Eb0la11's 165G Reef Tank Build

[kien]

Originally Posted by Eb0la11

Ok so if my params read good again today I might be making a trip to the fish store for some of my cleanup crew. Probably start off small, get maybe 2 crabs, 4 snails and a couple star fish or something.

So Ive been running just my centre MH on my coralife pro for a couple reasons. The biggest being the stupid legs didnt work very well and so the stand is resting on top of the tank on some 2x4's and so I didnt want any lights heating up the wood cause itd make put burn marks on the light or I dunno. Just not a good idea...

So today I go to turn on the ballast that Im using to power the middle MH and the light comes on, is warming up and then flickers and turns off. Now I turn it on and it just glows real dim.

Is it burnt out? Was suppose to be a brand new bulb. Ive never had a light burn out on my aquarium, especially a MH so I dont know really if its another problem? Help? I used the same ballast to turn on a diff light and it worked, so problem seems to be the bulb or connection in there or something.

For the starfish it depends on what starfish you get. Some (or maybe most?) are very very sensitive and would not make a good starter/test creature at all.

Did you install the bulbs yourself or did they come pre installed in your fixture? Those HQIs are sensitive and you can not hold the middle part with your bare oily fingers or you will ruin them. You have to handle just the end tips or better yet wear gloves like those white ones.

If they did come pre installed then they are probably just defective or possibly loose? Try openning the fixture, taking the bulb out and re-seating it. They can potentially come loose during transport. Again don't forget to wear gloves!! My last light fixture (currents USA) had the T5s fail on me after a week and I had to replace them with higher quality T5s. I am assuming the ballasts you are using are the coralife ones that come with the fixture and not some other third party ballast? Some ballast and light combinations don't work too well together.

[Eb0la11]

Hmmm, thanks Kien.

I ended up getting two brittle stars. They seem to be doing ok. My params look like my tank is pretty established. I'll keep a close eye on them and my params.

Quick question. What nitrate level do you usually do your water changes at? In the FW world it was good to keep it below 40 ppm but is it any different in SW?

Im going to do my first water change here pretty quick, prob do like 25G maybe more, but like I said my numbers are pretty good, so only nitrate to remove, no ammonia or nitrite or anything, there was literally no cycle cause of good cured rock.

This of course could change with the bit of livestock I added:

2x Nassarius Snales
2x Brittle Stars
4x Blue Legged Hermits
2x Peppermint Shrimp

Thoughts?

Also, I got an ID thread going in the reef section with what I think is a baby tiger tail cucumber, but not sure if some of you guys wanna take a look at the description.

[kien]

Originally Posted by Eb0la11

Quick question. What nitrate level do you usually do your water changes at? In the FW world it was good to keep it below 40 ppm but is it any different in SW?

For me water changes are not triggered by nitrate levels. In fact, I rarely ever test for Nitrates anymore. I just do water changes every week (if I'm not busy) or 2 weeks at a minimum. Seems to be a good interval for me. Unless you have nitrate sensitive critters in your tank, you can usually get away with high (ish) nitrate levels. Some critters like clams actually feed off of nitrates.

[Eb0la11]

So what percentage of your entire system water do you change? I have about 185G in my entire system (including the sump)

Is it the same as FW and change about 10-15% every week or 20-25% every two weeks?

[Eb0la11]

Alright so I made more progress today. This thing is really coming along. I seriously think its like 3 weeks ahead of where I thought it'd be right now.

We hung the light from the roof and did a pretty good job if I must say so. Before they were just on some wood blocks raised up a bit off the tank.

I still need to get the electrical run so the whole system I'd say is only running at like 70% max power right now.

Still no skimmer, no full spectrum of lights and no refugium yet but everything else is flying. Levels are remaining solid after adding the cleanup crew and waiting three days. So we added two little clowns today. First fish in the tank and boy is it a treat to have them. So playful. Im gonna watch the levels and do a 25% water change sometime this week. We'll probably add a blue tang next weekend and some more snails and start aquascaping shortly after.

Right now priorities are on getting the skimmer water tight and also getting our electrical done so we can fire up the whole light. After that we'll work at getting chaeto and what not for the 'fuge.

So pumped!

[kien]

Originally Posted by Eb0la11

So what percentage of your entire system water do you change? I have about 185G in my entire system (including the sump)

Is it the same as FW and change about 10-15% every week or 20-25% every two weeks?

Ya, I do somewhere in the neighbourhood of 10% a week or 20 every two weeks.

K.

[Eb0la11]

So it looks like my green algae problem is subsiding and things are starting to look good. I dont think my hair algae will last long. My lawnmower blenny seems to love it and clowns are even nipping at it.

When do you guys think I am safe-ish to add some more expensive fish? Im 2.5 weeks past my cycle and the livestock in my tank is doing very well.

2x Clowns
1x Lawnmower Blenny
2x brittle stars
2x nassarius snales
4x BL hermits
2x Pep shrimp

[Eb0la11]

So we had the power cut for about 3+ hours yesterday and my tank drained to its lowest point in the DT all into the sump and...... good news - it didnt overflow!

That was good to see.

I havent had many updates lately because things are moreless going quite well. We are getting some nice coraline algae growth on the rocks that didnt have any and our algae is slowly going down. Theres still a pretty thick patch of it that we could get rid of manually, but we feel its slowly getting eaten - especially now with our sea hare that we'll keep until its all gone.

I think we're going to be getting a dwarf golden moray eel on the 4th to add to the tank! Im pretty excited. Also gonna add some more live rock to up the rock work this weekend. Ive been curing some stuff for about a month now and I think it should be good to go, anyone object to this timeline Ive given it? It was 6 month dried out LR from an old system that I was curing and Ive done three 100% water changes on it during this time as well.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Eb0la11

When do you guys think I am safe-ish to add some more expensive fish? Im 2.5 weeks past my cycle and the livestock in my tank is doing very well.

Imo, tanks mature much nicer and trouble free if you add fish very slowly. This gives time for the nitrifying bacteria to balance out with the fish load. You will find that if you leave your tank alone and don't add anything for 4-8 weeks (at any point in your tank's life) that often you will notice the tank kind of relaxes into a nice balance. Really helps with algae issues.

However, if you're the type that's in a hurry and you want to push it, you can add a couple fish per month. Once your cycle is over it isn't any more risky to add the first fish as it is to add the last fish. You should decide your stocking order based on aggressiveness, not price.