my unexpected 125g build

[huma-huma]

delivery day!!!!! I've been waiting anxiously since 8 this morning hopefully it makes it here before 230....I gotta work

 

[huma-huma]

Anybody have any experience with nitrate reactors? I'm contemplating getting one but idk if its worth it

 

[carey]

Aren't you running like 5 nitrates? lol I wouldnt' worry too much about it, you'll get to the 0 mark eventually even without a reactor. Just seems like an added expense that you probably don't need right now.

 

[huma-huma]

I had ended up with 2 seperate nitrate test kits somehow, the one that gave me my 5 and 2.5 readings last week, found out that the first bottle was dead ....so those readings weren't accurate.It keeps jumping and idk why I mean my ammo and trites hold steady at 0 but my trates keep jumping for some reason...I dialed back the feeding 4 days ago, I've done a combined 30g worth of pwcs in the past 3 days because my trates shot up to around 30....those 2 pwc's knocked it down to around 7 but I want 0 dang it lol. I must thank you again carey, I had an absolutely horrid ordea with an online company last year and was kinda afraid to attempt online again, aquacave not only had amazing pricing but also shipped my bulbs the same day I ordered them, the box is currently sitting in my livingroom, as soon as I get home imma put them in and upload some pics
Its also a great weekend for my fishies got the pods into my tank and hopefully breeding, bought a bucket of IO salt, and going to pick up 6-10g tanks and my refrac tomorrow!!!! So excited!

 

[carey]

I love aquacave, Mike there usually calls me before he ships and he is super nice.

Your setup is now under new management from the guy who sold it to you so I would think there'd be a period of time where it will stabilize. If you do go ahead and get the reactor let us all know. From what I was reading though it says it could take months to see results. They said to install it and leave it. I'm running 0 or close to it now and I feed my tank like a fiend. lol Yours will probably get into a good zone, its a matter of time.

 

[huma-huma]

Yeah unfortunately, he got out of it, just as soo many do, and he was running less than bare minimum when I bought it, he wasn't running the fuge, ph's, and had 2 bulbs burned out that he didn't replace. So it feels like I'm shaking the rust off the system. The spikes are slowing down but its happening a lot slower than I'd like lol. And as far as I'm concerned, aquacave is my online store of choice now

 

[carey]

You just gotta get the system pristine again, and undo someone elses neglect. Thats terrible that people let their tanks go to pot. Waste of money, time and the poor fish!

Aquacave also price matches, just call them up and they can take care of you. I like how they package everything so well so I always get them to match prices for me. Only caveat is the item has to be in stock at the other retailer.

 

[huma-huma]

I can agree, how can you let such gorgeous fish go uncared for? The niger trigger I have came with the tank and he's absolutely gorgeous, different color every day, kinda like a mood ring lol. And I didn't know that aquacave price matched, (haven't really read up on their site yet) but I will keep that in mind for my next order

 

[Ibrahim]

I'm thinking about buying a Phos. Reactor because of how much algae keeps growing and I dont have space for a sump or refug. Is it worth it

 

[Ibrahim]

This one is 100 with media http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002MY8MK2/ref=aw_d_detail?pd=1 . Is it worth it??

 

[huma-huma]

Ibrahim, none of us have any experience with reactors, unfortunately no way to tell ya.
Carey, got my new bulbs in they are noticeably smaller in length and thickness but once in, it didn't matter.. The 12k white has a surprising purple tint to it. We absolutely love the new look it has given the tank (well atleast the dark half) here's a "teaser" pic, its blantantly obvious which ones are the older functioning bulbs...we plan on replacing the other two here very soon. More pics of the actual tank will be uploaded shortly

 

[huma-huma]

Here's a fts , the left side has the new 12k white and old actinic, the right has the old 10k white and new super actinic.....this picture doesn't do the coloring justice, even with the old actinic bulb, the new 12k white looks absolutely stunning... Both my girl and I were speechless as to the improvement.

 

[huma-huma]

Close-up of tank

*****edit***** haha look real close at the picture, can you spot our Picasso trigger? He almost blends in

 

[carey]

Looks good, glad the 12k worked out for you. Its much better than the yellowish you sometimes get. You should get those other bulbs soon, to keep them balanced out.

 

[Ibrahim]

You look a little low on rock. I'm sure you can improve your rockscape with with another 55 pounds of base rock. It's only about $80-$90 on eBay

 

[huma-huma]

Carey, its 100x better, it brings out the natural color of the tank more, instead of washing it out in a whitish yellow color. Ibrahim, the minimal look is what I was aiming for, I could fit another 50-75lbs in the tank but all my fish have hiding room and there's a full length tunnel behind the rocks... Don't wanna put anymore in because I don't want the fish hiding all day...plus my lr is handling the job so far.

 

[huma-huma]

Well well well..its been an insanely busy day for my fish hobby. Woke up at 8:45 to drive an hour to pick up 6 10g tanks. Turned out 1 is cracked, but it'll be a test tank for drilling purposes.

After that adventure, contacted the 2nd seller to go pick up the refractometer..
And he ended up giving me a bunch of stuff!!

 

[huma-huma]

He showed me his 55g bowfront, he was running a 400w 10k MH and 2 cf lights. he had some of the most gorgeous guppies I've ever seen. I had to have a few, so I inquired about buying a select few, pic is crappy but you can see the colors of some.

Here's a closer pic of the refrac, its in perfect shape and condition, also tested my tank when I got home...1.025 exact!!!

Spent 15 on the tanks (she gave me the cracked one free) and 35 for the refrac, 40 lbs of salt, 3 books, a bottle of phosphate filler, calcium booster, and 5 amazing guppies........all in all I say it was an amazing day for my fishies and tanks

 

[huma-huma]

Ok so I've been thinkin about my current refugium dilemma, and I've made a decision, I am going to have my refugium on theleft, complete with its on valve and sprinkler, but I'm gonna build the sandbed up to a solid 4-5" of sand, my skimmer will be on the left in its own bin with a drain pipe completely open, both bins will connect via pvc to the middle where the return pump will be housed in either a 5 or 10g tank by itself.....that I may run chaeto as well

 

[huma-huma]

We caved last night ad ended up buying a small filter for a 10g. Spent an hour last night setting it up for our guppies I actually got six from the seller yesterday ad unfortuately lost one yesterday another fish got him. While I was transferring guppies over to their new home, I happened to find a tiny guppy fry, somehow managed to scoop him while transferring guppies!! That makes for 2 baby guppies we have tank bred! Hopefully over the next month we can get some serious guppy fry