starting over again

[Branttheman]

If you are starting over there's a site I found today with heaps of basic stuff...

www.saltwatersuccess.com

I have had to start over a couple of times so I hear you lol

 

[jeffnsa]

refugium. it now has 4 2ft tall mangroves and about 30 mangrove seedlings, plus cheato, razor,grape,and feather calurpa.

full tank shot. 4 fish flasher wrasse, yellow clown goby, ocelleris clown, and imperator angel.

left side

middle of tank

right side.

 

[jeffnsa]

i know that the tank is too small for the angel but i will either sell it or get a larger tank. i did one water change so far because i added some recently dead rock that raised the nutrients but it is settling down. i need to add about 20lbs of rock to the display and another 20-30lbs to the fuge. of course nothing works the way you originally plan it because i have a wife and kids that want certian things in the tank that i have to get to keep things quiet in the house. things are going along smothly right now and even the diatom bloom is a good thing because it gives something for the angel fish to pick at all day long.

 

[jeffnsa]

i know that pickling lime will pull heavy metals from the water collum, so with that thinking i have a 5gl water jug that i use for top offs that i could add some pickling lime. i wouldn't add much just a teaspoon or two per five gallons. any thoughts.

 

[jeffnsa]

the lighting is only temporary untill i figure something better.

just some of the mangrove shoots growing.

 

[Tempset]

Why use carbon in a hob filter when that's exactly what an ro/di is?

 

[jeffnsa]

i just want to prove that you can have a healthy reef set up by using other than the common methods. carbon filter pads are cheap and help polish the water.

 

[Tempset]

So we are in agreement that "polishing" (which is the exact same as filtering) the water is beneficial to the overall health and well-being of our critters.

So what u mean to say is u wanna create a tank without spending lots of $$

 

[jeffnsa]

sure if thats how you want to think of it. there are other way of accomplishing the same thing but in this hobby people are told that you have to do this or that or it will crash. i will prove that it can be done without spending a fortune buying the latest and greatest piece of equipment. you would be suprised how many sucessful reef tanks are out there that run pretty much the same as i am, they just don't say anything because of the negativity that they will hear from most others.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Tempset- running water through carbon isn't the same as an RO/DI it's the first step, there's more to RO/DI than just carbon.

jeffnsa- I agree with you, I've been out of the hobby for some time and just recently (8 months ago) got back into it and was amazed at how far it has come. I remember having great success with tap water, no skimmer, LR, Macros, sump or refugium, and all I had for filtration was a hang on back filter with a floss filter, carbon and bioballs.

I know that you'll have great success with this tank. Good luck.

 

[robsk]

i ran carbon on a tank for well over a year...just keep an eye on parameters. old carbon has been said to contaminate systems

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

that's true. when carbon absorbs all it can absorb then it just becomes a trap for the production of nitrates

 

[jeffnsa]

well my wife decided to suprise me 3 week ago with a brand new 1-1.5in blue tang she put into the tank. well everything got ick and killed the clown, yellow gobie, angle, and the tang. all that is left is the flasher wrasse, snails, and hermits. i have been dosing some live photo into the refugium to help with pod production and it is doing great. i need to do a water change due to me overfeeding trying to combat ick and i have a lot of detritus built up in the tank.

 

[Mr.Clams]

Just remember, most important thing is oxygenation.Saltwater can't hold as much oxygen as freshwater can.

To be honest with you, all i run on my sps reef is a sump filter (bio-balls taken out, but only a couple pounds of live rock in there)
Return pump, pump to chiller . Heater. Lights. 60g cube, with 90 pounds of live rock in the display.
No sponge, No filter. Just frequent water changes.
Maybe a couple chunks of cheatomorpha in the display tank.

So don't get crazy with the filters, Because where you should be spending money is on things that will oxygenate your tank the most. IE. Protein skimmer..Sump... wave makers. Powerheads are good for directing flow, but how much do they oxygenate the tank ?

Also another thing i've noticed to keep things healthy, is a SURFACE SKIMMER. To prevent slime from forming on the surface of the water, between water changes.

Goodluck to you.. and tapwater can be a pain in the rear.

 

[davenia7]

I've been using tap water for 3 years and didn't have an issue till I didn't do a WC for 6 months (gpa died, school, and work overwhelmed me, long story). It only works for me bc I live in an area that has desalinated RO from the tap and I get a DETAILED water quality report annually and test my water religiously (My TDS after Prime is between 1ppm-4ppm, better than what some get out of their RO/DI's if the filters aren't brand new)... However, I think the tapwater or no tapwater debate depends on the water where you are. I think Coastal populations who get desalinated RO from the tap will have loads more success than inlanders and those that don't. If I was an inlander, I would run RO/DI. However, being a coastal reefer, I'll stick to tapwater, regardless of the "DON'T USE TAP!!!" drama that others go on about.

 

[jeffnsa]

just some updated pictures of the tank.

 

[jeffnsa]

yeah, i have some hair algea and hydroids but the tank is really coming along. just a few more corals and some shrimp and it will be complete (for now).

 

[seattleguy]

Hey it looks pretty good for how you have it set up. The important thing is that your critters look healthy! What's the little red guy in the first pic?

 

[jeffnsa]

flasher wrasse.

 

[RedSkaNite]

I am doing a tank very similar to yours! Not because I give a fig about the environment, but because I want to experiment with a low cost tank.Low bioload as well, because fish don't interest me much. The only real difference is that I am doing planted/reef, so I will have macros in the display. I will be keeping an aye on this for pointers.

I hadn't considered tap water being good for macros. Bonus!

Good luck!