My new (used) tank

[Mariner]

Well, as promised I want to update everyone on the tank I got from Jason.
It is a custom made acrylic tank -- it is a "flat hex" shaped tank 30" high, 5' long and 18" back to front. We weren't sure of the volume, but after considerable searching on the internet I found a site that figures volume for this shape tank. Anyway, it's right at 130 gallons +sump.
Jason was great to deal with and really went the extra mile (or 40 miles ) helping me move it and get it set up.
Here's a pic.

Jason included about 70lbs of LR with the deal, and that's what you see in the pic. I'm planning on moving the LR from my 40 into this tank as soon as it stabilizes.
It had some T-5 lights on it, but they were not going to be enough for a reef, so I put my 400w MH fixture in the canopy, and saved the 24" T-5 to use for actinic.
The new skimmer that I won at CRA Saturday is up and running. It's already pulling gunk.
We had to pull the sandbed when we moved the tank, and I don't know if it was the thing to do, but after rinsing it out a little and discarding some of the worst of it, I reused the sand. Today nitrates are 40+ , so I'm going to have to get those down before I can even think about moving the contents of my 40g into this tank. Any suggestions on this would be welcomed. Water changes are obvious, but what other measures would you guys recommend?
Mariner

 

[stephish]

Mriner it looks great!!! do you have any macro algae you can put in there temporarily? it'll help with the nitrates

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I second macroalgae as well. I am sure Beaslbob will definitely agree with that, too

The tank looks great, Mariner. Are you planning on a mixed reef?

Tomoko

 

[Mariner]

I have a small ball of chaeto in my 40g that I could stick in there, but it may not be enough to make a dent.
Is there any sort of nitrate sponge that anyone would recommend?
Yes, I'm planning a mixed reef, and may stay mainly with softies still. The system doesn't have a calc reactor and I just can't see adding enough calc/alk additives to this much water to keep up with a tank full of stoney corals.
Mariner

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I've used Seachem's Denitrater 4 -5 years ago for my 15G, but it did not do much, and my nitrate was only 10 ppm.

I hear that Patriot School (an alternative school in Madison city school system) in Madison has more than enough Chaeto to spare. If you are coming to Madison soon, I will try to talk the principal into giving you some Chaeto (he offered me to come pick them up before.) You and he can probably meet up at CRA on a weekend. WEEC is not producing much Chaeto ever since they installed a phosphate reactor.

Tomoko

 

[Riner]

Awesome looking tank! Good Luck with it!

The stand and canopy look very well made.

I have also used the Seachem stuff and it did OK, but If I had to do it over again I would have just saved my money and bought a BIG ball of chaeto.

Good Luck!

 

[The0wn4g3]

Nice tank!
I used to help do maintenance on a tank that looked almost exactly like that... The owners had puffers and boxfish if I remember correctly. I wonder if it's the same one. I don't know how common acrylic tanks like that are. I think it had an acrylic hood, and not a canopy.

 

[Mariner]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12586682#post12586682 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The0wn4g3
Nice tank!
I used to help do maintenance on a tank that looked almost exactly like that... The owners had puffers and boxfish if I remember correctly. I wonder if it's the same one. I don't know how common acrylic tanks like that are. I think it had an acrylic hood, and not a canopy.

It does have an acrylic top underneath the canopy, but my understanding is that it came out of a restaurant in the Shoals area, but I could be wrong about that. Jason (Yellow Fin 19) has had it for several months and he got it from them.
Mariner

 

[mltmtascp]

Nice Tank! You are a brave soul to put a tank on carpet.

 

[8BALL_99]

OOO nice.. looks like the stand and canopy are cabinet grade!

Come on Mariner your not a nooby.. You know a proper cycle just takes time lol. So are you taking down the 40 and 75 or do you plan on keeping all of them up?
Will

 

[Mariner]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12592118#post12592118 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 8BALL_99
OOO nice.. looks like the stand and canopy are cabinet grade!

Come on Mariner your not a nooby.. You know a proper cycle just takes time lol. So are you taking down the 40 and 75 or do you plan on keeping all of them up?
Will

Hehehe...yeh, a cycle takes time, but hey, we used the same water, LR, and sand that was in the tank and there's not been anything else in it for awhile, soooooooo I was hoping for little to no cycle Oh well.
I did get a big ball of Chaeto and caulerpa from CRA today, so hopefully things will improve quickly.
I'm impatient because I am taking down the 40 and putting everything in it in the new tank. My wife really doesn't want two fish tanks in her dining room.
The stand is very nice -- made by Tenecor according to the sticker, but the bracing on the inside is pressboard. Some of it has started to desintegrate from moisture, and I had to replace a whole piece of bracing in the canopy with plywood.
Mariner

 

[stolaas]

Very nice looking tank. I have thought about a nano tank shaped like that.

I'm surprised you didn't just use water from your 75g.

I guess algae will take nitrates away :rolleye1:

Can't wait to see fish in it Does this mean July's meeting is at your place?

 

[H@rry]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12597058#post12597058 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stolaas
Does this mean July's meeting is at your place?

Yeah, what about that? We've never been to your house. Let us know pretty quick. Some of us need to start saving gas money. I put $59.22 worth of gas in my car yesterday.

 

[stolaas]

59.22?!?!?!!?!? I put $123 in my truck yesterday!!! Its diesel though but still crazy!

 

[Mariner]

Yes, I'd like to have a meeting here. Not sure if July will be good, especially if this tank doesn't finish its cycle before then!
Nitrates were ~80 this morning, although Ammo and Nitrites are both undetectable. I left a good bit of filter media (several bags of carbon, GFO, filter pads etc) in the sump when we set the tank up. Jason said "this is still good stuff," and I figured it might help pull out any of the really nasty gunk from the move. I'm wondering if it isn't starting to be the proverbial "nitrate factory" though. I'm thinking of starting to pull some of it out. Opinions?
Mariner

 

[H@rry]

I never use GFO so I can't comment on that. I'd leave the carbon and rinse the filter pads every day and skim pretty "aggressively". You should be fine by July.

 

[8BALL_99]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12598421#post12598421 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by H@rry
Yeah, what about that? We've never been to your house. Let us know pretty quick. Some of us need to start saving gas money. I put $59.22 worth of gas in my car yesterday.

I put 3.1 Gallons in my bike yesterday after going 155 miles Still cost me 10 bucks though.. Round about 53MPG! To bad the truck gets about 16MPG and cost freaking 75 bucks to fill up... I really miss the 99 cent gas from just a few years ago...

Will

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Here's Beaslbob's comment on your nitrate situation:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just a thought from my experience such as it is. (either my experience or my thoghts. LOL)

If there is sufficient plant life like the corraline on the rocks, then no ammonia or nitrIte spikes will be noticed. But it is possible to get a nitrate spike. I almost always have immediate nitrates on my tanks which are set up with live plants (FW) or macro algaes (marine).

What may be happening is the tank is generating ammonia, and that ammonia is being consumed by the algae. Algae, macros, and (FW) plants much prefer to use ammonia for nitrogen and actually use less energy that way. Just that in established (cycled) tanks the ammonia is being reduced by the aerobic bacteria so the only source of nitrogen to the plant life is nitrates.

But with the nitrogen comming from the ammonia, the plant life consumes less nitrates so you get nitrates durng the cycle while the aerobic bacteria builds up.

Then a few weeks later the nitrates start falling as more and more of the ammonia is being reduced by the bacteria.

So you might just wait a few weeks and see if the nitrates drop down. Along with the phosphates.

To me it sounds like a pretty normal (planted tank) cycle to me.

my .02

Bob

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Here's my (Tomoko's) comment:

The sand bed may be the culprit for the high nitrate, if it has a lot of old mulm/detritus trapped in it. I wonder if you can use something like a Python to clean up your sand bed more. It seems to me that you don't have very many rocks in your new tank to make much difference to a nitrate reduction or accumulation.

If your tank gets fuzzy with hair algae because of your high nitrate, you can always let you tang go to town in it. Æ'º

As Beaslbob pointed out (or rambled about), plants and algae prefers ammonia over nitrate up to a certain point, but they should eventually consume your nitrate. I guess you just need to be patient, keep doing water changes and let the algae do their job. As you know very well, the usual recommendation for a relatively new tank is a few large water changes back to back. If you can somehow clean the sand bed, it might help, too.

Good luck,

Tomoko

 

[The0wn4g3]

Is the sand "live"? I've found tanks cycle faster if you don't add sand until everything else has been established. After moving sometimes a lot of detritus will be loosed and eventually fall to the sandbed. If it's not live, you could just vacuum it all out, give it a good cleaning ,and put it back. If it is live, you could remove and clean 1/4, wait a few days, and remove and clean another 1/4, etc.
High nitrates after a move is just normal really, it should be gone in a week. Keep filter pads clean and fresh carbon will do it =)
If you really want to speed it up, TLC and SAT are excellent bacterial products that help with cycles and nitrate removal naturally (no chemicals).