Hello From Ct

[Flounder]

Just want to introduce myself here, my name is Ted and I'm from Ct, I have a 72 G Oceanic bowfront that was setup about a month ago w/ 80 lbs of pink Fiji livesand about 40 lbs of base rock and the same amount of Fiji LR I spent 2 days removing a 1 inch long Mantis shrimp. for lighting I have a Current USA T-5 with moonlights , Remora- C skimmer and a hang on Emperor filter with 2 bio wheels and a powerhead, for fish I have a blue damsel, 3 green chromsis these were left over from cycling{Tank cycled in 6 days} a pair of Clarkii clowns, a sissortail goby, and a barred cardinal and 3 peppermint shrimp, all is going fine water is checked everyday and so far no problems.

 

[Bifferwine]

Hello and welcome to the site! Be very careful with the rate you have added fish... Tank crashes from adding livestock too quickly can come on suddenly with no warning. A good rule of thumb is to add no more than 1 fish every 3 weeks. This allows the bacterial bioload that processes the fish waste to catch up in between each new addition.

It sounds like you've got a good setup. I would recommend removing the Emperor filter. It's not needed, especially if you have a good protein skimmer (which you do), and live rock. The Emperor will also tend to cause your nitrates to slowly creep up over time, which is bad for your livestock. Just ditch it -- it's a freshwater technology that doesn't really translate to saltwater very well.

Instead, I'd recommend just adding another power head or two. Reef tanks need a lot of flow.

You should also start a thread in "Tank Showcase" where you can post pics of your setup! We love pictures. :D

 

[cageburn]

Welcome to the site!

 

[Leslee]

Welcome to the site! Can't wait to see pictures!

Biff is right about the filters, I had them on my tanks and my nitrates went very high! Live rock and the skimmer have done a much better job for me! I have the same skimmer.

 

[BL1]

Welcome to the reef!

 

[reeffreak]

Welcome to the site and hobby!

 

[Flounder]

Thanks for all the welcomes here, I will not introduce any more fish for a while, your advice is well taken, I just set the protein skimmer up this afternoon and the instructions said it takes several days to break in and start skimming properly. Question I am going to buy additional powerhead tomorrow should I set it up at the opposite end from the other or the same side of the tank? I also going to buy probably 30 more lbs of LR to replace some base rock. I really appreciate all the help...............

 

[Bifferwine]

I'd put the new powerhead on the opposite side of the tank. You want flow in as many areas of the tank as possible.

The protein skimmer will take a while to break in. Raise the collection cup as high as it will go so that you don't flood it in the meantime. If you use tapwater with a conditioner or dechlorinator, that will also make the protein skimmer go nuts. You should switch to RODI water if that's the case.

 

[Flounder]

The LFS has the water for .75 a gallon, been using tap water with Prime, that will change to the reverse osmosis water this week. Will do with the powerhead. I need to buy a digital camera, I still shoot film here I have a small fortune in film cameras here Mamiya medium format and top of the line Canon F1N pro 35mm camera, I'll get some pictures this week and post them.........

 

[yote]

Welcome to the site and the hobby.

 

[dcantucson]

Hello :wave: and welcome to the Reef!