New tank day 3

[figuerres]

well 3 days, so far no detectable ammonia, a number of hitchhikers on board for the cycle, most of them are ok for the tank, a couple I will have to get out before I add much.

this is a 150 euro brace tank, stand is finished in piano black.
running 4 tunze streams with a 7096 controller, lights are current usa marine pro led, currently not on the max settings.
skimmer and main pump came with the tank package, still trying to get skimmer to not over skim, not sure if I will keep the skimmer or replace it.
it's a conic skimmer and has no real adjustments I can find to get it to skim dry. first time with this type of skimmer so I am trying to find out if it's my lack of knowledge or is it just a cheaply made skimmer.

 

[newlinj]

Nice set up. Keep the pictures coming as you make progress. I'm looking forward to ordering my package in a couple of weeks.

 

[figuerres]

Nice set up. Keep the pictures coming as you make progress. I'm looking forward to ordering my package in a couple of weeks.

thanks and get ready to see all kinds of stuff.... :beer:

 

[figuerres]

well it's been a week and things are looking really good overall, hoping that I will have part two next week / weekend.

a bit of N3 to cycle out but zero ammonia by two different tests.

hitch hiker the only real issue is that I had some big grey flatworms to get out before they started to multiply and eat snails or corals.
found 4 of them about the size of a quarter each, to get them I just used an empty lab beaker (plastic cup with smooth rim , waited for them to climb on the glass sides of the tank, reach in with beaker and hold it over them so they were trapped, move the beaker slowly up and they let go of the glass to try and swim back to the rocks, that was when I could tilt and lift the beaker so they were in the beaker trapped, carefully drain out some water so I did not waste a lot and then flush down the toilet.
not hard .... just be patient for them to come out and get up on the glass.

they might have been ok , I did not see them attack anything but I have not found any reference to a "reef safe flatworm" anywhere on line. so better safe than sorry.
the rest of the hitch hikers I have found are ither good or at worst a "watch and be ready ton get them... and that is just some crabs that right now I can not tell if they are the good ones or not, none of the ones I have seen are the harry gorilla's or stone crabs (or they are so small I can't tell.
my plsn is to have this be a "Local tank" with mostly Gulf / Caribbean stuff I am tending to keep as much as I can and look to stock it in a way that is as balanced as I can.

 

[figuerres]

well it's been 2 weeks now, hoping the weather will let me get part two next week.
tying an experiment on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UChiYsujUzBR4pm_CnaDyXQw/live

 

[newlinj]

Nice! Love the live stream. I got part one of my package last Friday. I need to set up a live stream camera too. Which camera set up are you using?

 

[figuerres]

Nice! Love the live stream. I got part one of my package last Friday. I need to set up a live stream camera too. Which camera set up are you using?

Any USB camera should work, this one is a Microsoft life cam that is about 3/4 years old. Www.osbproject.com free program that takes the video and encodes it for YouTube, the on YouTube setup an account for a video channel and click on live streaming and go thru the setup process, if you have a decent internet it works good.

 

[12_egg_Omelett]

drop cam is pretty sweet.

 

[figuerres]

by the way I tried a test and hooked up the same camera to a better pc and it will be used in the future as the better cpu made the stream way way better.... more tommrow night I think.

 

[12_egg_Omelett]

does the sand blow around much on the bottom? How does it compare to reef special grade?

 

[newlinj]

Mine doesn't blow around too much. Obviously depends on how much flow. I have two Tunze 6095s at full strength and the sand has settled nicely. Not really sure how close it is to the special grade. It's a good mix of different grain sizes including some small crushed shell pieces. Bottom line for me is that it's live sand direct from the sea floor full of life. Can't get much better IMHO.

 

[figuerres]

with me the sand is ok, when I mess up- and get my Tunze pumps pointed the wrong way it can move a lot of sand.
the sand is moving around but more like what happens in the real ocean, it's like sand dunes shifting it around, not a sand storm in the water column.
I can't honestly compare it to other sand as I do not have a tank with any other sand to compare with.

slightly off topic but sand related.... I am debating how to put some sand / muck / miracle mud in my fuge, it has baffle plates but I need to see if I can add one more to keep mud/ sand etc... from getting into the rest of the sump.

it's a 50 gallon sump fuge tank that came with the tank and stand, has baffles to make an intake area, a filter chamber an area for the return pump & stuff and then a fuge area. it looks to me like if I just put sand or mud in there after a point it will try and block the baffle plate. so I am thinking i may get a section of acrylic to stick in there and act as a "mud dam" to keep the mud where i want it and the water able to move

 

[12_egg_Omelett]

I would skip the sand and use the mud. I have some buddies who swear by it, I just don't want to have to mess around with replacing mud.

 

[figuerres]

I would skip the sand and use the mud. I have some buddies who swear by it, I just don't want to have to mess around with replacing mud.

thanks for the info.... will keep in mind as I get to doing it.

 

[12_egg_Omelett]

let us know what you do for sure though.

 

[figuerres]

let us know what you do for sure though.

will do, started stocking fish this weekend, just about got what I think I will keep, will be getting photos posted as they get over the new tank and I can get decent pictures.
I am getting a few groups of small fish that should be able to in some cases school or pair up, if not they have room to stay clear...
all of them are max sized at like 3 inches for the most part.

 

[FlyingFishSKYw]

Get a ziplock container for the miracle mud and put that in your sump with some rocks or rubble on top of it. Makes the 50% yearly changeover easy.

 

[figuerres]

Chow time!

https://youtu.be/3FivyvHay0Q

 

[12_egg_Omelett]

Thanks for sharing, I really enjoy looking at the diversity of this rock.