returning to the hobby

[cheezischrist]

hi, im returning to the hobby after 10 years, well to saltwater at least, spent the last while on turtles and african cichlids......i had a few questions and was just looking for thoughts on my build. starting from the door i have a 30 gallong long tank. not quite done with equipment, but it is up and running nnow. i do not have a protein skimmer yet, but will be aquiring one over the next few weeks. currently there is about 6 lbs of live rock,maybe a little more, but i plan on adding about 20 more over the coming weekend. substrate i have 50 lbs of white fiji sand, and 15lbs of agralive crushed coral. i know everyone hates crushed coral, but i really like the look of a small amount of it in the sand. filtration i have an emperor 400, wich has media in it currently, but for the cycling process and all the random crap that came from the agralive. the emporor will be converted into a DIY refugium ive dreamt up in my mad scientist brain. there is also a very small whisper HOB currently, for like a 10 gallon tank running with out media, to aid in circulation for now. and also an undergravel filter running with airstones for now and ammonia cartridges on them. the undergravel will be switched to reverseflow lower rate powerheads, in the upcoming weeks. i will also be adding a circulation pump to each side in the next few weeks, but im not sure about wich ones. any ideas? i have a 27 inch bubblewall across the back of the tank as well, wich i know alot of people say not to, but ive always had them in every marine setup ive run, and never had any problems, and the only downside i see is saltcreep and evaporation, wich im fine with dealing with. i just really like how they look lol. heres where the bulk of my questions begin. ligting. i currently have just the stock lid and florescent hood that came with the tank. i plan on moving to a glass canopy, but im not sure if i should get one or leave the tank open, and lighting. currently i just have a coralsun 5050 flourescent on the tank. i know it wont be adequate for my future plans, but it will do for now till i decide on lighting. ive been tossing around 2 ideas, and imput would be greatly appreciated. the marineland "reef ready" 36" led fixture, or the corallife 36" quad t5 fixture with the led moonlights. or the tx double fixture with the led moonlights. any thoughts or imput on these questions as well? i plan on having alot of corals, of all kinds, and little or no fish. what im running now after being together since saturday night, is suprisingly flourishing, already, and my amonia is at zero. i know that will change this weekend though after dropping 20 + lbs of rock in this weekend, but im not in a rush. patience is a virtue aquariums beat into my skull over the years, especially reef and marine tanks in general, even though turtles could be quite trying at times. thank yous for any thoughs orimput or ideas. ill try to get a pic up of my current setup as well, because i plan on photojournalling the entire tank. and sorry for my spelling/ grammer. i gave english teachers nightmares lol

 

[cheezischrist]

first signs of life

first signs of life

woohoo, found my first signs of life yesterday/ last night. a small worm, hopefully a bristleworm, but it lives in a hole in one of my rocks. too small to really tell what it is right now. a small starship that looks like a baby choclate chip star, wich is what was for sale in the tank that small piece of rock came out of, a few amphripods, 2 blue legged hermits, and a nother super tiny hermit in a bright white shell. a collonista snale, and a super tiny anemone i think, its less than a millimeter, and flourescent green base with small orange arms. and a barnacle.
i forgot hhow much i loved staring at new rock looking for the tiniest hitchhikers and lifeforms till i went crosseyed lol

 

[cheezischrist]

quick question, has anyone ever ordered LR from premium aquatics? thinkin about ordering some of my rock from there

 

[dorkymk3]

Welcome back to Reefing, I'm sure lots have change when it comes to keeping corals. Plenty of new technology that makes this hobby very easy but at the same time still costly. I've only been into coral reefing for a couple years and still learning new things everyday. Well good luck with your journey, post pics of your setup.

 

[cheezischrist]

thanks, yeah the single most important tool ive found, wich i sooooo wish i had when i was 12 and started my first tank.... the internet. lol. alot of changes with everything else too lol. im tryin to up load a pic of the tank at its meager beginnings now, but i plan on getting about 10 more lbs of live rock tonite, and ordering around 20 for the weekend online. well in theory . light is ordered, t5 quad fixture with moon led's. still dont trust the all led fixture, and i think my tank isnt tall enuff for mh lights with the heat they produce. i know one 250 kept my turtle tank extremely hot and humid. still lookin for a good deal on a skimmer also, and shopping them. considered actuallly trying this....http://istaproducts.com/details+Surface+skimmer/products/75/ attatched to the aqua clear hob filter i have providing current right now lol.

 

[cheezischrist]

ok, here is a pic of tank from day 3 of it running. just the beginning, i know its still kinda sad lol, but its gonna grow, as long as i water it and give it light lol

 

[cheezischrist]

and heres the starfish i tink/hope is a baby choclate chip star, and not a bad guy. its not even as big as a dime yet and is hard to find.

 

[dorkymk3]

Just be sure if you plan to keep corals to remove the chocolate chip star fish, or he'll be having a very expensive dinner. Also i would ditch the undergravel filtration and add some power heads for better water circulation now instead of later.

 

[cheezischrist]

ha thanx. the ugf will be being disabled as well as the really small whisper hob filter, as soon as my pumps and skimmer arrive, wich should be thursday or friday. as for the starfish, till it gets bigger so i can i dentify it better or i get a magnafying glass, it can stay. plus once hes bigger i can trade im in to the lfs, and it will just be easier to catch him lol, seeing how es primarily nocturnal, and doest leave the one rock hes on. thank you for the imput. i would like to eventually convert the undergravel to reverse flow, with a switch to be able to turn it on just occasionally. my last cichlid tank i had set up like that, and it did wonders for when the junk started to build up on the bottom, jus to kinda blow it up really quick to get it back into the water column for the primary filters to grab. any thoughts on this?

 

[cheezischrist]

new pics comin tonite, added 12+ lbs of rock, all mixed up lookin, but i think i spread it out pretty well. center piece looks like a goat skull, without the horns. and seen all kinds of critters flying off the pieces as i put them in

 

[trigs]

Looking forward to seeing this pan out

 

[cheezischrist]

thank you, so am i. couldnt get pics of tank with more of the rock, but my girl sent me better pics of the starfish, and now i dont know what kind it is again lol. it seems to be green.. skimmer and pumps come tomorrow, lights on saturday. pretty excited, and tax return saturday or monday, wich i will be using to order the rest of my rock.

 

[cheezischrist]

 

[cheezischrist]

 

[cheezischrist]

 

[cheezischrist]

was movin some stuff around and noticed this guy, think its a coral polyp of some sort. and is quite active.super tiny though. moved him outta high current and high light to medium current and high light, right up front so i can monitor him.

 

[cheezischrist]

this is the tank now, well for now lol. little yellow guy is on the top right of the small piece of rock dead center up front. hope he makes it. starfish and te 2 little hermits go right past him and pay him no mind, even though he does tuck his arms in when they are nearby.

 

[cheezischrist]

wopke up today to find diatom patches all over my sand and on some rocks. and red hair algae patches on the sand. and some green patches on a few rocks. nothing on the glass odly though, but i have a bubblewall across the back of the tank, and my girlfriends ocd keeps the magfloat movin on the front and sides constantly. god i wish i invented the magfloat lol. thinkin i may wake up to a brown out tomorrow morning. noticed a nassarius snail surface in the sand also. guessin he hitchhiked in on the last batch of rock i put in, or came wit the original live sand and i just never noticed him. gonna test water later, and probably add more rock again today. have a hob refugium coming as well. its only a gallon though. any thoughts on flow rate i should run through it?its rated at 95 gph right now, but im considering modding the output of my skimmer through it instead of the pump that comes with it. the skimmer is 300 gph.

 

[Subw00er]

That might be aptasia, or it could be yellow polyps. Google both to see what it looks like more in person. That starfish is sometimes considered a nuisance. Most of them dont have all their legs, so you're lucky. I really doubt its a c-chip.

You may want to lessen the lighting and increase flow and if you are feeding the tank at all, feed less.

To preface, I'm new, but this is just want I've learned.

 

[cheezischrist]

ha, just bought a good, new test kit, i knew the cheap noname old one was lying.
ph 8.4
ammonia .50
nitrite 1.0
nitrate 40 ppm. lol, glad i bought a new one