My 1st saltwater tank

Marines_Wife said:
I didnt want to do the shrimp thing I dk why
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You'll need to add some organic matter to feed the bacteria if you get live rock or not. Personally I don't think you need any live rock (at least not much). Get dry rock then seed it with 10 pounds of live rock. It will become live soon enough.
 
Ok kids, I got part of my API test kit today and here were the results:
Phosphate: 2.0

Nitrate: 0

Calcium: 480

KH: 8


Interpretations?? OH I also got a new skimmer! I am having FAR to much fun tonight!!!!!
 
Got the live rock in. I like a lot of it and since I wont be able to have a ton of fish, I want to have a lot of coral and inverts. All of this is stacked in a way that if it did fall, it falls back, however most of it is very large pieces that wouldnt fall anyhow, the one in the very middle is about 20 lb of solid rock, on either side is rocks that are about 5-10 lb of solid rock, there not alot of little pieces to be had :)

2011-07-31.webp
 
Yeah Dana ,,rock slides suck!! Killed my first angler ,,because i "thought" everything was a nice tight and secure fit.......
I do like the nice full look,,just hope its very tight and secure...Did you use anything to secure it,,like zip ties or pvc?
 
OhNoNemo said:
Yeah Dana ,,rock slides suck!! Killed my first angler ,,because i "thought" everything was a nice tight and secure fit.......
I do like the nice full look,,just hope its very tight and secure...Did you use anything to secure it,,like zip ties or pvc?
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God this was a project to do. I took everything out and reworked it. The biggest piece in the middle damn near reaches the top and is pretty long as well, the other two rocks are heavy as well and are on the bottom, they arent moving anywhere as the bulk of their weight is being supported by their own bases.

My phosphate was a bit high so I did a 25% water change, while the water was out I used epoxy on the smaller pieces of rock so they wouldnt move. I am fairly certain if a earthquake hits us the only thing that would survive is my rock work LOL.

I have been reading alot on here and in books, so I applied what I learned to the best of my ability. I have 2 powerheads and 1 return from my skimmer. The rocks are far enough away from the back so the powerhead that is back there can circulate and there are no airpockets trapping water, I made plenty of room so my fish have hiding spaces, while leaving lots of rooms for the corals I would like to put up. However since it is a bow front I still have a lot of room in the front as well.
Thoughts?
 
Sounds good to me. Anything is an improvement. Post pics!

I may tackle a project later this week myself: was thinking of emptying my 30g tank into rubbermaids, and swapping all the substrate out for sand. the stuff i put in there is almost as large as gravel, but it's still aragonite. looks horrible, and now it's dirty.
 
I am hoping to get me CUC this week. Any suggestions? I am getting mixed reviews from people and sites on what would be best. Some people are saying that hermit crabs are good, others are saying not to get them because they will just kill my snails. Thoughts?
 
IMO CUC's are a waste of money ...haven't had one in my main DT for at least 3 years...unless you count the random hermits i throw in every month or so for the triggers:lol:
 
OhNoNemo said:
IMO CUC's are a waste of money ...haven't had one in my main DT for at least 3 years...unless you count the random hermits i throw in every month or so for the triggers:lol:
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Really? I was under the impression that they are pretty valuable to your tank?? What would turn my sand or clean any unwanted algae from my rocks??
 
Marines_Wife said:
Really? I was under the impression that they are pretty valuable to your tank?? What would turn my sand or clean any unwanted algae from my rocks??
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Under perfect conditions you won't have algae problems, but perfection is hard to achieve. I suggest getting a cuc from reefcleaners, like this one. You can also get a custom cuc here, or make your own here.
 
I like the cuc from reef cleaners. I know I wont have a lot of fish in my tank, however I will have TONS of inverts, Im planning my tank on that basis. about 3 fish and LOTS of coral......
Also I have diatoms in my tank.....I am moving my lights to 10 hours a day and I have great flow in there.....anything else I should be doing?
 
It sounds like your tank is off to a good start. I wouldn't be too concerned with the diatoms, a bloom at the beginning of a tanks life is normal. They should pass in time with proper maintenance
 
Marines_Wife said:
I am hoping to get me CUC this week. Any suggestions? I am getting mixed reviews from people and sites on what would be best. Some people are saying that hermit crabs are good, others are saying not to get them because they will just kill my snails. Thoughts?
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I say screw the hermits. Get some porcelains crabs and some snails.
 

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