36g bowfront fish-only(for now) new salt tank

[immaman2011]

Hey guys!,

I'm pretty new to saltwater tanks and I've already gotten tons of advice from this site to setup! My tank isn't fully cycled yet but will be by hopefully Thursday-Friday next week! I've been dosing with aquavitro, dr.tims, and instant ocean bio Spira. All have helped boost the rate the bacteria colony colonized.

36g bowfront tank.
300w adjustable heater.
X1 480gph WaveMaker.
X1 c360 magniflow canister.
X1 50gph uv sterilizer(currently off for cycle).
30lbs of dry rock.
6lbs of live rock.
I used a mix of rodi water from LFS and instant ocean salt mixed at home.
X1 nicrew 36w dual channel reef light...white, green, and blue hues with timers.
20lbs of pink Fiji live sand.
Ordered a 30g rated skimmer coming Monday.
Digital temp gauge.
Various brands of tests for ph, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, salinity, magnesium, and calcium.

Live stock I have right now:

4 narassius snails
4 trochus snails
4 cerith snails

I'll take some nice pictures tomorrow if I can see any of the snails lol most of them were hiding.

I was running a freshwater tank but I ended up donating all my fish from that tank and converted some of the old equipment to this tank. It's been working out quite well so far!

So far....

Ph 8.1-8.2
Ammonia 0.5
Nitrites 0.5
Nitrates 20-40
Salinity 1.025
Temp floats between 79.8-80.6

 

[glb]

Hey guys!,

I'm pretty new to saltwater tanks and I've already gotten tons of advice from this site to setup! My tank isn't fully cycled yet but will be by hopefully Thursday-Friday next week! I've been dosing with aquavitro, dr.tims, and instant ocean bio Spira. All have helped boost the rate the bacteria colony colonized.

36g bowfront tank.
300w adjustable heater.
X1 480gph WaveMaker.
X1 c360 magniflow canister.
X1 50gph uv sterilizer(currently off for cycle).
30lbs of dry rock.
6lbs of live rock.
I used a mix of rodi water from LFS and instant ocean salt mixed at home.
X1 nicrew 36w dual channel reef light...white, green, and blue hues with timers.
20lbs of pink Fiji live sand.
Ordered a 30g rated skimmer coming Monday.
Digital temp gauge.
Various brands of tests for ph, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, salinity, magnesium, and calcium.

Live stock I have right now:

4 narassius snails
4 trochus snails
4 cerith snails

I'll take some nice pictures tomorrow if I can see any of the snails lol most of them were hiding.

I was running a freshwater tank but I ended up donating all my fish from that tank and converted some of the old equipment to this tank. It's been working out quite well so far!

So far....

Ph 8.1-8.2
Ammonia 0.5
Nitrites 0.5
Nitrates 20-40
Salinity 1.025
Temp floats between 79.8-80.6

Sounds like a nice setup! FWIW, once you power up the uv, you might want to consider a faster pump, especially if you’re going to use it for algae control, because algae grows quickly. I have a c. 300gph pump for my 40g. I plumbed the uv into the return pump so all the water returning to the DT has run through the unit. Good luck and let’s see pics!

 

[immaman2011]

Sounds like a nice setup! FWIW, once you power up the uv, you might want to consider a faster pump, especially if you’re going to use it for algae control, because algae grows quickly. I have a c. 300gph pump for my 40g. I plumbed the uv into the return pump so all the water returning to the DT has run through the unit. Good luck and let’s see pics!

The uv pump I have has a twist flow pump and is also right next to my WaveMaker. The 9watt bulb I have is rated for up to 55 gallons. I went a little above what they recommended for my 36g, they said 5watt bulb was only needed. So I hope it's enough to control micro algae and some pathogens and parasites. I have a canister filter so the actual pump hoses are a lot bigger then the pump for the uv sterilizer so unfortunately I can't hook it up that way haha.

But for sure once I'm out of bed (lazy) I'll take pictures lol. Thanks!

 

[glb]

The uv pump I have has a twist flow pump and is also right next to my WaveMaker. The 9watt bulb I have is rated for up to 55 gallons. I went a little above what they recommended for my 36g, they said 5watt bulb was only needed. So I hope it's enough to control micro algae and some pathogens and parasites. I have a canister filter so the actual pump hoses are a lot bigger then the pump for the uv sterilizer so unfortunately I can't hook it up that way haha.

But for sure once I'm out of bed (lazy) I'll take pictures lol. Thanks!

Yes the wattage is fine. I have an 8w on my 40g. The other thing that’s important is the flow rate, or time the water is in contact with the bulb. Your unit will definitely kill anything that goes through it, but some algae grows really fast and could grow faster than your Uv unit could turnover the tank volume. Does that make sense?

 

[immaman2011]

Yes the wattage is fine. I have an 8w on my 40g. The other thing that’s important is the flow rate, or time the water is in contact with the bulb. Your unit will definitely kill anything that goes through it, but some algae grows really fast and could grow faster than your Uv unit could turnover the tank volume. Does that make sense?

That's why I have a good snail crew and getting some sandsifters so I'll be alright I don't want to completely kill off their food source so I leave some room for it to grow so they can eat. I want to eventually get a fighting conch or maybe a small crab. We will see.

 

[immaman2011]

2 Oscrellis clowns
2 Banggai cardinalfish
1 blue reef chromis
1 royal gramma basslet
1 purple fire goby
1 diamond sifter goby
1 orange citron goby
1 yellow banded possum pygmy wrasse
3 peppermint shrimp
4 narassius snails
4 cerith snails
4 trochus snails

This is how my tank is most recently.
0 ammonia
0 nitrites
20 nitrates
80.2f temp
1.025 salinity

Just changed filter media and doing a water change Friday coming up. Parameters are awesome no ick no anything. Starting to see green algae and some of the brown algae going away. Just dropped in some new digital temp gauges today 1 for each side. Tank has been running for like 7 or 8 weeks now maybe a little more I'm not sure would have to look lol. Tank fully cycled at 2 1/2 weeks. Uv pump rated at 55 gallons, 300w heater, 6k-10k reef light with blue/green/white hues, netted top, c360 magniflow 100 gallon canister filter, about 40 pounds of dry rock and 7 pounds of live rock, 20 pounds of live sand, 1 480gph wave maker.

I know some people say not to add so fast because of spikes or extra risk of stress or diseases but it's been going well I've been extra on top of it. Just added anti phosphate and anti ammonia filter floss to media and replaced old activated charcoal with new ones and put a small bag of purit and fluval clear max in with it. No aggression or anything silly. I've converted half of this equipment from freshwater too so I didn't expect everything to go so well.

 

[Matty Ice]

Awesome! I also have the 36g bow. Nice job swapping everything over from the fresh side. Do you plan on adding corals down the road?

 

[immaman2011]

Awesome! I also have the 36g bow. Nice job swapping everything over from the fresh side. Do you plan on adding corals down the road?

Maybe but I don't want finicky corals to crash my system. So I'm going to wait a good 2 or 3 more months. I was thinking either Lobactis scrutaria coral or Pachyclavularia violacea coral. I know I can only have 1 or the other cause the more aggressive one will grow over the other. Since these 2 survive solely on light to feed, they will be the easiest to keep. Technically I could grow these in my tank now, as they are hardy and only require light for good growth.

 

[immaman2011]

2 Oscrellis clowns
1 royal gramma
2 Banggai cardinalfish
3 Pajama cardinalfish
1 blue reef chromis
1 yellow banded possum wrasse
1 diamond goby
1 purple fire goby
1 orange citron goby
2 cleaner shrimp
3 peppermint shrimp
20 assorted snails
10 blue hermit crabs

I also added some zoas, polyps, and 1 candy cane mushroom for corals. They are all doing very well. Small right now but I'll take some pictures when I can.

I changed from regular instant ocean salt to reef crystal instant ocean salt. I am also creating my own rodi water now makes it much easier. I should start selling my rodi lol I have a crap ton of it.