returning to hobby after several years, BC29 question

and is there any benefit to running the refugium while cycling?

I would wait until after your first water change, where ammonia is 0, and you will be bringing the nitrates down from sky-high to pretty high. Then start up the refugium. I would even start the refugium before turning your display lights on, so that when the algae ultimately grows, it grows in the refugium, where it won't take hold and get nasty.

The algae will grow at the end of your cycle once the lights are on, the question is do you want the gross diatomes and green hair algae in the display tank, or back in the refugium, where you don't see it and don't care, and it's easier to remove the algae later in the game?
 
well i ordered 50 lbs of live rock last thursday. a label for shipping via ups was generated. 8 days later it still shows as not being shipped. however when i call they say they shipped it. so now they say they will mail me out another 50 lb box of live rock if it doesnt show up by tomorrow. well i thinking lost in shipment for 9 or 10 days of live rock is something i do not want.
so everything else is on hold. in the mean time i picked up a 120 tall tank stand, mh lights, an old pro aquatics wet dry , skimmer and a tote full of other things, and 125 lbs of old dead live rock for $300!
sold the halides, for $200, the wet dry for $50, and a uv sterilizer and a red sea prizm skimmer for $60. so i now have a free tank in front of me. in the process of bleaching the rocks for base. going to use muriatic acid this weekend on them. so i will be doing a FOWLR tank and my cube at the same time!
 
Nice score! Sounds like how I originally started my 120g tank. $300 off craigslist with liverock, sand, wetdry, etc. I didn't bleach it or use acid though, but it worked out okay, I'm still surprised I didn't have explosive algae after what those rocks had been through.

Sorry to hear about the "live" rocks. Just refuse the shipment if/when the original order comes. Unfortunately that may be all you can do about it.

Good luck.
 
well my rock showed up today 9 days after it was shipped. it never any ups tracking and they were supposed to hold it at ups for pick up. im at work and my wife took the soggy box inside. i had her open it and she says it has plastic on the bottom of the box the rock and wet newspaper on top of that and then more plastic on top. nothing actually sealed in plastic bags.
i called the company and told them it finally arrived today. explained the condition. they said go ahead and send a picture of it, nothing specifically they wanted to see. and they said they are sending out another 50 lb box monday morning. told me to keep this box as use what i could.

and on a better note my rapid LED diy kit showed up yesterday. had a couple questions and emailed mike at rapid led. got a response at 8 am my time in virginia, 5 am their time! the email gave me information links and answered my questions, which were plentiful! still had a couple more questions and asked if they could call me. he called from the airport to answer my questions!!! talk about customer service!! i will finish that install tonight and start working on everything else. also got my tunze ATO and will install that as well.
a couple weeks of doldrums then a few days of busy bee activities!
 
Emailing back and forth, and the actual phone call is what sealed the deal for me on RapidLED. Their customer service is most definitely second to none!
 
okay lights are up and running and looking great! received my ro/ di unit. wrong size and wrong model. i live in the country and i am on a well pump. so i required the booster pump on the 50 gpd unit i ordered. i received a 100 gpd with no pump. contacted company and they mailed out a pump for the unit i received. . got it this morning and it was broken! who puts a 5 pound pump in a box with a couple other small related items and doesnt even wrap the pump in bubble wrap? the box was not packed with anything to prevent damage.so now another delay. they wanted me to mail back the entire unit when all i needed was the broken mounting bracket. now i am only sending back the mount.
and on a side note they were going to send me a fresh box of live rock today to replace the one lost in shipment for 9 days. now they want pictures before they will send new rock. so just being sitting around for 9 days somewhere between cali and virginia isnt enough of a reason to replace isnt good enough. i really do not know how i can show dried out rock in a picture. so i took a picture of the wet and rotting box and the rock inside. sending it this evening. hopefully that will be resolved very soon.
the amount of screw up and delays is starting to become frustrating to say the least.
 
okay lights are up and running and looking great! received my ro/ di unit. wrong size and wrong model. i live in the country and i am on a well pump. so i required the booster pump on the 50 gpd unit i ordered. i received a 100 gpd with no pump. contacted company and they mailed out a pump for the unit i received. . got it this morning and it was broken! who puts a 5 pound pump in a box with a couple other small related items and doesnt even wrap the pump in bubble wrap? the box was not packed with anything to prevent damage.so now another delay. they wanted me to mail back the entire unit when all i needed was the broken mounting bracket. now i am only sending back the mount.
and on a side note they were going to send me a fresh box of live rock today to replace the one lost in shipment for 9 days. now they want pictures before they will send new rock. so just being sitting around for 9 days somewhere between cali and virginia isnt enough of a reason to replace isnt good enough. i really do not know how i can show dried out rock in a picture. so i took a picture of the wet and rotting box and the rock inside. sending it this evening. hopefully that will be resolved very soon.
the amount of screw up and delays is starting to become frustrating to say the least.

Sheesh, who did you order from? So I make sure not to go that route. You don't have to say specifically, but was it a big name online store or a smaller site? :uhoh2:
 
it is not a big box store but rather an internet company that is very familiar with the hobby. i will reserve my final volley of insults until after it is all over and give them a chance to make it right without me growing old in the process!
 
broken mounting bracket replacement arrived today and a new 50 lb box of totoka fiji rock left cali last night. so all was taken care of as promised. i will stand behind the company for doing the right thing. now lets hope this box o' rocks doesnt take a sightseeing trip on its way here.
on more positive note with the bio cube got my tunze ATO installed and she purrs like a kitten, no glitches!
and on the 120 finished making my sump from a 20 long. got my plumbing done as well. finished my muriatic acid bath sunday and rocks are currently drying out. had to move that process into the basement because the cold has returned. using a couple heat lamps to hurry that along.
there was about a dozen pieces of tonga branch in the rock so i made a tangle out of it. now gluing the pieces together so i can just pick it up and set in the tank after my sand and crush coral is put in. i once saw a tank with 100 lbs of just tonga branch made into a huge tangle. one of the coolest aquascaping i have ever seen. trying it in a corner of my tank! hopefully i am doing him justice in trying to immulate his skills! i will get some pics up hopefully this evening
 
fired everything up on the 120 today. my corner over flow has a fluctuating water level. it rises up to the top of the overflow tube then drops down until the water level is at the hole on the side of the tube. gets one big slurping sound then rises up again, and repeat . the cycle is about every 10 -15 seconds. what is causing this?
 
Let me start by saying I am by no means an expert on drilled overflows because I have no experience with them, but what your saying sounds like you have a durso style overflow and you are getting an airlock. Is the drain pipe submerged to far in the sump? Maybe someone else will join in and help out.
 
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