I pointed them sideways. I was worried point them completly down would over fill my sump in case of powerfailure and too tired to test it if it would. so right now they r sideways and working beautifully and i had to shut the valves halfway...so now i have to get the flex hose for the return to get that to run better....
Fastlight's 75gallon first saltwater tank
- Thread starter Fastlight
- Start date
yote
In Memoriam
Just allow 5 or 6 inches from the top of the sump to the water surface.Then you dont have to worry about it flooding if the lights go out.
Well I found what appears to be a great deal on craigslist(i love craigslist) about 70 pounds of 2yr old live live rock. 60lbs of live sand and some crushed coral for the sump. 190bucks.. what do you think? Ive got pictures from the guy and he sounds real nice and helpful. I was wondering since i only 2 cheap lights what should i do...im sure i will see a lot of die off right? What else should I do since Ive never put rock or sand into and aquarium? Any newb beginers guide other than match the water parameters and then add the stuff in?
yote
In Memoriam
Dont add any crushed coral to your sump.It'll just trap waste and compromise your water quality.The rock and sand will be fine.
And thats not a bad price.Just dont used the crushed coral.
And since you dont have anything in there yet,Just add the sand,then place the rock.Sit back and check the parameters every couple of days.
And thats not a bad price.Just dont used the crushed coral.
And since you dont have anything in there yet,Just add the sand,then place the rock.Sit back and check the parameters every couple of days.
Well i have almost 70lbs of 2yr old live rock in my tank And as advised I did not put the crushed coral in the tank. I did sift thru it and found 3 snail shells and 3 bristle worms. My wife found a little dink snail crawling around on the bottom glass that must have come from the rock. This guy had a trigger in his tank and a 3stripe damsel SO as far as much stuff coming out of the rocks it is yet to be seen. 1 of the briste worms looked dead but the real active 1 has crawled over to it and they are now like intertwined:question: One of the bigger snail shells has a white (as my wife called it penis sticking out of it now) i think its a foot? is it a snail? It was one i found in the crushed coral. But here are some pics. There is some real nice coraline on there but a lot of green too...is the green stuff good?
1 of the worms
fts
left side
middle the one towards the back and to the right is beautiful but picture doesnt do it justice
and for some reason i forgot to get close up of right side...but you get idea. btw no attempt was made to aquascape. And if anyone could answer any questions that i have above and below that would be nice.
The coraline how bad will it die off if I dont have my t-5 for say like another month. Should i run my cheapy lights during the day for now? Will I experience alot of die off since I dont have t-5 yet? Should I still continue to run canister filter for now or will water clear up now that there is rock in there?
Thanks
1 of the worms
fts
left side
middle the one towards the back and to the right is beautiful but picture doesnt do it justice
and for some reason i forgot to get close up of right side...but you get idea. btw no attempt was made to aquascape. And if anyone could answer any questions that i have above and below that would be nice.
The coraline how bad will it die off if I dont have my t-5 for say like another month. Should i run my cheapy lights during the day for now? Will I experience alot of die off since I dont have t-5 yet? Should I still continue to run canister filter for now or will water clear up now that there is rock in there?
Thanks
yote
In Memoriam
Looks to me like you got some pretty good rock.
The snail with the penis could be some type of conch.Good for pushing sand around.
Just those cheap lights on the tank and plug em in.You MIGHT loose SOME coralline.But not all of it.Some color forms of it actually do better with less light anyway.It'll be fine untill you get your T-5s.
And running the canister is up to you.I personally wouldnt,But I see what it'd hurt to run it.
Also,Thats a heck of bristle worm.Drop it in the tank.Let it grow up and be your clean up helper.
The snail with the penis could be some type of conch.Good for pushing sand around.
Just those cheap lights on the tank and plug em in.You MIGHT loose SOME coralline.But not all of it.Some color forms of it actually do better with less light anyway.It'll be fine untill you get your T-5s.
And running the canister is up to you.I personally wouldnt,But I see what it'd hurt to run it.
Also,Thats a heck of bristle worm.Drop it in the tank.Let it grow up and be your clean up helper.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
That's a really good price for live rock and sand. You're lucky you caught a good find!
There will be very little die off because of your lights. Live rock doesn't need fancy lighting to keep it alive.
There will be very little die off because of your lights. Live rock doesn't need fancy lighting to keep it alive.
RyanG
Reef enthusiast
Could be a nassarius snail too
All right! Im like a kid in a candy store. So many cool things to see and go what in the world is that! Ive taken some pictures of some interesting things and maybe you all can tell me what you think. I have looked up some things on the chucks addition and found some answers. One of the coolest things was this evening I had the lights off for the evening and decided to turn them on for some pictures when a bunch of cool little transparent shrimp looking things when hidding into the rock! on his site it was called pods? feed off photoplankton? will they die off in my tank since it isnt established? It was so cool!!:bounce:
Okay here is the snail that im wondering if its even a snail(its the guy with the penis :shock: but only that ever comes out and the shell never moves i wonder if its a worm that lives in it??)
just a pic of a rock i thought was cool
okay i see quite a few of these now this is mag16x so its dgital zoom...now only 1/16th in big in tank? what is it?
I have no idea what this is i kinda looks like a real real tiny feather duster?? its hard to make out quite a few of these too?
This is weird fungus type looking stuff that covers part of a rock?? hard to explain
Is this the start of hair algae?? I see some dark red stuff(not on this rock) on another rock?
Well other than chucks addition who has a good sight of pictures to identify all the different algaes and specimens and stuff i might see?
Man this is so cool and its only rock!!:^:
Okay here is the snail that im wondering if its even a snail(its the guy with the penis :shock: but only that ever comes out and the shell never moves i wonder if its a worm that lives in it??)
just a pic of a rock i thought was cool
okay i see quite a few of these now this is mag16x so its dgital zoom...now only 1/16th in big in tank? what is it?
I have no idea what this is i kinda looks like a real real tiny feather duster?? its hard to make out quite a few of these too?
This is weird fungus type looking stuff that covers part of a rock?? hard to explain
Is this the start of hair algae?? I see some dark red stuff(not on this rock) on another rock?
Well other than chucks addition who has a good sight of pictures to identify all the different algaes and specimens and stuff i might see?
Man this is so cool and its only rock!!:^:
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yote
In Memoriam
Yeah,Your hooked:D
The top pic looks like a cerith snail.
3rd pic looks like its a coral polyp of some kind.
4th is either aiptasia or a curly cue anemone.
The rest of the picks didnt load on my computer,so I'll check them out from work tomorrow.
The top pic looks like a cerith snail.
3rd pic looks like its a coral polyp of some kind.
4th is either aiptasia or a curly cue anemone.
The rest of the picks didnt load on my computer,so I'll check them out from work tomorrow.
reeffreak
Reef pro
Some copepods may die during the cycle.They will come back with a vengence.
1)The shell tells me it's a cerith snail.Beneficial sand stirrers and algae eaters,if that is what it is.I'm pretty sure it is one.
2)Not sure
3)Crystalline entity?....seriously,it's a foraminiferans most likely-filter feeders.
4)fungus?Maybe something died there recently.
5)Looks like maroon coralline to these old eyes.
Melevsreef.com is another good source for hitchhiker IDs.
1)The shell tells me it's a cerith snail.Beneficial sand stirrers and algae eaters,if that is what it is.I'm pretty sure it is one.
2)Not sure
3)Crystalline entity?....seriously,it's a foraminiferans most likely-filter feeders.
4)fungus?Maybe something died there recently.
5)Looks like maroon coralline to these old eyes.
Melevsreef.com is another good source for hitchhiker IDs.
yote
In Memoriam
Think I'd run the total ammonia test.Seems like there are actually 2 types of ammonia,but cant remember for sure.
The PH is fine,even though it could stand to come up a bit.
And I'm brain dead right now and cant remember how to convert meg/l to DKH,which is the one I use.
The PH is fine,even though it could stand to come up a bit.
And I'm brain dead right now and cant remember how to convert meg/l to DKH,which is the one I use.
daugherty
part time reefer
this has a part to do that for you it is almost at the bottom of the page you are at 16.8 DKH
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/information/calculate.htm#Hardness%20Equivalents
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/information/calculate.htm#Hardness%20Equivalents
Well ive added a small clean up crew. After my test showing that with this rock my water wasnt gonna have hardly a cycle and then see the hundreds of critters pop out of this rock at night and day we added a tiny cuc. First was 5 pee size blue legged hermits and a large turbo snail.. 3 days later 1 more turbo snail 5 bigger blue legged hermit crabs and 1 emerald crab! :bounce::^:
They are doing well and all have gone to work right away.
This is totally awesome
one of the turbos
4 out of the 10 hermit crabs. the small ones are dark shells
these white ones are about double the size of the dark shell ones
the other turbo and my emerald!!
They are doing well and all have gone to work right away.
This is totally awesome
one of the turbos
4 out of the 10 hermit crabs. the small ones are dark shells
these white ones are about double the size of the dark shell ones
the other turbo and my emerald!!
Piggy
Reef enthusiast
Are you going with a bare bottom tank?
RyanG
Reef enthusiast
If you are going to keep it barebottom(which isnt such a bad idea) You should get a piece of starboard for it, its a white teflon board(industial cutting board) its nice because it reflects the light back up and into the tank instead of straight through the bottom.
ccCapt
Reef Hacker
Bare bottom is nice. I ran like that for over 15 yrs. I taped brown paper bags to the underside of the glass to cut the light from shining into the stand and you will get a nice layer of coralline covering the bottom. I just have about 1" or less of sand now, just for a more natural look.
yote
In Memoriam
You'll start hating those turbos when you start adding corals:mrgreen:
Them thangs thank their D-9 cats and push everything off the rock.
Them thangs thank their D-9 cats and push everything off the rock.
