saltwater aquarium build
- Thread starter troybuckle
- Start date
troybuckle
Reefing newb
- Location
- Happy Valley Goose Bay, Canada
Thanks. No its not paint, its just a background. I had it tinted, but as soon as I turned on the lights I could see right throught it so I changed it to blue not sure if its permanent or not I might change it.
Bifferwine
Reef pro
- Location
- Lynnwood, WA and missing Tucson, AZ
Just top off with saltwater until your salinity is corrected. Then switch back to fresh water.
I like the way it looks but be careful with attaching something to the back glass. Since it's an inwall, you always have to work from the back..to be able to see through the back glass is important. It can be a bit of a pain.
troybuckle
Reefing newb
- Location
- Happy Valley Goose Bay, Canada
So I went to a new lfs a few days ago, looking to get some base rock, but when I got there the girl working there told me that I shouldn’t use any base rock at all because it will cause problems in my tank. I kind of think that she might be just trying to sell me live rock instead because I see a lot of people on here using a combo of LR and BR. She said that it would take a long time to cure in my tank, perhaps she was mixed up with dead rock. Either way I didn’t buy any base rock and ended up with another 12lbs of live instead. I still need more rock what should I do?
BryanS
Reefing newb
- Location
- Statesboro, Georgia
You can use base rock, My tank is still new but I have not had any problem with my base rock so far and it is already starting to get color on it, from my understanding it is just called based rock because it doesnt have many holes in it.
troybuckle
Reefing newb
- Location
- Happy Valley Goose Bay, Canada
Perhaps I mean Dry Rock? The stuff you can get from Macro Rock?
BryanS
Reefing newb
- Location
- Statesboro, Georgia
I also have dry rock from macro rocks and I have not had any problems with it, just make sure you rinse it good to start with it is kinda dusty
Cottonwood
Reefing newb
- Location
- Cottonwood/Sedona, AZ USA
Either way base rock and dry rock will become live rock intime...just a cheaper option than going with all live rock. You wont have as much of the bacteria because it has to spread onto your dry/base rock. But you'll be fine adding it, and the live rock will seed the dry/base rock in time. I think she was just blowing smoke. I have both in my tank and its all good.
Bifferwine
Reef pro
- Location
- Lynnwood, WA and missing Tucson, AZ
It is fine to use it. I don't know what she was talking about!
Bifferwine
Reef pro
- Location
- Lynnwood, WA and missing Tucson, AZ
troybuckle
Reefing newb
- Location
- Happy Valley Goose Bay, Canada
Thanks everyone, I kind of got the feeling she was just trying to steer me toward the live rock, that’s good because I want to add more rock and I don’t want to pay12/lbs like it is in every lfs in the city. Pics to come this weekend.
troybuckle
Reefing newb
- Location
- Happy Valley Goose Bay, Canada
When I first set up my sump I had a normal 60w bulb in there for about a week, then I switched it to a 100w florescent bulb and have since noticed brown algae growing on the glass in the fuge of the sump. Should I be using a florescent bulb down there?
Bifferwine
Reef pro
- Location
- Lynnwood, WA and missing Tucson, AZ
I don't think it really matters. I use a 23 watt CFL bulb over my fuge. As long as the algae is in the fuge and not the dispaly, that's what's important.
troybuckle
Reefing newb
- Location
- Happy Valley Goose Bay, Canada
I took a few more pic with an iphone its a bit better then my blackberry. I was wondering if someone could Id the polyps that hitchhiked. Also is that Green Hair algae on the rocks. One rock looks a lot darker then the rest, could it be lava rock or is it just old. I have about 60lbs of live rock in there now, and i cant get any dry rock in town so i will be ordering about 25-30lbs online soon.
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BryanS
Reefing newb
- Location
- Statesboro, Georgia
i like how you have your rocks laid out you have some nice little caves
troybuckle
Reefing newb
- Location
- Happy Valley Goose Bay, Canada
Here are a few more pics I didn’t get a chance to upload yesterday. I have a few questions:
Notice that the sand bed in the fuge of the sump is low in one corner. It’s about 6-7” in the back, then in the front it dips a bit especially in the right corner, this is because of the water which is redirected into the fuge from the pump. Will this cause a problem?
Also notice that there is not much collecting in the skimmer cup, and the bubbles don’t reach the top either. The skimmer has been running for about 3 weeks now, there isn’t much bioload though, is this the reason, or is the skimmer not operating properly?
Notice that the sand bed in the fuge of the sump is low in one corner. It’s about 6-7” in the back, then in the front it dips a bit especially in the right corner, this is because of the water which is redirected into the fuge from the pump. Will this cause a problem?
Also notice that there is not much collecting in the skimmer cup, and the bubbles don’t reach the top either. The skimmer has been running for about 3 weeks now, there isn’t much bioload though, is this the reason, or is the skimmer not operating properly?
Attachments
troybuckle
Reefing newb
- Location
- Happy Valley Goose Bay, Canada
Here are a few snaps of the RKL set up. With this I have timed the antics and daylights as well as the sump light. It monitors temperature and controls my heaters based on that. It also monitors PH. I have alarms set for high and low temps, and high and low PH. I have alternating wave cycles set up, one powerhead runs for 1 min then cuts off and the other one then runs for 1min. I also have a standby mode programmed in where all equipment stops for 30mins so I can feed. There are still a few more things I am going to set up with it, but have not had a chance to. This thing is cool.
