Ska's 28 Macro Algae Display

[Foxface]

Originally Posted by Chase31

i would turn the skimmer on right after you put water in, i have my tank with just sand in it and the skimmers going, it will take a fair amount of the live rock

Originally Posted by asmodeus

my system costs around 30 bucks a month for my full blown SPS with 3 250's i have a 150 gal too i guess it pays to live in manitoba .568 cent a kilo watt

Here is a web site to a calculator that will help you figure out your monthly electric bill. www.citytrf.net/costs_calculator.htm Hope this helps.

[skabooya]

added water and salt. Will wait until tomorrow to test the salinity at which time I will either add rocks and sand or adjust the salinity some more.

[Chase31]

what kind of water are you using just tap? or RO, also what type of salt (all for interests sake )

[skabooya]

Im using tap water. The quality in our town is very very good. I am also using Instant Ocean salt because that is all that is readily available here.

[skabooya]

Tested SG today and it was 1.026. I know its in range but its up there. I would like it at 1.024-25. But instead of adjusting it now i added sand and some dead LR. Cant see a thing in there. I will test again after the storm settles and all the rocks are added so I can adjust water then. Just in case Argag alive changes SG at all. The bag of sand came with a water clarifier thingie in a bag. I didnt bother adding it.

Next step either turning on Skimmer or waiting to go to LFS to buy LR for seeding

Hoping to get pics up later today.

[skabooya]

My makeshift water distiller to calibrate the refractometer.




Sandstorm

[whatcaneyedo]

I'm a bit surprised that there is a LFS in Kitimat that sells saltwater. Do they carry a decent selection (fish, coral, equipment etc)?

Its suppose to be better to calibrate a refractometer with a solution of known salinity rather than distilled water. However I've done both at the same time and the difference was only .001 so its probably not a big deal.

BTW why did you buy 'live sand'?

This is how I would perform the steps.
Step 1: fill tank with water and mix salt in it until desired salinity All powerheads turned on
Step 2: put rocks and sand in tank
Step 10: Turn on skimmer
Step 3: Buy LR to seed the tank
Step 4: Wait patiently for cycle to be over
Step 5: buy CUC

(Dont over do it, I've often watched people add too many snails, crabs etc only to watch everything starve to death or kill each other. 1 CUC member per 5-10gal is more appropriate in my opinion.)

Step 6: Buy more CUC if previous CUC has croaked or is not doing its job well enough
Step 9: Buy 2 true percs
Step 7: Buy inverts (what kind of inverts are you referring to?)
Step 8: Buy some corals added at 2 week intervals so as not to overwhelm the system (Fish impact the bioload of a tank much more than coral do. Coral simply need a mature tank to survive and thrive.)