Poidog's 70g Tech Tank Build

UPS has "lost" my replacement rock due to weather conditions? Are you serious? It wasn't raining that hard! Who wants to make a bet when they do find them they'll be soaked and the boxes will be falling part. Thank goodness BRS packs the rock in plastic.

UPS sucks.

perhaps it was that fog we had

Glad you're getting some better rock, the first batch looked like softballs with some holes.

I know you're already invested in this but dry rock (any brand) tends to be a huge algae magnet. I've read tons of posts from people that have problems getting it in control.

thats because they rush it and blast it with light right out the gate

Nerite and Cerith snails will take care of cyano and algae until the rock grows enough good bacteria and coralline.

sure perhaps if you put a few hundred of them
 
I plan on cycling the tank for up to 2 months w/o light (basically curing the rock/sand) so I should be okay with algae control.

The packages showed up in Norhtbrook UPS last night but UPS is holding them hostage and won't release them to me for pickup. So I have to wait till Monday. Again UPS, you suck.
 
eric if you dont light cycle that dry rock its still going to have the algae breakout.

It's just diatoms. No big deal, I got the same with my pukani rock. Phosphate and silicates reading zero on salifert. No algae in the tank 2 weeks later.
 
Lights shouldn't be a concern for algae reguardless of the lights being on... In the world we live in it is proven Algea is everywhere and will one day when technology is right will be apart of our fuel source for oil and fuel... And yes it's just Diatoms IMO...
 
Well I'll report algae issues if/when I get them. But as of now the my rock is stuck at UPS. I'm starting to mix saltwater now since I have a lot to make...
Updates later this week the tank is scaped and filled.
 
Alright, I recived my extra 70 lbs of dry Fiji rock from BRS. It was much smaller in size and easier to work with for my tank dimensions. Lots of nooks and crannies, along with some caves and overhangs. Overall, I really like it and it only took me 2 hrs to scape!

I have it scaped, sand in, and 10 gal of water added so far.

I only had to use 30 lbs of the Tropic Eden reef flakes. I may use 10 lbs more to get some depth in more places for the blue spot. Right now it's at 1"

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hahaha nice. I didn't even know I had my legs crossed taking the picture!

The rocks are higher than what it looks like in the pic... must have just been my angle.
 
Eric,
I'd use fiber glass rods (Driveway marker) to stack rocks into pillar structure. You can come up with 2-3 small pillars & make some real nice positions for light variations. It will give you a very open look too.
check out some pics I posted of my tank if this makes sense to you.
 
Alright, I recived my extra 70 lbs of dry Fiji rock from BRS. It was much smaller in size and easier to work with for my tank dimensions. Lots of nooks and crannies, along with some caves and overhangs. Overall, I really like it and it only took me 2 hrs to scape!

I have it scaped, sand in, and 10 gal of water added so far.

I only had to use 30 lbs of the Tropic Eden reef flakes. I may use 10 lbs more to get some depth in more places for the blue spot. Right now it's at 1"

IMG_2216.jpg

IMG_2217.jpg

IMG_2218.jpg

It looks good and it make me even more anxious to get going on my own. I don't say this to be critical and it may just be an optical illusion, but as long as it's not full I thought I'd point out that it looks like the tank is a little out of level. The water looks deeper on the left side.
 
Thanks Tangstank. I think If I had a 4'x2' tank w/ two MH bulbs the pillar look would be cool. But with 1x250w and only a 3'x18" footprint this is the best set up IMO.

Dough - you are right. it is slightly off, but the bubble was still in the level lines. I have a 100 yr old farm house, so the floors aren't always level. It is level enough that you won't see it when it's filled.
 
Finished filling the tank last night. It is now up and running and starting it's cycle. I was debating on whether to run the skimmer or not, as I read tons of conflicting reports on what to do with dry rock. Since I used dry Fiji, there is die off in these rocks (they are not the super clean mined rocks), so I decided that I'll run the skimmer to help take the excess out and O2 the water. After running it for just 8 hours I already have a good amount of snog, and the gate valve is fully open. Thoughts on running the skimmer during cycle?

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Finished filling the tank last night. It is now up and running and starting it's cycle. I was debating on whether to run the skimmer or not, as I read tons of conflicting reports on what to do with dry rock. Since I used dry Fiji, there is die off in these rocks (they are not the super clean mined rocks), so I decided that I'll run the skimmer to help take the excess out and O2 the water. After running it for just 8 hours I already have a good amount of snog, and the gate valve is fully open. Thoughts on running the skimmer during cycle?

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Keep it running. It won't inhibit the cycle, and will keep you from having tons of nitrates when the thing is over.
 
sounds good. Thanks Ted. mmmmm snog..... nom nom nom

I'm thinking of adding about another 15 lbs of sand to make the bed a bit deeper.... thoughts?

That is currently 30 lbs already in the tank (I still have an additional 30 lbs left)
 
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Personally, I like a little deeper sandbed to get more of an anaerobic DSB thing going on in the lower part of the sand. Plus, more area for pods, worms and critters to populate, and if you have a jawfish, goby, or wrasse, they will benefit from a deeper bed. There are people who argue with DSBs as being a Nitrate/PO4 factory, but I think if you're running chaeto and/or carbon dosing there's nothing to worry about :)

I'd definitely keep that skimmer running and agree with Ted. Not sure if you have had a SRO XP cone before but make sure the output is completely above the water or you might get random overflows. I also have a fix for splashing if you need that too.
 
I'd definitely keep that skimmer running and agree with Ted. Not sure if you have had a SRO XP cone before but make sure the output is completely above the water or you might get random overflows. I also have a fix for splashing if you need that too.

Nope, never had one before and it's completely submerged. Why would that happen? it's just water flowing into water vs water falling into water
 
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