So ill get right to it, a few months ago i found a great deal on a 72 bow front with stand, light, and hob filter on Craig's list. Originally it was going to be a planted fresh water tank. On a routine trip to my lfs i say a porcupine puffer and that was all she wrote, i had to have one. After a little research i was disappointed that the puffer was not going to happen but i had the salt water bug non the less. Thanks in big part to the information on this forum i think I'm pretty well on my way to having a decent aquarium. I guess the point of this thread is for me to lay out what i have done and for any willing to give constructive criticism and any advice you may think i need. I'll start with what I've done and try to justify of defend my self, here goes.....
Its going to be a fowlr so the lights shouldn't matter that much but it is a Chinese dual t5 ho/dual 150 w mh fixture with moon light led's..no real concerns here other then i know the bulbs need to be replaced and i was just wondering if you neglect to do that will it shorten the life of the ballast? As it doesn't really matter id rather not spend the 100$ on all new bulbs unless it will shorten the life of the fixture, or if its even worth it.
The most torn decision i made was in regards to substrate. I decided to save the money and just use silica pool filter sand. There are loads of arguments either way on this one, i know but, in the research i did there was science that says it will remain inert, as in not releasing silicates into the water. And as for the aragonite being a ph buffer, the main argument for its use (seems to me anyways) it wouldn't start doing any buffering until ph dips to mid 7's which would only happen if there was a serious problem of some sort, any way. That being said i really just wanted to save the money and put it toward something else.....So yeah 100 lbs of sand later and step one complete, after a thorough rinsing of coarse.
I decided to go the route of all base rock for the tank main reason being i have a lot more time then money. An estimated 70 lbs of dry rock so i would guess 80-85 when wet. First go around at lfs they only had real heavy dense stuff so i got some bigger pieces for my "foundation". A few weeks later they got in some really nice looking very porous stuff so i loaded up for $2 a lb. The first few rows i used jb water weld to hold together, as i was using them to make my little caves with. I got a koralia 750 and a 1050 for water movement and with my skimmer and hob i figure i got more then enough flow(i think)....
Decided on the reef octopus bh 1000 for my skimmer...even in my fresh water aquariums i tend to stock very lightly so i figured id save the 50 bucks and go with 1000 instead of 2000. I found very few people displeased with theirs so i went with what i determined to be the consensus favorite when it comes to budget hob skimmers.
The tank came with an ac 110 which has a good reputation so i will be using it to run purigen and phosgaurd in the seachem "The bag". That leads me to a question...Do i need to run a sponge under the media bags to keep them clean? if i dont and the bags get nasty will it affect there capacity to clean the water? or will it just look bad?
As of now im on day 2 of my cycle lol...i only have one real concern and that is the clarity of my water. I used instant ocean because it has a decent rep and is a good price on amazon. I mixed it in a (of coarse brand new, and well cleaned) 35 gallon dumpster using a little giant pond pump i had laying around and let it circulate for a few hours. Since the aquarium was empty i put it in the tank after only a few hours, warmed up the water for my next batch mixed it and put it in too....its been a few days now and the initial cloudiness has gotten better but it still very noticeable. I'm guessing that its not due to anything in the tank because the water never cleared up in the garbage can. I've read that a lot of people have clear water after only a few hours usually not more then 24 hours...its got me a little concerned. i read about precipitation so i checked my ph and it was 8.2 so i know thats not a problem. Any ideas?
I'm only on day 2 of cycle so i haven't stared checking lvls yet figured i would start after first week. If your curious I'm using the raw shrimp method....cant get pure ammonia around here any where.
One last question is about power head placement. i have the 1050 on the upper left corner facing center of pile and the 750 upper right blowing pretty level with surface of water....any input on the flow would be appreciated...
I was planing on doing some pics but im now clue less guess ill go hit up the faq section lol.....thanks and ill be back soon with pics
Its going to be a fowlr so the lights shouldn't matter that much but it is a Chinese dual t5 ho/dual 150 w mh fixture with moon light led's..no real concerns here other then i know the bulbs need to be replaced and i was just wondering if you neglect to do that will it shorten the life of the ballast? As it doesn't really matter id rather not spend the 100$ on all new bulbs unless it will shorten the life of the fixture, or if its even worth it.
The most torn decision i made was in regards to substrate. I decided to save the money and just use silica pool filter sand. There are loads of arguments either way on this one, i know but, in the research i did there was science that says it will remain inert, as in not releasing silicates into the water. And as for the aragonite being a ph buffer, the main argument for its use (seems to me anyways) it wouldn't start doing any buffering until ph dips to mid 7's which would only happen if there was a serious problem of some sort, any way. That being said i really just wanted to save the money and put it toward something else.....So yeah 100 lbs of sand later and step one complete, after a thorough rinsing of coarse.
I decided to go the route of all base rock for the tank main reason being i have a lot more time then money. An estimated 70 lbs of dry rock so i would guess 80-85 when wet. First go around at lfs they only had real heavy dense stuff so i got some bigger pieces for my "foundation". A few weeks later they got in some really nice looking very porous stuff so i loaded up for $2 a lb. The first few rows i used jb water weld to hold together, as i was using them to make my little caves with. I got a koralia 750 and a 1050 for water movement and with my skimmer and hob i figure i got more then enough flow(i think)....
Decided on the reef octopus bh 1000 for my skimmer...even in my fresh water aquariums i tend to stock very lightly so i figured id save the 50 bucks and go with 1000 instead of 2000. I found very few people displeased with theirs so i went with what i determined to be the consensus favorite when it comes to budget hob skimmers.
The tank came with an ac 110 which has a good reputation so i will be using it to run purigen and phosgaurd in the seachem "The bag". That leads me to a question...Do i need to run a sponge under the media bags to keep them clean? if i dont and the bags get nasty will it affect there capacity to clean the water? or will it just look bad?
As of now im on day 2 of my cycle lol...i only have one real concern and that is the clarity of my water. I used instant ocean because it has a decent rep and is a good price on amazon. I mixed it in a (of coarse brand new, and well cleaned) 35 gallon dumpster using a little giant pond pump i had laying around and let it circulate for a few hours. Since the aquarium was empty i put it in the tank after only a few hours, warmed up the water for my next batch mixed it and put it in too....its been a few days now and the initial cloudiness has gotten better but it still very noticeable. I'm guessing that its not due to anything in the tank because the water never cleared up in the garbage can. I've read that a lot of people have clear water after only a few hours usually not more then 24 hours...its got me a little concerned. i read about precipitation so i checked my ph and it was 8.2 so i know thats not a problem. Any ideas?
I'm only on day 2 of cycle so i haven't stared checking lvls yet figured i would start after first week. If your curious I'm using the raw shrimp method....cant get pure ammonia around here any where.
One last question is about power head placement. i have the 1050 on the upper left corner facing center of pile and the 750 upper right blowing pretty level with surface of water....any input on the flow would be appreciated...
I was planing on doing some pics but im now clue less guess ill go hit up the faq section lol.....thanks and ill be back soon with pics
