My First Rocks

Rcpilot

Rcpilot

Reef enthusiast
Went to the LFS today and blew $100. :shock:

I got about 11lbs of live and cured rock. And I got 13 pounds of dry lace rock. I'm giggly right now.

I bought one yellow-tail damsel and some Chaeto for my refugium. I kinda cycled the tank for about 3 or 4 days with a rotting shrimp. My wife bitched about the smell, so I took it out and let the tank pump and circulate. Bought a test kit and checked my chemistry. It spiked on ammonia almost immediately upon dropping the shrimp in there (next day) and went completely off the chart within a couple days. After I removed the shrimp, my ammonia dropped over the course of the next week or 10 days. I got ZERO ammonia as of last night.

I don't think it's done cycling yet, but I figured I'll have some die-off from the rocks. Add the damsel poop and I should have it pretty steady in 6 or 8 weeks.

I dropped the cheato in my fuge along with a couple pieces of rock rubble about the size of a walnut or a plum.

I'm running the canister with activated carbon until it clears up. Maybe 3 or 4 days. Then I'll take it off.

FirstRockse.JPG

FirstRocksd.JPG

FirstRocksc.JPG

FirstRocksb.JPG

FirstRocksa.JPG





FirstRocksf.JPG
 
Last edited:
This is a shot of the right side of the tank. I call this little white rock "D**K Rock, cause thats what it looks like.
FirstRocksk.JPG


________________________________________________________________

These are just a few more pics of the tank after it's been pumping for about 3hrs after I put the rocks in. The damsel is hiding on the left side, under a rock. Can't see it.
FirstRocksj.JPG

_______________________________________________________________

This it the left side of the tank. Damsel is hiding on the left side of the pic. Bottom, under the white rock. There is a little cave or cavern under that rock.
FirstRocksi.JPG

_______________________________________________________________

This is a side shot of my refugium. I tossed in a couple pieces of live rock. They are about the size of a walnut or small plum. The cheato is about the size of a small fist. I'm hoping the cheato will grow rapidly.
FirstRocksg.JPG


Thats all for now. Hope that damsel ain't dead in the morning. :shock:

I'll update this thread periodically if you all want to see my reef grow. Weekly pics? Monthly pics? Or no more pics till it looks shexy?

Couldn't have made it this far without Living Reefs. :bowdown::bowdown:

Thanks to you all. :Cheers:
 
Gawd! My tank looks cluttered with that skimmer and 2 powerheads. :pooh:

The canister makes it look pretty ghetto too. I'll just have to get rid of the canister and pile some more rocks up in front of that powerhead on the bottom. :bounce:
 
I can barely make out the damsel.I hope she makes it too.Then again you may regret it later.They are mean fish.Feel free to update anytime you like.

Congratulation again!:beerchug:
thumbsup.gif
 
I hope the damsel lives, but she's not going to be a permanent resident.

I just plunked her in there to make sure my tank will cycle out. She'll be in there for about 6--8 weeks and then it's back in the net for that little b*tch. I'll take her back to the LFS for credit on something a bit more interesting. :mrgreen:

I don't want to kill her. I truly hope she survives. But, she better not get to comfortable, cause this is a month-to-month lease for her.

How do I plan to catch her? Yote suggested fly fishing in another thread. I got flys and fishing line. Haven't been fishing in a couple months anyway--would feel good to wet a line and catch a fish sometime in October. :sfish: Here fishy, fishy, fishy..................
 
Last edited:
Yellow tailed damsels aren't bad. In fact mine is one of the least aggressive fish in my tank. She shouldn't bother other fish later on, I think if you're going to get a damsel, a yellow tail or chromis is the way to go.
 
I kinda like my yellow bellied damsel. I have actually thought of getting a small school of them say 6-7. It might be kinda cool to have them all hanging out together. of course, they might get super territorial with that many and beat up on my other fish. So, maybe I will just stick with the one.

-Dr Marco :sfish:
 
Looks like your gonna have a great tank RC.

And make me proud,catch that yellow tailed demon.

The one and only damesl I've had or ever will have killed any thing and every thing I tryed to add to my 30.That is right up untill I set a hook in his jaw and sent him to push grass up in the yard.
 
looks great..i like that hang on sump..very nice..what brand?? model?? more info on the web? im curious about it??..good luck..great start!!
 
RC you should call that white rock on the right side of your tank "COCK ROCK" your tank sure seems to enjoy "rocking out with its cock rock out"
 
RigoSharon said:
looks great..i like that hang on sump..very nice..what brand?? model?? more info on the web? im curious about it??..good luck..great start!!
Click to expand...

It is a CPR mediumn refugium.

These people sell it:

This is where I got mine. They are currently out of stock. Lots of people are out of stock on this item, so I'm assuming it's a hot item and CPR can't ship fast enough to satisfy the demand.

CPR Aquafuge 2 Refugium MD 18: Aquarium Equipment and Supplies - Aqua Buys

Also available here, and in stock:
Aquafuge Refugium RF18

The manufactuere:
CPR AQUATIC, INC - AQUAFUGE ™

It's the medium size 19" Long x 4.5" Wide x 12" Tall 3.6 gallon capacity. It's easy as pie to set it up. Plug in the powerhead, hang it on the back. Clamp it down and plug it in. Thats it.

Here is the light kit:
CPR 24 Watt Refugium Light: Aquarium Equipment and Supplies - Aqua Buys

You have to buy the leg kit seperately for the refugium light, but I can't remember where I bought it.
 
I bought 17 pounds of live rock from a local reefer today. He sold it to me for $3/LB. I gave him $60 for all 17 pounds of it because one piece has 3 shrooms attached to it.

It has lots of red and purple coraline algea on it. Really nicely matured rock. He is breaking down a 125g because he just got too busy to take care of it.

I'll post pics later today, after the water clears up a bit.

Here is a teaser:
FirstShrooma.JPG


:^:
 

Similar threads

F
New to marine.
Replies
2
Views
1K
kbuser92
kbuser92
R
Clowfish
Replies
0
Views
866
Reef aquarium time
R
Mike
We're Back!
Replies
0
Views
613
Mike
Mike
drm180
LPS frag ID
Replies
0
Views
2K
drm180
drm180
Stellabl3u
Just looking for some pointers or advice
Replies
0
Views
2K
Stellabl3u
Stellabl3u
Back
Top