New 125 On The Block - Watch The Process! *Pictures Inside*

[NewSchool04]

masterswimmer, what brand is your tank, specs please!

TJ, I'm looking forward to some new pics w/ the rock. After fuxin with them. . .get your hand out of the tank!. . what do you think about the rock, do you recommend it? I know it's knew, I'm lookin' for a first thought.

 

[TJcop]

Too....hard....to...keep...hands....out.....gotta....move....something....

 

[TJcop]

The rock is starting to look better with the cycle doing its thing and stuff settling down. This is a good time to learn the patience that this (expensive) hobby requires. At least theres other things to attend to in the sump room!

 

[masterswimmer]

masterswimmer, what brand is your tank, specs please!

NewSchool04,

Ok, here's the specs:

~ 75 gallon Tenecor acrylic with rounded front right corner because tank can be viewed from the front and the right side the way I built it into the wall. 6" square overflow in rear left corner. Factory painted black background.

~ Lifereef sump and skimmer

~ Sunlight Supply 6 x 54w T-5 pendant style lights

~ 15 gallon AGA fuge

And that's all because I don't want to p-ss off TJ, it's his thread.

PM me if you'd like to talk more,
Russ

 

[Todd March]

Hey TJ, you're not gunna muck things up by trying to stick livestock in there before around 8 weeks are ya? Here is a JPG with advice from Eric Borneman about the best way to have a healthy reef tank, and I really like it (worked for me great the last time). I wanted to pass this on to you:

 

[TJcop]

Masterswimmer: Don't worry about stealing my thread. The more the merrier!

Todd: I'm feel insulted, thinking that I would hurry up and throw some stuff in the tank before it's time. No, I know that I have to wait out the cycle & blooms...I've been through this before. I just keep testing and watching. Right now the Diatoms are doing their thing.

 

[TJcop]

New Pics & Update

New Pics & Update

Here we are almost 2 weeks since adding the LR and things are going great. The ammonia test today showed the first drop. I've gone from off the scale to around .5~.6ppm:rollface: Nitrites and trates are still doing their thing, but should be dropping now that the ammonia is going down. I'm sure the addition of all the macro algae that has been added is helping things. All other param's seem to be just right.
Anyways...on with the pictures!

Here's a pic of the refugium with all the macro and LR rubble. The pic doesn't show it, but this thing is full of macro (thanks to the LED light trade ) I've got Cheato, Halimedia and some green leafy lettuce stuff in there. All is producing lots of Oxygen bubbles and some are visibly growing each day!

Here's a shot of the sump in action. You can see two mini fans helping with temp regulation, and a Magnum 250 to help polish the water. The Mag is only on for two days, then removed and cleaned to prevent the buildup of Nitrates. It is also used to run carbon. The fans work great when the halides are on, but they aren't for the cycling, only the Actinics.

Here's a full tank shot with the Actinics on. In real life, the rock looks really nice, the photo makes it look like :eek2: What I did was form a large cental outcropping all the way to the front of the glass. The LR then goes back in and forms two small outcroppings at the ends of the tanks. It looks great and will provide all different levels for Corals depending on their needs. It also allows two areas of open sand for clams and such that are surrounded by rock.

 

[TJcop]

New Pics & Update

New Pics & Update

Here's two pics of the Diatoms in full bloom. I know they are part of the cycle, so I'm just ignoring them. I'm putting the Actinics on 3 times a day for a few hours just to keep the coraline alive. Hopefully this will keep other algaes to a minimum.

Finally, here's a shot of my DIY moonlights. These LED's are so bright, I only needed three of them!:eek1: I have them aimed across the top of my tank, and they provide really nice glitter and nightime viewing.

Well, that's it for now. Hopfully the cycle is ending, so I'll be able to add some clean-up crews in a few weeks to take care of algae. Thanks to everyone for their advice, and I'll keep updating as something happens!

 

[aquajohn]

Hey T.J., Great aquascaping!! Looks as though you did really good job with rock stacking. Did you use any epoxy? John

 

[TJcop]

Thanks John!
No epoxy there, just alot of "let's put this here and give it a wiggle". If it moved, I tried another position or another piece. I tried to stick with the "3 points touching" rule. Again, the pictures don't do it justice, but I think it's going to look great once some corals start to fill in the gaps!

 

[TJcop]

Identification

Identification

This morning, I was giving the tank a once over and I noticed something. I saw what appeared like plant life returning to the rocks! I tried to take photos, but they didn't turn out, and I'm too tired (3rd shifter) to try again right now.
The plants appeared to have brown leaves and they were coming out of some "stalks" that closely resemble those of Green Star Polyps. I'm not quite sure what these are. I also noticed a small patch of green "grass" that looks like cattail or prairie grass. It's not a normal algae, it's something else.
Anyone have a clue what these are?

 

[phishphan]

I had some of this on my rock as well. It looked like some sort of MacroAlgae/Seaweed.

It dissappeared two days after I added my Monte's Helpers thanks to my Turbos and Hermits.

I kind of liked the way it looked though...

 

[TJcop]

Well, another minor setback. Actually, not so much of a setback, rather than a pain in the @$$.
Had another power outage last night. This one was about 5 1/2 hrs long. Even with the check valve, I get an overflow, since I don't have enough empty space in my sump/refugium, and I can't go bigger on them. So, I have a solution!
I am following some DIY plans for a UPS (battery backup) to run the two main pumps. It should run for about 6hrs before it goes out. I found the plans here on the boards, so hopefully it will work. I'll post pics when I'm done.

 

[bigzman]

TJ

TJ

I live in the East Cost. I went thru hell on the day of the blackout. So what I did two weeks later was I got a Honda generator 2500 watt. A friend gave me a switch that can detect power lose and turn on the Generator in less then a min. The Honda on a full tank can go about 10 hours and it is located in my deck with the exhust going out side. It is a very quit unit. The reason I went with Honda which I forgot to mention is a self starting was becuase it can go days as long as you refill the tank. After that black out and Hurricane Floyd I learned that there is such a thing as a two outage.

 

[TJcop]

Update: Still working on the UPS; keep blowing fuses

The Diatom Siege seems to be losing it's grip. Diatoms are quickly disappearing, and I'm guessing that they will be gone before the end of the week. Now the next battle of algae begins. Can't wait to get cleanup crews in there!

Question: My ammonia is at zero, but my Nitrites and Nitrates are through the roof still. It's been like this for awhile. I'm still doing water changes (every 2-3 days), but they don't want to go down. Part of the cycle?

 

[TJcop]

Well, the diatoms have lost their grip. But I still don' t know what's going on with my Nitrites and Nitrates. Both are still sky high, and Ammonia is at zero.
On the plus side, I have noticed that a few filter feeders (fan worms/feather dusters) have popped out of the LR. Macro is growing like gangbusters in the fuge, so things are working...just not lowering those trites/trates.
Also, can anyone suggest a good external skimmer. I'm thinking about ditching my DIY 6 footer. Doesn't produce much skimmate. It was good in the beginning, but now I can't even get a wet foam if I wanted. How about the berlin turbo? Can I plumb it outside of my sump? More updates to follow!

 

[Todd March]

Hey TJ, things are going along fine with your cycling, it's all normalââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬ÂIME the nitrosomas cycle (NH3 to NO2- ) happens much faster than the second part of the cycle, the nitrobacter population growth (NO2- to NO3-)... And the nitrobacter population always seems much more rocky even after the cyclingââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Âjust a modest amount of new life added can shoot nitrite levels back up (but they fall fast)... Also, when you're cycling, it's WAY too much nitrogen for the macros to take care of entirely, particularily with nitriteââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Âmacros really do prefer ammonia, and nitrates most of all...

I've heard a lot of negs about the Berlin skimmer... The EuroReef CS8-2 External Skimmer will rock your reef, but it's expensive... Can you fit in a sump model EuroReef in your system...? Just try to find some neg posts about ANY EuroReefââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Âit's hard to do...!

Keep us updated, this had been fun while waiting to set my new tank up...

Todd

 

[TJcop]

Thanks for the explination Todd, that's one of the better ways I've seen the Nitrogen cycle explained. I was getting worried since Ammo was gone but trites/trates were so high!
As far as the skimmer, because of my setup, I have limited sump height space. I would prefer to plumb the skimmer outside the sump. Otherwise I might not be able to fit one in their! And I agree that the Euro's are quite $$$$. Still looking.....

 

[Todd March]

Hey TJ,

I have heard really good things about the Aqua Medic Turboflotor 5000 Shorty (particularily from European Reefers). It's still not cheap (but what externals are?!), but it's $200 less than the EuroReef external, and is a needle wheel skimmer like the EuroReefs... You can check it out at:

http://www.aquadirect.com/store/customer/product.php?productid=474

Also, the AquaC skimmers EV series can be plumbed out of the sump and get decent reviews from users, and are more affordable than most externals. you can find their WWW site at:

http://www.proteinskimmer.com/index.htm

I had an older EV series once, and it was a fairly good skimmer, although nothing like a needle wheel/EuroReef...

 

[TJcop]

Skimmer Choice!

Skimmer Choice!

Well, after doing some research, I think I'm going to go with the MRC MR-1 skimmer w/ the GenX 6000 pump. They are selling it as a package for $295. Seems like a decent price, and I've seen alot of good reviews of MRC skimmers. If anyone doesn't think I should do this...speak up! I'm placing my order in 1 day! Thanks!