nineball
Active member
I think we are all with you NewSchool. We'd all like to see this tank mature.
Peter
Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)
- Thread starter nineball
- Start date
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I think we are all with you NewSchool. We'd all like to see this tank mature.
Peter
mr.wilson
.Registered Member
Peter has been very upfront with the fact that this is all new to him. He's showing us all of his cards "warts and all" as he goes through the learning curve. He has approached this with an open ear and wallet and hired one of the premier aquarium manufacturers (ATM) along with a local experienced installer.
Big tanks are much easier to handle than small hobby sized ones. Having said that, with big tanks you get big problems but Peter has no shortage of advice here.
There are lots of modifications that would make it "better" and even more that would make it "different" but it will still get the job done the way it stands now.
nineball
Active member
Thanks Givatcho........with all the ideas floating here it's sometime hard for me to 'join the dots'. Thanks now it makes perfect sense, and a warm welcome to our group.
Peter
nineball
Active member
Thank you Mr Wilson, I think, no, I hope your comments reflect the prevailing spirit in this group. This was bound to happen and as I suggested at the outset, lets let the mods deal with it. Anyone with more that six thousand posts knows what the culture will support, encourage and what it won't.
To say it one last time;
Humour is always encouraged
Respect is always given and expected
A clash of ideas is accepted
personal attacks are NEVER welcome and is the exclusive domain of the mods to identify and respond.
The culture in this thread so far, in my opinion, has absolutely been acting and participating with the highest standards and protocols. I have said it before and I repeat ..........I am very proud of this group and we will let the mods help us keep it this way.
Please don't respond to anyone who can't accept these simple requests. Let the mods do it.
Thanks Mr Wilson, as usual, you are sharp and to the point.
Peter
swissgaurd
New member
you dont need to hold the rock in at the same salinity as your going to keep your reef tank at
the rock will do fine at a salinty from 1.021 to 1.026.Actually some have done at lower levels.
liverock is tougher than we think
personaly when ive cured rock ive done it at 1.022. with no ill effects/
peter please dont forget to wear rubber gloves when handling the rock.
vic
chingchai
Premium Member
Peter. Hope this helps.
How To Cure Live Rock
You need the following equipment:
- suitable size container (plastic garbage cans work well)
- protein skimmer (it will get a major workout)
- powerheads
- good quality salt mix
- a small scrub brush
- ammonia, nitrite, nitrate test kits
The basic method is as follows.
- scrub off any sponges and soft corals that have turned black
- water should have pH at 8.2-8.4 and S.G. at 1.023-1.025
- no lights for 7-10 days to avoid an algae bloom (high nutrients)
- keep water heated (74-80oF)
- do not do any water changes until Ammonia and Nitrites tests both read zero. Then do a 50-
75% water change, vacuuming up as much loose sediment as possible.
- provide plenty of water movement within the container (powerheads)
- provide plenty of oxygenation in the water (done by skimmer which will need frequent cleaning)
The curing process will take 2-4 weeks depending on the amount of die-off on your rock and the
effectiveness of your protein skimmer.
A simple but very effective treatment for eliminating unwanted critters in your Live Rock is to dip
each piece in a bucket of very saline water (SG 1.030) for a few moments. Mantis shrimp will quickly
evacuate the rock. Bristle worms will also crawl out and can be pulled from their holes with a pair of
tweezers.
nineball
Active member
Thsnks Vic, Especially the part about the rubber gloves..... I think I'm sitting at 1.022 at the moment. I letting the temp rise to 85 assuming that it will drop very quick when the rock goes in. I will try and maintain 76-78 for the duration.
nineball
Active member
Thanks Chingchai, this is great stuff. I can see my way through everything but the toothbrush and tweezer part. that's 2200 lbs..... that weighs more than my golf cart!!!!!!!
but if you guys say its gotta be done....I guess I have no choice.
Peter
bhammer
Addicted User
Peter,
Just wear some heavy duty gloves and your favorite beverage(s).
I have gotten good cuts from rock. You don't want to deal with a possible nasty infection from the rock and nasty stuff.
iluzhun
New member
peter try a nail brush. you can get them at walmart or the like. It is like a toothbrush on steroids. It will make brushing the rock much easier by far.
chingchai
Premium Member
Peter. You are always welcome.
By the way, do you already have your fish guy yet?
I don't think you can do everything by yourselves. It is too tough.:fun2:
Reefski's
Active member
cartridge filters and pool filters are not made for environments with lots of debris in the water. they are made for swimming pools with little debris in the water. they will clog too quickly in a reef tank and be a maintenance nightmare.
most public aquariums, like Atlantis Marine World, use a bead filter such as you would find on a koi pond to filter out particulates. these still need frequent backwashing.
in most of the videos i have seen of wild reefs there is a lot of particulates in the water. i think that is a good thing and will feed your fish and corals.
less technology-more biology.
contrary to popular belief skimmers have been shown not to add to the oxygenation of the water nearly as much as a powerhead pointed at the surface.
http://reefvideos.com/ see the lecture by Eric Borneman.
a must read in my opinion is "The Reef Aquarium" VolIII by Sprung and Delbeek for anyone setting up an aquarium. fantastic reference book
there is also a great chapter in "Reef Invertebrates" by Anthony Calfo about live rock and curing it.
low salinity and temps will kill of invertebrates such as small crustaceans, sponges and other critters that haven't already died in transit. also high ammonia levels will kill them too. if you want them to survive keep the levels of them low during the curing phase. don't just wait for the ammonia to reduce to zero. you will have bacteria left to process ammonia but not much else as it has been poisoned by the ammonia and nitrite.
i would do lots of water changes and keep temps up near 80-82 like the water the rock came from.
2200 pounds seems like a lot of rock for your tank. keep making that salt water. this is a very critical part of the tank building phase. take your time. i don't think 2-3 weeks is long enough to really deal with all the die off on the LR.
http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic23945-9-1.aspx
Carl
most public aquariums, like Atlantis Marine World, use a bead filter such as you would find on a koi pond to filter out particulates. these still need frequent backwashing.
in most of the videos i have seen of wild reefs there is a lot of particulates in the water. i think that is a good thing and will feed your fish and corals.
less technology-more biology.
contrary to popular belief skimmers have been shown not to add to the oxygenation of the water nearly as much as a powerhead pointed at the surface.
http://reefvideos.com/ see the lecture by Eric Borneman.
a must read in my opinion is "The Reef Aquarium" VolIII by Sprung and Delbeek for anyone setting up an aquarium. fantastic reference book
there is also a great chapter in "Reef Invertebrates" by Anthony Calfo about live rock and curing it.
low salinity and temps will kill of invertebrates such as small crustaceans, sponges and other critters that haven't already died in transit. also high ammonia levels will kill them too. if you want them to survive keep the levels of them low during the curing phase. don't just wait for the ammonia to reduce to zero. you will have bacteria left to process ammonia but not much else as it has been poisoned by the ammonia and nitrite.
i would do lots of water changes and keep temps up near 80-82 like the water the rock came from.
2200 pounds seems like a lot of rock for your tank. keep making that salt water. this is a very critical part of the tank building phase. take your time. i don't think 2-3 weeks is long enough to really deal with all the die off on the LR.
http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic23945-9-1.aspx
Carl
nineball
Active member
I think I might have a possible good referral for a full time qualified person. I am following in your footsteps. I decided to go with a full time resource for the first year and get all the systems working and balanced. I'm hoping that we can develop enough efficiencies to reduce the amount of manpower required to maintain a quality result. You have done very well in that regard. You are an example to us all.
My local fish guy will take me through the initial deployment. He's done very well so far and I expect I will get a good start.......But it sure does call for a steep learning curve.
Peter
nineball
Active member
Thanks carl. It is too much rock for the display tank for sure. I will have some left over for the three Mars units and if appropriate for the open system. My hope is that I have enough variety to have maximum flexibility in aquascaping the four island architectures. If the rock requires more time I will take it. I've been this patient so far...........I'm not about to change course. I have the book you referenced....I guess its time to dust it off.
Peter
I like what chingchai said about the rock. I was going to say that you should just store your rock at the same salinity as you are going to keep your tank. I dont have much experiance with this, but that is what I would do. Thanks for sharing this with everyone. Oh ya, all good things have to have a couple haters and many jealous people. I will be honest, I am very jealous. But in no way will I ever degrade something as beautiful as this. Thanks for taking care of everything with such class. Good luck and I really can't wait for more pictures. Haha
Hydrologist
New member
Simply amazing. I wish I would have found this thread when it first started, it took me quite some time to read through it and I am still processing all the information. This tank is an inspiration to us all who invest countless hours and time into this wonderful hobby.
Look forward to the progress,
Dave
Look forward to the progress,
Dave
nineball
Active member
No, the QT system is a totally separate isolated tank easy to maintain and 'sterilize' on a continuous basis. The Mars system would be too cumbersome to clean up and maintain as a QT environment.
Also the Mars system is really two units comprised of a double and a single system. My plan currently is to use the smaller one for coral propagation and sort of an ideal environment to improve healthy coral for rotation into the main display tank as I have learned from watching you.......:beer: The lighting modifications will be extensive and each system has its own chiller and refugium. The pumps for each system control the flow in each separate tank but are universal to all the tanks in each complete system. I will run top off to the Mars Bars from the RO reservoir. They will not be plumbed into the main DT because I want to be able to fine tune each Mars Bar according to its purpose without regard to a negative impact on the main DT.
The double Mars system will be used mainly for fish. I suspect there will be times I will not be able to put or keep certain fish in the main display tank so I will still have a safe and healthy environment for them. I would also like to have the capability as knowledge and experience will allow to raise certain varieties of fish on my own but that is an ideal that will take some time and alot of experience. Oh and courage...lots and lots of courage.
I was also very impressed with your approach to your softie tank. Although I do NOT have the skill or knowledge to maintain the softies as you have so often said "don't try this at home" :hmm3::spin2:
, I was really taken with your idea of incorporating a smaller specialized display tank in your fish room. My hope is that the Mars bars will allow as interesting environment to develop over time as the main display. I might experiment with the remote deep sand bucket for the mars systems as well so I can the majority of tanks bare bottom......but I'm getting ahead of my self. For the moment I am focused on receiving my custom Diamond pool table tonight.........this has been along time coming. Cliff and I plan to christen it with a vintage beaujulais.........
Peter
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