Father of 9 (soon to be 10) with 320 gallon system

[Imrahilwjz]

Concrete is not recommended because it has silica sand. Usually Portland Cement is used but you have to really cure it good or your pH will skyrocket and can kill pretty much anything and everything in the tank. I just made some cement rocks for my tank. It took close to 3 months to freshwater cure to leach the lime out then another couple weeks of a saltwater soak/cure just to make sure anything that started growing on it in t freshwater soak isn't going to die and ammonia spike my tank. If you have a chunk of concrete in the tank check your pH? I was reading a pH over 11 while my concrete was curing.

I did check the pH multiple times since the beginning. It is currently in the low 8s. The chunk was at least a decade old, although it had never been submerged in water

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[Imrahilwjz]

Concrete is not recommended because it has silica sand. Usually Portland Cement is used but you have to really cure it good or your pH will skyrocket and can kill pretty much anything and everything in the tank. I just made some cement rocks for my tank. It took close to 3 months to freshwater cure to leach the lime out then another couple weeks of a saltwater soak/cure just to make sure anything that started growing on it in t freshwater soak isn't going to die and ammonia spike my tank. If you have a chunk of concrete in the tank check your pH? I was reading a pH over 11 while my concrete was curing.

Thanks

 

[Backreefing]

An ICp test is a wise choice and cheap. You need money with children. A 90 gallon fig . Wow

 

[Imrahilwjz]

Well. I'm hoping to put some sort of non reef safe specimen in the bottom of the fug and have the macroalgae on top of a platform closer to the light. Obviously the specimen would have to be something that wouldn't decimate the pod population.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

I did pull the concrete. Left kind of a glaring hole, but I can fill it with something eventually

 

[Imrahilwjz]

An ICp test is a wise choice and cheap. You need money with children. A 90 gallon fig . Wow

I ordered an ICP test from bulk reef supplies as well

 

[Backreefing]

I got 4 kids . Reefing is a hobby that we can do at home. And looking at the aquarium seams to calm babies. At least mine . He likes the fish and the colors.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

I got 4 kids . Reefing is a hobby that we can do at home. And looking at the aquarium seams to calm babies. At least mine . He likes the fish and the colors.

I agree. My kids love to help me, some more than others, but they all think it's cool. I have a niece who used to walk into the house and immediately drag a step ladder over to the tank and spend a good while just watching my 90 gallon tank

 

[tbrown]

I did pull the concrete. Left kind of a glaring hole, but I can fill it with something eventually

You can try to stack the rocks rather than pile them? Rescape is always a semi-easy option with no corals. Mine has holes as well, but it's getting there.

Not the best picture. My biggest problem I have with "looking empty" is the taller height of my tank. Tall tanks are always hard to get a good height on the scape.

 

[tbrown]

I don't know if anyone said this or not but if your rocks are used and not from you it could be copper... ICP test is probably the best option.

 

[tbrown]

I posted previously as having a 90 gallon tank, with plans to move into a 180 gallon tank. 2 years ago there was an ice storm here in Oregon and my 90 gallon tank crashed.
I now have a 180 gallon tank with a 50 gallon (ish) sump, and a 90 gallon (my old tank) refugium.
I have 4 chromis and 4 firefish in the 180 who are doing fine. I tried to add some snails, hermit crabs, and emerald crabs. They all died. The crabs lasted a little longer than the snails, but everything died pretty quickly. The LFS owner I got them from talked about the possibility of heavy metals in the water. What's the best way to check for that? If that is the case, the only possible sources I can think of are a chunk of concrete in the water or the pump I use to transport water to the system from my salt water mixing system, which dies have rust on the bleeder plug. Should I eliminate one or both things right away, or test first? My best guess is the fish will be okay for now, and that every crustacean in my rock is already dead. Testing shows no ammonia, no nitrates, and 10 ppm of nitrate. I do have brown algae starting. I thought I knew what I was doing, since I was following the pattern that worked very well when starting my 90 gallon tank, but I guess still have much to learn.

Just another thing to check - verify there's no rust on the mag-float (or any other magnets in the tank). I lost a TON of coral from my magnetic scraper leaching into the water. Several of my CUC disappeared as well...

 

[Imrahilwjz]

I don't know if anyone said this or not but if your rocks are used and not from you it could be copper... ICP test is probably the best option.

I did order a test. Thank you

 

[Imrahilwjz]

Just another thing to check - verify there's no rust on the mag-float (or any other magnets in the tank). I lost a TON of coral from my magnetic scraper leaching into the water. Several of my CUC disappeared as well...

Shoot. My mag float looks okay, but scraper I have with a handle is pretty rusty. Should I throw that out? It doesn't stay in the water obviously, but...

 

[Imrahilwjz]

Just another thing to check - verify there's no rust on the mag-float (or any other magnets in the tank). I lost a TON of coral from my magnetic scraper leaching into the water. Several of my CUC disappeared as well...

Thank you for all the advice

 

[Imrahilwjz]

Thanks to all for your welcomes and your advice. As always (in my experience) Reef2Reef is a friendly, supportive forum.

 

[dstockwell]

Welcome to the Reef

 

[SPR1968]

Hi and welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[ReefRondo]

 

[jsker]

Hello, Welcome to R2R!!

As I read through the tread the two recommendation I would have suggested have been said. ICP test and pull the concrete chuck.

How long has the system been setup?