Reef Tank or Divorce - Last Chance

Stlrfan88

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I have been reading several posts here and finally figured it was time to make it official. After 2 years of fighting my tank (includes 2 complete tear downs and restarts of which 1 tear down was a complete bleach bath :eek: ) and sending a house payment of Fish to an unfortunate demise I (my wife) made the decision enough was enough and it was time to end this experiment for good.

I think the issue come in with me being a newby 2 years ago trying to learn and every time I had a conversation with the fish shop I got 3 different answers to the same question and I spent all my time buying the next best chemical to fix what ever issue I had. I don't think the tank ever got off on the right foot.

I have begged and got 1 more chance to get this right and need some help. Need a good reliable source and it appears R2R is the place for that.

Here is what is about to happen. To save some cost and try to use some of these chemicals I already have I just received my order of dry rock and dry sand (used Live rock and live sand last time which is all in a landfill). My plan is to get this set up and use AquVirto Seed (have 3 unopened bottles) to get the bacteria going and the cycling process underway. I also bought 2 Red Sea Mature Pro kits just in case the Seed option is the wrong path.

Equipment - 90 Gallon display tank / Eshopps Sump / RO 150 Skimmer / Dual Gyre Power Heads / Kessel AP 700 LED Lights / Apex system / ATO / Auto Feeder / RODI 4 stage BRS water filtration / all Hanna test equipment / More chemicals then I can count. I feel like I have good equipment from all the reviews I read on each piece.

I feel like I have a good understanding of how things should work and the cause and effects of the chemistry, just need a good starting point.

Any thoughts on this before I go down another wrong path?
Also should I be running the skimmer / carbon / GFO bags / NO3 Brick in the sump while cycling the tank.
Thanks and look forward to chatting.
 

Peace River

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Welcome to R2R!!!

Clownfish.gif
 
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Stlrfan88

Stlrfan88

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Welcome... a little tip, to help save your marriage... very important to remember... never tell your wife how much things really cost!

agree. I had her believing...for a while....that reefing was no more expensive then gold fish from a pet store...then she went with me to the fish store for some quality time.....the gig was up and a very long quiet ride home. :rolleyes:
 
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Stlrfan88

Stlrfan88

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Welcome to r2r! I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors and I hope you find the information your looking for here! Heres a link to a video series I wish was around when I started my tank, hopefully it can help you on your way!



Thanks. Binged watched the 52 weeks of reefing and all these videos over the last several days. Cant find if the dry rock & sand + Seed will give me the same effect as buying live rock & sand. If not will the red sea mature pro + dry rock and sand get me there?
 

El_Guapo13

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Welcome!!!

Don't run GFO, carbon, or any filter media other than maybe a filter sock/filter floss, although even those are probably not necessary. Filter media exists to either A) capture debris or B) to chemically remove/reduce impurities.

Since you are cycling, you shouldn't have anything to remove. Plus, as you are cycling, ammonia will build up and fall, which will be followed by nitrate and nitrates rising and falling as the cycle proceeds. Which is why it is called cycling, as we are going through a "nitrifying cycle".

The cycle can take anywhere from 1 to 3 months, usually, depending on the size of the tank and what you are using to cycle (as ij if you are dosing bacteria, ammonia, cycling additives such as Fritz Turbo Start, etc.).

And the best piece of advice most everyone here will give you is to take it slow and don't rush things.
 

Arthacker87

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Welcome. It is always fun to put together a tank and enjoy the sights of dead rock and algae for the first 3 months lol. All that money for this!!! I kid. Imo hoenig do things tend to be wrong ish. I would fill up tank and sump with your water sand and rock. Get all your temp and salinity up to 1.025-1.026 and 96-98 (some ppl go higher) and get a 4.4 gallon tub (or more) of pre made nutri ocean or sea water to help get some bacteria going. Let it run a couple weeks topping off evaporated water with clean ro fresh water. Add 2 hardy fish to check and see how it's going (I did clowns) and SLOWLY add fish if everything is leveled out and working well. I tend not to add more than 1 bigger fish or 2 smaller fish at a time and wait a few weeks in between. I like to let my tanks run without much chemicals. I run carbon 24/7 (up to you) and dose a 2 part for coral once a week. The better you can keep levels stable the better the tank will do
My tank has been up a year and a month
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Big G

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Welcome to R2R! A 90 is a nice size tank. Best piece of advice. Let the tank fully cycle, that's 30+ days min. Then start with corals that have been QT'd and pods from a clean source like Algae Barn. Slowly build the bio load. S-l-o-w-l-y. Enjoy the build. And do a "Build Thread" in the members tank section. You get a cool banner.
 

Bob Weigant

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My system is as simple as it can be. I only run a protein skimmer , weekly water changes. As far as saving your marriage , my wife and I have our own accounts. One day she asked how much do I think I have in my tank ? I just looked and said no idea
 

KyOsIBa515

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The most important and best piece of advice as much as most don’t want to hear it is patience. Being impatient has cost me time and time again in this hobby.
Using bacteria to help the cycle is ok. However, don’t go off the assumption you can add it run an ammonia test in a week see the levels are ok then start adding stock and it goes ok. It seldom does...
When you start a tank you are trying to build beneficial bacterias. Skimming is just taking that away. Hold off on that and gfo until you start adding livestock. Again...patience and enjoy the hobby to the fullest. Good luck.
 

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