I have a new tank!

cowman345

cowman345

New Member
(note to reefcentral users, this is some repeat info)

First here's some links for those interested:

Red Sea (Azoo?) Art Deco Aquariums

Lights - Current-USA Satellite 18W: 50/50 PC w/really cool lunar LED light built in

Heater - Hydor Theo 25W: seems really good so far, i'm impressed with quality, we'll see how it does... It's nice and small at any rate.

Azoo Palm Filters- only $6.50 and they're really cute.

Here are some pics so far:




The Plans: Wanna keep nutrients really low - distilled topoff water and distilled saltwater mixxed up for changes. Phosban is in the mail for the filters which will be run with carbon too.

I'd like to keep a Trimma goby, one or two hermits, porcelain crab, 3 sexy shrimp. Also interested in various corals... One or two tiny LPS, shrooms, zoos, maybe an SPS just to try. (I'll be dosing Seachem Reef Complete starting soon).


The Skinny: Went to LFS today and got 3lbs of rock OOPS!
:shock: too much for the tank, DUH. Lost a pound... 2lbs fit in ok. I like the setup I've got going... lots of nooks and crannys. I'm gonna try my darnedest to keep it this way without fiddling. Every time I put my hands in there I lose some water... Anyway, they threw in a piece of grape caulerpa which i broke in two rearranging stuff... There are no signs of life in my tank, though I saw a pod and a feather duster earlier.

The Cycle?: I'm using LFS tank water to start out and hopefully avoid a cycle... however, I tested after 8 hours. I can't figure out my ammonia... using Aquarium Pharm. test kit - turns out pale blue that doesn't even seem close to yellow or greens on card. It's really pale though, so that can't be too bad. Nitrites are at least 50ppm, Nitrates are off the damn scale... but we'll take care of that when the cycle is done and stable. I'm thinking a few good water changes will bring down the NO3 to respectable levels.

So... anyone have any suggestions or input, or questions? Lets have it!

-dave-
 
M

mihkaail

New Member
Yet another one with a melody. Looks good cowman, any more of these guys online and i'll have to get one myself :)

Anyway, seriously, i like the idea of having two palm filters. Extra safe, in terms of filtration. Just one point (from experience) DONT RUSH CYCLING!!!! or, you'll get cyano like mine.

Maybe i can somehow market cyano for sale as tang food ;) If i seed everyone else's tank, mine wont look so bad :twisted:

Anyway, maybe you'd wanna try just having the LR in the back and a clean sand bed. Gives the "clean" look which i love. just MO though. The tank looks more than fine the way it is.

If i could get a Melody in Australia, i'd want to try having an equal amount of sand all over, resulting in a wave floor. Should have an interesting effect (a bit sea sick ifying).

Anyway, it looks perfect as it is.

Keep usupdated k.
 
cowman345

cowman345

New Member
I like that clean look too, but I always end up with so much S*** all over from my rock and stuff.

-dave-
 
M

mihkaail

New Member
I think to get that clean look you gotta use graded, white sand, larger pieces of LR (as compared to all the rubble), get rid of the rubble (it's differing colours would make the sandbed seem dirty, use big things with impact (as compared to lotsa frags. Bubble coral does especially well for this purpose. Just MO.
 
C

C.mydas

New Member
Looks good! You'll love this set up, it is really neat to see such a tiny ecosystem at work. Now you'll need to buy some hemostats and scissors to move/trim stuff with so you dont overflow your tank with your hands. Keep us up-dated as it goes along! :D
 
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mikeguerrero

Active Member
Dave,

Does the current usa 36 watt fit your tank? How about if we purchase the stilts for it?

Here are the dimensions of the light:

the one i saw: (36 watts)
12"L x 7.25W x 2.5" H

Mike
 
cowman345

cowman345

New Member
mike, et al... the 36 watt won't fit my tank, i'm sure of it... i have very little room as it is even with the "stilts" on the lights.

here are some updated pics... i put some livestock in. it's about 2 days later and everything seems to be doing ok so far*.






*my little frogspawn hasn't opened up in about 2 days now... is this normal for LPS? i used a slow acclimation procedure, but i'm worried about this coral.

also, i'm concerned about flow in this tank, how much is too much? I don't want my little goby to get blown away!

-dave-

p.s. C.Mydas - do you know where you can get hemostats? That would be sooo helpful, I can't move anything without making a mess!!
 
skipm

skipm

Moderator
Staff member
I bought some long tweezers and scissors from www.drsfostersmith.com , they are listed in the coral propogating supplies. They work better than hemostats IME. I also had to make a glass cleaner for my tank because everything I already had just seemed to big and awkward. I took a 2" foam paintbrush and cut the handle down to fit inside of a short length of 1/2" CPVC pipe and used a screw to secure it in place and on the other end I wedged a toothbrush in the pipe to scrub stubborn spots off of the glass. Good luck and I really like your tank, Skip
 
D

dragon79

New Member
question

how long has it been running since the picture you showed on the top? Is your rock still curing? Or did you buy cycled/cured rock from an established tank? Water looked cloudy up there, and not sure if you put in corals too quickly. Might be a reason for your coral not coming out. It may pull through though, just keep watching it. And be on top of those water changes and monitor the parameters as they can change very quickly with the small water volume.
 
cowman345

cowman345

New Member
It's been running about 3-4 days since the above pic and my water quality is holding steady, I used cured rock and water from the rock tank at the LFS. I did add a bunch of stuff all at once, but they're all tiny things, and it didn't cause a spike or anything:

Amm: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 40 (after 2 water changes cuz i started with LFS water)
Calcium: 340 (haven't started dosing anything yet.)
SG: 1.026
Temp: 80ºF
pH: 8.2

The water is really clear now, it was cloudy because I'd just arranged the rock in the above pic.


Thanks everyone for the replies!

-dave-
 
D

dragon79

New Member
cool, then it must be the nitrates in there. Just wait until it balances out then. You'll be fine. Right now in my 6 gallon, my parameters are fine, but my featherduster worm hasn't adjusted to the transition from the Melody tank to the jbj 6 gallon. It came out a few times the day before yesterday, and well I can't keep a tab on it until I get home. So I'm hoping it peeks out from time to time.
 
djconn

djconn

New Member
Wow. Really nice tank and great start. What kind of goby is that and how is it doing? Any updates?
 
U

USP55

New Member
i love the goby

i love the goby, i would love to put a pair in my 2.5 but i am going to have many kinds of shroom...are they that small that they can be eaten by a shrom...i would be really worried about that
 
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