B... Reefing

[Bruno_Soares]

Hello,
My name is Bruno and I am from Lisbon, Portugal and this is my first saltwater tank, as the title says, is a Reef Tank.
I have been in the hobby for about 20 years and always had freshwater tanks. From 30 liter to 600 liter, I had some 20 tanks over the years. Last month I entered my local store to search for some plants for my tank I was about to remount and it hit me...
My tank is a 70x40x40cm, 112 liter tank, about 29,5 gallon tank. I believe it is a bit small for starters but since I already had it, took it as the best choice for now.
So, I bought the following material by advice of my local store.

- Aqua Illumination Prime HD (with Aqua Illumination Prime Tank Mount Black);
- Tunze Comline DOC Skimmer 9004;
- Tunze Turbelle Nanostream 6020;
- Sicce 150W Heater;
- Caribbean South Sea Base Rock 9 kg;
- Coral Sand 5 liters (bag of 5L but only used 2,5 liter, more or less;
- AquaForest Sea Salt 5kg (for the beginning water, since I am doing it at home, at least the initial one);
- Fluval Epoxy 115g (asked the store owner for help since I had no experience with glueing the rocks);
- Fluval Hidrometer;
- Aquili RO System.

I believe I have all it takes to start my reef tank. Please give me your opinion. It would be welcome since I have so many doubts...
Thank you in advance.

Bruno Soares

 

[Redfoxtang]

Welcome to R2R!!! Everything looks good but instead of a hydrometer I would get a refractometer!! Those are a little bit more accurate.

 

[Peace River]

@Bruno_Soares - welcome to R2R!!! Do you have access to RO (reverse osmosis) water? As a general rule you are better off not mixing marine aquarium salt with your tap water. It looks like you have a lot of nice parts and the 112L is a nice starter size!

 

[Rogued_Reefer]

Welcome to R2R!!!!! You seem to have everything well thought out

 

[Bruno_Soares]

Welcome to R2R!!! Everything looks good but instead of a hydrometer I would get a refractometer!! Those are a little bit more accurate.

I already spent some money over my budget, but it is the first thing I will buy when I have the chance (€)...

@Bruno_Soares - welcome to R2R!!! Do you have access to RO (reverse osmosis) water? As a general rule you are better off not mixing marine aquarium salt with your tap water. It looks like you have a lot of nice parts and the 112L is a nice starter size!

Sorry, I forgot to mention it, but yes, I have an RO system and I will change all the cartridges before starting my reef. I have some freshwater shrimp and it is time to change before having any problems and specially for the reef I believe it is the best. I am adding that information in the first part.

 

[Bruno_Soares]

Welcome to R2R!!!!! You seem to have everything well thought out

Thank you Mario.

 

[Peace River]

I already spent some money over my budget, but it is the first thing I will buy when I have the chance (€)...

Sorry, I forgot to mention it, but yes, I have an RO system and I will change all the cartridges before starting my reef. I have some freshwater shrimp and it is time to change before having any problems and specially for the reef I believe it is the best. I am adding that information in the first part.

Great! Sometimes that is something that gets overlooked so I didn’t want to assume!

 

[Bruno_Soares]

Great! Sometimes that is something that gets overlooked so I didn’t want to assume!

And I thank you for asking. It could be a serious problem.

 

[Bruno_Soares]

So, I had the arch and the smaller rock, and bought another the cover a bit the big entrance in the arch, since I did not like that as much as when I saw it in the store. So after adding that other rock it looks quite different and much better.

So I put them in these positions and believe it to be nice, but please feel free to critisize. Since rock position is important in the future I need some ideas.
The first layout it is the one I like the best. Still I have to try them inside the aquarium, but what do you think would be best.

 

[Peace River]

It looks like a good start! When you move it into the tank do your best to leave enough room between the rocks and the glass on all sides so you have room for cleaning. Nice work!

 

[Bruno_Soares]

It looks like a good start! When you move it into the tank do your best to leave enough room between the rocks and the glass on all sides so you have room for cleaning. Nice work!

Thank you. When I put them in the tank I will post some more pictures. I think that this weekend it will be ready... hope so.

 

[Bruno_Soares]

2 problems:
- Doing my first water I used an hydrometer, but it got some weird values. From 1018, add a cup of salt and it went over 1028... at least in my hydrometer. Added osmosis water but it didn´t get lower. Washed the hydrometer and then it got again a value of 1018. Add some of the water that was higher and reached the point of 1023. So I though that befeore I couldn´t get to 1024 and stable I used the 1023 water and put it in my tank. About 60 liters which got over 2/3 of the tank. So I only needed some 20 or 30 liter more. Joined some of the water that was higher with osmosis and got a water of 1026, which I thought would be good enough to join the other in the tank, filled the tank, and in the end it had again over 1028... this took me some 3 hours, and still I didn´t get a water that was near my goal of 1024 mg/L.
- The other problem is that the rotor in my water pump jumped of and now it doesn´t stick in place. Got to go to the store since it is still in the warranty.
Not a good start at all.
What can I do? Is there a problem if the salinity is too high? Maybe I will take some water to the store and asked them to measure it? Or maybe I should get a refractometer to make sure how is the salinity?
Another question, since I am going to the store, should I get some bacteria? Do you use it or not?
Before that I tested the layout and decided that this could be a good for the size of the tank. What do you think? I was so frustrated that I didn´t even take any pictures after filling the tank.

While adding water I washed the sand that got was in the stone. Forgot to take any other pictures...

 

[Bruno_Soares]

So, the pump was stupidity of mine, since I removed a part that holds the rotor in place. Strange is that it didn´t jump of place the first time. It doesn´t matter because it is working all right.
The hydrometer gets some bubbles inside and isn´t stable. Tested out of the tank and got near 1023mg/L. After some advice and will try to get it to 1025mg/L since it is a more comun value and when I buy some corals in the future they may adapt better to my water.
And it is cycling. Sorry for the thermometer on the sand, but it doesn´t stick anymore. Got to change the suction cup. Yes, it already as 2 corals, a Xenia and other that I don´t remember the name, maybe a Caulastraea Furcata. They were an offer and since I couldn´t refuse, I put them in the tank. Hope they can survive the cycling stage. I didn´t glue the corals since I only had liquid cianoacrilate. Only tried to put them on the rocks and hoped it stayed in place. What do you use for the purpose?
Today I will choose the lighting mode. Some signature from the site, probably Tony Rogers... I will try to adapt this to my tank.
I know we have to calibrate the skimmer. I put it so the water is right in the middle of its grid. Opened the air a bit so the foam rises to the grid level. How do you use it?
Here are some photos, the part we all like the best. Hope you enjoy...

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Looking great Bruno. I like the rock work. Don't know if you have it or not but don't forget an ATO (auto top off). That will help with your salinity stability on your tank. BY the way... Welcome to R2R !!!

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I really like the arch! Great scape design!

 

[Bruno_Soares]

Looking great Bruno. I like the rock work. Don't know if you have it or not but don't forget an ATO (auto top off). That will help with your salinity stability on your tank. BY the way... Welcome to R2R !!!

I am having some dificulty reading the salinity. My hydrometer gives some different values. As you see in the photo it is great between 1022 and 1023, which will rise a bit as I will introduce water with 1025 at my water changes. So far so good. The problem is that my hydrometer gave yesterday a value of 1018. This morning I measured again, and 1018 it is. What do you think happened? Today I will measure it again as soon as I get home.
ATO...? Sorry for not understanding, but are you refering to the evaporation? I am using RO water to replace the evaporated water... (I don´t have a complete domination of the vocabulary).

 

[Bruno_Soares]

I really like the arch! Great scape design!

Thank you. I hope I can have some cool corals to make it look really good.

 

[Ruben's Reef]

I am having some dificulty reading the salinity. My hydrometer gives some different values. As you see in the photo it is great between 1022 and 1023, which will rise a bit as I will introduce water with 1025 at my water changes. So far so good. The problem is that my hydrometer gave yesterday a value of 1018. This morning I measured again, and 1018 it is. What do you think happened? Today I will measure it again as soon as I get home.
ATO...? Sorry for not understanding, but are you refering to the evaporation? I am using RO water to replace the evaporated water... (I don´t have a complete domination of the vocabulary).

When you have a chance and $$ get a digital Refractometer and you will be good. Also, the ATO is the water evaporation replacement RODI to keep salinity well balance. I did one myself, a gravity auto top off. Easy to make and very effective. I have a video on my YouTube channel about the gravity ATO I made.

 

[JCOLE]

Welcome to R2R!!! Off to a good start. Keep asking questions and you will get far in this hobby!

 

[Bruno_Soares]

When you have a chance and $$ get a digital Refractometer and you will be good. Also, the ATO is the water evaporation replacement RODI to keep salinity well balance. I did one myself, a gravity auto top off. Easy to make and very effective. I have a video on my YouTube channel about the gravity ATO I made.

That looks great. Thank you for sharing. Hope.
What about my salinity? Isn´t it too low? Should I correct it right away or slowly with my water changes and water replacement?

Welcome to R2R!!! Off to a good start. Keep asking questions and you will get far in this hobby!

Thank you. I will ask a lot... trust me ;Shamefullyembarrased . I believe that feedback is very important, specially for those who are not that familiar with something. Someone told me to follow one person´s method and not several opinions and methods. I believe that, because I do it in my freshwater tanks (20 year experience so I have my own method), but I am always open to new opinions and perspectives, and I also like to hear others about their own experiences. I think this is what our hobby gives us the most, the oportunity to know one another and share information.