90 Long Build! The Wait is Over!

[CCiPhantom]

So i returned that pump and went with the SCP-90 and a SLW-20. I'll be able to test both in the tank sunday to see what type of whirlpool i can create

Im running the SCP-90 in a IM40 Long (36") and was blowing sand so I flipped it and pointed it up and seems to be perfect now creating a nice wave and good flow across the whole tank.

Awesome progress, following along!

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Big step forward! I'm excited to see how the fish look in the display

You and me both! I can't wait to get them through quarantine!

Wow. I just read through your thread. You are so detailed and your updates are amazing! You should do a huge favor for reefers and document your exact method for cycling a tank. In this hobby there are 100’s, maybe even 1000’s of different approaches. I’ve cycled probably a dozen tanks over my years, and your thread made me rethink my approach. To see you go through all the steps, especially recycling the tank, stand, and rock was awesome! I have a couple of questions: what difference do you see using the AF sand as opposed to CaribSea? And now that you used Brightwell bacteria for the first time, do you see any benefit over other brands?

I appreciate it! And I followed a similar method someone else already wrote a thread on, ill see if I can find it again and post here for yall. I typically do not use this type of method and many times over the years started my cycle with urine but no bacteria

Im glad you have enjoyed reading my journey so far, hopefully some of you can maybe use something beneficial from this build thread to try on future builds as for the AF sand i am not sure yet, other than looks it is hard to messure how well it does until later down the road. But reviews from others have been great and I love the look

I have only used 1 other bacteria in the past and it was fritz, brightwell bacteria seemed to do a great job and knocked out ammonia without an issue so no negatives so far. So I find that a plus in my book. One thing I do have to say though is if your ordering bacteria ensure it's not mid summer and hotter outside than recommended for the bacteria being ordered. I think this is some of the issues with people that leave reviews on certain products not helping their cycle

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

I agree. I've never done an sps tank, so if you document your entire process I may be able use this when I do start one

I was reading your issues last night in a post about not being able to keep corals. You need any help in the future please reach out, ill help how I can! I started my reefing journey around the age of 12ish so I understand your hardships, luckily I had my dad that helped a ton along the way and we learned together.

I remember mowing the lawn ALL summer so he would buy me a 250w metal halide ballast for my new tank now that I look at it, he was smart and got free mowing for i think it was like $75 back then don't give up, your journey is just beginning

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Im running the SCP-90 in a IM40 Long (36") and was blowing sand so I flipped it and pointed it up and seems to be perfect now creating a nice wave and good flow across the whole tank.

Awesome progress, following along!

It's a great pump that's for sure! I tried flipping the SCP-120 but it was still way to much, on the lowest setting I could barely keep it from blowing sand in the middle. And still attempted to pull air from the top even though about 6" away lol

And I appreciate the follow! Thank you

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

@Tinnerito @Elude82 Here are 2 threads that would be helpful on the type of cycle I used. I may have not followed them exactly but I do not rush a cycle so using methods such as raising temps and lowering salinity were not used in my cycle. My temp is set around 78 and salinity around 35 ppt.

But what I did do was test ammonia and re dose back to 1ppm once low/undetectable and retest within 24 hours to ensure the bacteria were consuming the ammonia accordingly. Right now I am maintaining nutrients by feeding the tank small amounts of food such as if I had fish in the system, and lights are still turned off unless I am taking pictures or working inside the tank.

Bacteria in a bottle, Myth or Fact

Call me old school, back in the day we placed a deli shrimp in a tank to kick start the cycle. When tank reached 1.5-2 ppm ammonia we pulled it out and waited sometimes weeks to months for bacteria to colonize and drop ammonia and nitrites down to 0 to make tank safe for livestock. With recent...

www.reef2reef.com

Dr. Tim's tips for speeding up fishless cycles

Just came across this youtube video of a talk Dr. Tim gave last year specifically on nitrifying bacteria and how to speed up your cycle by setting up your tank to ideal conditions for the nitrifying bacteria you are trying to jumpstart. I'm adding it here for anyone else who is just starting...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[trellemania]

So very excited for life starting to do its thing in the tank!! I hope you can update us on your qt methods too because everything you post so far has been so helpful for a newbie like me!

 

[Tinnerito]

I was reading your issues last night in a post about not being able to keep corals. You need any help in the future please reach out, ill help how I can! I started my reefing journey around the age of 12ish so I understand your hardships, luckily I had my dad that helped a ton along the way and we learned together.

I remember mowing the lawn ALL summer so he would buy me a 250w metal halide ballast for my new tank now that I look at it, he was smart and got free mowing for i think it was like $75 back then don't give up, your journey is just beginning

Is there a way for me to contact you? I'd love for some help. And yeah same here will the lawn mowing for some money lol.

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

So very excited for life starting to do its thing in the tank!! I hope you can update us on your qt methods too because everything you post so far has been so helpful for a newbie like me!

YES! Its been a long time since I did a full build from scratch like this, so any life is exciting :face-with-tears-of-joy: Im happy to help any of you starting out, without "newbies" this hobby would eventually die. So anything experienced hobbyist can do to help provide any insight or assistance to make you all successful only benefits all of us in the end!

Is there a way for me to contact you? I'd love for some help. And yeah same here will the lawn mowing for some money lol.

I sent you a message

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

5 female lyretail ordered! I went through Petco and having them directly shipped to my house, you can not beat this price at $25 each! Now I did have to pay $35 for shipping but still beats out the cheapest online stores.

Seeing I already planned to quarantine to me this is the best route, they will ship directly from a wholesaler straight to me. So no middle man and imo less stress on the fish.

Plus the 7 day live guarantee is very appealing

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Got the 20 tall set up tonight for the anthias coming next week. Put a small pump inside for water circulation and a small 50w heater until the new 100w shows up tomorrow, air pump is sitting in the back ready to run as well.

Water is around 72 degrees so I'm waiting to get the new heater in then I will transfer the sponge filter over for the biological filtration.

Plan to run salinity around 1.020 which should be close to the wholesalers salinity. And a temp of 76 for more dissolved oxygen. I will add half dose of methylene blue and let the fish settle in for a few days while checking ammonia daily.

Day 3-4 I Plan to do a 100% water change before starting metroplex treatment which i will also use focus to bind metroplex to the food for internal treatment. Iv read i can also run prazipro at the same time but do not want to stress the fish. So I'll probably be looking at 2 weeks in metroplex and 2 weeks on prazipro before transferring to main

 

[trellemania]

Got the 20 tall set up tonight for the anthias coming next week. Put a small pump inside for water circulation and a small 50w heater until the new 100w shows up tomorrow, air pump is sitting in the back ready to run as well.

Water is around 72 degrees so I'm waiting to get the new heater in then I will transfer the sponge filter over for the biological filtration.

Plan to run salinity around 1.020 which should be close to the wholesalers salinity. And a temp of 76 for more dissolved oxygen. I will add half dose of methylene blue and let the fish settle in for a few days while checking ammonia daily.

Day 3-4 I Plan to do a 100% water change before starting metroplex treatment which i will also use focus to bind metroplex to the food for internal treatment. Iv read i can also run prazipro at the same time but do not want to stress the fish. So I'll probably be looking at 2 weeks in metroplex and 2 weeks on prazipro before transferring to main

When should you ramp up your salinity? Is it a little over time of qt or do you match the tank's salinity a bit before transferring to display tank?

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

When should you ramp up your salinity? Is it a little over time of qt or do you match the tank's salinity a bit before transferring to display tank?

I would probably ramp it up in the last week of quarantine, slowly everyday for at least 3-4 days I would say. I could achieve this by small water changes with a slightly higher salinity each time

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Wife wanted to place her painting over the tank. What yall think?

 

[Tinnerito]

Wife wanted to place her painting over the tank. What yall think?

Unless you have other plans for above the tank, you should keep it just because :)

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Unless you have other plans for above the tank, you should keep it just because :)

haha I had no plans, but the wife wanted it so gotta make her feel like she is apart of it. If I didnt maybe she would deny my next expensive purchase :face-with-tears-of-joy:

 

[Tinnerito]

haha I had no plans, but the wife wanted it so gotta make her feel like she is apart of it. If I didnt maybe she would deny my next expensive purchase :face-with-tears-of-joy:

Who said she needs to know if you bought an expensive coral?:zipper-mouth-face::upside-down-face:

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Who said she needs to know if you bought an expensive coral?:zipper-mouth-face::upside-down-face:

All it would take is looking at my account :face-with-tears-of-joy: women dont ask to look, they just do

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Anthias will be here tomorrow morning! QT tank is set up and ready, added another round of the Brightwell MicroBacter Start, I had a very slight almost 0 reading of ammonia and that seemed knock it right out so hopefully the sponge filter will hold that bacteria to help combat any ammonia. If not I have 30 gallons of fresh saltwater mixed and ready.

I forgot to pick up a large PVC T fitting for them to hide in, so grabbed two 2" bulk heads laying around and put them together with the plastic ring to make a hiding spot for them. Temp seems to be holding right around 75-76 and ill double check salinity in the morning to ensure I am sitting at 1.020. All medication is here for treatment

I receive my BRS order tomorrow with more foods to entice them in case I have issues feeding. I am excited to try the Super Eggs by Aqua Edibles, I have read some great reviews and seems many reefers have a lot of success getting fish to eat along with anthias loving it! So hopefully this will allow me to get some good nutrients into the fish fast seeing they are high in protein, fats, omega 3 and 6

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

All 5 anthias arrived alive and by what i could tell in the bag healthy. I went ahead and dosed half dose methylene blue (1 teaspoon) in roughly 18 gallons after bags floated for 15 mins. Just as a preventive messure

So far opened a widow across the house for a little natural light and they seem to be grouping together right after released.

Ammonia was 0 this morning and I will verify again after I get some sleep! Also turn the kitchen light on and attempt to feed them as well. For now though just letting them relax and acclimate to their temporary home

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Well 2 of the anthias did not make it and found dead when I woke up. I don't see anything visually wrong but I did notice the smaller one when introduced to the tank kind of laid on top of the sponge filter and didn't want to move. So I'm thinking something happen during shipment? Or already declining in health when received.

The trio left accepted some frozen food so that's a good sign. They seem active and swimming around the tank. I'll be making a 50% water change just for peace of mind