yet another new tank setup advice thread!

[newlyreefd]

Coming along nicely.

Been cycling for around 3 weeks. Didn't do anything for a few days, then added some janitorial ammonia to get things moving. Ammonia spiked, then dropped to 0 after 5 days. Dosed again, took 4 days to drop to 0. Dosed, then was away for a week, and we're back to 0, as expected.

Nitrites have been slowly climbing up to around .3-ish

Nitrates have been climbing as well, up to around 40-ish (man, those -ite and -ate tests are a pain to read).

I'm getting a diatom bloom; the previously clean sand is now patchy brown:

How much ammonia are you dosing? I have a 40B and was wondering what the dosage would be for that size tank w/20L sump.

Assuming the latest ammonia dose drops quickly, I'm hoping to get a CUC ordered later this week.

Added a black vinyl backing, too, so the return and other cables aren't visible. Very nice.

Also, have a 10g QT I'm going to set up, and probably actually order the first fish!

 

[salajander]

How much ammonia are you dosing? I have a 40B and was wondering what the dosage would be for that size tank w/20L sump.

I used this calculator to get a guess on how much to add.

Looking back at my notes, I was using around 30 ml (which is also 30 grams) of solution. The stuff I got from the local store was weaker than the janitorial strength stuff, more like 2-3% than 10%.

 

[salajander]

A few weeks later, still going along nicely.

Looks like Nassarius eggs all over the place in the last few days:

The nearly-dead palys/zoas are looking good:

Lots of good coraline growth on the rocks:

Also some algae:

The PJ Cards are doing well. I don't actually hardly ever see them eat, but they seem to be doing well nonetheless. I'm guessing they're feeding on the pods around the tank?

And the tailspot is doing great. Lots of personality!

I have had an outbreak of red algae on my sand bed. I tried to vaccuum it up during a water change, but mostly succeeded in just breaking it apart.

 

[canlax]

subbed, nice work. I am liking the colour balance, I always prefer the daylight look as opposed to the blue lighting some use.

You are a lot like me in the way you analyzed and studied every aspect of the tank. I think it is impossible to catch everything though. Anything jumping out at you already that you wish you did differently? (other than a bigger fish tank )

 

[salajander]

I posted some other photos (and higher res of these) on my G+ page

 

[salajander]

subbed, nice work. I am liking the colour balance, I always prefer the daylight look as opposed to the blue lighting some use

Yeah, I never liked the crazy clown colors some people go for. I prefer the natural shallow water look.

You are a lot like me in the way you analyzed and studied every aspect of the tank. I think it is impossible to catch everything though. Anything jumping out at you already that you wish you did differently? (other than a bigger fish tank )

I probably would have tried to get fewer but larger pieces of live rock, and spent more time securing them.

I probably would get a different size tank - go with a bit deeper more than high - but that's mostly so I could get a better sump/fuge/ATO set up inside the stand.

 

[Pigpen17]

I remember this thread. Looking good!

 

[salajander]

Thanks!

Next up: finish siliconing the 10g combo refugium/ATO reservoir.

I bought a JBJ ATO, and will have around half the 10g tank set up as the ATO reservoir. The rest will be a smallish refugium. Not sure what I'll have in there. Was thinking some algae and pods, but I may end up going with just more live rock and a cryptic zone.

 

[salajander]

I have the combo ATO/refugium partially set-up; just the ATO working for now until I can get something to raise it enough for the refugium to drain. I also need to rearrange my electrics, as it's getting a bit messy...

I'll get a photo of the ATO/fuge shortly.

Here's a set of before/after photos, the first from March when I basically had everything set-up and lightly stocked:

And here it is this morning:

 

[salajander]

Some more photos in this public G+ post.

 

[Macimage]

I really like your rock arrangements.

 

[salajander]

Thanks! The live rock I got was mostly small/medium sized, so I had a chance to do some stacking and arranging. On my to-do list is to epoxy things together a bit so when I start adding coral (no idea what kind yet!) and maybe an urchin things will stay steady.

 

[salajander]

Asterina, I think.

 

[salajander]

Been a while since I updated this thread...

Back in Sep. I was concerned about a series of mysterious disappearances. Nothing else disappeared after that, though. Still I have no clear idea what actually happened.

December/January were full of cyano battles. Lots and lots of water changes, cleaning rocks, scraping walls, etc. Finally did a 3-day lights out in early Feb, and also upgraded the internal flow.

The display is a 55g, and I had 2 Hydor Koralia Nano 425s along with whatever my return is doing, but it turns out that's not nearly enough.

So I bought two Hydor Koralia Evo 750/850s, and now I have those two plus 3 other 425s, plus the return. It's made a difference in how long things are kept suspended in the water column. Hopefully it helps get everything skimmed.

Current tank stock:
3 pajama cardinals
1 tail spot blenny
2 scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp
1 peppermint shrimp
assorted hermits and snails

I had been wanting to get a few more interesting inverts and other stuff for the tank, and also some corals, but kept putting it off and off.

Then, last week, I got a notice from liveaquaria that tuxedo urchins were back in stock, and decided now that the cyano seems to be under control and I have more flow, it was time to get some more livestock!

In the order:
1 blue tuxedo urchin
2 emerald crabs
2 feather dusters
1 pom pom crab (couldn't resist...)

And then I got excited and feeling adventurous, and also ordered one of the coral starter packs from liveaquaria:
Beginner Soft Coral Pack - Maricultured
1 Cauliflower Colt Coral - Maricultured
1 Toadstool Mushroom Leather Coral (Maricultured) - Medium
1 Mushroom Finger Leather (Maricultured) - Medium
1 Devil's Hand Leather Coral, Green (Maricultured) - Medium

My Ca/Alk/Mg have been pretty steady lately, and I'm going to start using kalkwasser in my ATO to keep it even steadier, so I'm hoping after a year the water quality is good enough for these corals.

I also ordered some chaeto and pods from reefcleaners for my refugium, which is currently just a few rocks. The last time I added chaeto it was smothered by cyano. Hopefully this time I can keep it going better.

 

[salajander]

One of the cleaners and the blenny:

After the lights-out. Looking almost clean!

The "scratches" on the back glass were from by trying to clean off the cyano and algae that had grown there.

 

[salajander]

New arrivals showed up today!

It's my first corals (apart from some palys that were on the live rock I started with), so I'm excited/terrified.

Also got a blue tuxedo urchin (going to be doing a lot of gluing of my rockwork this weekend...), two emeralds, a pom pom crab (tiny! and already disappeared), and two feather dusters.

So far everyone seems to be doing ok, though the urchin hasn't moved much.

Pom Pom:

Toadstool mushroom and one of the feather dusters:

Devil's Hand (looking a bit retracted...):

Mushroom Finger:

Cauliflower Colt:

Blue Tuxedo, being checked out by the police, one of our cleaner shrimp:

It's going to be fun trying to figure out where they should all go, their lighting and flow needs, etc.

Larger images available here.

 

[salajander]

Day two updates!

We've named the urchin Mr. Clean since he's doing such a great job on the algae.

The cauliflower colt has opened up quite a bit:

And so has the toadstool:

The mushroom finger and devil's hand are still getting used to things, I suppose.

Mushroom finger:

Devil's Hand:

I put a little phytoplankton and a tiny bit of coral frenzy in, but it didn't have much effect apart from getting the shrimp very excited.

 

[salajander]

Oh, and haven't seen the pom pom since about 5 minutes after we put him in. The larger emerald's been all over the tank. Smaller one is still hiding mostly.

 

[salajander]

The devil's hand shedded last night, and is looking much better today. Some polyps extended:

The colt is still doing great, and the mushroom finger's also extended more:

The toadstool hasn't extended polyps since the second day, but still looks ok.

 

[Jeff38]

Some pics:

Hi,
I didn't see if anyone asked. Is your setup silent?
Thanks!