Sumpless Marine Adventure

[sumit89das]

Let me start with how I ended up getting into this journey... (Warning: This can be boring)
My family has always been pet lovers. We have had various pets in our home over time. The current list of pets are:
1 Dog (Rajapalayam)
2 Dwarf Rabbits
8 Birds (6 Zebra Finches and 2 Blue Parrots)
A 2' Fresh Water Tank (Stock - 4 Angels, 2 Koi Carp, 2 Pleco)
A 10 ltr Fishbowl with an inbuilt filter that houses a Blue Crowntail Betta.

And then there is an empty 30L x 12B x 18H tank that used to be in my sister's room before she got married 4 years ago. This tank used to house goldfishes only.
I was always in and out of this hobby because most of my student life has been spent outside Kolkata. After completing my studies I thought I will give some serious thoughts on this hobby, but could not do so as I got very busy with work then came marriage.
So last month while cleaning our store room, my wife discovered this empty tank filled with nothing but old equipment and during dinner my wife raised this topic of cleaning this tank and setting it up in our guest room. Now I didn't want to disappoint my newlywed wife :love2: and to be honest I was interested equally :fun2: . So we cleaned up the tank next sunday, placed it on a table in an ideal place filled it up with gravel and water. I had to go to my LFS for a filter and this is when I made a big mistake. I TOOK MY WIFE ALONG!!! :deadhorse1: I thought as it was her idea, it will be fair enough to let her choose the fishes (which ofcourse I would be getting later on after cycling the tank) just to make her happy. As we entered the store, there was an eyecatching 5' reef tank with clowns, damsels, tangs. And as soon as my wife laid her eyes on the tank she started saying "œ I want NEMO, I want NEMO", that is when I understood I am in big trouble. :uhoh3: (I didn't want to stay in the store for long, I took a SOBO top filter and came back home. While on our way home, I explained to her, why we can't have "œNEMO" in our tank, but I believe you guys can take a guess who won the argument :debi:.
Hence starts my marine adventure, I am calling it an adventure instead of journal because:
An adventure is an exciting or unusual experience. It may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome.[1]Adventures may be activities with some potential for physical danger such as exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, river raftingor participating in extreme sports. The term also broadly refers to any enterprise that is potentially fraught with physical, financial or psychological risk, such as a business venture, or other major life undertakings. (WIKIPEDIA)
"¦..to be continued"¦"¦

 

[nmotz]

... fraught with physical, financial or psychological risk"¦

You got that part right, haha. No really it is a bit of an adventure isn't it? I think one of the most alluring features of this hobby is just how difficult and unpredictable it can be. I love to read people's stories on reef central because they actually provide me as much education for this hobby as the numerous scientific studies available on the net today.

I have certainly enjoyed my adventure thus far and can't wait to start the next phase in May when I return home from being overseas.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Timfish]

I would encourage you to get Delbeck and Sprung's "The Reef Aquarium" Vol III and Rohwer's "Coral Reefs in the Microbial Sea's" Marine reef systems do not have to have a lot of expensive equipment and doodads to be successful. Here's a sumpless, skimmerless system I maintain: http://youtu.be/-eCQSVdqBQA

 

[Rrosen826]

yes I would also call it an adventure, Its very rewarding and difficult at the same time. but the end result is so amazing

 

[sumit89das]

I would encourage you to get Delbeck and Sprung's "The Reef Aquarium" Vol III and Rohwer's "Coral Reefs in the Microbial Sea's" Marine reef systems do not have to have a lot of expensive equipment and doodads to be successful. Here's a sumpless, skimmerless system I maintain: http://youtu.be/-eCQSVdqBQA

Wow.. Your tank is so perfect that I almost thought it was a simulated tank. Hats Off..

 

[sumit89das]

Episode - 2 (Marine Shopping)
By god, setting up even the most low-tech and simple marine tank can make a huge hole in your pocket.
But luckily I have a distant cousin who has this huge marine tank 7ft reef tank, who has some spare equipments that I have robbed from him.

So without further ado, here's my progress so far.

Used regular packaged drinking water. 20 Litres X 5
<a href="http://s1056.photobucket.com/user/sumit89das/media/Packaged%20Water_zps0vnsbb9r.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/t363/sumit89das/Packaged%20Water_zps0vnsbb9r.jpg" border="0" alt="Packaged Water photo Packaged Water_zps0vnsbb9r.jpg"/></a>

Bought Blue Treasure Salt. I guess it is a 6.7 Kg pack.

Fixed 2 t5 fixtures. 1 with Actinic, 1 Simple t5 white tube.

Got a wavemaker free of cost from my cousin (SOBO wp 400m). He is now using something more expensive.Some Vortech brand model. He has 2 of them in his tank.

After mixing the salt for about 48 hours, I emptied the water out of the tank into 2 flat buckets so that I could start working on my scape.
<a href="http://s1056.photobucket.com/user/sumit89das/media/Salt%20Mixing_zpsyd9jdihv.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/t363/sumit89das/Salt%20Mixing_zpsyd9jdihv.jpg" border="0" alt="Mixing Salt photo Salt Mixing_zpsyd9jdihv.jpg"/></a>

Getting the live rock was challenging. My LFS doesn't stock Live or Dead rocks, as buying and selling of Live/Dead rock is illegal in India and his store was raided once. But he gave me a contact, this guy was charging a hefty price. So I went back to my cousins place and robbed him again. This time I got 7-8 kg (Which I know, is very less for my tank) of live rocks and an AZOO hydrometer.

Scaping the tank was a big task for me. Honestly I was never a person of artistic nature. Forget hard-scape, I could never even paint properly. Infact, I was the worst painter in my class. I remember once we were asked to draw a cow, I ended up drawing a dog with horns. My teacher told me that I had invented a new species. My friends still make fun of me whenever we have a get-together.
So I started going through various threads and googling day in day out regarding hard-scape pattern, and ended scaping the tank as below


Well it my not be da-vinci material but I am very satisfied with myself. I purposely went for this one sided heavy look so that I could fit in my HOB or internal skimmer on the left side. Gurus, I need advise for the skimmer. Make and model. Hang On preferable as there won't be a sump in the near future.
Oh and I almost forgot to mention that sand I used was of some Coral Reef Aqua Pro brand.


The grain size is given below. I have kept a pen on it for size comparison.


The filter that I am using is SOBO 1880f top filter.


Filter media:
Base - Ceramic Rims
Middle - Sponge
Top - God knows what it is.. Advised by my LFS. Came in the box shown in the picture.

 

[sumit89das]

After fitting it up with all the equipment, filled it back up with the water from the bucket.


Checked the salinity using the Azoo Hydro and it was perfect.


A day later I run the test, using my API test kit that I bought from amazon.
After watching a couple of youtube videos, I bought a syringe to take the water from the tank and inserting it in the test tubes. This way I won't be polluting the tank by dipping the test tubes inside the tank.


Being an accounts student from the beginning I never thought I would be handling such hi-fi chemical stuffs like these in my life. For a certain moment I was getting a feeling that I could have become a great chemist. It almost felt like Walter White from Breaking Bad.
The results from the test
PH was ok, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate as per the pic


Now will let the tank cycle for atleast 2 weeks before testing the parameters again.

Gurus please guide me and correct me if I am doing anything wrong.

 

[Roadki11]

Good luck with it. I ran a 29 gallon without a sump and skimming maybe a week every month. I chalk my success up to beginners luck and heavy research (especially on this site).

 

[chueu]

India huh.. should be challenging...

I am running a 30 gal without sump.. details in my sig.

Be pleased to answer any questions you have

 

[sumit89das]

India huh.. should be challenging...

I am running a 30 gal without sump.. details in my sig.

Be pleased to answer any questions you have

You have got a great tank there. Something that I can only dream of.

Can you please tell me if it is safe to use seachem stability for faster tank cycling?

 

[rexster]

You won't regret it, I miss my tank while I'm at work, I even set up Skype on a tab at home so I can see the tank while at work lol well it is a good way to monitor in case anything happens (water leak, power cut, robbery, etc) I live in Hong Kong and we have over 50 aquarium stores all bunched up in a little place called Mongkok , great place to hang out for pet lovers like you! Reef is good, dive in my friend

 

[hummer41269]

Good luck ...
Why is live /dead rock illegal to sell

 

[sumit89das]

Good luck ...
Why is live /dead rock illegal to sell

Coral Hunting and Live Rocks are illegal to sell in India because they are collected from sea floor destroying the reef, by charging dynamites, hence damaging the natural ecosystem.
But honestly I believe calling it banned/illegal etc is just a sham to create market demand and increase price.

 

[sumit89das]

BTW can anyone tell me if it is safe to use Seachem Stability or API Quick Start for faster tank cycling?

 

[sumit89das]

You won't regret it, I miss my tank while I'm at work, I even set up Skype on a tab at home so I can see the tank while at work lol well it is a good way to monitor in case anything happens (water leak, power cut, robbery, etc) I live in Hong Kong and we have over 50 aquarium stores all bunched up in a little place called Mongkok , great place to hang out for pet lovers like you! Reef is good, dive in my friend

I know it is very addictive. But setting up a skype while you are at work is really intense. Robbery? Did someone break into your house to rob fishes. And you are really lucky to have so many stores in your area. My nearest marine LFS is 10 kms away.:headwalls:

 

[sumit89das]

India huh.. should be challenging...

I am running a 30 gal without sump.. details in my sig.

Be pleased to answer any questions you have

You have got a great tank there. Btw how is the skimming performane of the BH90? And can you please tell me how far does it go over the rim of the tank? I really have very less headroom over my tank, hence I may have to deal with an internal submerged skimmer instead of a HOB.

 

[craig colbert]

Hi matey I run my tank with a canister filter and a hang on the back skimmer... I use the tmc v2 skimmer but heard good things about this and would have got it but low on space
http://www.swelluk.com/aquarium/pro...7/aqua-medic-turboflotor-blue-1000-26108.html

Iam in the UK though so not sure what you can get where you are.

Also your trickle tray up top I have one of those on mine... I rolled a big marble size ball of putty up and blocked the outlet up and as the tray then filled I grow cheato I it to reduce the nutrient content.

 

[sumit89das]

How good is fluval biological enhancer?

 

[sumit89das]

Its all over. I think I've crashed my system.:uhoh3:
Yesterday I went to my LFS to buy a HOB Skimmer, he did not have any in stock. Instead I returned with 5 pieces of LR. The rocks were very smelly. My LFS told me to wash the LR in fresh water and put them in the tank.
The LR had many black patches in them which my LFS claimed to be dead coraline. He told me to rub in off gently with a brush.
The rocks looked like this:


After cleaning them moderately I put them inside the tank. And now my entire tank is stinking. The entire room is smelly weird. My wife is so angry with me now. she wants me to throw away everything right now.
What should I do. Plz plz plz help me.

This is the condition of the new rocks after insertng them in the tank.


The rocks also had some weird looking hitch-hikers on them.


Plz help me overcoming this situation. My wife has given me 2 days time to get rid of the smell otherwise I have to get rid of the entire tank. :deadhorse1:

 

[chueu]

I would not use anything for fast cycling whether it is seachem or api.

WHether it is safe? I do not know..

But ive learnt that patience is key and waiting to cycle is a rite of passage. Dont try to speed anything up, in the long run you will suffer for it