OK! Enough chat...Starting a 1000g+ Reef

[jnarowe]

Not a bad idea to borrow RO/DI units. I'll have to think about that. The spray bar is really simple with a cap and holes drilled about every 2 inches. I know it may become clogged so I didn't glue it in. I may need to make the holes bigger, but I want to try it out and see what happens.

Since the spray bar is just one out of 4 return lines, it won't interupt flow but I will have to watch it closely I am sure.

 

[FloodXL]

i would hate to sound like a jerk, but unless i am seeing something wrong, on page 2 your one picture appears to have a powder blue tang in a tank that looks insanely not suitable for a fish like that or really any fish. I understand it was cycling an such but why add such a fish during this?

 

[jnarowe]

you'll have to ask the person who posted those pics. That is not my tank.

 

[Travis]

Here is my solution to the problem with spraybars clogging.
<img src=http://sio.midco.net/cdshelton/website/page8/7-10-040005.JPG>
<img src=http://sio.midco.net/cdshelton/website/page8/7-10-0400001.JPG>
The pipe is 1.5" and the slot is 1/4" and is at a downward angle to push the water flow to the bottom of the tank and towards the front. Been running for 18 months and no clogging or restrictions.

 

[jnarowe]

Thanks Travis. I remember seeing that earlier and I forgot all about it. I think that is a great way to do it!

 

[tinygiants]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6751228#post6751228 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FloodXL
i would hate to sound like a jerk, but unless i am seeing something wrong, on page 2 your one picture appears to have a powder blue tang in a tank that looks insanely not suitable for a fish like that or really any fish. I understand it was cycling an such but why add such a fish during this?

That was Melev's tank. Look up his thread on the 14 day setup. That is one of the most popular threads on RC. It has been split atleast once, maybe more. As for the health of his tank and fish, a quick review of his post and web site will answer your concerns.

Goog luck with the fill Johnathon. I was lucky. I made all my water upfront before I was waiting on it. I made 50 g saltwater, and another 50 g of RO/DI was already staged for the mix. Add that to the ~100g saltwater I had in the sump with live rock, and I was ready for tank fill. I am jelous of the day it takes me 2 weeks to fill the tank.

Dale

 

[TheCoralNabber]

It has split 3 times and has over 6 thousand posts, and as tinygiants said, just check it out, and you will see. Marc truly has an amazing mass of knowledge when it comes to aquariums, and also makes his own acrylic sumps and whatnot.

What size holes are you planning on drilling? I had 1/8" of holes in mine, and had problems with little pieces of LR from the sump making it into the return, etc.

 

[jnarowe]

Yeah well I have plenty to do while I wait!

I was just thinking that I may need some items for start up like carbon, rowaphos, and maybe some kind of calcium boost. I plan on using a calcium reactor but it's doubtful it will get built before the rock goes in.

Anyone have suggestions regarding a good "package" to keep the water parameters right while I let the tank cycle? And please, I will not use things to speed up the cyclig process, and especially, I will NOT pee in my tank!

 

[jnarowe]

I am going to run it down my table saw like travis did. It's a straight pipe and should be fairly easy. (famous last words)

 

[TheCoralNabber]

Isn't the purpose of a spray bar to have smaller holes instead of a larger one like that. Makes more sense to have cuts spaced out a bit. Just my thoughts...

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6751228#post6751228 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FloodXL
i would hate to sound like a jerk, but unless i am seeing something wrong, on page 2 your one picture appears to have a powder blue tang in a tank that looks insanely not suitable for a fish like that or really any fish. I understand it was cycling an such but why add such a fish during this?

I went back to see what picture you were referring to on Page 2. The livestock was being transferred from one home to the other, and the water was cloudy for 12 hours. It wasn't cycling at all, and didn't cycle.

You can read the 14 day recap on my website if you like. The next day the LR from my two other tanks were added to this one, and all the livestock.

It looked bad in that picture, but that is part of moving a tank. The fish were moved in water that looked just fine (clear) and were kept in trash can barrels with airstones and heaters. They were moved into the tank because I wanted to add the water back into the tank. We had something like 10 containers of water that moved with the tank.

 

[jnarowe]

TheCoralNabber Well yeah, in my case the slot would be so long there would be no water at the far end, so I will have to make a series of slots I would guess. There's probably some calculation to do but for $5 in PVC I think I'll just wing-it.

Hey Marc, what do you think about start up supplies like I mentioned in my previous post?

 

[jnarowe]

You guys will love this: After my last post I was about to hit the rack and got a strange premonition. I went down to make sure everything was OK and found that the refugium BH was leaking, so the RO/DI water was slowly leaking to the floor.

Lovely!!

So I tried making a fix and couldn't do it. I moved the RO line to the display for the night, and I guess I'll get to pull the BH out tomorrow and see what can be done. I am so glad (NOT) that I filled it with sand! Oh well.

BTW, for anyone interested, the Caribsea aragonite labels says it only requires "minimal rinsing" and I have to warn you that it produces a very milky water and really should be rinsed thoroughly. It looks like a latte!

 

[Travis]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6752098#post6752098 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TheCoralNabber
Isn't the purpose of a spray bar to have smaller holes instead of a larger one like that. Makes more sense to have cuts spaced out a bit. Just my thoughts...

The purpose of a spray bar is to diffuse the outlet water flow along the length of the pipe. This can be acheived however you want, whether that be with a series of holes, a slot, or a series of slots. I went with one long slot because it is less likely to get clogged and it puts less back pressure on the pump. It does diffuse the flow pressure a lot so that is why my spray bar is actually cut in half and each half is fed intermittently with a OceansMotions 4-way. Each half is 3 feet long. The feed pump is 6000 gph. This way I get 6000 gph of flow through 3 feet of spray bar at each interval instead of diffusing the 6000 gph of flow through 6 feet of spray bar, which would result in half as much flow pressure coming out of the spray bar. Not sure if that made any sense but some things are hard to explain in writing.

 

[Travis]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6751994#post6751994 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnarowe
I was just thinking that I may need some items for start up like carbon, rowaphos, and maybe some kind of calcium boost. I plan on using a calcium reactor but it's doubtful it will get built before the rock goes in.

I'm not sure what your coral stocking plans are for this tank but I don't think you'll be needing to add any calcium or alkalinity for a little while. That is a lot of water volume for the calcifying organisms to get their calcium from. It will take a lot of corals growing in that tank before you start seeing much of an effect on your levels. You may want something to boost the calcium, alkalinity, and Mg levels of your freshly made saltwater to get them to NSW levels.

Anyone have suggestions regarding a good "package" to keep the water parameters right while I let the tank cycle? And please, I will not use things to speed up the cyclig process, and especially, I will NOT pee in my tank!

My "package" recommendation is saltwater, a protein skimmer, a heater, water movement, live rock and ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test kits. Leave the lights out for a month or 2 and let mother nature do her thing.

 

[jnarowe]

Travis: Wow, 6000gph through 3 feet of line is really moving it! because I have the other 3 outlets on the same pump, back pressure isn't really a problem, but I do like the slots. What I am thinking about doing is waiting until I have my aquascaping set up and then cut slots where I need them.

I here you on the not needing a lot of additives at the start, but I was thinking that maybe Rowaphos and carbon would be good to have on hand during cycling. What do you think?

 

[melev]

You shouldn't need either as the water is pure. And you don't want to pull out anything during the cycle anyway, as it is necessary to create the bacterial filtration you want established.

You can add ROWAphos or carbon later, maybe a month or two later. Same with the Calcium Reactor.

 

[Travis]

I forgot but are you using cured, uncured, homemade, or base rock? If you are using uncured rock, carbon would probably be a good idea as the rock will have sponges dying on it and emitting nasty toxins into the water. I would say the PO4 adsorber would be optional. If you are using uncured rock, the PO4 adsorber might help keep the PO4 levels within a safe range, and less stuff will die on the rocks.... but that is just a theory.

 

[jnarowe]

I like theories!

Both of you have made good points. I will stabilize the water and test for temperature control. Once I feel that is handled well, I will add the 200 lbs. of rock I already have and order another 500. I will pick up the 500 at the airport, swish it in SW, and add it directly to the display or possibly to the refugium and sumps. t will be "uncured" rock which goes by another name, "Live Rock".

I know that many reefers will disagree with this method, and with good reason, but I want to save as much life rather than kill off as much as I can before putting it into the system. I know this will probably introduce undesireable animals but I am willing to deal with that on a case-by-case basis

I really want to get light on it ASAP, or at least on the rocks that have "good" hitchhikers. I am sure i will utilize my QT and maybe I will put the best stuff in there so I can watch it carefully while placing the rest in the sumps.

I think having the carbon handy is a good idea and since my refugium will still be quite young, being able to ue media to control phosphates and nitrates early can keep the tank from getting out-of-control. I don't want to be doing too many emergency water changes if i can help it.

Any thoughts on finding high-calcium using hitchhikers? Should I just set up the QT to handle that so if I get any clams etc. I can keep them in there while the tank cycles?

 

[Travis]

I've never cured rock with the lights on. The only problem I could see is you might have some algae issues. I'm not sure if you will really "save" anything by having the lights on but it never hurts to try.

Never heard of using high calcium to find hitchikers.