150 tall build

[Jmvanness]

75 lbs Live rock and 60 lbs live sand (from bio3 aka Chris lots of snails and other critters included) in the tank and cycling. pH 8.0, Ammonia between .5-1 ppm, Nitrite 0 ppm, Nitrate between 10-20 ppm.

I think the Ammonia is only high because the sand came directly from an established tank and got all mixed up when placed in my tank since I haven't added anything to decompose. Any thoughts on how long it should take to cycle?

I'm going to add some more live rock as well (approx 15 lbs, unless I can find some more on the cheaps) and mud in the sump with macro algae (which I'm also looking for).

I saw a flame fin tang at Aquadome today and think I may replace the scopas with it. Can anyone speak on these guys?

Lights come in on Saturday, skimmer is already in the sump, which only needs one more adjustment (walling off the auto fill) and it's ready to go.

Anyone have a link for making a live rock shelf on the tank wall? I think it'd look nice to have one on the side with the smaller pile.

On a side note, finally found a possum wrasse for my 29 at aquadome today. He's very cute and not hiding nearly as much as I expected. He's poking around in the rocks and darting in and out of the holes like he's always been there.

[Planeden]

Looks nice, but make sure you have room all around the rock for a gravel vac and algae scraper. Some looks pretty close and you want to be able to clean it. Well, that's one theory, anyway.

I think the cycle could take between days to months. Due to the fact that you used a lot of live sand and rock it should be on the shorter side. Mine's been running a week and with small additions of rock and sand the cycling is going a little quicker than expected. I have 1 ppm ammonia (same as Saturday) and 0.5 ppm nitrite (0 Saturday).

I know nothing about fish. Best I could do would be to quote you live aquaria.com. .

[Planeden]

Right, I knew I missed something. Shelf. Anyway, I think someone on the forums was talking about doing it with magnets. They drilled counterbores in the rock and glued in strong magnets and then had opposing ones on the outside. There are commercial ones available, too. I think they are ceramic. I'm not sure how many magnets you'd need.

I think you can also glue them to the glass, but be sure you like where they are first.

Check out pond foam rock sculpting as an alternative.

I imagine you have to cut the rock flat on the glass side for either of these to work well.

[Jmvanness]

So Ammonia is down between .25 and .5 ppm today, but still no nitrites and now nitrates are up to 20 ppm. Does this support my theory of the sand being to blame? Would you do a water change or let it ride?

[Planeden]

So Ammonia is down between .25 and .5 ppm today, but still no nitrites and now nitrates are up to 20 ppm. Does this support my theory of the sand being to blame? Would you do a water change or let it ride?

i don't think your sand is to blame, exaclty. it could have detrious in it that is breaking down, but that would just be part of the cycling processes and not a bad thing. i would definitely just let it ride. it's only been a few days and ammonia is dropping. nitrates indicate that your denitrifying bacteria is keeping up with the breakdown of ammonia into nitrite. that is a good thing. you just need to get your ammonia bacteria up to the task. your's may just be sort of stabilizing backwards.

what did you add to the tank to get the ammonia up in the first place? are you still adding it?

[Jmvanness]

I didn't add anything. It's just the detrious from the sand.

[Jmvanness]

Ammonia is gone! Capt. Obvious and I got the sump together and placed some more rock last night. Going to give it another week to be sure before I start moving fish and live rock over from my qt. Then once my lights get here on Saturday, I'll start moving a few of the less valuable corals over to see how they respond.

[Planeden]

Great news. Congratulations.

[subsea]

http://marineplantbook.com/marinebookenteromorpha.htm

http://marineplantbook.com/marinebookpaspaloides.htm

http://marineplantbook.com/marinebookprolifera.htm

These three green macro algae should all do well as food for your tangs and angels.

Patrick

http://www.hpsgrowlightstore.com/hps1510/grow-lights/lighting-accessories/1-8-rope-ratchet-2-per-pack.html

PS !/8" rope hager

Edited June 13, 2013 by subsea

[+Capt. Obvious]

Man, my name is in his thread a lot...I better be invited to this theoretical BBQ

[subsea]

A note about chaeto, It won't hurt having it, but I question how effective it really is.I run skimmer less and do water changes twice a year. I grow lps fine, softies like crazy, and just started on sps which appears to be doing well. I don't have a heavy fish load, but I do feed the corals a lot. When I had chaeto I noticed no changes. I know it does some good, but is it enough to notice? I'm not sure. Then again I also have a 4" sandbed in the tank.Not trying to discourage you from using it, but I wouldn't put a whole lot of eggs in that basket, I'd use other approaches to mitigate nutrients. IMHO extra live rock in the sump would do more than chaeto. But in the end it comes down to what you want in the tank and how you want to set it up

Kevin,

When you used Chaeto in sump, how much light? Both bacteria in sand beds and coral in tank will compete with coral for nutrients. With respect to macro growth, iron is often the limiting nutrient. Dosing with iron is a good proactive procedure for sustainable macro growth. It is also a minor nutrient for coral growth.

The rule that live rock rubble is superior bio filtration does not ring accurate to me. With respect to surface area, substrate supports much larger populations of bacteria than live rock. With respect to de-nitrifying bacteria, low oxygen levels are required to support faculative bacteria. There is no assurance of this with small rock rubble.

What can I say, I eat macro.

Patrick

[KevinB]

A note about chaeto, It won't hurt having it, but I question how effective it really is.I run skimmer less and do water changes twice a year. I grow lps fine, softies like crazy, and just started on sps which appears to be doing well. I don't have a heavy fish load, but I do feed the corals a lot. When I had chaeto I noticed no changes. I know it does some good, but is it enough to notice? I'm not sure. Then again I also have a 4" sandbed in the tank.Not trying to discourage you from using it, but I wouldn't put a whole lot of eggs in that basket, I'd use other approaches to mitigate nutrients. IMHO extra live rock in the sump would do more than chaeto. But in the end it comes down to what you want in the tank and how you want to set it up

Kevin,

When you used Chaeto in sump, how much light? Both bacteria in sand beds and coral in tank will compete with coral for nutrients. With respect to macro growth, iron is often the limiting nutrient. Dosing with iron is a good proactive procedure for sustainable macro growth. It is also a minor nutrient for coral growth.

The rule that live rock rubble is superior bio filtration does not ring accurate to me. With respect to surface area, substrate supports much larger populations of bacteria than live rock. With respect to de-nitrifying bacteria, low oxygen levels are required to support faculative bacteria. There is no assurance of this with small rock rubble.

What can I say, I eat macro.

Patrick

True Patrick, but I was comparing live rock to chaeto, I agree that a deep sand bed offers the most surface area for bacteria, and different zones for different types of bacteria. A mud filter or sand bed is best, but for nutrient mitigation from a spot in the sump I prefer rock over macro.

Turns out of course that I'm about to add macro for O2 production, but then again I don't have a nutrient problem.

My chaeto had a 100w equivalent cfl bulb pointed at it. It grew ok for a month or so, then started melting. I noticed no changes in anything else when I added the chaeto, do I just took the melting clump out.

[Jmvanness]

Of course you are invited Ryan!

Pic of the sump area

[subsea]

Man, my name is in his thread a lot...I better be invited to this theoretical BBQ

If I am invited, I will bring boudain. We can doo it.

Patrick

[Jmvanness]

Lmfao. Every one is invited. Put you are doubly so with that offer.

[Jmvanness]

Going to pick up lights from Sherita here in a minute. A 36" 6 bulb t5ho and a 36" 2x t5ho and 2x mh (250w I think).

I'm only doing softies and a few lps... So I'm trying to find the right lighting for them to grow well and for me to be able to really enjoy their colors. I like the blue-ish tint, but not super blue light like I'm not running white at all. Here are some combos I've come up with through research. Tell me what you think.

blue+

blue+

Fiji purple

75/25

blue plus

or

3x aquablue specials

3x blue plus

or

2x specials

2x blue+

1x fiji purple

1x something else

I'm not particularly savvy about lights, so I'd love to know what you guys use and what you think of these combos.

[ckyuv]

3x blue+

1 coral+

1purple +

1 ge6500k

That's what ima try on my tank. I reead so many different things but I think that will fill the spectrum well. I'm also gona do sps so it might be diff

[subsea]

The color combos that you are choosing depend strictly on ascetics. Whatever looks good to you is what you should get.

I will address macro and photosynthesis using T5 and MH as a lighting source. Most macro want colors in the reds and yellows as well as the blue. You would do good to provide one 5K light source to include spectrum required for macro. Continue to add blue and purple until you like the effect.

Patrick

[Jmvanness]

Just an update pic, no fish in the tank after getting a really bad ich infestation and learning my lesson about quarantining. I'll try to get another with the nem at his fullest, but he's been finicky lately.

[Planeden]

Sorry to hear about the ick. Hope you can get your setup going soon.

[Jmvanness]

Long overdue updated with PICS!!! I hope you all like what I've done!

One half

The other half

My Starry Blenny. He has so much personality.

My Harlequin Tushfish, new cleaner wrasse, Sailfin (who's almost impossible to photograph, and one of the damsels.

My new favorite. Mimic Valentini Saddle Puffer Filefish!

Corals

Other inhabitants include pipefish, mollie miller blenny, lawnmower blenny, 2 occelaris clowns, bluethroat trigger male (also impossible to photograph), yellow eye kole tang (hides all the time, but is starting to settle in a bit), a figure eight puffer, a black capped jawfish, a hateful coral banded shrimp that I hope gets eaten or lets me catch him to donate to one of you, and a serpent star.

[Sascha D.]

It looks great!

Hopefully I'll be right behind you, but I didn't have the awesome start that you did. Well Done.

[Jmvanness]

Thanks Sascha! Let me know if there's anything I can help you with. I'm certainly not the most experienced in the group, but I'm always willing to help where and when I can.

[Jmvanness]

Bit the bullet today and got my new bulbs. 2x 12000K 2x superblue 1x uv 1x purple. Tank looks so much better. I also picked up a bubble coral that was doing well for $8. Dipped it and it came right out.

Before

After

Bubbles!

[Sascha D.]

I like the new lights better as well. So you got the T-5's instead of the LED? I think I'm going to go that route as well.