the 210 gallon in wall project

[project5k]

ok, let me make sure that i'm explaining what i mean correctly, i'm asking if its ok to go through the cycling of the tank with no skimmer. When i tear down my 75 i'll move that skimmer over to the 210, cause thats when i'll be putting the fish in the tank, but untill then, do i need a skimmer on the new tank?

oh, and yea, i know that my octopus 110 isnt really big enough for the 210, but its what i've got, and actually i was considering just getting a second one, rather than replacing it with something bigger... thoughts?

 

[dcantucson]

Yes you can cycle without a skimmer without any problems.

 

[project5k]

ok, thats what i was thinking.. cool,

well, i got the last of the bags of new sand in the tank yesterday, but that has mostely cleared up, also made some PVC skeleton rock, pictures of that after it comes out of the molds....

other than that, i guess now its just a waiting game, i've never had to cycle a salt tank before, so this will be a new thing for me... i guess i can pass the time playing with the rock arrangements.... well, that and taking measurements...

whaddyall figure, i need to take amonia, nitrite and nitrate measurements, what, every other day? how often?
and once the nitrate levels go back down, then i'm all done, right? i can start adding fishies, and the way i figure it, i should be able to add all these 6 new fish, just cause of the fact that during the entire cycling, i'll be adding the amonia from 6 fish, so the bacteria should be cought up and ready to handle that level of load, right?

 

[daugherty]

you should be fine since you are adding all your rock from your other tank.

 

[project5k]

yea, well, the rock that i got for free was in an established tank, infact the one where i got the new fish, so that rock will have some benifits to it, even tho i know that a bunch of what is on it now will die off by the time the tank cycles, just due to lack of food(fish poop)

all the live rock that will be comming out of the old tank will move probably the same day, or actually, more likely, the night before the fish move... just cause of how stirred up thats gonna make everything...

as for adding the new base rock that i'm making, i cant see that causing any kind of a cycle, no matter when i add it, just cause, in my mind, its inert, meaning its not adding food, and its not adding bacteria, so, it really shouldnt change the system too much.... thoughts?

 

[mennazeher04]

Hey Project, love the build thread and it looks like your having your dream come true. But to your question i added 25lbs of man made rock and it didnt spike anything and that was well after my cycle was complete.

 

[ltljoker]

looking good project, keep it going we are all envious :bowdown:

 

[project5k]

Thanks everyone, oh, and Man, yea, thats kinda what i figured, i added probably like 25-50 lbs to my 75 pretty early on when i got it up and going, and doing that didnt really unballence anything.... now, if you were adding live rock, like i'm gonna be doing when i move the 75 into the 210, then that could cause a cycle... but thats the diff between adding live vs adding inert...

anyway... playing with my rocks, trying to decide how i wanna stack em...
i think i should go higher in the back and have less rock so close to the front of the tank... whaddyall think?

oh, and a couple pics of the new guys...

 

[project5k]

so i have this rock that i made, and its been soaking for like 3-4 days, its really not been looked after very well, but its a good rock, so, considering that i think that its too big, and too odd of a shape to do me any good, i decided to cut it in half, and then what i'll do is use the flat cut part as the bottom, and i can put these in the corners and then stack pretty rock ontop of it...

interesting to see how much of the rocksalt is still inside... the water on the sidewalk didnt come out of the rock, i used the hose to wash off some of the chips and chunks as i worked around it with the chisel...

 

[PRC]

I prefer the rock on the back wall with some open sand in the front as well. CCapt has a really great looking set up that is done the same way.

 

[project5k]

yea, i'm going for a "lagoon" effect...

so i flipped on the "work" lights this morning to start thinking about re-arranging the rock, and look what i found...

 

[Bifferwine]

You've got bristleworms -- congrats! Excellent cleaners.

 

[dcantucson]

Yup! I guess congrats are in order. :grumble:
I hate them, myself. But I know they are good.

 

[project5k]

well, i've never been "stung" by one that i'm aware of... and i do know that they are just another healthy step to a balanced system... so, till i have reason to dis-like them, they can stay... besides, i love finding new things... so it was kina a rush for me, i knew what they were, i was sure of it, and now i know i was right... not to mention that its nice to see SOMETHING living in this new tank....hehehe

i just had never seen one so clearly in person before... and the nass snail really surprised me, he must have come in on the free liverock, just like the worms did...

so, all the older algae is starting to fall off the rock, i have the rock in a fairly high flow area(well, actually i adjusted the flow onto the rock) and i re-arranged it a little bit, still not sure if i'm happy, but its better...

oh, and i took readings last night, yea i know, too soon, but its good practice for me to get in the habbit of testing, better to test too often than not enough...
readings from last night:
salinity 1.026
ph 8.1
amonia 0 (there was some color, but not enough for me to read)
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
phosphate 0
open voltage from tank water to known good ground 0.00V AC and DC

i'm cleaning the bucket filter about 2 times a day now that most of the sand dust has setteled... i'm sure i'll stir up more later, but the big part is done... i think.... anyway, heres a few pics from today...

 

[project5k]

speaking of bristle worms... i threw a couple more krill bits in the tank today, they were left over from feeding snowflake(what a pig!!! ever since i started soaking his food in garlic, he just dosent stop eating!!!)

anyway, so i threw maybe 3 whole krill worth of little chunks in the tank, and turned out the lights.... the rock started wiggeling!

the other thing that i found is that there are a couple of them that have burrowed into the sand in random places... just funny look'n to see this little pink thing sticking up outta the sand, hit it with the flashlight, and poof, this tiny little puff of sand dust, and the pink is gone, wait a couple min, and its back again... kinda fun to play with.. hehehehe

 

[BigH55]

If you pet my dog just right that happens to him too. Must be a coincidence

 

[project5k]

ok, i actually laughed out loud when i read that...

red rocket red rocket

 

[PRC]

Dog Wood. Nasty

 

[andysgirl8800]

Project, it's looking great so far!

 

[BigH55]

We call it the "lipstick"