So it begins!

Viper13 · 04-02-2007, 12:03 AM

Well not too long ago, my fiancé and I decided to start up an aquarium. We talked about freshwater, but decided that we wanted to go salt and then decided to go reef.
Since I had no idea what I was in for, I agreed rather quickly. Maybe too quickly. However, I am excited to have started the endeavor.
It will be a slow process, money is tight and one of the things that I have learned so far is the this can get rather expensive. So we will go slow. Finding this site has already paid off huge dividends. I have changed many of my plans already based on the information contained in these threads. So to all of you that contribute and to all of you that moderate, thank you.
I will try to chronicle my endeavors as I go, but for those of you looking for quick results, I warn you ahead of time, please be patient with me. This will take a while.
I will be open to any comments that any of you have to help me along, in particular with the lighting. Since we want to do corals, all kinds, and probably an anemone or two, I am expecting to have to have a lot of lighting. So help in that direction would be appreciated. What type of lighting should I have?
The tank is a 105 gallon. 60 inches long, 18 inches wide and 20 inches deep. I plan on having some sand in the bottom and as much live rock as is practical. So what do you all think? How should I proceed?

I have attached the first pic of the aquarium and the stand. When I finish with the stand it will have a wrap of quatersawn white oak, 4 doors with flat panels.

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dobejazz · 04-02-2007, 12:05 AM

Welcome to TRT

Jflip2002 · 04-02-2007, 12:11 AM

First, welcome.

I think since you plan on going slow, I would buy a couple pieces of live rock thats cured and the rest should be dry/base rock. Along with dry/dead sand. This will take a litte while for all of it to cure, and for the sand to become live. But youre taking your time.. And buying things dry/dead will save you tons of money.

While thats going and getting set, Id look into getting a nice skimmer. And since you say youre running a refugium, Im imagning its under the tank? If so you need a return pump, if not, and its in tank, or behind tank, you need to make sure your skimmer is for an intank set up.

Then when that parts all set up, you should get the lights. IF you want to keep an anemone, you will need T5s or Metal Halides more than likely. You will NEVER get a definite answer on lighting... ever. I kept flip flopping when I was in the midst of getting new lights. But you'll have some people here to guide you through it all, ultimately, it'll be up to you.

I Think that should be an ok starting point.

Tim224DT · 04-02-2007, 12:15 AM

Welcome to TRT,

What kind of reef are you looking to keep ?

Viper13 · 04-02-2007, 12:46 AM

Gee, you guys are quick. Thanks for the welcome. As to the question of what kind of reef are we thinking about, I guess maybe I should ask what kinds are there? I know that we like many of the soft corals, but there are a lot of the LPS and SPS corals that we like as well. Do we need to specialize? We also would like a few fish, and eventually the reef janitors etc….

Viper13 · 04-08-2007, 09:18 AM

Well things are moving along albeit slowly. I finished the fuge and set it under the tank. Hooked up the return pump, heater and overflow and filled the tank and fuge with water.
My next major learning curve was learning the relationship between the level in the tank and the level of the overflow and the level of the fuge. Boy was that interesting.
But we got everything balanced and everything ran smoothly through the night.
I'll let it run a couple of days just to make sure all is well then drain all of the tap water make some final adjustments in the plumbing and then start putting in the real stuff.
Anyone have any suggestions on the best way to proceed?

Loverotties · 04-08-2007, 09:45 AM

Welcome to TRT! make shure the tank is level!

Viper13 · 04-27-2007, 08:57 PM

Well, finally was able to get the water in the tank. Today was the first full day with water in tank. It is a little cloudy. I'm wondering if this is normal. I mixed the salt in the water outside of the tank, so when the water went in it was clear but it has clouded up some, maybe from the sand.

I've check the salt once so far, it was at 1.202 so if I have read things right I need to get it up to 1.204. Is that correct for a reef?

Live sand and rock will come next, but it will have to wait until payday.

How long should I wait for the water to clear up?

Viper13 · 04-29-2007, 02:51 PM

Well it seems that I worried for nothing. The water after only 4 days is cystal clear. I have bought some live sand and live rock so now I guess we wait for the tank to cycle. I think it will take a while since it is a small amount of live rock seeding over 100lbs of base rock. So by all acounts it should take four to six weeks. Does that sound right?

YLChik · 04-29-2007, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viper13

Well, finally was able to get the water in the tank. Today was the first full day with water in tank. It is a little cloudy. I'm wondering if this is normal. I mixed the salt in the water outside of the tank, so when the water went in it was clear but it has clouded up some, maybe from the sand.

I've check the salt once so far, it was at 1.202 so if I have read things right I need to get it up to 1.204. Is that correct for a reef?

Live sand and rock will come next, but it will have to wait until payday.

How long should I wait for the water to clear up?

as you found out yes it's normal for the tank to be cloudy with mixing new salt or adding sand....

however you may want to check your sg ( specific gravity ) again.
What are you measuring with ?

1.2--- anything is too high for a tank
You want it around 1.024-1.026 for a reef

since nothing else is in the tank this is easy to fix, simply take out some of the water and add fresh water preferably RODI. ito the tank and it will lower your sg.

hope that helps you and welcome to TRT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

theplatypus · 04-29-2007, 03:05 PM

Quote:

I've check the salt once so far, it was at 1.202 so if I have read things right I need to get it up to 1.204. Is that correct for a reef?

Welcome to TRT. Hopefully this is just a typo. You're looking for a specific gravity of 1.026;however, a little lower is fine. But what you listed is really high.

Viper13 · 04-29-2007, 05:34 PM

Darn fingers have dexlexia! You guys are right of course. The reading I am getting is 1.022. I am using a hydrometer by Marine Enterprises. It is the float kind and my LFS said is a alittle more accurate the the others they carried. I am working to get it to 1.025.

Thanks for the double check, that's one of the things I like about this site. The people here are a big help.

So once the specific gravity is correct it becomes a waiting game for the tank to cycle correct?

Is there anything else I should do in the meantime?

theplatypus · 04-29-2007, 06:53 PM

Sit on your hands.

Viper13 · 05-01-2007, 05:14 PM

Tried it once it didn't work!

Viper13 · 06-06-2007, 10:40 PM

Well,
The wait is finally over. After only 4 weeks the LFS has pronounced the water in our aquarium "ready to go". So we did. We purchased 3 Yellowtail Blue Damsels and 2 Blue Damsels. Our first fish!

The tank has the red/brown algae throughout. What if anything should we do about this? My thought is to wait a little while and make sure the fish are doing well and then get some reef janitors.

Does this seem right?

The only thing out of normal parameters is the calcium level. According to the LFS it is above 600. What danger does this present?

All other test are good, here they are:

PH - 0
Amonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5
Calcium - >600
Carbonate - 8
Phosphate - 0