My first reef tank

[pgr11]

Well it looks like this is the place to show things off. I picked up this 55 gal with cherry wood stand after first getting a 35 gal and and realizing i wanted bigger. The orig tank with powerhead, heater, crappy lights that i sold and 5 gal of salt. I ordered new t5 lights, another powerhead and a aqua c remora skimmer. picked up ssome live rock friday 70lb of hawaian, 30lb of fiji,buna, and branch all for 160.00 not to bad. here it is so far let me know what you think.

 

[Sir Alex]

Looks like you've got a nice start. :D

 

[jcegt87]

love the rock all the way to the left looks like a nice little cave :D

 

[Smitty]

Very nice...good job.

 

[buddy08]

good looking tank, make sure that big rock in the upper right hand corner is secure and stable on that tonga rock below it...would hate for it to fall :(

 

[Dana42078]

Hows your cycle going? Nice scape tho..is that a 4 or 6 bulb fixture jw

 

[pgr11]

Its a 4 bulb setup 216w total. Cycle seems to be going well I will be checking levels and posting them soon. Thanks for the concern about the big rocks. I was concerned also so I dealt double checked things and made sure they are locked in place. They have alot of weight to them and wont be moved very easily. It took me a while to scape it all I wanted alot of little caves and coves and holes. I think it looks pretty goods, then again were all probably proud of our tank. Thanks for the feed back. All suggestions are appreciated

 

[pgr11]

Got some test readings and would like some input on what it all means. I know I will eventualy get this all down but i need help with it now as im not sure of things.
Water temp is 78 and salinity 1.024
Alk- 3.9
ph- 8.0
Amonia- 1ppm
Nitrite- 35-40ppm
Nitrate Slightly more than 1ppm
Are these levels normal during a cycle?
Do I need to do anything

 

[wontonflip]

Looks like you're still cycling. Love the rockwork!!

 

[Dana42078]

Alk seems terribly low....your dkh should be 8. Not like I can talk coz mines at 7 but still. *1 for still cycling.

 

[pgr11]

the alk reading is in meq/l not dkh. Is there a conversion from meq/l to dkh?

 

[buddy08]

your alk is probably low due to your tank being so new, then again you may have to dose to raise it. i used reef code a & b to raise my alk and calc before i added coral. this also promoted coral line algae and now my rocks are covered. dana is right though, you'll want to maintain your alk around 8dkh-9dkh. also start testing for calcium. i keep mine around 480. Your tank is still cycling and you're basically going through the "wait" phase, once your ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites read 0 you can begin adding livestock (just go really slow with it, 1 fish every 2 to 3 weeks) you may also see a diatom bloom soon. be on the look out for brown algae growing on your glass/substrate/ and rockwork. Its normal and will fade away in time (mine took about a month before mine fully vanished.)

 

[buddy08]

if its reading 3.9meq, that should be on par with 8-10dkh. maybe someone else can verify that

 

[Dana42078]

Don't add to many corals at once either just to add.

 

[pgr11]

my kit only reads in meq/l. Im starting to get alot of purple on the rocks. Beautiful colors. Everything will be added slowly as Im excited but real nervous as well and want this to go well.

 

[buddy08]

definitely start testing for calcium, its important for your corals, and crucial for SPS corals. you may also want to invest in a magnesium test kit.

 

[pgr11]

Ok so i got the calcium test and phospate and my readings are
cal-460
pho- .25ppm
Do these # sound ok? I also picked up a sump/refugium used but very nice and a new es-hopps 1200 overflow box, both for just over 100.00. I think i did alright.Any suggestions on a pump? I ordered a 6 stage ro/di system from pure water club. I have a ro system under the sink from culligan but it is onle 30gpd and it does not realy put out that. its about 12yo so the new should be alot better. 115.00 for the water filter kit seems like a nice investment. Any other suggestions or things you can think of to help me out?

 

[buddy08]

when you get your sump up and running,do purchase some cheato and a light to grow it in your sump, this will keep your phosphates in check

 

[pgr11]

:bounce:Look what the mail man brought me today. 6 stage 100 gpd. Will be hooking it up this weekend. pure water club for 115.00 im stoked.:bounce:

 

[little_fish]

Yay! I love when the mail men bring cool stuff!