Okay, I'm ready!
- Thread starter NateDawg
- Start date
floydpackard
New member
I didn't see if you have a rodi unit. For a system that big it will be easier that buying water.
NateDawg
New member
I didn't like the fact that it takes so long to make the water, and me being... well myself, I know I would forget about it. My tds meter arrived a few days ago, and I tested a few water stores next to my house, and I found a good place that has 0-1 tds. 30 cents a gallon, or if you buy a one time fee $20 membership, its 18 cents a gallon. I'm actually picking the tank up this Friday. I was wondering if anyone can tell me a good lighting schedule. The tank has 3 250w MH's, 4 actincs (2 bulbs are burnt out, will eventually replace,) and moon lights. I don't want to run the MH's for to long of the day. Thanks
papagimp
COMAS Rocks!
lol +1, i'm the same way. I buy mine most the time even though I have a ro/di sitting all dusty in the back room. The filters wear out on me and I just start buying water again. I'm lazy and now broke
for a light cycle, I'd start with 6-8 hours of full light and go from their. If you need more, bump it up 7-9 or 8-10 hours. ime, theirs a good chance you'll be adjusting it to suit at some point anyways, so I prefer to start at the lower end and work up instead of too much light and fighting back any potential algae blooms or bleaching.
what do the lighting experts think?
papagimp
COMAS Rocks!
I'm not sure what's considered "the best" as different species of corals like different lighting. If you have INTENSE lighting, but moderate light corals, you dont' want to blast them for a full 12 hours or anything. But alternatively, if you have some moderate light corals and your light is just barely enough for them, a longer light cycle may help. (along with proper coral placement of course)
I find the "full light" time frame that works for me, and do my actinics an hour before the rest, and an hour afterwards, and the moonlights by themselves when the rest are turned off. My current tank is still cycling but I went ahead and set my lights for a 7 hour cycle. just so i can "watch the grass grow" so to speak. And when I do start to stock my coral life, I'll play that by ear depending on how they are doing at the time.
I find the "full light" time frame that works for me, and do my actinics an hour before the rest, and an hour afterwards, and the moonlights by themselves when the rest are turned off. My current tank is still cycling but I went ahead and set my lights for a 7 hour cycle. just so i can "watch the grass grow" so to speak. And when I do start to stock my coral life, I'll play that by ear depending on how they are doing at the time.
vwwanksta69
New member
The way I would setup this tank for its first live stock is to test the tank the night after the move. Test it once again the following night. And if on the third day everything tests well then I would go get a chromis. :mixed: As for lighting I would start somewhere around 6-8...
NateDawg
New member
Will take pictures, really excited to take the plunge into saltwater after years and years of freshwater. I'm so happy I found this amazing deal!
And papagimp, do you think the 2 sponges will house enough nitrifying bacteria (both sponges rated for a 20 gallon,) to be an instant cycle or do you think I will expect a spike in ammonia in the QT?
And papagimp, do you think the 2 sponges will house enough nitrifying bacteria (both sponges rated for a 20 gallon,) to be an instant cycle or do you think I will expect a spike in ammonia in the QT?
papagimp
COMAS Rocks!
Not sure why the island look is not recommended. You aquascape to your liking imo. Naturally you want to have your rock secure where you put it, don't want it falling and cracking the tank or anything. Stack carefully. You can also use products like Aquamend to hold them together. But theirs tons of ways about securing rock. I just stack mine but I make sure it's solid where it's put. It's a big ol' jigsaw puzzle you just gotta work with until you get the right picture out of it. You don't get the box to look at on the puzzle either
As for your sponges for your QT, they'll be seeded with bacteria for sure, but only for the amount of bioload they've been exposed to. When you move them to your QT, if theirs nothing feeding the bacteria, it'll start to die off. You can add a little fish food here and their (not alot, just a teensy bit every couple days or so) to keep it going but you gotta watch water quality, Once you add fish, it's possible to see a spike in ammonia, but hopefully that won't be the case. I currently have two running in my "sump" with the plans of keeping them colonized properly (and constantly cleaned/ringed out in my old water change water to free them of detritus build up, so when I do need to get my QT tank out, I can just plop them in and be good to go. Just be careful if your medicating the QT tank, don't want some stuff getting back into your DT. I don't keep a QT setup all the time, just pull it out when I need to use it.
As for your sponges for your QT, they'll be seeded with bacteria for sure, but only for the amount of bioload they've been exposed to. When you move them to your QT, if theirs nothing feeding the bacteria, it'll start to die off. You can add a little fish food here and their (not alot, just a teensy bit every couple days or so) to keep it going but you gotta watch water quality, Once you add fish, it's possible to see a spike in ammonia, but hopefully that won't be the case. I currently have two running in my "sump" with the plans of keeping them colonized properly (and constantly cleaned/ringed out in my old water change water to free them of detritus build up, so when I do need to get my QT tank out, I can just plop them in and be good to go. Just be careful if your medicating the QT tank, don't want some stuff getting back into your DT. I don't keep a QT setup all the time, just pull it out when I need to use it.
NateDawg
New member
I'm pretty disappointed right now. I picked the tank up on Friday. That night I filled the tank up with the 40% of water it had I put the rocks in, and the sand and the water barley covered the rock. I put a few power heads in and left if for the night. The next day I filled the tank up more, and picked up my sponges. I just threw them in the tank, and let them float in the tank. Then on sunday I filled it up all the way, oveflow started, made the aquascape, turned the main pump on. put the lights on and got it running. That evening I set up the qt tank, set up the sponges and heater and got that going too. I also threw a lot of fish food in there. Today, a day later, I test it, in high hopes of it being cycled after sitting in an excising tank for 1 1/2 weeks, and was planning to put clowns in it tomorrow. Tested it and ammonia is .25 no nitrites or nitrates. Now what... I have to wait for my qt to cycle 3 weeks to get fish?
papagimp
COMAS Rocks!
i'd say give it a few days of testing each day to see if the ammonia continues to rise and nitrites show up. It could be a spike due to "threw a lot of fish food in there". The sponge filter you used was in an existing tank so it'll have bacteria colonized (assuming you didn't leave it out of water or anything) but the amount of bacteria on it surely isn't enough to filter the entire tank it was in. It's just a small portion of that tanks biological filtration. You may have over fed more than it was able to filter quickly enough. Give both systems enough time and test often to see where the cycle is going. May just witness the small spike.
