Sadly, I’m far from best-qualified to explain this one thoughtfully to you…
I was actually just helping him in this thread:
Small world, eh?
Well... after 10 years of back and forth and young kids... I was finally able to get the OK and order my tank! I went back and forth a lot from Glass Cages and IM but ultimately landed on the thing that made the most sense for me in my current state! The 200G EXT! It finally arrived the other day! We leave for vacation at the end of July and I am very much hoping to have this monster inside by then, however, I am thinking I am likely going to need to hire someone to move it in as it is wayyyyyy heavier then I thought it would be even empty!
The stand is up, the sump is underneath, the plumbing is waiting in the garage for the tank to be in place! All that to say that below is the list of things that have been ordered and have either arrived or are on their way:
220lbs Marco Dry Rock
2x MP40's (I might get another)
Instant Ocean salt
CaribSea Special Grade (8 bags 20lbs per bag, 2 more that should be on the way but might be lost)
RODI System from BRS that I have since debugged with help from other R2R members and just need to get a replacement canister for something broken in transit
All the testing equipment, Hanna where I could and the by hands elsewhere
Return pump that came with the build (Mighty Jet DC XL)
RFS Sump
2x JAGER 200W Heaters
2x Heater Controllers
Doctor Tims Cycle + Ghost feeding
Flipper EDGE Max
Still to order:
Live rock from my LFS, my plan is to aquascape with the dead rock and then add some of this either in the spot that will be my refug or in the display tank as I can fit/justify
Lights (I honestly have no clue still at this point, its just so much to take in as a 1st time reefer).
Keto (or some other material for the refug) and refug light, but neither in until I have a need for them but have them standing by and ready
Copepods (plan to use as soon as cycle ends)
Skimmer (again no idea, haven't done much research here!)
I have never had a saltwater tank before and honestly haven't had a tank in general since I was probably 10 years old! So this is going to be quite the learning experience as well as a very good time I hope! I am absolutely open to feedback or opinions if you see me going sideways somewhere or have some good suggestions for me! I plan to order the lights soon to have them out of the way, even though I may not need them for some time, but I would love to get this thing moved in and wet before we left for vacation on the 24th of July! Worth noting that at some point I would very much like to add a controller, dos, and autofeeder, but for now I need to put the money where it is better spent up front!
Great plan. Looking back on my very first tank, I wish I’d known about liverock. Almost 3 years out and I still have problems with my phosphates being too high. In my 230 gallon I went with liverock from Tampa bay and I’ve had zero issues. I’m still finding all kinds of cool growth and it’s been in my tank for over a year. Have fun with the build.
Are you accounting for what salt’s being pulled out by the skimmer, drip acclimation of livestock, etc?
Yeah that’s all reasons why I thought it should go down! I’m using the hand held Hanna but I’ll have to look into another option perhaps
I’m not sure when but at some point I’ll ICP and know how far off some of these are lol. Seems early but at some point
A good hydrometer should be all you really need to reference off, in the long run! — I seem to recall that many reefers around here like the Tropic Marin hydrometer; test your water in a graduated cylinder or other container that isn’t just flowing tank water!
Kk! I’ll have to try! It’s def confusing to me though how it went up with lower salinity water! Unless my original calibration was off
Original calibration could be off, but you’re having a remarkable number of issues with calibration drift, regardless!
Yeah the drift on refractometer form BRS I think is just from a bad unit!
You can always have some cured dry rock (technically now live rock) in your sump, which can be transferred to your QT upon restart as sacrificial rock; jump starting the QT!More positive news, for the first time in 20 days the QT tank has had a substantial drop in ammonia without intervention. It would appear the tank has finally rounded the bend and I will be able to start copper! Whew that was a lot, I will not be draining this tank going forward until all of my fish for the display are through QT. I do not wish to relive the last 20 days again
I was getting pretty close to that or actually taking some sand and putting it in a saucer bowl and moving it over. That qt was stressful for a while I felt like I was non stop doing water changes and not making any headway on the ammonia. I think the Fritz dosing eventually pushed it over the edgeYou can always have some cured dry rock (technically now live rock) in your sump, which can be transferred to your QT upon restart as sacrificial rock; jump starting the QT!More positive news, for the first time in 20 days the QT tank has had a substantial drop in ammonia without intervention. It would appear the tank has finally rounded the bend and I will be able to start copper! Whew that was a lot, I will not be draining this tank going forward until all of my fish for the display are through QT. I do not wish to relive the last 20 days again
The rock will absorb copper during copper treatment, so it is either removed, or used and considered sacrificial for that batch of QT!
Sand would work, too! — it’s also easier to replace!
