New to reef keeping......

[Rayzor]

Hey topmav...I don't currently have a
Skimmer....still waiting on the cycle(only week one)...thinking I may remain skimmerless... If I do weekly WCs. I will continue to look into creating a sump/fuge....from what ive seen it seems pretty doable...
Right now I have only rock and sand (and hitchhikers)...need much more rock....
Can anyone out there say more about sump/fuge...I've seen several mods but no real explanations of each section and their purpose. Think I could build one but would like to understand what exactly it is that I'm making....lol....thnks in advance.


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[topmav1]

melevsreef.com

 

[Rayzor]

melevsreef.com

thanks...doing some reading tonite........

 

[Rayzor]

Week 3: Questions

Hey Guys (and Gals).....Im into the third week of cycling my first saltwater reef. Things seem to be going well (i think)....Bought another 20lbs of LR at Manhattan Aquariums, added it to the tank....now at just over 30lbs of LR in a 30 gallon. I have some questions: there is a good amount of brown stuff?(discoloration) on a bit of the rock, some on the powerheads and all over the substrate. Im figuring this is the much talked about cyanobacteria....and Ive read that this is normal for a newly established tank that is cycling. Will this go away on its own...it is also creeping up the glass and I am anxious to clean it off....but Ive held off. There are many, many creepy crawly (insect-like), very tiny organisms on the glass as well....so I am reluctant to scrub at the glass and disturb these creatures. My thinking is that these (insects)may be feeding on the bacteria. Cant give particulars on parameters because ive yet to purchase any kit...will do so soon.
I am slowly but surely working on researching and developing a plan to convert a ten gallon (just got a 15 gallon tall also) into a sump/fuge...
anyway...my initial question ( there may be many more to come) is.... since i wont be drilling into my tank i will be (eventually) getting an overflow box....the ones im thinking about are the Eshopps PF 300 or the CPR cs50 which are rated at 300 gph.....am i correct in assuming that i will need to get a return pump that will pump water back into the tank at 300gph (@ 3-4feet)? Thanks in advance.....Happy reefing everyone.......

 

[Rayzor]

These are week 1 pics.....20 more lbs of LR now
The light is a HO T5 two 39w bulbs with 6 blue LED's
Sorry just figured out how to attach pics...hope it works:happysad:

 

[Rayzor]

Beginning of week 4 now....water tested params look good....
ammonia:0
NO2: 0
NO3: 10ppm
salinity: 1.025
temp: 80*F
Used API test kit......LFS used RedSea, they also sold me kits for both ammonia and nitrate.....but LFS's test and mine both showed (low levels) of ammonia....API showed zero.......did some research on nano-reef.com and seems like many aquarist there say RedSea test are junk and often give faulty ammonia readings.......has anyone here noticed this as well?
Did my first water change today .......
Used Aiptasia X to kill of the aiptaisia hitch-hikers......
Curious......although both the bottle and the LFS said it was reef safe......I do have one small green mushroom that looks like a hole was burned into it after the treatment.....
Anyone ever see something like this after using Aiptasia X....?
Turned of all aeration devices and tried hard to apply the treatment only on the aiptasia.....everything else looks good......
Also seems like just minutes after the aiptasia shriveled up there were pods eating away at the remains even thought there was still some "goop" on them.....is this normal.....?

 

[greenycrew]

Red sea are definitely junk... And they cost more than API. I just don't get it.

 

[Rayzor]

While i have little experience with these test kits....i gotta say that the high price of the RedSea tests is way out of line with its inaccurate results.......Little PO'ed that i (and the LFS guy) relied on the results of this test becuz i was looking forward to getting a few CUC members........however i have to say that waiting a little longer never hurts and gives the tank a little more time to stabilize....just sorry that i spent almost 40$$$ on only two test kits that probably dont work......luckily i bought the API kits just on a fluke becuz i happened to be at the Pet store getting dog food......

 

[KathyC]

The API kits are more accurate from what I hear.

The mushroom will probably heal just fine. The stuff you used to kill the aiptasia would do that if any fell on the mushroom. .

Patience ... Nothing good hapopens fast in reefing, keep up what you are doing!

 

[Rayzor]

Hey Kathy....yeah I've learned that pretty quickly.....API is the way to go.....
As for the AiptaisaX i tried to be careful but one of the anemones was very close and above the the mushroom....it did open back up after a little while....hopefully ur right and it will be o.k.
And it is also true that in this hobby mantra "Hurry up and Wait" is a good thing.....taking things one day at a time....hopefully the tank will be nice and stable by the time the Frag swap comes later in April....
I also took ur advice and ordered a skimmer...should be here at the end of the week.......