So I've been long overdue for an update...
Let's see, my leak in my drain line plugged itself with salt creep. It only took a week and I was planning on fixing it right, but not anymore.
I cycled my tank with some bacteria that I got from a LFS. I got my live rock from a AndySTL so I wasn't sure if I needed to even wait for a cycle and I definitely wasn't sure about the bacteria, but I thought I'd trust it. Anyway, I didn't see any cycle in the few days between adding the bacteria, so I bought a couple clownfish. I did see an algae bloom, so I also got 10 turbo snails and a powder blue tang and a shrimp. All the fish have been doing well over the past few weeks. The PBT doesn't stop eating and he basically eats and poops constantly. He looks very fat and happy. The algae is getting under control as well.
A sad story is that I bought a diamond goby last weekend and he jumped over night we think. I don't know if the PBT spooked him or what. He seemed scared of him a little when I got him in the tank, but he had a good hiding spot under a rock. Sucks having a fish jump. I may have to look into a temporary netting over the tank if I ever decide to try another fish that's known to sometimes jump.
My water conditions as of Tuesday were:
Salinity: 1.025
Nh4 / NO2 / NO3 are all 0.
Ph: 8.4
Calcium: 430
Alk: 6.0
Mag 1365.
I've dosed Mag a little over a week ago and calcium last weekend. Still need to bring it up a little more, but once I got my Alk supplement in the mail, I felt I needed to start bringing it up slowly. I started BRS Alk Recipe 2 a couple days ago and I plan on testing today and seeing where I'm at. I'm using a pretty new Salifert kit and comparing the results with a ELOS kit. I'm not sure I like the ELOS kit since it's not very acurate, so I plan to possible get a Lamotte Alk test kit. Can someone comment on if the Lamotte kit is precise like the Salifert kit?
One of the big questions I have right now is if my skimmer is working properly. I have problems getting the skimmate to overflow into the cup unless I restrict the flow enought to bring the water line almost to the top. Where do you experienced folks have your water lines at in your skimmers? I'm wondering if I should mod my pump impeller or something to make it perform better. I do get some nasty stuff to collect on the inside of the skimmate cup, but my dryer bubble column is only an inch or two at best. Any advice?
Here's some of my planned changes to the tank:
I plan on getting a sand sifting star fish soon to help with keeping the sand detruis (sp?) free.
I'd like to get a RBTA for my clownfish. Anyone have one of these for sale in the Troy, IL area?
I plan on replacing the center rock with one big piece. I'll be looking on craigslist for a 25 - 30lb centerpiece. If I can find what I'm looking for my rockwork will basically be three big rocks and a few smaller pieces.
I plan on changing my sump design a little. I think I'm going to add a fourth baffle to help prevent micro-bubbles and so I can run my return pump a little faster. I would have never thought micro bubbles could travel down through water like they do. I currently have the return flow dialed back quite a bit.
I plan on possibly switching over to flex hose for my return plumbing. I wish I had just done this to begin with. The tank is pretty noisy so far and I think the switch to flex hose will help big with that. I have questions about this though. How do I attach flex hose to a ball valve and how do I split my return into two lines?
I also plan on getting a MP40 sometime in the future. (April is my birthday, so hopefully then.) I think the broader flow will help with keeping things on the bottom stirred up more. Plus i like the options for feeding time and wave making.
Ok, enough with this post, here's some pics below...
