teg Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Hi everyone, I'm totally new to saltwater, even more scary is that I have never had a freshwater tank either. I got this tank from a friend of mine; the maintenance guy crashed his whole tank so my friend just gave up saltwater. Before getting this tank from my friend, I had no intention of keeping an aquarium, let alone saltwater aquarium; but now I'm glad I got the opportunity to get into this hobby. The tank is custom make it's not rectangular but the rough measurements are 72x21x37; the 37" height really sucks, I can never reach the bottom of the tank with my arm. I started the cycle about 1 month ago, as you can see from the picture the tank is having diatom bloom right now. So I got about 50 snails from Mama few days ago, they seems to love the glass more than the diatom on the rocks and sand . I also got Zoas, buttons, urchin, cleaner shrimp and some other stuff from Mama; they all seems to be doing ok. I also got 1 clown in there, that have been there for almost 2 weeks. He seems to be doing fine, last time I checked my water parameters it was 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, ~10 Nitrate, and ~ 7.8 pH. I got those API test kit, so now sure how accurate the readings are on those levels. Everything I got in the tank seems to be doing OK so far (knock on wood). Here's my setup now, please let me know what you guys think. ~200 gal Tank. 55 gal sump, divided into 3 section, In -> refugium -> return; skimmer placed in the "In" section, got some cheato, calupra and mangrove in the refugium (thank you Reeflover for your macroalgae and live sand) Two 48" T5 fixture, total 8 bulbs 54w each. I'm planning to get 2 400w Metal halide in future. Only 1 power head in there right now, waiting for 2 more koralia 4 in the mail. Sorry for the long post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Nice looking tank! And it sounds like you are off to a good start. Hand in there, before you know it the diatoms will be gone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Welcome to the hobby, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Just realize at the outset that's it's addictive and can get expensive! Also remember to do things slowly, in a tank nothing good happens quickly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexKilpatrick Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 A lot of times diatoms are caused by the water you are using to make saltwater. Are you using tapwater, or do you have RO/DI? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ACampbell Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Welcome Teg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Hey Teg!!! I'm so glad you joined us...I know you will really enjoy everyone here and get the best advice. It was a pleasure meeting you and your wife yesterday. You tank is HUGE!! Keep us all posted with any questions or concerns. Mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Teg, Welcome to the addiction! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teg Posted November 23, 2009 Author Share Posted November 23, 2009 A lot of times diatoms are caused by the water you are using to make saltwater. Are you using tapwater, or do you have RO/DI? When I filled up the tank for the first time I used treated tap water, but I have RO/DI filter for future water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Welcome to the club!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 Welcome. The diatoms will go away with time. Try to do 10% water changes for several weeks to replace the original water with ro/di. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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