Hey guys I'm brand new into the world of reef tanks. I am a few days in so I'll post what I've done so far... Here begins my journey.
Quick background information, I bought the JBJ RF-45 w/ matching stand from somebody selling it on offerup. Along with the tank I was given some used crushed coral for bedding, aqamai wave maker, duetto ato, eheim heater, and some other misc. items like food, hoses, buckets etc.
3/25/2020 - INITIAL SET UP
Set up my tank in an area void of direct sunlight. Went to the local fish store and purchased 40lbs of Caribsea dry rock, Redsea ReefLED 90 (w/ mounting arm), Redsea Reef Mature starter kit, water testing kit, and brought back with me about 40 gallons of salt water. I plan on doing my own mix eventually down the road, but for now I want to keep it simple and not over complicate the process. Both return pumps are running, as well as the wavemaker (wavemaker seems a bit weak for this size tank... might need to upgrade in the future). Heater is on and set to 79F. Waiting a day for water to clear and temperature to be correct.
Here are a few pictures
Tank set up - 1st-day
Dry rock I went with - dry-rock
Additional items I purchased - additional-items-bought
Water filling process - filling-up
Tank as of 3/25/2020 - cool-picture
Also forgot to add, I cleaned the **** out of the new tank and scrubbed it clean of all the build up. I also spent time cleaning the crushed coral of all its nastiness. There was alot of green/brown stuff coming out of the crushed corals... is this from excessive feeding? fish waste not being cleaned properly? or did I just wash away all the beneficial bacteria? Either way, I wanted to start with a clean slate.
3/26/2020 - DAY 1 OF NITROGEN CYCLE
I had planned on using the Redsea Reef Mature starter kit, however according to the instructions I need to use it with a protein skimmer. I don't plan on buying one for sometime so I will be returning this product. I went out and bought ammonia from Ace Hardware. Doing a quick search led me to a post on fishlore (I had not came across reef2reef at this time), where it was suggested to use 1ml of ammonia per 5 gallon of water. I estimate there to be about 37 gallons of saltwater (accounting for rock, sand equipment etc), therefore I added 7ml of ammonia to start. I also plan on cycling with the LED light off, since I've read that the light will promote algae growth.
Tank as of 3/26/2020 - as-of-3-26-2020
3/27/2020 - DAY 2 OF NITROGEN CYCLE
Tested for ph, ammonia and nitrite today. ph reads at 8.2, ammonia slightly above 2 ppm, nitrite at 0.
Going to let it sit for another day to see if ammonia drops and hope to see some increase in nitrite. I am now following the nitrogen cycle procedure found here - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cycling-an-aquarium.306554/
I can't stop looking at what fishes/corals to buy... I've decided I'm going to start with 2 clown fish, and after about a month or so I will introduce a clean up crew. From there maybe another fish every month or so... Any recommendations as far as fishes/corals for first time reefer?
Quick background information, I bought the JBJ RF-45 w/ matching stand from somebody selling it on offerup. Along with the tank I was given some used crushed coral for bedding, aqamai wave maker, duetto ato, eheim heater, and some other misc. items like food, hoses, buckets etc.
3/25/2020 - INITIAL SET UP
Set up my tank in an area void of direct sunlight. Went to the local fish store and purchased 40lbs of Caribsea dry rock, Redsea ReefLED 90 (w/ mounting arm), Redsea Reef Mature starter kit, water testing kit, and brought back with me about 40 gallons of salt water. I plan on doing my own mix eventually down the road, but for now I want to keep it simple and not over complicate the process. Both return pumps are running, as well as the wavemaker (wavemaker seems a bit weak for this size tank... might need to upgrade in the future). Heater is on and set to 79F. Waiting a day for water to clear and temperature to be correct.
Here are a few pictures
Tank set up - 1st-day
Dry rock I went with - dry-rock
Additional items I purchased - additional-items-bought
Water filling process - filling-up
Tank as of 3/25/2020 - cool-picture
Also forgot to add, I cleaned the **** out of the new tank and scrubbed it clean of all the build up. I also spent time cleaning the crushed coral of all its nastiness. There was alot of green/brown stuff coming out of the crushed corals... is this from excessive feeding? fish waste not being cleaned properly? or did I just wash away all the beneficial bacteria? Either way, I wanted to start with a clean slate.
3/26/2020 - DAY 1 OF NITROGEN CYCLE
I had planned on using the Redsea Reef Mature starter kit, however according to the instructions I need to use it with a protein skimmer. I don't plan on buying one for sometime so I will be returning this product. I went out and bought ammonia from Ace Hardware. Doing a quick search led me to a post on fishlore (I had not came across reef2reef at this time), where it was suggested to use 1ml of ammonia per 5 gallon of water. I estimate there to be about 37 gallons of saltwater (accounting for rock, sand equipment etc), therefore I added 7ml of ammonia to start. I also plan on cycling with the LED light off, since I've read that the light will promote algae growth.
Tank as of 3/26/2020 - as-of-3-26-2020
3/27/2020 - DAY 2 OF NITROGEN CYCLE
Tested for ph, ammonia and nitrite today. ph reads at 8.2, ammonia slightly above 2 ppm, nitrite at 0.
Going to let it sit for another day to see if ammonia drops and hope to see some increase in nitrite. I am now following the nitrogen cycle procedure found here - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cycling-an-aquarium.306554/
I can't stop looking at what fishes/corals to buy... I've decided I'm going to start with 2 clown fish, and after about a month or so I will introduce a clean up crew. From there maybe another fish every month or so... Any recommendations as far as fishes/corals for first time reefer?
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