So you got a new fish tank Newbie

[jmait769]

The Rock rules!! Oops didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t he retire?

OK Thanks Tom. I will do all that you suggested.

I was reading the ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œFilter this Through that Thick Skull of Your's-Newbie!!ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ and was wondering when you were going to do an update? Great thread as usual!! I was wondering if running carbon or zeolitic medium (ammonia removal medium) is acceptable (how long, how much, pros and cons).

Thanks. I like picking your brain!!:eek2:

J

 

[WaterKeeper]

I seem to have run into writers block. About the same time I started the filtration thread just about everybody in the world wrote an article on filtration. I was going to let the dust settle for awhile but didn't plan on it being this long. I promise to get back to it.

I'm all for carbon. If it is used as a form of chemical filtration and not as a biomedia. Carbon is great to remove organics but often it is left in the tank too long. It is easily populated by bacteria and, that not only blocks the organic absorption, it also makes it a nitrification factory. Therefore it should be changed frequently. I suggest every two weeks.

Zeolites and their synthetic brethren usually are fine for FW use. It is a different matter in the marine tank. Nobody that I know of has ever perfected one that is selective to a certain compound in the mixed salt solution found in the marine tank. I'd count on skimming and LR to keep ammonia levels down.

 

[TITANIUM]

Hello Waterkeeper.

I have been following this thread for years and now I have purchased a custom made tank. I have been having discussions with people on this forum and others about quality of sand.

I have been told to purchase Carib Sea - Arag ALive Premium Reef sand which is about $90 AUS 10kg. Now my tank is 7 foot by 2 foot by 2.5 foot. This would cost me a lot of money. Is it worth buying premium sand as it is all going to turn into live sand anyway right?

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

you shouldn't need the live sand, as all that is in those bags are bacteria which you will get when you cycle the tank anyway so IMO is just a waste of money. just get some sand and seed it with a cup of someone elses sand bed to get some good critters like worms and such and you'll be fine.

 

[WaterKeeper]

I agree that bagged sand is not worth the money. I'd spend the $$$ on some good quality natural LS. It will pay off in bed diversity. I like to use a couple of different suppliers to help diversity even more. You don't need to have the total bed as LS but the more you use the better. I would imagine there may be some suppliers of aragonite sands down under. I would think it is very common where you live. You can do the old vinegar test on a small amount to find the real thing. Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz.

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

"Oh what a relief it is"

 

[WaterKeeper]

:lol:

All that fizzes in sand is a "good thing".

 

[deeppitt]

Well, I took water keepers advice, took two aspirin and waited a few weeks.
Now, with the tank up three months the following has happened:
1. the sand has bound together and doesn't cloud, just like y'all said,
2. the brown algae bloom has finished (it lasted about 1 week),
3. I'm getting some green-hair algae growing in some spots,
4. ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels seem to stay pretty steady.
5. I've added a few newbie coral frags: a hammerhead, a green-star polyp, a fuzzy mushroom, and a feather duster.

Now the questions:
1. I am running 400W 10000 reefflux MH lamps and want the best for these corals. Are actinics needed yet, and are there recommendations for light output (tank is 30" tall)?

2. Are there creatures who would really enjoy a nice green-hair algae feast?

 

[WaterKeeper]

I personally like some actinic but unless your corals seem to suffer then you can forego them. Snails of one sort or another will help with the algae (I never go that far out on a limb and say which ). Overall things seem to be going well and the algae will decline with a little time-snails or no snails.

 

[balrigard]

RO/DI on well water

RO/DI on well water

WK, thanks for all your great knowledge. First post here. Was wondering if an RO/DI unit would get all the metals out of well water or should I continue getting my water from the LFS.

Thanks,

Bal

 

[WaterKeeper]

Hi Bal
[welcome]

You can bet your sweet bippy it will. RO/DI produce water in its nearly pristine state. Free of metals, and non-metals for that matter, it is about as pure a water as you can find. The only difference is a more polluted water source will expend the DI section quicker.

 

[kendog261]

stupid question but does it also remove chlorine and other additives in city water?

 

[baddraw]

Looking for suggestions on my next steps, have a 55 gal that has been cycling for a month. so far all i have in it is 25 lbs of crushed coral, 20 lbs aragonite sand, and about 10 lbs of tufa and lava rock. would like to have both corals and fish in this tank. this is my first endeavor into the realm of salt so its quite confusing with all the info to be read on all the different sites. basically i'm looking for a basic starter setup so i can learn.

 

[sonny4p]

hey Wk,awesome thread :0)
i am very close to pouring sand in the tank which i am using all bagged sand (free ..cant beat that ..hehe) seeded with some real live sand.Before i can do that though i have a question that has been bothering me for a while that needs an answer so i figured since i read your whole thread my as well ask you.First i read around RC about people having deep sand bed crashes losing everything and then they convert to bare bottom tanks.
I worry that it is inevitable that tanks with deep sand beds will eventually crash.If not what can we do to prevent this and if so then should i rethink this whole sand bed thing?
thanks for hearing me out :0)

 

[dastratt]

[welcome]

Sorry WK couldn't resist

There are too many tanks with DSB that have never crashed to believe that nonsense. Go BB, or go DSB, its all good.

 

[sonny4p]

kool...thanks

 

[deeppitt]

The green algae continues unabated. Some of it is growing into a lovely fern-like grouping. The crabs don't seem too interested in it. The snails prefer the green dusty growth on the glass.

Last weekend I put a feather duster in the tank. The next day it looked good and was reaching about an inch beyond its tube. The day after that it looked wilted and not moving. The day after that it was clearly dead. All of my water tests (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate) show nominal readings.

I am now spooked. I don't know what I did wrong. I thought that the feather dusters were easy to keep. With all of the algae in the water I expected the worm would find plenty to eat.

SG is at 1.026; I am thinking of lowering that to 1.024.
Temp has been 81-83 F. I think that might have been too hot. I am trying to move the tank down to 78 degrees. The halides keep trying to heat it all up though.

Any other ideas or comments on corrective actions?

Thanks in advance

Cheers!

 

[reverendmaynard]

How did you acclimate the feather duster?

How much water flow do have running through the tank?

How are you measuring SG?

How much does your temp fluctuate between lights on and off?

Have you tested alk, calc, or mag?

I'm not sure what size tank we're talking about here, but if it's over 100gals, a foxface is a great algae eater.

 

[deeppitt]

Thanks for replying, Rev. I need the help.

1. I've been acclimating all new entries (including the duster) by floating the LFS bag still sealed in my tank for 1/2 hour, then adding 1 cup of my tank water to the bag, waiting 15 minutes, adding a second cup, waiting 15 min. then removing the animal from the bag, placing it in the tank and discarding the bag water.

2. The tank is 200 gallons. I am running approximately 1700 GPH through the tank (according to calculations, not measurements).

3. I measure my SG using a refractometer.

4. Temperature movement varied from 79 to 83 degrees over 24 hours.

5. I have not tested alk, calc, or mag. I have just received my calc and pkh(?) testing kits. I don't have a test kit for mag. I am filtering my top-off & change water through a RO/DI filter, FWIW.

6. I will look into a foxface. I was thinking of a flame angel, but I thought I might be a little early for one of those. I was at a local aquarium meeting last night; someone there suggested a tiger-tailed cucumber. I'm a bit nervous about that.

By way of additional info, I have some frags (star polyp, fuzzy mushroom and tree leather) which are growing and spreading now, and a hammerhead which hasn't grown yet but seems to be doing fine. The hammerhead went in about the same time as the feather duster, the others were a few weeks earlier.

The tank temperature now seems to be moving around 75 to 79 degrees. If we start going beyond that, we shut down one of the halides. I am planning to add some small fans to the hood this weekend. It was supposed to happen last weekend - I still can't understand why it takes me so long to get anything done.


I look forward to hearing from you, Rev. Thanks again....

Cheers!

 

[reverendmaynard]

1) Your procedure is probably not a problem, but I would decrease the time spent temp acclimating to 15 mins, and do more water additions. Double the water volume of one hour, dump out half the water, double it again over the next hour. LFS tend to keep their SG low, so IMO it is important to get them used to a higher one as slowly as possible.
2) Not great, but barely adequate. 10x is usually considered bare minimum, with 20+ better.
3) Good, but have you calibrated it at all?
4) I think that's a little too much, IMO. I would set the heater to maintain 77 or so, and add a fan that blows over the sump or display on the same timer as the lights to try to keep max temp to 79-80.
5)Good that you are going to start testing those. Very important for any kind of hard corals/clams.
6)Mine is a great algae eater. Flame angels are mostly carnivorous I believe. No experience with cukes.

By themselves, none of these things would likely kill a feather duster in a couple of days, especially if your hammer is fine. Possibly already on it's way out when you got it. Your flow rate would be a major contributor to algae blooms though. Look into using a Closed Loop in order to increase flow. It will replace any powerheads you're using and be more efficient/put out less heat.

Good luck, and keep us posted.