"NEW" New Build 120g, Stocking?

[abenak89]

UPDATE****

Things have been rough fish wise... came home the other night two fish dead... tested water and ammonia was .25 .5 area and nitrite was up.. freaking out i wipped up my 10g spare and get everything situated but the temp was a couple degrees less.. put fish in and they seemed shocked but i knew the wayer was clean and correct so i went to bed hoping for the best.

Woke up the 2 cardinals and 1 chromis were still alive. YAY.... well morning goes by im about to leave for work and one cardinal is looking rough... well woke up the next day and it passed away.... ****ed off i reset up the 29g with good water today abd put my chromis and cardinal in there...

Im so ****ed this is happening... but after thinking its my fault... 5 fish in a 29g spiked the parameters and caused the issues.. working 12hr days i wasent around to do anything. Then i think i shocked them in the transfer but again 3 fish in a 10g is not ideal... again fish died.

Now im reallllllly hoping these two fish look better tonight when i get home or i might just cry.. i have been trying to do everything right but am trying to get DT setup too..

Kinda ****ed the guy i bought setup from had such **** water which sorta started all this. I used his water and sorta trusted it. BIG MISTAKE...

So thats the bad news..
Good news... my ro unit arrives tomorrow with some more heaters and new bulds for dt and qt.

2nd i finished the skeleton of my new stand. Just followed someone elses build as i did not like how my current one looked.. worried me every night.

So tank will move from upstairs to downstair and onto new stand this weekend. I will have brand new ro water proper parameters WAITING to full up the 120g tank. I am dumping all 120gs out and putting fresh new water in!

QUESTION!!!!
if i remove all the sand and use the live sand my agri w.e does it still need to cycle? As my live rock is curred and has been for a while? Or can i use a thin layer or sand instead to not have a lave sand cycle? Or do i simply just check parameters all week (next week) and see how it goes? I only habe a cardnal and chromis anyways.. if they survive ��.

Thinking of putting new sand in 40lbs. And adding chromis and cardinal to start a cycle possibly and watch parameters. Not even sure what fish i want to bring into the tank first anyways... any idea which one i should get for the QT? Stocking list is above.

 

[abenak89]

Wont let me edit last post but i will be drilling my 120g as well this weekend. 1.5" bulkhead.

 

[Deleted member 336650]

If you have live rock to use in the 120, you'll not have much of a cycle. Wait to put in the fish until you are sure however.

Reusing live sand is often frowned upon by others, but honestly I am not sure why. I'd think you could use some to mix with new sand, but others may chime in.

Does your 29 have new uncycled water or water from the tank you purchased?

 

[abenak89]

If you have live rock to use in the 120, you'll not have much of a cycle. Wait to put in the fish until you are sure however.

Reusing live sand is often frowned upon by others, but honestly I am not sure why. I'd think you could use some to mix with new sand, but others may chime in.

Does your 29 have new uncycled water or water from the tank you purchased?

At first it had his old water in it. Then my 10g was setup fresh. Parameters spiked. A fish died.. now 29g is back up with fresh new saltwater and my dad juat reported another one died. :sad2:

So bummed... trying to do this right and failing... i either have a chromis or cardnial alive yet.. so depressing when you try and things still dont work.

The only good thing is learning from your mistakes.. never assume customer water is good. Never assume you will have enough water always have a plan B...

Ok I might just swap out all the sand too. I am going to drill the tank anyways so will be easier to get rid of it and start fresh. The live rock will be put into the new freshly cycled saltwater that will fill up the 120g.

Sigh.. hopefully this weekend goes well! Thanks for all the advice!

I have one more question. I have apitasia or w.e on my liverock should i just brush those off? Or take them out and hit them with vinegar? Orrrrr leave them and get peppermint shrimp?

 

[Deleted member 336650]

Then my 10g was setup fresh. Parameters spiked. A fish died.. now 29g is back up with fresh new saltwater and my dad juat reported another one died.



Have you tested water for ammonia? Do you have Prime or some other ammonia binding product? Sounds like your fish are having to live through it while your water cycles. They should not be in new saltwater. Bacteria to process ammonia will not be present. Partial water changes will help remove waste. Best for the fish if someone could take him off your hands until your tank is stable

Aiptasia can be dealt with later.

 

[abenak89]

Wow... so i shoulda just left them in the DT with the high nitrates as its leas harmful...

How long do you let new saltwater cycle??

 

[Buddy55]

If you have a seed of bacteria and some source for the bacteria to feed you could be cycled in a week. I waited three weeks when I seeded my tank upgrade, a month when I first got back into the hobby.

It sounds like you are rushing. Just like me when I started. If you have your fish in a 10g qt or something that is new then get some RO water and change 15-25% daily. Feed as little as possible, keep the params stable. Keep the light cycle or lack of light constant to reduce stress. I use unseeded qt tanks but I go through 5 gallons of new saltwater a day keeping them clean. Tap water can cause instability in params. A TDS meter could tell you how many contaminants may be present in tap water.
I have had a coral beauty and he was a model citizen. They are hit or miss with corals.
A 120g might house a trio of anthias bit they are not a begginer fish. Mine won't eat flake or pellets. Only frozen meaty foods. Don't buy cheap foods for your fish. Use New life spectrum or PE mysis and similar.
A royal gramma is a good one. I have a starry Benny, a sea algae source is a must with a herbivore. A yellow coris wrasse is always on my list and extremely active.

 

[Buddy55]

It's not really the water cycling, it's the bio media such as sand and rock or filter media that houses the growing bacteria. Also I always replace 95% of my sand during a new tank build.

 

[abenak89]

Ok thanks!!

Do yall see an issue with me spliting my 1.5" overflow to my new eshopp r300? It would go to 2 1" inlets one for sump 1 fuge and my return is at 750gph which is in thenlimits of a 1" bulkhead.

Lmk!

 

[Buddy55]

The two 1" will most likely dump more water then a 750 pump with the head which should be okay anyways. I think 1.5 inch is good for 600gph gravity feed? Idk there is a chart somewhere on this site you can search for. It's probably new to use the sump as designed. I don't run a drop off in my refugium anymore because the bubbles caused algea to float and dry and limits time for micro bubbles to dissipate before going to the return pump. Just my opinion and experience.

 

[Buddy55]

Good to use sump as designed. ****

 

[abenak89]

Well it is designed for two 1 inch inlets.. 1 is got heavy flow for skimmer and one is more controlled for fuge. Check out eshopps r-300 so i have to split my 1.5 and i am pretty sure 2-1 inchers will be fine... basically will be 1.5 all the way then T off right by the inlets foe the sump/fuge.

 

[Buddy55]

I can't see how that would cause any issues, any additional corners do cause slow ups in flow however. Run as few bends as possible is all. I have redone my plumbing a few times and have learned a lot by trial and error. Your system may take some of that trial and error.

 

[abenak89]

Ok thanks!!

Question yall and hopefully i get some quick replies. Is it ok to use my sand from DT in my sump? Again i am moving the tank this weekend. I bough 60lbs of new sand and was going to do 45-50lb in DT all new and the left over into the huge all new. But am considering doing all 60lbs in DT and using my old stuff for fuge... thoughts?


ALSO i am not sure i will get all 120g of RO in time by tomorrow. Do you see a problem with using 20g or so of my DT and then adding the rest with brand new fresh RO? Or just wait and do all brand new RO?

Thanks again!!

 

[abenak89]

Update. Tank is moved. Everything setup except the fuge which arrives MONDAY as it didnt get sent out with the rest of my stuff on thursday living in WI i get my stuff next day so everything arrived but that

Got 2 Prime HD LED fixtures and my aqua scape all done. My 3 small peppermint shrimp are acclimating all night. Will introduce them in the morning. CUC is in there already.

My cardinal is in the QT but and is a trooper for sure! He is the only one to survive all of this! Plan is to go to LFS tomorrow and get a few more CUC.

Not sure really what to do at this point... without my darn fuge I was really hoping I would get that today but nope. I might also get my plumbing and lay that out so all I have to do is hook a few things up and be good to go.

Will try to take a pic tomorrow of everything.

Can anyone comment on emerald crabs? Good? Bad?

 

[abenak89]

Planning to set my small sump up today so the skimmer is going.

Another question is can I introduce my cardinal to the DT as well as 2-3 chromis to see if the system will be doing a mini cycle?

LR was cured, I did swap out the sand, and all 100% brand new water. Doubt I will see much cycle but don't want to order a fish for the QT until my cardinal is finally out of there.

 

[texdoc77]

I realize you have moved on a little bit, but I'm confused on a few things.

First of all tell me more about the transport. How did you transport the tank and the water? How much water did you transfer. What kind of vehicle did you use. Were there any (even minor) temperature variations. It says you planned to transport the fish in cans with lids. What kind of cans and how long was the transfer?

Next, help me a little more for when you got home. You said you filled up the DT with tap water. It also says you filled up the QT, but I'm not sure which water you used. Also how deep was the sand in the tank?

There are a TON of variables here and I would love to try and steer you in the right direction.

A couple of tips right off:

1. Don't use tap water. Ever. Ever. Even if you let it sit. Even if you treat it with a water purifying agent. Don't use tap water. Ever.

2. Invest in a RO/DI unit and a container for the water to have fresh water on hand or make sure you have plenty of jugs on hand. Honestly do yourself a favor and get a RO/DI unit. BRS makes good ones. I have a spectra pure and feel they are slightly better, but more expensive. Research if your local tap water contains chlorine or chloramine and get a RO/DI unit that will remove them (chloramine is smaller and more difficult to remove).

3. Keep temperature and salinity the same between transfer tanks when you move animals. Small variations are probably tolerated between .001-.002 for SG and 2-3 F for temp. Anything above this can stress fish to the point of death.

Finally, I think what you tried to do was very difficult, even for someone with lots of experience. My advice is to try and keep the fish you have alive in QT and completely break down the DT and get rid of the old sand. This way you can build it up right, cycle it appropriately and start to get a feel for the parameters of your tank. It's harder, but one of the tag lines I love is, "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast." A LOT of brilliance in that statement.

Keep us posted.

 

[abenak89]

I realize you have moved on a little bit, but I'm confused on a few things.

First of all tell me more about the transport. How did you transport the tank and the water? How much water did you transfer. What kind of vehicle did you use. Were there any (even minor) temperature variations. It says you planned to transport the fish in cans with lids. What kind of cans and how long was the transfer?

Next, help me a little more for when you got home. You said you filled up the DT with tap water. It also says you filled up the QT, but I'm not sure which water you used. Also how deep was the sand in the tank?

There are a TON of variables here and I would love to try and steer you in the right direction.

A couple of tips right off:

1. Don't use tap water. Ever. Ever. Even if you let it sit. Even if you treat it with a water purifying agent. Don't use tap water. Ever.

2. Invest in a RO/DI unit and a container for the water to have fresh water on hand or make sure you have plenty of jugs on hand. Honestly do yourself a favor and get a RO/DI unit. BRS makes good ones. I have a spectra pure and feel they are slightly better, but more expensive. Research if your local tap water contains chlorine or chloramine and get a RO/DI unit that will remove them (chloramine is smaller and more difficult to remove).

3. Keep temperature and salinity the same between transfer tanks when you move animals. Small variations are probably tolerated between .001-.002 for SG and 2-3 F for temp. Anything above this can stress fish to the point of death.

Finally, I think what you tried to do was very difficult, even for someone with lots of experience. My advice is to try and keep the fish you have alive in QT and completely break down the DT and get rid of the old sand. This way you can build it up right, cycle it appropriately and start to get a feel for the parameters of your tank. It's harder, but one of the tag lines I love is, "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast." A LOT of brilliance in that statement.

Keep us posted.

Alright so transfer was 3-4 hours maybe 5... cant remeber but the QT was old water from old setup. DT was 70% old water rest tap.

5 fish in QT spiked ammonia obviously look back now. Tried to save them. Lost all but one cardinal. I battled switching them from one 29g to 10g and managed to have 1 survive.

He is currently in a fresh QT with a small piece of LR to get a little cycle. Parameters were perfect this morning temp was high around 80. Issue is cardnial did not eat last couple attemps. Trying today again after letting him settle after the chaos.

DT Tank was moved again to basement. All RO water and got some CUC in there with 3 peppermint. I put the peppermints jn this morning after acclimation all night. Params were good so in they went. They have been running around on the LR all morning.

My PH is low on DT right now (no skimmer going yet) as my fuge is late. Setting up old sump to get skimmer running. Cardinal is in QT.

Everything is RO now. Everything is stable now.. last bit is the fuge andnthat will be monday. Getting plumbing and getting it ready for monday.

... think thats everything lol OH all brand new sand. 60lbs in DT 20 or so will go in fuge. Sandbed on OLD setup was 1"

 

[abenak89]

The cardinal ATE again!!!!!! Yahhooooooooo he didnt eat fir 2 days with all this chaos but just ate in the QT! Going to change some water out tonight and siphon any leftovers !!!

 

[jml1149]

I tried reading this thread twice and I have no idea what is going on. If you used tap water in any of your systems your likely to have tons of problems later. There's no telling what you put in your tank. You're spending money on nice equipment but this will hurt in the long run. How many times have you filled and emptied your DT? How many boxes of salt has this consumed?

Emerald crabs are the worst ever. They will eventually eat your corals. Worst. Ever.