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130 gallon tidepool at school


tidalsculpin

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Yes, I meant The Temperate Reef. Definitely not on loan at the Eugene Public Library either. Biblio had it for sale.

 

BTW: I have done initial rockscaping and added about 70% of the water. I'll probably have the tank truly running by next Wednesday. I ordered a new pump panworld 100px-x from ebay. Should be here on Tuesday. I have a buyer for the loud pcx100 too. I'll add additional flow with seios on the front of the tank. I'll determine the size of the seios after I have the panworld running.

 

I'll post pics of all this on Wednesday or Thursday this week.

 

Joel

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Well, my skimmer bulkhead still leaks. The custodian called to have me clean up the mess at 8:00 at night.(nono)

 

I tried a new bulkhead gasket and it seemed tight. I'll test the sump again tomorrow.

 

Getting a bit frustrated with the leaks. Hello Guppy Maintenance Jay will be swinging by tomorrow to help out.

 

Rock scaping done. 3 mysis cube in the tank to get things going. Powerhead is running things in display at this point to keep a little circulation going.

 

No heater is on. Will cycling be slower at 62? vs say 70?

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I'd cycle the tank at 55 F with NH4CL.....I'm not convinced that the same bacterial strains that function at reef temps are the same that operate at cold temps....could be wrong here.....but, I wasn't willing to take that chance. My tank cylcled in about 5 weeks at 55 F. I used a lot of NH4CL so that when I added the local live rock, there would be little die off. Besides....the local stuff will look so much more natural than dry rock.

 

Ryan and I went diving yesterday to take advantage of the good visability....picked up a few pieces of rock with kelp attached. My seahorses needed a few more hitching posts. Water temp was 45 F. The local rock can be quite atrractive.

 

 

kelprock.jpg

 

kelprock2.jpg

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steveweast does have a good point about bacteria' date=' maybe the cold water bacteria wont like the heat if you do that to cycle it[/quote']

 

I have read some on the subject. Many species of bacteria will adapt from warmer to cooler temperatures.

 

Here is quote from Fish and Invertebrate Culture - Water Management in Closed Systems(Second Edition) by Stephen Spotte.

 

"Temperature

Many species of bacteria can survive large changes in temperature, although their activities may be affected temporarily. A period of adjustment, called a time lag is often evident if the temperature has been altered abruptly. Time lags are seen when the temperature is lowered suddenly; increases in temperature ordinarily speed up biochemical activities and therefore may not produce a time lag. Srna and Baggaley (1975) studied the kinetics of nitrification in seawater aquariums. A rise of 4° C increased ammonia and nitrite oxidation by 50% and 12% respectively, compared with calculated values. Lowering the temperature 1°C slowed down the oxidation rate by 30% and a 1.5°C decrease reduced the rate of nitrite oxidation by 8%, compared to calculated values."

 

I would cycle the tank at room temperature, then slowly lower the temperature over a week's time. As organisms are added to your aquarium, other species of bacteria will be gradually introduced.

I also agree with Steve Weast about having all local rock, with attached flora and fauna in the display tank. The dry calcareous dead baserock or feather rock that I suggested would be best kept in the sump to supplement denitrification.

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There are 6 T5's on the small tank and 4 T5's on the bigger tank. I run all 6 on the smaller tank for the kelp plants....but' date=' I only run 2 of the 4 bulbs on the bigger tank.[/quote']

 

Steve - What combination of T5's are you using? The macroalgae, along with everything else in your tanks, look great!

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So steve- when you say alot of ammonium chloride what dose do you prefer per gallon?

 

Like 50 grams? 100 grams? Do you dose all at once? Over the five weeks? Over the first week to get a large spike?

 

My total volume is around 170 gallons.

 

Hmmmm.....Well, that was over two years ago....but, I was adding the ammonia chloride every few days throughout the cycle period to build up the bacteria populations. If I remember right, I started out with a teaspoon full with each dosage....then finished with a tablespoon. Near the end, I'd see no NH4 or NO2 indications on my test kits with each addition. I just felt it was better to prepare the tank this way to mimimize the die off and ammonia spike when I added live rock.

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