My 300 gallon acrylic tank

[jnarowe]

Decent ORP. Just take it slow. VERY slow.

 

[steve the plumb]

Yes I am so tempted to add another fish or 2 but I will wait.If I had added another 100 pounds of live rock I would have added another fish but as it stands I was happy to see that the fish are fine.I don't plan on adding any corals till the 4 or 6 month.I would like to get some inverts but I think its to soon.I can't wait to get my skimmer and lights so i can hook up the controller.I know I could hook it up now but I didn't want to bother having to re-program it.I want to see what the tank will look like with real lights and some coralline algae.I also want to see fish moving.Triggers are not exactly doing much since the tank is big and there are only 2 fish.My bluethroat went over to the niger to investigate.No harm was done.Both fish were fine.the niger seemed to try and show who was boss(not much of a show) but no fighting occurred nor did they looked stressed.They went along there routine.I can see both fish are a little shy since they were forced out of there tanks and shoved into mine.I can tell you this tank is pretty large for me but when i look at it I think to myself that I maybe should have gone 48"wide.My room isn't big enough witch its funny to say because I just got this tank and i am thinking bigger.My friend said its not to often when you go to someone's house to see his fish tank and you have to turn your head in order to see the entire tank.

 

[jnarowe]

If your tests are good for a couple of weeks, you could start with some zoanthids. That way you would have a little color, they will "encrust", and are extremely hard to kill.

If the trigger won't eat them, a cleaner shrimp or two would be nice. You have to acclimate them slowly, but then you would have something to pick up any food that gets to the bottom, plus they will be valuable later on for fish cleaning duty.

 

[steve the plumb]

The triggers should be fine.I had bluethroats and a niger before and they left the inverts alone.I won't get any zoos.I hate them because they grow like weeds.I know some are nice and all but growth becomes uncontrollable.

 

[steve the plumb]

I am waiting to order some snails from the states.They are so much cheaper there.I may get hermits but I find they always kill the snails or each other.Hermits are good for picking up leftover food

 

[jnarowe]

that's a good problem to have! I am going to propagate them in my system instead of a sand bed. Kind of like a meat eating wall-to-wall carpet. :eek2:

 

[jnarowe]

hermits are naughty little buggers and I don't recommend them for any reef.

 

[steve the plumb]

Thats why I don't think I will buy any hermits.I think they do more harm than good.With snails I can put them in my tank and leave some in my sump to breed.I also will have to buy some calerpa but its to early for that.I think the tank water is just to clean.

 

[steve the plumb]

Jnarowe I looked at the instructions for the hanna po 4 meter and there is no calibration that is done to the meter.You fill the test cuvet and place it in the meter then you take it out place the regent inside and wait until you get the reading.Its very easy to use.I have no phosphates in my water.I did install my old skimmer just for the hell of it.I don't think I need it at this time.I will probably lower those return lines because they do get in my way but I still want to see my skimmer first.The height of my skimmer is 42".Here is a pic of my tunze skimmer for now.

 

[steve the plumb]

 

[steve the plumb]

You can see that those return lines are in my way.I do think I will lower them to the height of the rim of the sump maybe a little lower than that.

 

[steve the plumb]

The beer box will go once my GFI plugs are installed.I am waiting for my buddy to pass by to install them(he offered)

 

[steve the plumb]

I bought some more fish 2 small skunk clowns,a fairy wrasse and a small clown tang.Clown tangs are aggressive but this guy is 2 1/2".I think it will take him a while to grow.

 

[jnarowe]

Those Tunze skimmers are a trip. How do you like it? It seems to me (and I have never used one) that the foam head would be constricted and actually have some downward pressure.

Clown tang?

I had the same problem with macro when I started my system. And that is good feedback on the Hanna meter. I wonder how reliable they are? I would figure them to be better than a chemical test, but how do we verify that?

 

[steve the plumb]

You would have to get a deltec test kit I would think.That or the millwauke color meter.I tested my water and the level is below zero.My reading is .22 and you are supposed to multiply that by .33 to get your phosphate reading in PO 4 .I have a regular PO 4 test kit I can try that but I don't think its as accurate.The hanna doesn't require any calibrating.You place tank water in the covet then place that in the meter.It scans it then you add the regent.Its pretty simple the only thing is your not supposed to get finger prints on the covet(it may inter fear with the reading).I did use my fingers because I didn't wear gloves but I still got a good reading.I wiped the covet before putting it in the meter.I assume this thing is accurate for $200.I hope it is.My tunze skimmer has those funnel shape so it pushes the foam into a bucket.I find this skimmer shuts down to long when you feed.This skimmer isn't worth the money to me.My tank is also to big for it.

 

[steve the plumb]

this is a clown tang he is hiding

 

[steve the plumb]

My fairy wrasse.I would have to look in my fish book to tell you witch species it is

 

[steve the plumb]

I think my bluethroat doesn't like him

 

[jnarowe]

fairy wrasses can hold their own. I wouldn't be worried about it and it can outswim the bluethroat easily.

I use the Deltec test kit but it is difficult to really determine the PO4 level because you are looking at color. Even the ambient light will change how the sample looks. What Hanna unit did you get? Got a link? I thought they were a lot nmore expensive than that.

 

[steve the plumb]

I know you can get it at custom its cheaper than what I paid
http://www.customaquatic.com/customaquatic/itemdetail.asp?itemid=DI-HI93713