New Guy on the Block (in Arizona) - Help

Young@Heart · Aug 22, 2017

pettoe90 said:
Yeah grow light will work fine

Thanks

FlyinBryan · Aug 22, 2017

Hey Young it can feel very intimidating at first, but we all start somewhere! My first tank was 150 gallon, and I knew nothing about anything.
It took me a good six months of research before I finally felt confident enough to pull the trigger one day it was the most expensive for the people I have ever had! Lol
What was shocking to me was just the overall cost. I spent close to $7000 right out of the gate. But I wanted the best stuff and I don't like to buy stuff used. But that's just me and I digress.
From what I have learned in my best piece of advice is go slow with tank changes. You are going to mess up there is no two ways about it. But you will learn what is important and what is not soon.
Some guys get all way down to the electrical socket with the pullling in terms of electricity. And everybody has their hot button issue. You will find yours.
For instants, I am in an all natural guy with a good protein skimmer. I get off on the sump it's size the filteration all that stuff, that's my Bailywick if you will. I am not into zeovit or additives or anything else like that. Other guys are and it's totally fine.
Some guys approach it from a very mechanical or even an engineering perspective. And are really on it with their tanks And they have great tanks.
Some guys are all about the chemistry and have very specific measurements etc. they also have great tanks.
Like I said you'll find what you like to focus on.
I think your plan for cycling with tank for month is exceptionally good! And I think you will do well as a result right out of the gate!
Anyways welcome to saltwater tanks and congrats for finding this forum it is an exceptional site! and best of luck to you we're here to help!

Young@Heart · Aug 23, 2017

M

FlyinBryan said:
Hey Young it can feel very intimidating at first, but we all start somewhere! My first tank was 150 gallon, and I knew nothing about anything.
It took me a good six months of research before I finally felt confident enough to pull the trigger one day it was the most expensive for the people I have ever had! Lol
What was shocking to me was just the overall cost. I spent close to $7000 right out of the gate. But I wanted the best stuff and I don't like to buy stuff used. But that's just me and I digress.
From what I have learned in my best piece of advice is go slow with tank changes. You are going to mess up there is no two ways about it. But you will learn what is important and what is not soon.
Some guys get all way down to the electrical socket with the pullling in terms of electricity. And everybody has their hot button issue. You will find yours.
For instants, I am in an all natural guy with a good protein skimmer. I get off on the sump it's size the filteration all that stuff, that's my Bailywick if you will. I am not into zeovit or additives or anything else like that. Other guys are and it's totally fine.
Some guys approach it from a very mechanical or even an engineering perspective. And are really on it with their tanks And they have great tanks.
Some guys are all about the chemistry and have very specific measurements etc. they also have great tanks.
Like I said you'll find what you like to focus on.
I think your plan for cycling with tank for month is exceptionally good! And I think you will do well as a result right out of the gate!
Anyways welcome to saltwater tanks and congrats for finding this forum it is an exceptional site! and best of luck to you we're here to help!

Young@Heart · Aug 23, 2017

Thank you for the good words of encouragement. I am looking at a "get wet" date of this Sat or the following Sat. I still have some work to do on the base. Want to do it right for several reasons, but among other things it is a memorial to my best friend who died of Bone Marrow Cancer

Young@Heart · Aug 23, 2017

Probably a dumb question, but can my sump light be anything other than White Light? Thinking of putting some Chaeto in the Sump.

pettoe90 · Aug 24, 2017

Red spectrum works the best for a sump

pettoe90 · Aug 24, 2017

pettoe90 · Aug 25, 2017

I just set up my large tank last weekend

Young@Heart · Aug 26, 2017

Looks like some of my equipment will be delayed from the manufacturer - but that is ok, give me more time to work on the base it had a bit more water damage than I thought. Besides I still should get a sump light - found some red led "tape lights" that are waterproof. I hope to have pretty much everything in place to setup next weekend. The Rocks are rinsed off and curing in the garage. I have 140 lbs of dry sand from BRS in the living room + 20 lbs of LiveSand (Fiji Pink). I got some of the vertical rock from BRS too. It made the aquascape, I took plenty of pics, I just hope I can get it back in the tank they way I had it. The Fish would love all the caves, nooks and such - Looked Cool. In a Large Plastic tube curing - not a cool look.

pettoe90 · Aug 26, 2017

That's a lot if sand what's the dimension of the tank

Young@Heart · Sep 20, 2017

Approx: 60 inches, 24 inches, by 29 inches with Custom 50 Gal Sump. Still have more work to do, but it is wet and cycling.

FlyinBryan · Sep 24, 2017

Love the 210!! Congrats and gl with the tank!

Young@Heart · Sep 25, 2017

Next step is lighting. Any ideas since it is a peninsula tank

Young@Heart · Sep 26, 2017

As Promised Here are the Pics of my new 180 Gallon with the Sump. Still some work to be done (Lighting, Doors, Automatic Top Off Tank, and Cable Management. I did have some customer acrylic work done. I don't have the tools for that and I wanted to go acrylic chiefly because of the reduced weight and I wanted the sump to be larger than a 40 Gallon (I did not know how a sump worked and I did not want to take a risk of flooding). Anyway here are the Pics - things will look better as I finish. Keep in mind this is my 1st attempt at something like this:

The Aquascaping looked better dry, but this is my first attempt. In any case I would like to know your thoughts as the Next thing for Lonnie's Reef (Lonnie was my best friend aside from my wife) - Lonnie passed away 31 Years ago. Next step is lighting - any thoughts?

I may add an arch to the aquascape in the future. But there other things I need to think about now.

Young@Heart · Sep 28, 2017

I am starting to look at Lighting. The AI Hydra 26 and 52 were both recommended to me. How far above should the lights hang on a 29 inch tall tank? Also I have a 4 inch vertical on my Canopy. I need to make a decision within the next week or two so your comments would be appreciated.

Young@Heart · Jan 7, 2018

It has been a while, but here we are almost 7 months after we started this trek. After 2 months + of Temp Lighting and the holidays, the new lights went on Friday night (2 Kessil AP700's). It is a good thing I got things going when I did because some of the corals were starting look bad. My Torch had not extended his polyps for a week - I was worried. Also had a Mushroom that looked really bad. But I mounted the Kessils and within 90 Minutes, I started seeing improvement and within 6 hours the Mushroom was bigger and more colorful than ever. The Torch, his Polyps have started coming out again. The Lights are in Acclimation mode. What is you opinion? How long should I leave them in acclimation mode - I was thinking 2 weeks to a month.

I will post pics soon. Still a few things to fix, but I think I have now moved into the tinker/maintenance mode - I still have some tangs (Blond Naso, Blue Hippo and Yellow) to add.

Next Up Continuing Maintenance and the dreaded Cable Management.

Young@Heart · Jan 7, 2018

Here are some pics that I promised. Still have some cleanup to do and the Cable Management. The acclimation mode of the AP700 seems to use the Blue End of the Spectrum so my pics will be limited as have not gotten the trick to photographing in the Blue Spectrum.