Mike's 240 Peninsula Build

[mike810]

Man what's taking so long? I used microbactet7, and already have 5 fish in my 250.

I used dry rock and sand from marco rocks. I tried dr tims one and only and let it sit for a week. It didn't do anything, the ammonia I dosed to 2ppm stayed there with no signs of nitrite or hint of ammonia dropping. So I tried fritz zyme 9, I added that and later that day I saw nitrite. Still waiting on nitrites to drop lol.

How is your tank doing?

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Tanks Doing great. Still need to build my LEDs. Working on selling off my unwanted coral from my old tank. I wanna break down that tank and get rid of it.

I also started with 160lbs of dry sand and 150ish lbs of aquamaxx dry rock.

 

[bubblewood]

How do you like ur skimmer ?

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

I used the FritZyme to cycle my tank on 16 Nov 2013. I used the concentrated bottle that was rated at 250 gallons I think and I used semi cycled rock and dry sand. My tank cycled in 3 days believe it or not. But as they say everyone's tank is different. I transferred all the fish from my old tank to the new tank and I have been on cruise control ever since except for my mistake where I placed 20+ fish in fish heaven.

 

[mike810]

How do you like ur skimmer ?

I haven't been running the skimmer since there is nothing to skim. When I first filled up the tank and there was a bunch of sand particles floating around. It pulled out a lot of sand. Pretty amazing. Dead silent too and I mean DEAD SILENT

 

[mike810]

I used the FritZyme to cycle my tank on 16 Nov 2013. I used the concentrated bottle that was rated at 250 gallons I think and I used semi cycled rock and dry sand. My tank cycled in 3 days believe it or not. But as they say everyone's tank is different. I transferred all the fish from my old tank to the new tank and I have been on cruise control ever since except for my mistake where I placed 20+ fish in fish heaven.

Wow that is fast. Did you dose ammonia and then added the fritzyme or did you just add fritzyme then your fish? I'm hoping my tank will be done soon so I can go fish shopping. Already have several fishes waiting to go in the tank.

I'm sorry to hear about your accident. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened? Figure I and everyone else reading can learn from it or prevent it from happening. Thanks

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Mike's 240 Peninsula Build

Wow that is fast. Did you dose ammonia and then added the fritzyme or did you just add fritzyme then your fish? I'm hoping my tank will be done soon so I can go fish shopping. Already have several fishes waiting to go in the tank.



I'm sorry to hear about your accident. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened? Figure I and everyone else reading can learn from it or prevent it from happening. Thanks

I did not add ammonia to my tank. While I was transferring the fish over, I was adding the live rock from that tank to my sump(about 100 pounds) and added some choice pieces(about 75 pounds). So I believe that helped with the fast cycle.

When the new tank was running I was having a phosphate problem. They were reading .36 on Hanna checker and Red Sea test kit. On my last tank I use to dose LaCl to keep them in check. Well I ran out of the old bottle and had to get a new one. Long story short the bottle I got was commercial grade and not pool grade. So I burned them to their death. I did 50 gallon water changes every other day for a week and 100 gallon water changes at the end of every week. I did that for about a month until fish stopped dying. So that's my short story. I basically at that time didn't pay attention to what I was doing. But my phosphates are where I want them to be now and my tank is on cruise control.

Keep up the good work on your build. I'll be watching you.

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Wow that is fast. Did you dose ammonia and then added the fritzyme or did you just add fritzyme then your fish? I'm hoping my tank will be done soon so I can go fish shopping. Already have several fishes waiting to go in the tank.



I'm sorry to hear about your accident. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened? Figure I and everyone else reading can learn from it or prevent it from happening. Thanks

Throw in a fish from ur other tank, it will speed things up. I have a cardinal that I've had forever, he's a super hardy fish. I put him in after a week and he's been doing great. I swear it sped things up

 

[msderganc]

Throw in a fish from ur other tank, it will speed things up. I have a cardinal that I've had forever, he's a super hardy fish. I put him in after a week and he's been doing great. I swear it sped things up

Do not add any fish if you have detectable nitrites or ammonia, it's cruel and unnecessary. Dosing the tank with ammonia or just feeding the tank without any fish is much more effective. This hobby is about patience, and shortcuts usually have a price.

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Do not add any fish if you have detectable nitrites or ammonia, it's cruel and unnecessary. Dosing the tank with ammonia or just feeding the tank without any fish is much more effective. This hobby is about patience, and shortcuts usually have a price.

Speeding drivers kill hundreds if not thousands of people a year....does that stop u from speeding???


I know it's wrong, but I still do it.
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"

 

[mike810]

I did not add ammonia to my tank. While I was transferring the fish over, I was adding the live rock from that tank to my sump(about 100 pounds) and added some choice pieces(about 75 pounds). So I believe that helped with the fast cycle.

When the new tank was running I was having a phosphate problem. They were reading .36 on Hanna checker and Red Sea test kit. On my last tank I use to dose LaCl to keep them in check. Well I ran out of the old bottle and had to get a new one. Long story short the bottle I got was commercial grade and not pool grade. So I burned them to their death. I did 50 gallon water changes every other day for a week and 100 gallon water changes at the end of every week. I did that for about a month until fish stopped dying. So that's my short story. I basically at that time didn't pay attention to what I was doing. But my phosphates are where I want them to be now and my tank is on cruise control.

Keep up the good work on your build. I'll be watching you.

Wow that is a bummer for sure. At least your phosphate are where you want them to be now. Thank you, will keep moving forward and updating when I can. My 1yo son keeps me plenty busy.

 

[mike810]

Throw in a fish from ur other tank, it will speed things up. I have a cardinal that I've had forever, he's a super hardy fish. I put him in after a week and he's been doing great. I swear it sped things up

I won't be throwing any fish in the tank now. Nitrite and nitrates are thru the roof, it will be for sure an instant death for the fishes.

 

[mike810]

Do not add any fish if you have detectable nitrites or ammonia, it's cruel and unnecessary. Dosing the tank with ammonia or just feeding the tank without any fish is much more effective. This hobby is about patience, and shortcuts usually have a price.

When I tried Dr Tim's one and only, I got a bottle of pure ammonia which I dosed to 2-3ppm. Added his stuff and waited a week but nothing happened. Been waiting for ammonia to go down ever since. Well now it's down to zero but nitrite is thru the roof (5ppm +). Just waiting on nitrites to drop so we can stock the tank. Should I wait for nitrite to drop on its own or do a water change since it is so high?

 

[msderganc]

When I tried Dr Tim's one and only, I got a bottle of pure ammonia which I dosed to 2-3ppm. Added his stuff and waited a week but nothing happened. Been waiting for ammonia to go down ever since. Well now it's down to zero but nitrite is thru the roof (5ppm +). Just waiting on nitrites to drop so we can stock the tank. Should I wait for nitrite to drop on its own or do a water change since it is so high?

I would wait...the bacteria is catching up to the food source. It'll stay like that for a little while, then one day you'll wake up and it'll be gone. Some people raise the tank temp a little too increase bacterial reproduction, but I never saw that benefit. You could also continue to add other bacteria, specifically live, refrigerated ones, or some live rock from another system.

 

[mike810]

Changed out the electrical outlet to a GFCI outlet. Also installed a weather proof cover. The cover comes with a foam pad on the back to prevent water from reaching the outlet. I went ahead and ran a bead of silicone before I installed the cover for extra measure.

I also made three screens to cover my tank to prevent carpet surfers.

 

[mike810]

The stand was skinned today. It looks great, blends in real nice with our current furniture and flooring. Wife wanted a nice, simple and clean look. That is what she got. Not going to argue with that lol.

 

[lluv24]

Very nice;-)

 

[Aqua Chemist]

I like how the cabinet extends past the tank on each end

 

[Dreamer13]

Beautiful set up Mike, well done. I'll definitely be watching this one!

Cheers, Paul.

 

[mike810]

Very nice;-)

Thanks! The best part is all the doors are removable to make maintenance easier.

I like how the cabinet extends past the tank on each end

Thanks Chemist. I didn't want to patch the floor so I had my carpenter extend the cabinets on each end to cover the floors. Bonus is I get more cabinet space for a big ato reservoir etc.

Beautiful set up Mike, well done. I'll definitely be watching this one!

Cheers, Paul.

Thanks Paul. There is more to come!