Setting up a new 185 reef tank.

[JoelV]

Just got some new info, the tanks Sea star were making in the past were made of thinner glass requiring more bracing H2O makes their tanks of much thicker glass that requires less bracing. the new tank is built like a TANK

[JoelV]

The live rock Has arrived! The tank is turning over now with the help of a submersible pump. I still don't have the reeflo pumps in stock yet I'm hoping next week.I also have not finished the plumbing as i want to have the pump first to see how it will sit, I,m going to plum one of the over flow drains to the intake side of the pump with use of a tee, this way i will be moving less water though the sump and better contact time with the skimmer while still maintaining max flow at the top of the tank. Thanks to Todd at H20 Aquarium for his advice on the plumbing.





The rock arrived in Styrofoam coolers, all rocks were wrapped in wet newspaper and put in separate plastic bags. I un packed 6 boxes about 300 pounds. It was so cool we found all kinds of interesting things that I still haven't identified like 4 cool anemones that are purple in color in a white tube with what looks like four teeth in its mouth. We found hermit crabs, snails, lots of crabs that we separated out shrimp, and something thats about 4-6 inch's long golden green snake like wormy thing that hasn't come out of the rock yet. we put the anenomies and snails and stuff in one of our Nano tanks till we can identify if good or bad. New creatures are starting to showing themselves all the time.




It has been two days and no testable nitrates or ammonia as of yet, I was told that their maybe only a small amount of die off butt i will keep checking i will start with the water changes when that happens. I only had the rock in the rubbermaid for 20 Min's ... the water went crystal clear wow! the rock is a great bio filter. I'm going to sell 100 pounds of the rock and keep the rest. will start reef building next week. I am reluctant to put any sand in as of yet I want to build the reef first also makes it easier to remove any unwanted creatures that may show them selves.



Will my Tank Cycle with no sand? and just the die off from the rocks?

[Slipstream]

Thats some nice live rock.. Where did ya order it from?

[JoelV]

the rock was purchased from Jakarta, with the help of a Canadian broker, it was a direct flight into Vancouver. 36 hours max out of the water.

[JoelV]

Got ta doing some rock work over the holidays. Enjoy the pics.

Im still tring to decide on the sand bed wether shallow coarse sand or deep fine sand im leaning towards shallow and a coarse grade like Carib sea Agaramax select. Sugestions? I heard some bad things about deep sand beds releasing poisons over time.

[Skimmerking]

Dude that looks great like the last pic of the rock that you put together/...

[Cameron]

What are your hours at the store Joel? I will try and come by Fri or Sat after work, whats the LR per pound?

[Slipstream]

Dang, wish i could get my hands on some of that LR.. some of the best ive seen for a long time.

[Brent F]

Impressive rockwork and nice pictures showing how to build the pieces
________
portable vaporizer

[JoelV]

Some Progress, Dart pump is installed and running the locline manifold, Reef sand Special grade has been added. I introduced 10 cromises fish to the tank to help the cycling process. Lots of things starting to grow on the rocks now many hitch hikers have been seen, anemones, corals,lots a worms, crabs snails. feather dusters, an unidentified worm thats 4-5 inches long looks like a centipede greeny goldy translucent color. also shrimps and beetle looking things. i added the lights two 400 watt coral vue 20k bulbs powered by electronic Lamatek ballasts. I think i will be adding a third once I get my sps corals in. I am in the process of a fish order I am looking to introduce the fish all at once with as many different tangs possible. So looking to get some good advice on fish selection and suitability. More pics to come.