75 gallon Start up

[Nasabeau]

So, I come from a background in freshwater, so I hope I'm not screwing anything up too badly. I have a 75 gallon tank (pictures to come) that I just picked up, using live sand, one live rock and about 40 pounds of dry live rock. no fish yet. right now I've got my water in, warmed to 79 degrees F, and salinity dialled in to 32ppt (1.023). ammonia is at 0.5 ppm with Nitrite at 0 and Nitrate at about 5ppm. calcium is about 260, pH of 8.1 (planning on putting in a buffer to bring it to 8.2) and I don't have my phosphate test kit yet (lfs doesn't have one in stock). mostly just waiting on that ammonia to come down before going out and picking up my first couple of fish! my plan is to start with a couple of clowns and work out from there. I'm using a Marineland Magniflow 360 canister filter and have two Aquatop Maxflow CPS-1 powerheads (total gph of flow around 872 gph, turnover about 11.6, filter turns over the water about 5 times per hour (plan on adding another powerhead when its time to add coral, planning on soft corals)). any advice would be super appreciated

 

[Nasabeau]

After Adding ammonia to 1ppm, the tank very quickly went back down to 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10ppm nitrate, and I think that means I'm ready. salinity is holding stable, so I added two clowns and a hermit crab. after 2 days, they all seem to be pretty happy and everything held stable.

 

[Nasabeau]

The pictures that were promised

 

[fishguy242]

hi,love the scape,calcium ..not that low.. recheck or new test,would not suggest buffing rt now,take it slow are you using rodi water?and 1 more questionare you planning on hang on skimmer,..octopus hob seriesif so

 

[Nasabeau]

hi,love the scape,calcium ..not that low.. recheck or new test,would not suggest buffing rt now,take it slow are you using rodi water?and 1 more questionare you planning on hang on skimmer,..octopus hob seriesif so

I've rechecked the calcium and it is that low, I've been slowly raising it (at about 320 right now). I will be honest, an RODI unit is in the works, but for this I used water from our well that we had professionally tested a while ago and was completely free of any toxins (and more importantly, not tap, so no chlorines or chloramines). I know that's probably not the best, but availability of stuff in my area is sparse right now. I go back and forth on whether or not I want a skimmer, but I will keep that in mind if I do decide to spring for one. at the moment my plan for removing protein is a robust CUC and water changes when necessary.

Edit: thank you about the aquascape btw, TBH I got very lucky that the rocks I Received fit together so well.

 

[fishguy242]

cool,just skeptical on cal,level your salt should mix min 400.. iron in well=algae,get some phos remover when you get your test kit,look around used octo,hob any size will do on 75,bigger the better ,but will save headaches down the road,sooner the betteri'm here for the ride ,so day by day

 

[Nasabeau]

cool,just skeptical on cal,level your salt should mix min 400.. iron in well=algae,get some phos remover when you get your test kit,look around used octo,hob any size will do on 75,bigger the better ,but will save headaches down the road,sooner the betteri'm here for the ride ,so day by day

our well supposedly has no detectable phosphate, but I am sceptical, that's why I ordered the test kit and will definitely pick up some phosphate remover just in case (although supposedly my filter has a layer that removes phosphate, again, color me skeptical). right now I'm saving for the RODI unit, but will def look into used skimmers. if I can find a good deal might just pick that up first and just used premix for water changes (although where I am that gets expensive quick)

 

[Nasabeau]

definitely going to pick up some snails too to help keep algae down. btw, I couldn't seem to find this, is algae actually harmful to the aquarium, or just unsightly? cause tbh, there are several hair algaes that I actually think look kinda cool

 

[fishguy242]

see if anyone else chime in on that,or i will and going to later or tomorrow,rodi 1st,skimmer 2nd

 

[Nasabeau]

see if anyone else chime in on that,or i will and going to later or tomorrow,rodi 1st,skimmer 2nd

I am not entirely sure on my calcium test either, but I don't know what else to try. I'm using the API calcium liquid test, its all they had at my LFS. what I know for sure is that my salinity is correct (tested with calibrated refractometer). I used instant ocean salt mix so it should be okay. I've been adding 1ml every other day of kent marine liquid calcium (recommends 1-5ml/day). I figure if I have no corals yet, its not worth being super aggressive on.

 

[fishguy242]

yes stop adding cal,bad test??your prob in the 5's rt now

 

[Nasabeau]

yes stop adding cal,bad test??your prob in the 5's rt now

I mean I've tested it like probably 4 or 5 times. is it possible I got a bad test kit and the whole thing should be replaced? I will stop adding calcium, is there a better test I can order?

 

[fishguy242]

yes,red sea,salifert,hanna checker,if you go to same place check lot # before buying another api,i use api and have always been happy with think you got a bad one.

 

[fishguy242]

double check yourself in how to,follow ,10 sec shake is important..etc,maybe missed a step

 

[Nasabeau]

double check yourself in how to,follow ,10 sec shake is important..etc,maybe missed a step

I definitely did the 10 seconds vigorous shake on bottle two. I'll pick up a different test and see if its any different

 

[Nasabeau]

Actually, I just checked, the phosphate test I ordered was in a kit (API Reef Master Test Kit) and it also has calcium in there. if that one shows the same thing I'll pick up a different brand too

 

[fishguy242]

nope ,if that one reads same,than is ..but will be correct i'm 99%

 

[Shanel]

For sure stop the calcium. Water straight out of the ground is full of minerals and could contain bacteria. The test kits used in the water treatment industry are not as accurate as those used for aquariums. Aquarium salts contain all the necessary minerals for zero TDS ( total dissolved solids) water. Would definitely get the RODI first and then a skimmer. I've wasted plenty of money on skimmers over the years on the 40g breeder tanks I've used. The Reef Octopus BH90 is a little pricey but I spent more on all the other skimmers I purchased that just didn't get the job done. Buy the best first and save some money. Look into a co2 scrubber for your skimmer. It will naturally raise you PH.

 

[Nasabeau]

For sure stop the calcium. Water straight out of the ground is full of minerals and could contain bacteria. The test kits used in the water treatment industry are not as accurate as those used for aquariums. Aquarium salts contain all the necessary minerals for zero TDS ( total dissolved solids) water. Would definitely get the RODI first and then a skimmer. I've wasted plenty of money on skimmers over the years on the 40g breeder tanks I've used. The Reef Octopus BH90 is a little pricey but I spent more on all the other skimmers I purchased that just didn't get the job done. Buy the best first and save some money. Look into a co2 scrubber for your skimmer. It will naturally raise you PH.

I will keep this in mind, but I know I did not have any bacteria in the water on culture. for now I will save a little to get an RODI system. as for the skimmer, my tank stand does in fact have a cabinet for a skimmer, so I am not married to the HOB idea, I've noticed the units that sit underneath don't seem to cost more, and would probably look a lot cleaner than an HOB. are the Reef Octopus ones still good if you're getting an under system skimmer? I would hopefully get one that has the tubing runs similar to my canister filter. that's something that I'd more likely buy around Christmas

 

[Shanel]

If you plan on putting a skimmer in the cabinet then you will need a sump. I haven't seen any skimmers that are setup like a canister filter. What I have done in the past is painted the back of the tank so you can't see through it. This somewhat hides it. Reef Octopus ones are still good if you're getting one for a sump. One thing I can tell you from experience is canister filters work well cleaning the water. The problem is once the fish waste is trapped in the filter it still breaks down and and releases toxins. Weekly cleaning of the filter is a plus. You don't always have to replace the filter pads. Most times you can just rinse them off. If they look clean afterwards just put them back in. If you have any bio balls or sponges in the filter just rinse with tank water only. Just remove enough tank water to rinse them off. Then just add new saltwater to the tank and filter when you clean it. Don't try to get them really clean. They will grow beneficial bacteria the filter needs to clean the water. If you decide to get a sump i would recommend one that would house a filter roller. Those can get pricey. What I have done in the past is getting a tank from petco when they have the dollar per gallon sale and just make a diy sump. Its more cost-effective. Also you can customize it to what you want. I have worked in the water treatment industry in the past on home well water systems. Although you may have had a test done for bacteria and it tested good. That may not last forever. I have chlorinated many wells for bacteria issues. I personally have an RODI unit with a UV light afterwards to be safe.