Jump to content

New I am indeed


akambience

Recommended Posts

Hello everyone, I’m a long time reader and a first time poster. My wife and I just got into the wonderful world of reefing about three months ago. Neither she nor I have been fish people, just a few ornery cats (and a rodent). When we decided to get our feet wet, I wanted to make sure that we did it right, so we have been taking our time and researched everything exhaustively before buying/adding things to our tank. …Lots of reading. Lots and lots of reading. And lots of trying to filter opinion from fact. This I have found to be harder than it sounds. Hundreds of online hours later, I have come to the reluctant conclusion that: 1) Folks at LFS are not always correct. 2) Many opinions are presented as facts, and 3) With enough determination and motivation, one can accomplish just about any project.

 

I'll have to admit that this seems to have become an obsession for me... but the Mrs. thankfully loves it as well. Unfortunately, we are reefers on a budget. Not very ideal, I know, but we have to manage with what we have. Many decisions unfortunately must incorporate not only what the best solution for the problem is, but can we afford to delay the intervention until the next paycheck. This sucks and I cannot wait for the day where we can make upgrades and buy livestock without first looking at the price tag.

 

So down to the nitty gritty:

-We have a 50 gallon glass aquarium

-18 gallon acrylic wet/dry filter I converted into a sump

-40 pounds of LR

-2” fine sand bed

-1 Bicolor Anthius

-3 young Blue/Green Chromis

-2 Cleaner Skunk Shrimp

-15 assorted snails (4 turbo, 2 Babylon, etc.)

-15 assorted hermits (one large halloween crab with a sour temperament)

 

-Dual HO T5s actinic/colormax (7600k)

-Octopus-110NWB skimmer (although produces less skimate than expected)

-2 Koralia 750's

-200 micron filter sock changed out twice a week

-a cup or so if carbon every three weeks (carbon reactor is on the wishlist)

-a tsp. GFO also every three weeks

-both the carbon and the gfo are in bags in the filter sock. I presume that’s pretty as “high flow” as it comes

-5 gallon water change weekly

 

My tests have been rock solid since we started and we never really saw a textbook cycle. Just some low levels of ammonia. We were advised by a LFS to cycle with a handful damsels. We lost 2 of 7, and I took it pretty hard because I had taken the LFS store at their word and hadn't a clue about fish-less cycling. This is when I vowed to thoroughly research all decisions regarding our tank. Here are our current levels:

Ammonia – 0ppm

Nitrites - 0ppm

Nitrates - 0ppm

Phosphates - 0ppm

Alkalinity - 7dKH

PH - 8.2/8.4

Salinity – .022-.027 depending on when I topped off. (ATO also on the wishlist)

Temp – solid 77-79 F

 

I just picked up an Iodine and Silicate test kit and am eager to put it to use.

Here are a few pictures, (I think one got rotated) I still need to work on cord and tube management in the back, but i'm still thinking about painting it. The wife is still working on her arrangement of the LR, she has some scheme in mind so i'm sure that will all change a few times in the next few weeks. AND before anyone asks, yes those are turbos in the overflow, I had just put them in there for an hour to take a swipe at those Diatoms. They are pigs in heaven.

 

I will have a ton of questions so thank you all in advance for your advice and support.

post-8098-141867786483_thumb.jpg

post-8098-141867786487_thumb.jpg

post-8098-14186778649_thumb.jpg

post-8098-141867786494_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like a good setup. That's great you did so much research, it will definitely help you in the future. I would recommend getting a background for the tank. What I did was buy some blue acrylic cut it to the size of my back glass and taped it with painters tape.

 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would recommend another 40+lbs of rock, I'm currently running roughly 40 in our 40b display and another 40 or so in our sump, and want more lol. The more rock, the better off you'll be. Also, you might want to think about upgrading your powerheads, you want to run, ideally for a reef system, 30+x turnover, and most run a lot more than that, I'm sitting on probably 50+ right now, with more on the way. And definitely upgrade your CUC(clean-up crew). I would add another 40 or so, if not more assorted snails, no more turbos, you only need 1-2 of those guys, and probably another 20 or so hermits, plus a couple of emerald crabs, and definitely get some nassarius snails or fighting conchs, they'll keep your sand bed nice and healthy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the forum(clap) Nice to see you are reading and doing your research. Often what I have found is people do state opinions as if they are fact. There are much more opinions than fact it seems in this hobby.

 

There are a lot of experienced and knowledgeable people and opinionated too!(laugh)

 

You will find that often there are many ways to achieve the same results and we have all made mistakes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would recommend another 40+lbs of rock' date=' I'm currently running roughly 40 in our 40b display and another 40 or so in our sump, and want more lol. The more rock, the better off you'll be. Also, you might want to think about upgrading your powerheads, you want to run, ideally for a reef system, 30+x turnover, and most run a lot more than that, I'm sitting on probably 50+ right now, with more on the way. And definitely upgrade your CUC(clean-up crew). I would add another 40 or so, if not more assorted snails, no more turbos, you only need 1-2 of those guys, and probably another 20 or so hermits, plus a couple of emerald crabs, and definitely get some nassarius snails or fighting conchs, they'll keep your sand bed nice and healthy.[/quote']

 

Lol I would have to disagree with that. 40 lbs of rock imo is enough rock for sufficient biological filtration. Now if they had an unlimited budget I would suggest more rock. I also think two 750 gph power heads are totally fine for a 55 gallon. I wouldn't add a huge clean up crew either. I have 10 snails and 10 hermits in my 55 gallon and they do a good job keeping things clean. As you can see everyone has different opinions, it is important to take other peoples opinion into account, but always do what you feel is best.

 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It sure sounds good to me and you said it's stable in it's params. You could add some more live rock but I'd only add fully cured LR and only if you want to add/change to the existing rockscape. Cleanup crew size can be variable depending on how much you prefer to feed/overfeed. Being forced to take it slow can have many advantages so use that to your advantage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is a really nice setup!!! Personally I think reefing on a budget is good for the beginner, it forces you to take it slow which is exactly what you need to do with a new system. Being on a budget also helps prevent those impulse buys you end up regretting. I think this system is going to be perfect, so long as you resist the temptation to overstock it.

 

You mentioned that your skimmer was not pulling as much skimmate as you had expected, I am by no means an expert on skimmers so take this with a grain of salt, but this could simply be do to the fact that your tank is so new that it does not have a lot of dissolved organics yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome: We also have been setting up a reef tank for 2 months and have the exact story, even down to the moving of the rock. Husband asked if I would only move it around when he was at work :) This is a great forum to be on . The best advice is from people with knowledge that are not trying to sell you something. Ask lots of questions so we can learn too........

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the site, there are some great and helpful people here. Great 55 setup, BTW.

I look forward to seeing your new 55 setup. you have my contact number, if you have questions people from this forum can't answer, which I doubt, call, text or email me. Sonny

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...