on Sunday to bring nitrates down and added my cuc on Monday.

I just started checking ph and alk since I put in the cuc. Just to familiarise myself with the tests.

It's just weird how I had 3ppm nitrates on Thursday and then 0ppm on Friday. I've just never heard of nitrates dropping without doing a water change.

I am going to my lfs today so I am going to take in a water sample to them to double check.