I'm Putting Together a 40 Gal Tank - One Step at a Time

[1geo]

It now Sunday afternoon and I have taken KH tests on the tank since last night. The KH is between 13 and 14 and has remained there steady. It would appear that whatever was adding Alkalinity to the tank has leached it all out, hopefully, and now the water evaporation should slowly bring it down within the 11, 12 limit. Next week I should get the calibration sample for my PH meter and then can get some accurate reading on the tank. My next step will be to raise the calcium level from 320 to 400. Time flies when you are having fun. Geo.

 

[1geo]

I finally got my calibration solution 7.0 for my PH meter in this morning's mail. After calibrating the meter it showed my reef tank had a PH of 7.9. The API titration test showed it at 8.4 so much for API. The KH is still at 14 so I'm reluctant to add buffer to raise the PH and raise the KH. So, I'm going to just sit tight and monitor the KH which hopefully will come down. I'm getting a new KH tester in the next few days and will be interesting to compare the results of the API test with the Salifert KH test. Geo.

 

[dustin_P74]

like i said earlier take API results with a grain of salt, although salifert doesnt have a very good track record with alk tests either

 

[1geo]

Since my last post I have been doing routine chemistry on the my 40 gal tank with only live sand in it. There are a number of decisions to make before my live rock arrives at the beginning of April. First how to raise the calcium level from the current 320 ppm to 400 ppm. My two choices are a Kalk drip or Kent Marine Tech CB Part A & B. I have both and have tried both. The Kent Marine combination seems to work good where the Kalk drip takes forever and raises the alkalinity which I don’t need. Still, from what I read, there are a lot of benefits to the tank environment from using Kalkwasser. Right now I am sticking to the Kent Marine Tech CB and once I get my alkalinity under control I will switch back to the Kalk drip. Another neat addition to the tank is a CoolWorks IceProbe. The IceProbe is a thermoelectric water chiller. Its designed for a smaller tank, 20 gals or below, but multiple IceProbes will bring temperature down even on a larger tank, like my 40 gal tank. These probes are designed to be installed in a sump or wet/dry filter. I took a large HOB AquaClear filter and installed it into the filter bed side wall; it works great. It really removes heat from the tank and its portable. Another addition to the tank, I ran across some cheap auto temperature control units. You set the max temperature on the control and then plug in your heater. The unit monitors tank temperature and if it get above your set mark it turns off power to the heater. This was a brand new unit and cost $30; I bought two, one for each of my saltwater tanks, insurance against boiled fish. Time marches on, we are a little over a week before our Vegas vacation and once we return, LIVE ROCK. Geo.

 

[1geo]

My last post was 4 days ago and my biggest problem with the tank right now is cloudy water. I have been adding calcium over the last week and attribute the cloudy water to these additives. I stopped adding Kalkwasser and went to adding Kent part a & b calcium, part b is a buffer. When the cloudy water did not get any better, I stopped adding the Kent part a & b. Today I did a 20% water change but that did not make a real difference. Over the next couple of days I will do another 20% water exchange and see if that helps. On the tank I have a wet/dry filter and a very large charcoal filter. I was hopping the charcoal would solve the problem but it hasn't and its been on the tank for a week. I even put a micron filter on the tank for about 4 days still cloudy water. Right now we are starting to concentrate on our vacation so much of this will have to wait until late next week, Geo.

 

[1geo]

Its now April 1 and I should get the live rock any day now; it was shipped on March 30. As I wait for the rock, one thing amazes me, the production of protein by my skimmer on the live sand. Since putting it in almost a month ago it is producing a LOT of protein. There is a lot of live stuff in the live sand. I'm all prepared for the rock and will use the same curing process as outlined in my post on a new way to cure live rock.

 

[BigH55]

Your enthusiasim is great but there one good and very expensive thing we have all learned in the process of starting a new tank PATIENCE. If I were you, I would put my live rock in the tank, turn off the lights and not look at it for about 4-6 weeks. i know its hard but if i would have done this I would be thousands of dollars richer. Top off the tank when needed and let it ride a week at a time. You can test for Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, but save the other tests for later. JMO . All is good I did the same thing when i got my tank.

 

[1geo]

In my previous post, "A New Approach to Curing Live Rock" I demonstrated that live rock could be cured in 7 days without killing everything on the rock. Instead of turning out the lights, I leave them on 24/7. Read the above post, that is how I am going to cure my rock; it should be coming tomorrow.

 

[BigH55]

I must have missed the thread. By turning out the lights i meant just kinda let it "cook" for a while.

 

[1geo]

Finally,

 

[1geo]

My last message obviously was not complete so here goes again.

FINALLY LIVE ROCK!

I got the rock today but I'm not sure how much life there is in it. This is what I would call dead rock. We shall see with tomorrow's chemistry. Below are pictures.

More tomorrow.

 

[Bifferwine]

It looks pretty colorful, so there's something living on it. Dead rock is usually just white. It looks good!

 

[1geo]

It been a little over 24 hours since I put the rock in my tank. Here is the chemistry, Ammonia - 0; Nitrites - 1.0 ppm; Nitrates - 20 ppm. There is a light green algae starting to grow on the rock. Other then that, nothing; if this is live rock there’s not much alive on it. Hopefully my tank will cycle quickly with this rock and I can get on with stocking my tank.

 

[1geo]

Its now early morning of the second day and the chemistry has not changed a lot. Ammonia is still 0, Nitrates are 20 ppm and Nitrites has risen to 3 ppm. I'm keeping the actinic lights on 24/7. The rock has a light green algae growing on it.

 

[1geo]

The evening of the second day of live rock. Today I did a 20% water change. I had been using Instant Ocean Salt and have never been able to get my calcium higher then 300. So I switched to Tropic Martin Pro Reef Salt and what a difference. After the 20% water change the calcium jumped to 340. The chemistry on the tank is fairly steady. Ammonia is 0, Nitrates 20 ppm and Nitrites have back off to 1.0. Since I’m convinced there is nothing alive on the rock I have I was looking for ways to seed the rock. The rock has good shapes and is porous so it should seed well. One site I was looking at is www.garf.org. He sells a mixture called Garf Grunge live sand activator which is suppose to have Coraline algae, and a host of other things in it to seed the rock. I’m going to contact him on Monday and see what he has.

 

[dustin_P74]

the garf grunge is pretty good stuff. and unitl you start keeping corals, testing from calcium and alk is pretty pointless

 

[Bifferwine]

I too can vouch for GARF Grunge. I've used it when setting up my own tanks, and have recommended it to others to use.

 

[1geo]

How do you use "Garf Grunge"? Do you just dump it in the tank?

 

[Bifferwine]

Yep, pretty much. I put it behind my rocks since it's kinda ugly and dirties up the sand.

 

[1geo]

Bifferwine, do you remember how much of it you bought and for what size tank?