_Adrian_ - New Tank, New Begining!

[_Adrian_]

hey guys ...
here's a couple of pics of my new tank.
cycled it for about a month now... no detectable levels for amonian nitrate and nitride, PH @ 8.3, CA is ~430ppm. Used a 70% mature salt water and the remaning 30% was a fresh mix (well... was mixed a week in advance and ran in the barel ) and used tropic marine salt.

Substrate:
Its a mix of 60Lbs of LS and 40 of crushed Coral (caribsea brand for both) and theres about 50-55 lbs or live rock at the moment, but will add about 45 lbs more!

Filtration:
Pro Clear Acrylic Wet/Dry (~17-20Gal) with integral berlin style protein skimer, 2x 700GPH Odysea pumps(only one running at the moment), Odysea CFS4 Canister ( for mechanical and chemical filtration ), AquaClear 50 heater (200w)

Ligting:
as of right now really crappy (4x40w marine glow), but waiting for my buddy to empty out his hard coral tank so i can scoop my new light (well ... slightly used but works for me) 2x150w 10K HQI, 2x96w CF Atinic, 4x1w Moons -> Odysea ... no wories, externaly ballasted and this light's been used for a good year or so... it would have blown up already if it would have been faulty, but almost due for a bulb change, which is on top priority once i have the fixture.

 

[_Adrian_]

PS:
Faygo Bottle is for skimmer run-off

Also...

Fish List:
1 Blue Hippo -> Dory
1 Dragon Goby -> Eragon
1 Green Mandarin -> Mandy
2 True Percula Clowns -> Marlan and Nemo
1 Coral Beauty -> Belle
1 Sailfin Tang -> Veila
1 Lawnmower Blenny -> Toro
(yes this is what happens when you have kids....)

Coral List:
Bunch of Different Mushrooms (couple of brown, red, blue) some Ricordea's (yellow/green)
Button Polips, Green Starburst Polyps, Pulsing Xenia's, 2 Larger Kenya Tree's that arend doing so great because of the lighting.

Priority list:
- Lights
- Larger Wet/Dry with a fuge (but gotta buy a protein skimmer or build one myself)
- UV sterilizer
- More LR
- More Corals

 

[mr_X]

hey! welcome!
this livestock list- this is a wish list, or do you already have all these inhabitants? that full tank shot is recent?
what size tank is it?


btw, the live rock and the bio balls are going to end up working against each other in that setup. i'd get rid of them.
also, make sure you clean out those cannister filters regularly!

 

[_Adrian_]

Tank is made by Perfecto under the Marineland Brand and its a 90Gal with an integral corner overflow which is included the 2 powerheads and the adjustable drain tube. The tank is drilled in the botom for feed and return are 1 1/4", also i keep my macroalgae in the overflow
so far i have green grape kelp, spaghetti algae and smooth leaf red kelp.

as far as the fish list and coral list...
yes .. i already have them, but they were just aclimated and were kinda hidding when i took the pics. only kicked on the lights for 2 mins or so that i can take a couple of quick shots.
PS... i dont have invested over $250 in ALL the fish... at least i dont think :?

 

[mr_X]

i don't know much, but i'd like to offer some opinion.
i'd slow down on the corals and stuff until the tank stabilizes some.

i would take the macros out of the overflow, and put them where the bioballs are in the wet/dry, right after you toss the bio balls :wink: , and then put a cheap flourescent light over that. a 6 dollar clip on home depot fixture, with an energy saver 5000k bulb will work perfect.

the lights for your 75 should fit fine over the 90.....right? both are 48" correct? if you like, i have found some very cheap places to purchase flourescent and metal halide bulbs if you need them. meanwhile, good luck. :wink:

 

[_Adrian_]

thanks...
but tomorow i gotta go and pick up a larger wet/dry that will do that too

the only thing remains is to grab the light fixture ...
and i think i know which one your talking about .. the one with the parabolic reflector...
as far as the bulb ... i have a 40w 50/50 mix which shoul work just fine

as far as the orbit fixture .. its already been sent back ....
im just waiting for some dude to pick up his 3 pieces of acropora and the lights are mine for the taking

 

[_Adrian_]

OK ...
as of today... im building my own canopy

On todays shopping list:
2xHO T5 Ballasts, 4x Coralife HO T5 Tubes (2x50/50 & 2xActinic), 2x175w Advance Magnetic MH Ballasts, 20Ft of 143THWM wiring for MH, 2xMogul sockets, 2x 20A 250V (paired), ordered 2x Coralife 10K MH Bulbs, ordered 46" submersible moonlights (of course they will be hung/bolted up in the canopy at the front pointed towards the back of the tank), also the actinics will be at the back of the tank and the 50/50's at the front along with the moonlites, and the halides will be dead center of the tank)

looked at new pumps and found something that i want to add in
came across a nice canister (Laguna Pressurized Flo 12000 Filter) with built in UV and thats when my jaw hit the floor. It was meant for ponds .. but to hell with it! the only thing that really needs modification is the filtration since it was meant to filter out really coarse stuff... but that never stoped me!!
also the large unit is only $300 BUT is good for a 3200Gal ... yes thats rite... 3200 GAL!!!! and has a 24W UV sterilizer built in, but no pump.

anyways...
the MH bulbs should be in tuesday or wednesday, tomorow i gotta go down and build the MH Enclosure and bring it to my buddy's to powder coat it and then head off to my brothers workplace to have the reflectors chromed. while the enclosure gets powdercoated and the reflectors chromed i can head to rona or home depot to pick up some marine varnish for the reflectorsso the salt wont eat them away.

 

[mr_X]

i'm not sure that laguna filter is right for you. first it has bio balls in it. secondly, if you are building a refugium, at best, all you are going to need is a sponge somewhere to catch large particles, and you'll be able to clean it easily and it will be out in the open and easy to see when it is getting dirty. you are not going to need this. i would possibly purchase one of these if i was putting together a saltwater aggressive fish tank withOUT live rock.

i think this filter is a waste of money.

the UV sterilizer is good in some ways and bad in others. they kill bad things in the water, and also kill good things too(plankton). you might ask the pros about running one of these full time. i believe, in a reef setup, it might be detrimental to some extent.

as far as the lighting, i'm suprised you didn't go with the 250 MH, but i like your style and i'm excited to see the outcome! take alot of pictures of the progress! :wink:

 

[_Adrian_]

todays progress so far....

the drain hole in the bottom of the wetdry was 1"...
i could not find a 1" bulkhead anywhere...
so to hell with it... dug up a 1.5" ball valve and a treaded fitting, glued in the fitting and made sure that the valve is nice and tight
heres a couple of pics....
not time to go an build that manifold for the pumps ...
ohh almost forgot
after a lil bit of thinking ... i will replace the 2 powerheads with a 46" long 1" diam. spray bar

 

[_Adrian_]

alrite .. done with the wet/dry and refuge

so heres a before and after pic

 

[_Adrian_]

UPDATE:

The tank received a couple of "upgrades"
1.- Live Rock - Added 35Lbs more rock and theres about 60Lbs more cycling downstairs ( most of it is tonga )
2.- Moonlites - 2 x Odyssea 20" sealed LED moonlites - FREE
3.- MH - Aquired a nice 2x250W MH setup for $125 and now need to make an refflector or buy a nice retrofit