Dan H Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 UPS Delivery guys should just be renamed to Adult Santas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbaxter Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 Spent the evening rinsing sand in the backyard....since its already saturated. I added the dry rock from Marco Rocks and installed the MP40s. BML also fixed my lights. Cara delievered them to me since I had to take them back to have the channels fixed. I cant recommend them enough. Its certainly great to shop local. Now Im waiting...patiently....untill mid July for the sump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woods Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Why don't you fill it to below the overflow and get water running in it with the mp40s moving the water? That could start your cycle 6 weeks earlier... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Rockwork looks good. I'd take Woods's advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Do it. Peer pressure. Honestly, there's no real reason not to, you've got all you need to get started cycling. Just throw a few pieces of live rock in there, turn on the MP40's, and maybe toss in some mysis shrimp or something. Check params, and possibly do a WC if they get real out of whack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 +1 sump is totally unnecessary to the cycle right now. Crank powerheads up to 11 on reef crest, leave the lights off, toss in a cocktail shrimp and maybe some rubble from Ty's sump! ...oh and enjoy the dead raccoon smell for a couple days once the ammonia spikes lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbaxter Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 Thats exactly the plan....Im making water up now to fill er up. More pics soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Sweet. Now things are starting to get exciting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woods Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Congrats! The tank and rock work look great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbaxter Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 Going up.....Lake Travis style.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 If you're going Lake Travis style, you need to add some boats, and lots of debris. I may have to swing by soon. Check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbaxter Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 Your welcome any time. Ill be home all weekend. My wife is in MI with friends for the weekend so just me and my boys. Once I get it full I think it'll be good to have you help me test the water and get the cycle started and understand where I go from here. The RODI is still cranking out water and Im about a third full. Plus it would be great to meet a fellow Michigander! Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Sure. When would you be around tomorrow? My only plan is to do some riding if the rain cooperates so my day is mostly free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbaxter Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 Sounds good. Ill PM you with details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbaxter Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 Last weekend i was able to get water in most of the tank. Its to within about 3 inches of the overflow and coving the rock. Ive also contacted Eco-Tech Marine to get a new Dry side for one of my MP40QD's. The right side is really loud. Its definitely a bearing. The left pump is near silent. The right sounds like a failing hard drive. I also cleaned up the BML Light cabling mess behind my tank and labeled every wire . I used a leftover piece of MDF to make a mounting board for the drivers and the rest of the wiring. I just set them all on the board, drilled a few holes for zip ties and then set the whole thing on my undercabinet light rails. I have some wire management to tackle yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 You get any live rock in there yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbaxter Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 I have not. I decided to wait a bit and try the cocktail shrimp first. I thought that might be the best approach since I dont have any additional filtration for a few more weeks. I think it might be best to take it slow and add a few pieces of LR once Im a week or 2 out from my sump/skimmer. In the mean time, I've had a shrimp in there for 3 days and the tank is show .25 ppm for ammonia and Im not showing any nitrate yet. Im really just a little gun shy of putting LR in there given that Im 4-6 weeks away from my sump. At this point I have nothing but time so I may as well use it to my advantage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Maybe I'm missing the point but the whole point of starting the cycle was to seed your live rock with bacteria. If you have no rock in there, you're only seeding the surfaces of the glass tank, which comparatively in surface to the rock, is barely anything. Or do you have sand in there you're seeding? Sorry if it's a dumb question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 He's already got dry rock in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbaxter Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 Dan's correct. I have Marco rocks curing/cycling with the lights off. Ill add a few pieces of LR to seed it once I get closer to my sump build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Oh, I gotcha. You do have some rock in there. Sorry, just had to say something because I thought it was just shrimp in an empty tank. Haha. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 I would love to see a pic of a 200+ gallon tank with nothing but a single cocktail shrimp in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbaxter Posted June 21, 2015 Author Share Posted June 21, 2015 lol! We'll I took the shrimp out after about 6 days. It was starting to fall apart and cloud up the water. I stopped this week and picked up a few pieces of live rubble and a scoop of sand. That seemed to do the trick as the ammonia was undetectable after a day or 2. I picked up a QT this week and made a trip to the LFS today to pick up a couple new tenants. A pair of Oceillaris Clowns, A tiny Blue Tang and a Flame Angel. I bought another EB8, cleaned up some of the wiring, and bought a cheap Dlink webcam and mounted it in the sump area and plan to pick up a FOSCAM or similar in the next couple weeks. And I talked with Jeff at Lifereef and Im due for my sump,skimmer,refugium build the first week in July but need to wait for my CARX. He is building those in late July or early August. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Watch the qt closely for ammonia. If you see any, do a pretty large water change (25-50%) Also if your using prazipro, try a slightly less than recommended dose. It's pretty hard on the fish and I've noticed our fish were looking really unhappy on full dose. I'm only doing a half dose now and that seems to be much appreciated by the fish. It's getting so close, you can almost smell it, or is that just the rotting shrimp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Oh, and you definitely can start the system without the CaRX. I wouldn't wait for that to give it a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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