My New Tank

[+capty99]

This is a long post. Thats the reef obsession kicking in again :

I picked up a 55 gallon from Firefly and promised Mhart I would build a heck of a reef out of it since it almost went to him and so I am setting up a new tank as we speak.

I used the basic DIY stand template from reef central and put that together yesterday , just finished throwing some polyurethane on it to waterproof it and it's looking pretty solid. I'm gonna hold off on skinning it until I can get my dad down here to help me with the detail work, as a college senior I don't have the tools built up yet in my toolbox to complete it correctly. So, for a little while its the 2x4 look.

Anyways, I've been cleaning and re-sealing the aquarium just to be on the safe side. So far I'm having some trouble with the cleaning part. I did get the front pane of glass clear, and am happy with that, but no concoction I can come up with can clear off the sides and back. (so i'm guessing they are a different material or something....) I guess i'm not real worried about the back, but the sides will be viewable and I'm not happy with where they are. Help me out. I've done a store-bought aquarium cleaner, i've done a 50/50 vinegar + water mix in a half full tank and let it sit for a while, and then i sprayed the whole thing with vinegar. no amount of razor work seems to clear it off. I guess its just salt creep, its a white film that you can't feel with your fingers. When I fill the tank up with water its barely noticeable, but since i'm noticing it now I will notice it forever, better do it right the first time.

Secondly, what kind of lighting am I going to need on here. I really like the MH I have on my 10 gallon nano right now, the way it looks and works. So is a MH / PC combo my best bet? What kind of wattage do I look for in both? Probably going to start a cycle next weekend so I've got a little time to look around.

I'm sure I'm gonna have more questions as I start plumbing it tomorrow.

[GKarshens]

Try some Muriatic Acid on the cleaning it. Just be careful when mixing it with the water. You want the water in first. Let it soak overnight. Then empty and try scraping with water and a razor blade.

A MH would work or T5s. Or a combo. I would not use PCs at all. They are not efficient and the bulbs wear out faster. As for wattage. A 250w MH would work perfectly and may be a little overkill. If you are using T5s for actinics I would just get the correct length and not worry too much about the wattage.

[medi]

I agree about the T5 MH combo. I currently run MH with PCs and am not impressed with the output nor the lifespan of the PCs. T5s provide much more variety in bulb spectums than is currently produced with the PCs. Also, T5 bulb are generally cheaper that PCs.

[+capty99]

Thanks on the lighting info, will do t5, honestly thats what I meant i dunno why my fingers put PC. I'm gonna build the hood as well, is it possible to incorporate my 75 w MH into the mix with a T5 set (4?) or is 75 just not going to be enough penetration. I realize it would almost be a spotlight but might be a temporary solution...... Tank is a 55 long so 48x13x 20 tall .

[+capty99]

Can I just say I'm a DIY whiz kid?

I've never before plumbed (thanks alot Dad) -- never before done any real woodwork besides the really basic stuff (thanks AGAIN Dad) and definitely never done anything electrical (I'll give him this one - if he had taught me I would have blown myself up) and I've done all three of those in the past week thanks to a new tank. I'm thinking these are life lessons any 23 year old should have, things I learned :

a) make a list for home depot, no matter how smart you are, you will forget and then come home with the wrong pvc fittings. Luckily I live close by, but I won't say how many trips I made because its comical.

wood is not ok to be "pretty straight" -- screw the home depot employee waiting on you.. dig through the pile for the good stuff.

c) while setting up a table to cut all your pvc inside so you can watch football sounds like a GREAT idea, it is not. Cleanup is impossible.

d) any corner you try to cut results in an hour to two hours later you worrying about it causing your stand to collapse and you go and undue it, and do it the right way. it would be better to do it the right way from the start.

e) power tools are awesome and you should collect more of them.

ANYWAYS -- Question time

I built the stand, plumbed it, filled it with water , and sand in record time. Normally a bad thing but since I planned it for a while I'm in a good position. So, the sand is from an established tank of 2+ years (thanks fellow austin reefer) and since he had a 110, in my 55 I have a DSB... so gonna try something new with that. Then there is some sand from my 10g nano, and my LR from that. The water is 90% new, the rest from the other tank. What kind of cycle should I be expecting from this? I'm gonna drop in some dry rock I think, and just seed it with the LR I already have in there so tank won't be up for a while, just wondering.

Heating issues - I know a lot of you guys have chillers. I've never had heat problems because of the small tank, but I've also never had pumps in there. How much heat does a pump put off? or is it the bigger light systems that put out the majority of the heat?

[Rgwiz11]

Here's what happened with my 75g. It's not a 55, so I'm sure your times will be different. Also, all tanks aren't going to go through their cycles the same way and in the same amount of time. With that disclaimer out of the way ...

75g tank arrived, we filled with water and sand (didn't use live sand). At this point we also added a phosphate filter to get those nasties out of the water.

Took about 4-5 days for the water to clear up, at this point we tested our salinity and made sure it was where we wanted it. I wouldn't think you would want to test the salinity with the sand still in solution as that can mess you up big time, especially if you use a hydrometer.

We added one ~15lb piece of LR to start seeding the sand. Gave the tank about a week and tested our parameters. Everything was through the roof But, this is to be expected as you're going to have some material dying off the LR you put in and it will take time for the bacteria to catch up and "de-nitrify" it.

After two weeks, we found a great deal on some LR and put in another ~100lbs of it. This put our cycle into overdrive. There was a HUGE ammonia spike about 3 days after we put it in, but we quickly saw those levels begin to drop as our bacteria was developing. We continued to watch our levels closely and saw the regular dips and rises in our levels.

Finally, after another 2 weeks our levels were starting to maintain themselves. Ammonia was staying at zero, nitrites were at zero, nitrates were holding steady (~40ppm). Time for our first water change!

We did a 20% water change and tested our parameters again 2 days after. Ammonia still at zero, Nitrites still at zero, Nitrates down to ~20ppm.

That's where I'm at with the tank currently, so the cycle isn't completely done yet, but it's getting there. Total time from when I put my first piece of live rock in to this point has been about 4 weeks.

We are planning another water change this weekend, so long as our parameters stay near where they are at to help bring that nitrate level down further. Then we'll be putting in the CUC.

As I said, though, each tank is going to be different. A co-worker of my roommate started his new tank the same time we started ours and he is still having trouble getting his parameters where he needs them to be.

On average, I'd say you'll be looking at anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 weeks minimum, but I'm no expert

Just keep testing the water and watching those numbers.

[caferacermike]

Instead of using a hacksaw to cut PVC, had you bought a PVC knife, you could have watched the game sans mess.

[GKarshens]

Thanks for the laugh Capty. I can relate to many of your life lessons.

The length of your cycle will depend on a couple things. Did you clean the sand? If not it will depend on how dirty it was and how much it was stirred up in the moving process. I personally would never use old sand from another tank because when you move it you disturb the denitrifying process and partially decomposed matter will no be exposed to oxygen in the new water and start producing ammonia. This process of breaking down and starting over could take a while depending on how old the sand was and how dirty it was. I prefer to use new sand and seed it with a cup from someone who's tank I trust or just from the live rock. Since you are already into it I would measure your parameters often and go from there. You also might want to do some research on DSB v SSB. They are very different in the care they require.

As for heat, it will depend on the pumps you choose and the temp you keep your house. I have never ran a chiller on my 125. I am able to keep the temp stable with computer fans in my canopy. Just as an example on the difference in pumps. I switched my return from a Mag 9.5 to an Eheim 1262. Even though the Eheim produces more flow the temp in my tank dropped at least a degree.

[diabeetus]

wood is not ok to be "pretty straight" -- screw the home depot employee waiting on you.. dig through the pile for the good stuff.

woah! first, never go to home depot. as an employee of lowe's, and a fellow craftsman, i know that no one will want crooked lumber; i feel ya there. i always pick the best lumber for my customers just shop at lowe's on 620 and 183 by walmart for your lumber and ask for me (Corey in Lumber) and ill set you up!

that goes for everyone here i love to help my fellow hobbyist !

[+capty99]

ha, i appreciate it, i live at 38th, and the home depot is at 42nd i believe, you really can't beat the commute but yes, their lumber guy was lacking. I will give props to the guy in plumbing though who helped me out. If I do another stand I'll swing by the lowe's though.

thanks for the answers everyone, appreciated

[mFrame]

Seconds on getting a PVC knife, it's so much faster and cleaner than using a hacksaw.