New Tank Bulit ... 172 G

monkiboy said:
awesome setup! eager to see more!

i just started a frag tank build and used dr. tims's one and only as well.

i'd be interested to see how your cycle goes. i am posting my nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia as things go along. i think my dry rock is obviously extending the typical shorter timeframe but things seem to be going pretty quickly, nonetheless.

will you be recording your results?

when will you be adding your rock?
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yup i will be recording the results ..... the live rock will go in tomorrow or they day after i hope
will keep you updated on how the cycle goes
 
Ted said:
looking good...dont forget that you will displace a lot of water when you add rock...
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well i know that but to run the system i had to fill it all up .... what is the best way to deal with this .... closing the system and removing water from my DT while adding Rocks ... or do you have a better idea
 
jpython said:
well i know that but to run the system i had to fill it all up .... what is the best way to deal with this .... closing the system and removing water from my DT while adding Rocks ... or do you have a better idea
Click to expand...
Totally understand what I did on my old tank...I turned it off drained about 5 gallons and added rock...Had to do that a couple of times..The new tank I setup...I had all the water I needed already in the old tank and a few more buckets. put in the rock while the tank was dry then added sand. I wanted the rock on the glass. I have heard of people having rock falls when rock is straight on the sand...I never had one but it really made me freak.:shock: If I where you I would just make sure you really get the rock well seated into the sand and you should be good. You are doing great...keep up the good work.
 
Today was another big day ... live rock :celeb2:

sorted them out to figure out how to stock them
2012-10-17%2019.36.43-resized.jpg


after i was done
2012-10-17%2023.34.10-resized.jpg


close ups
2012-10-17%2023.35.25-resized.jpg

2012-10-17%2023.35.35-resized.jpg

i also worked on the fugue amazing fine sand i wish i used this in the DT as well
2012-10-17%2023.34.31-resized.jpg


i cant wait for cycle to finish .... i am not 100% happy with the aqua scaping but this is what i could do with the live rock i collected
 
Everything looks great. In my opinion, I would ditch the sand, as it really becomes a pain (speaking from experience). If you are going for a DSB, you need much more sand than you have there for it to be effective. I would use live rock rubble and macroalgae. When I used sand in my fuge it got pretty nasty and I was always stirring it up when I took equipment out to clean it. Not saying it won't work at all, I'm just offering my $0.02.
 
yeah, i'm with amba. more live rock and macro in the fuge. that sand will be more of a pain in the 'fuge than anything. i did an inch of miracle mud in mine and i regret it big-time now.
 
In my opinion I think everything looks great. I like having sand in my fuge. but i do agree with everyone with getting the rubble and algea. I like your aquascaping. it alwas starts out as a photo in your mind and you put it in the tank.
Are you going to get more rock for your main after it cycles?
 
monkiboy said:
yeah, i'm with amba. more live rock and macro in the fuge. that sand will be more of a pain in the 'fuge than anything. i did an inch of miracle mud in mine and i regret it big-time now.
Click to expand...

well i will be defiantly adding some more rubble when i can ... i hope i can find some cheatoo but i harvest this stuff my self as we any `LFS with experience
 
well today i added an led light for my fuge started up my carbon reactor and mounted the Apex and all the modules under the tank directly ....

2012-10-18%2018.26.14-resized.jpg

2012-10-18%2018.26.21-resized.jpg
 
i did my first full test day

Salinity around 1.028 - 1.029 ( i know its high but this happened after adding the fuge sand and the live rock ... will monitor with extra top of till it stabilize at 1.026)
PH 8.2 or 8.1 (good)
Ammonia 0
Nitrrite 26 (it seems this came for the live rock die off - in addition to the cycle - is this ok)
Nitrate 50 ( still cycling will this go up and only drop down when i do water changes or will drop 2 - as its to high in this stage of the cycle)

your recommendations are highly appreciated
 
what test kit brand(s) are you using?

what were your test results prior to adding the live rock? where your nitrites lower?

the live rock will need to cure and the die off in conjunction will extend your cycle, for sure.

are you the one that was using dr. tim's "one and only" to help cycle your tank faster? if so, he suggests doing a water change whenever nitrate or ammonia goes above 5ppm but since you don't have any livestock in there yet, i wouldn't worry about it.

the die off will be your ammonia source to kick things off sounds like.

has your ammonia gone above 0ppm this entire time?
 
monkiboy said:
what test kit brand(s) are you using?

what were your test results prior to adding the live rock? where your nitrites lower?

the live rock will need to cure and the die off in conjunction will extend your cycle, for sure.

are you the one that was using dr. tim's "one and only" to help cycle your tank faster? if so, he suggests doing a water change whenever nitrate or ammonia goes above 5ppm but since you don't have any livestock in there yet, i wouldn't worry about it.

the die off will be your ammonia source to kick things off sounds like.

has your ammonia gone above 0ppm this entire time?
Click to expand...

Well i just test the water for the first time ... and yes i did add dr.tim product however this was prior to adding the live rock ....
 
i noticed in the above pictures that your skimmer looks to be 'ON'.

did you have it off for the first 48-72 hours after adding the bacteria? that's pretty critical.
 
monkiboy said:
i noticed in the above pictures that your skimmer looks to be 'ON'.

did you have it off for the first 48-72 hours after adding the bacteria? that's pretty critical.
Click to expand...

well i think it was on but still breaking in :( .... to ship this stuff overseas will take a long time ... but i do have eco balance (shall i use it)
 
i can't comment on the eco balance but if it's a dr. tim's product you can reach him directly on 3reef pretty easily as he's a dedicated sponsor there or just give him a ring (don't know if that's convenient for an international customer such as yourself).

as long as you're not in a rush, i'd wait it out instead of paying for another order to ship over.
 

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