Lavey29
10K Club member
You should leave lights off and no corals first 4 months. Let your tank build biodiversity and microfauna first then when you add corals and lights your ugly stage will be very manageable.
PWeeZy’s 90 gallon budget build
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ying yang
2500 Club Member
Yeah started ugly stage with probably some slime bacteria on your cords and diatoms on your rocks then they will subside and then green algaes should take over so what I did when I started seeing diatoms and little of green was buy my first lot of cuc, ( my tank 80 gallons dt ) so got 6 trouchus and 6 nassarious and 3 red legged hermits then 6 mixture of small hermits to help me keep the tank clean ,need to watch your tank and see how it's acting and what it's producing to what cuc you add and how many cuc you add as dont want them to starve abs eat each other ^_^ .if bare bottom tank then nassarious snails not ideal to get, but I just researched what cuc would eat what and when tank started producing it then add a few cuc then few weeks later if current cuc not keeping it in check then buy few more then got to stage after about 4 months I added 2 tuxedo urchins which are brilliant algae eating machines.
Your lights hanged looks good and does the job.
As for your skimmer I never had that one but as you say it needs breaking in but I just kept thinking in my head if I turn this know or take cap completely off air intake then what would happen inside skimmer and worked OK for stock skimmer that come with tank ,at first I think had to have water inlets fully open and air slightly open on a cap I u screwed then as the days went into weeks slowly opened the water inlets and took cap off for maximum ait intake but that's just how I got my skimmer working great.
All I can say is research and research and if need ask specific questions then start a new thread because as you post more Into your build thread the more pages you have and sone have 500 plus pages so people haven't time to read from start to end looking for questions unfortunately .
Test regulary and point wave makers to surface for surface agitation and that all Important gas exchange ,which you should also be getting from your sump as water falls over your baffles into next chamber and imo is very important,.
As for water change your tank and you testing will give you the answer when to water change, by that I mean if your nitrates and po4 start to rise then water change time.
And if you planning to add corals and you not dosing anything and replenish you elements like alk calcium,magnesium etc and the corals start using them and they dropping then water change time .or could just stick to regular 10% water change each week on same day but keep eye on nitrates and p04 as alot say if these go to 0 then you going start battling dinos which you don't want to have that problem so if these 2 elements start to get close to 0 then can dose p04 and n03 or feed fish more or do less water changes less frequently bit keep testing your parameters to see that the others aren't dropping.
At first though with just couple of fish your parameters shouldn't rise fast but all depends how many fish,how often water change and how much feed etc plus lots other factors like any critters you got helping you clean up ( pods,worms and the like ) but if first after Initial cycle your nitrates are quite high its recommended to do a big water change to reduce them then try have a good regimented water change regime whilst testing often .
Good luck and sorry for long post.got carried away bit just showing I seen other thread and we all here to try help each other ^_^
Your lights hanged looks good and does the job.
As for your skimmer I never had that one but as you say it needs breaking in but I just kept thinking in my head if I turn this know or take cap completely off air intake then what would happen inside skimmer and worked OK for stock skimmer that come with tank ,at first I think had to have water inlets fully open and air slightly open on a cap I u screwed then as the days went into weeks slowly opened the water inlets and took cap off for maximum ait intake but that's just how I got my skimmer working great.
All I can say is research and research and if need ask specific questions then start a new thread because as you post more Into your build thread the more pages you have and sone have 500 plus pages so people haven't time to read from start to end looking for questions unfortunately .
Test regulary and point wave makers to surface for surface agitation and that all Important gas exchange ,which you should also be getting from your sump as water falls over your baffles into next chamber and imo is very important,.
As for water change your tank and you testing will give you the answer when to water change, by that I mean if your nitrates and po4 start to rise then water change time.
And if you planning to add corals and you not dosing anything and replenish you elements like alk calcium,magnesium etc and the corals start using them and they dropping then water change time .or could just stick to regular 10% water change each week on same day but keep eye on nitrates and p04 as alot say if these go to 0 then you going start battling dinos which you don't want to have that problem so if these 2 elements start to get close to 0 then can dose p04 and n03 or feed fish more or do less water changes less frequently bit keep testing your parameters to see that the others aren't dropping.
At first though with just couple of fish your parameters shouldn't rise fast but all depends how many fish,how often water change and how much feed etc plus lots other factors like any critters you got helping you clean up ( pods,worms and the like ) but if first after Initial cycle your nitrates are quite high its recommended to do a big water change to reduce them then try have a good regimented water change regime whilst testing often .
Good luck and sorry for long post.got carried away bit just showing I seen other thread and we all here to try help each other ^_^
ying yang
2500 Club Member
Aw also after initial cycle and I left tank to do what it was doing and adding cuc when needed,about 4 month stage I stated adding some easy coral frags then even though dipped that's when my micro fauna took off and got some spaghetti worms and all kind different pods and lots critters that will help me but unfortunately got some kind of black bugs and eating my green slimer but there's ways to treat tank to eradicate them if I want to but decided not to at this point.
Best way is to have seperate qt / observational tank for corals after dipping and some even put snails' hermits,shrimps into observational qt for month or 2 and see if any unwanted hitchhikers came through the dips as easier dealing with them In qt than your dt.will share a common hitch hiker guide for you know also .
Again good luck
www.reef2reef.com
Best way is to have seperate qt / observational tank for corals after dipping and some even put snails' hermits,shrimps into observational qt for month or 2 and see if any unwanted hitchhikers came through the dips as easier dealing with them In qt than your dt.will share a common hitch hiker guide for you know also .
Again good luck
What is that!! A R2R guide to common new tank hitchhikers.
One of the greatest things about starting a reef tank is getting your live rock in and admiring all the diversity within it. The rock comes to life different creatures. This is a guide that I, along with a very well known critter identifier @KJ , have put together for the new reefer on what...
www.reef2reef.com
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pweezy42
Community Member
Thank you that’s a ton of good info.Aw also after initial cycle and I left tank to do what it was doing and adding cuc when needed,about 4 month stage I stated adding some easy coral frags then even though dipped that's when my micro fauna took off and got some spaghetti worms and all kind different pods and lots critters that will help me but unfortunately got some kind of black bugs and eating my green slimer but there's ways to treat tank to eradicate them if I want to but decided not to at this point.
Best way is to have seperate qt / observational tank for corals after dipping and some even put snails' hermits,shrimps into observational qt for month or 2 and see if any unwanted hitchhikers came through the dips as easier dealing with them In qt than your dt.will share a common hitch hiker guide for you know also .
Again good luck
What is that!! A R2R guide to common new tank hitchhikers.
One of the greatest things about starting a reef tank is getting your live rock in and admiring all the diversity within it. The rock comes to life different creatures. This is a guide that I, along with a very well known critter identifier @KJ , have put together for the new reefer on what...
Lavey29
10K Club member
Understandable, my kids too. If you keep the intensity and duration down it will help you navigate the ugly phases. Build your biodiversity with phytoplankton and check out PNS probio Natura bacteria supplement. Stay up with your water changes and checking parameters and if you can keep everything in the good ranges the tank will mature naturally and beautifully.
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pweezy42
Community Member
I have both lights at 1% on the blues and whites. I have them both on blue for a 1.5 hrs staggered then the whites same way for 3 hrs and back off with just the blues for 1.5. Basically when the kids get home from school till they go to bed, with a hr for myself in at the end lol
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pweezy42
Community Member
Day 26:
ammonia .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5-10
ok so on Thursday I added 6 large snails and 10 small crabs for a starter cuc to help with the uglies starting.
I’ve pretty much all but given up on the Red Sea rsk 300 and listed it locally for sale and am thinking about going with a curve 5 elite instead.
im thinking next week maybe Thursday I will double up the same cuc
Also am thinking either a sailfin tang or a lawnmower blenny to help with the small green hair algae starting. Thoughts?
ammonia .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5-10
ok so on Thursday I added 6 large snails and 10 small crabs for a starter cuc to help with the uglies starting.
I’ve pretty much all but given up on the Red Sea rsk 300 and listed it locally for sale and am thinking about going with a curve 5 elite instead.
im thinking next week maybe Thursday I will double up the same cuc
Also am thinking either a sailfin tang or a lawnmower blenny to help with the small green hair algae starting. Thoughts?
Last edited:
Lavey29
10K Club member
It's best to add cleaners as the need arises. If you put to many in and not enough algae they die so you are taking the right approach adding as needed. You may want some necarius snails to that live under your sand and eat detritus. If the algae gets more abundant, turbo snails or tuxedo urchins work great.
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pweezy42
Community Member
I think turbo is what I got. Was gonna get more today but the sailtang has been catching my eye since yellows are impossible to get right now and wanted one to also help graze
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pweezy42
Community Member
Day 35:
ph 8
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 5
doing my first water change today reason being I have been feeding the tank more since the sailfin but skimmer still isn’t working so just getting filtered by the tank itself and filter socks (which for now I am only changing once a week). I’m just going to do a 15 gallon change. Now my question is should I vacuum the sand bed or not touch it?
ph 8
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 5
doing my first water change today reason being I have been feeding the tank more since the sailfin but skimmer still isn’t working so just getting filtered by the tank itself and filter socks (which for now I am only changing once a week). I’m just going to do a 15 gallon change. Now my question is should I vacuum the sand bed or not touch it?
Lavey29
10K Club member
It's always recommended to vacuum the sandbed but only do like half at a time. This is mainly for established tanks so they don't release C02 into the water column so they vacuum it in portions. Your tank is new so you can clean the whole thing if you want. I usually just turkey baste mine and siphon what floats in the water column.
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pweezy42
Community Member
Day 42:
mph 8.2
Ammonia 0 - .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0 - 5
so a few updates
I added another clean up crew which was supposed to be 10 snails and 10 crabs but ended up with 10 snails and 1 crab and some empty shells to be continued with that.
I also picked up a green star polyp frag on Saturday but it still hasn’t opened any ideas?
redsea also reached out to me and I think I finally have the skimmer working, I had to run it wasting the water (7-8gallons) before it started skimming.
Diatom outbreak is pretty ugly pics below.
mph 8.2
Ammonia 0 - .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0 - 5
so a few updates
I added another clean up crew which was supposed to be 10 snails and 10 crabs but ended up with 10 snails and 1 crab and some empty shells to be continued with that.
I also picked up a green star polyp frag on Saturday but it still hasn’t opened any ideas?
redsea also reached out to me and I think I finally have the skimmer working, I had to run it wasting the water (7-8gallons) before it started skimming.
Diatom outbreak is pretty ugly pics below.
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Lavey29
10K Club member
What are your other parameters? Alk, cal, magnesium. Phosphate, salinity?
It can be difficult for corals in a new tank which is why I suggested waiting 4 months until your biodiversity and microfauna developed. Lights and flow have to be right also along with nutrients for corals to survive.
It can be difficult for corals in a new tank which is why I suggested waiting 4 months until your biodiversity and microfauna developed. Lights and flow have to be right also along with nutrients for corals to survive.
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pweezy42
Community Member
So a few updates my Hoevans wrasse showed up right after I picked up the green star polyp (which never opened and I tossed away) which you will be able to see below.
Next fish will be a blenny either a lawnmower or red spotted blenny to help with algae.
Parameters haven’t changed on what I have been testing.
now today I met a family member at a local frag swap which was real cool. He ended up talking me into getting a few things when all I was going to get was a small clean up crew. Prices were great so I said screw it and took a chance.
Next fish will be a blenny either a lawnmower or red spotted blenny to help with algae.
Parameters haven’t changed on what I have been testing.
now today I met a family member at a local frag swap which was real cool. He ended up talking me into getting a few things when all I was going to get was a small clean up crew. Prices were great so I said screw it and took a chance.
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