ada 75p

[twychopen]

Finally I decided to start a journal for my tank. I began my tank October 15, 2009. The tank is in my office by the way. Here are a few pictures from the first day...

[txg8gxp]

Looks good, I like the overflow box. The rimless tank looks real clean.

[twychopen]

I bought some live rock from 2 different people and began the plumbing and filtering. (note to self: do the planning before filling with water!) It all has worked out so far, but I have made many changes to the plumbing since.

Also I bought a metal halide lighting system with the lunar lights. Way nicer than my (3) 30" t-5 corlife fixtures.
http://cgi.ebay.com/30-Metal-Halide-Aquarium-Reef-Light-380W-Power-Compact_W0QQitemZ300374590388QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH _DefaultDomain_0?hash=item45efb883b4
(I think that there is a discussion about this on the forum. I like it so far. I think I will upgrade the ballast eventually.)

I bought a GFO and Carbon reactor from Bulk Reef Supply
Used an old wetdry that I had on a large cichlid tank before
Coralife Needlewheel SuperSkimmer Protein skimmer

[twychopen]

After I had some problems with the pumps not flowing at exactly the same gpm, I decided to build my own sump and get rid of the extra tank. I will post up more pictures when I find them all. They may be on my home computer.

I have a Milwaukee Ph probe and a Level-loc auto top off unit that I wired into a relay so that the pump in the reserve tank only runs when the float switch activates. It is then powered by a timer that runs every 4 hours for 30 minutes.

[twychopen]

I also bought more live rock from http://www.yourreef.com/LiveRock.html. In my opinion its great rock for a great deal!

I also bought more snails and copepods from reefcleaners.com.

I don't have any on this computer from right when I put it in the tank but here is a picture after I added more live rock.

The second picture is of the zoanthids that I bought as a "trial" for corals. I got them from Tropical Fish Haven in Corpus. They are the ones that I was having a problem with. They seem to be fine righ now though. :)

[twychopen]

Well first I would like to say thank you to Daniel for stopping by and looking at the tank and giving me a few pointers. Also, because I am using a fish only salt, I dosed trace minerals. Hopefully that will help the coraline algae begin to grow.

Next, I installed the RODI unit today! (FINALLY) I have had it for about a month but kept putting it off because I thought it was going to take much longer than it did! I actualy have it hooked up to the bathroom next door, I just installed the hoses through the wall and put the canisters in my office. It is up and running and so far no problems and was VERY easy! Below are some pictures that show the finished product as well as a FTS from tonight. (I cleaned the front glass).

[twychopen]

My fish finally came in! I am excited/nervous about all these fish! I have:

Sixline Wrasse, Copperband Butterfly, Sebae Clown, Scooter Blenny, Royal Grama, Cleaner shrimp.

They mostly are hiding right now but I will put pics up when they come out. The Blenny is going craaaazzzy on the algae! he is frantically cleaning all over the tank! So far he is my favorite haha!

better pictures later.

[txg8gxp]

The tank is looking awesome, I like the selection of fish aswell..keep it up

[Goofball310]

I love ADA tanks!

Did you order it from ADG in Houston?

[twychopen]

Yes I did! Their place is awesome! I had it all plants last year but its more maintenance than Saltwater for sure! It was rediculous! They are just incredible quality tanks for sure!

[twychopen]

Had some pictures taken by a pro tonight! These shots are way better than before! Also, turned the lights out and saw the cleaner shrimp cleaning the copperband butterfly...hopefully thats just normal. Anyone know??

[ErikH]

My cleaners clean the insides of the mouths of some of my fish. Absolutely normal. Very nice tank btw. :)

[Mr Cob]

Hot tank!!!

[twychopen]

What does everyone suggest for salt for a reef tank? I have heard Reef Crystals is very good...

[Europhyllia]

Beautiful tank! I use Tropic Marin and am very happy with it. We just had a group order through Gabe's for that. :)

[Europhyllia]

Here's a link to my salt info post:
http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=55942&highlight=salt

As you can see by all the replies it was a very popular post. :D

[twychopen]

How can I order some? I need to get some as I am running out and mine is not for reefs, just fish only. (Instant Ocean)

[Europhyllia]

Lots of people use IO.
I am pretty sure Gabe's has Tropic Marin in stock though if you want to try TM.

[allan]

Dude, really nice tank. Really liike your fuge/sump layout.

[twychopen]

Lots of people use IO.
I am pretty sure Gabe's has Tropic Marin in stock though if you want to try TM.

Sorry but not sure what IO is.

[Europhyllia]

Instant Ocean (Reef Crystal's company). :)

[twychopen]

Instant Ocean, I was told, does not contain any trace elements that corals need to grow so I would need to supplement.

[Europhyllia]

I don't use it. I am just saying lots of people keep very successful reef tanks with all kinds of salts - even IO and RC (without supplementation).

[twychopen]

On to a new topic lol...Ballasts and bulbs, I think I am going to get a new ballast sometime in the somewhat near future, but bulbs, will any two edge bulb work?

[rockmp]

will any two edge bulb work?

The bulb needs to be the same wattage as your ballast. Also it really depends on the color you are going for. 20k = more blue, 14k = middle of the road,.

[twychopen]

Well I am definately going with 20K. I have 14 right now and am not super excited about the color. It just came standard with the light set up.

[corruption]

Don't judge 14k by the bulb that came with the Odyssea fixture -- kelvin ratings are purely marketing, and really tell you very little about the bulb itself, outside of "very blue" or "less blue". 14k bulbs can be quite blue, depending on the manufacturer -- 14k Phoenix bulbs are very high quality, with a low entry price (comparatively for dual ended Halides...), and will likely have more of a 'pop' than your current 14k bulb. You will probably have to try out several options before you find the color that is right for your tastes :)

Be sure to change out your actinics as well, when you do change bulbs -- this will likely make a big difference in color definition, and may in fact be worth trying to change out first... they'll likely be a bit cheaper than the halide bulb will :)

-Justin

[rockmp]

I thought the MH bulb that came with the Odyssea fixture is a 15k? But like Corruption said the stock bulbs are cheap and I would not compare them to anything. THe 14K Phoenix is a nice bulb especially if you change out your actinic with better quality ones.

[corruption]

I thought the MH bulb that came with the Odyssea fixture is a 15k? But like Corruption said the stock bulbs are cheap and I would not compare them to anything. THe 14K Phoenix is a nice bulb especially if you change out your actinic with better quality ones.

I think you're right -- pretty sure my brothers fixture came with a '15k' bulb (I quote it, because while its not a terrible color, its definitely not cool enough for my tastes).... For my money, 20k bulbs are too icy for me -- I don't like that bathed-in-blue and saturated look too much.

-Justin

[twychopen]

Hmm... thanks for the input. I am sure I will do more research on it. I am not sure how I will test different colors but I will look for a place to get some bulbs.

[twychopen]

Here are my parameters today (1/8/2010)
Temp 80.2
Salinity 1.026
ph 8.2
Alk 2.97
KH 8.3
ammonia, nitrite, 0
nitrate >2ppm
Calcium 285!!
Magnesium 960!!!

I know that calclium is down and Magnesium is down, I need to know what the best option for fixing these are. I know water changes are very helpful but from a local member, I was told that the calcium is not high enough to begin with.

I have the 2 part dosing from BRS, but know that if I start dosing I need to continue to. Also, I have read some on dosing but do not think I am as proficient in understanding as I would like to be. (I have been reading all about the relationship between PH, ALK, Magnesium, carbonates/bicarbonates etc but feel somewhat unprepared) I don't want to just start dosing for the heck of it either. Any suggestions or information on the subject would be great! I am just really worried if I dose something, I will mess the tank up. Also, the BRS instructions say to dose 20oz of Alk and Calcium then dose all the magnesium, it just worries me that I will do it wrong.

[corruption]

Your best bet would be to visit other reefers, reef shops, etc and inquire about the bulb color they're using -- this'll give you a general idea of what you're looking at. Beyond that, testing the waters is the only way to get a real judge :) Remember -- pics will never do the colors justice, whether fluoro, halide or LED.. theres a completely different look in person, so judge purely on what you can attest to from your own vision :)

-Justin

[twychopen]

Um...problem, no petstores/fishstores within 2.5 hours that use metal halides...not 1 that I know of!

Also bump for post earlier today about calcium magnesium

[stoneroller]

IMO, go with 10-14K bulbs until your reef is growing well,when you want to scale back the growth rate, then go with 20K, which will enhance colors

Ca, Mg - Have you checked out the Reef Chemistry Calculator (http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html)? BRS would be Randy's recipes in the product list. This tool was a great help to me as I began dosing to maintain target levels for calcium and alkalinity.

20 oz. can't possibly be correct for a 75 gallon tank. I have a 72 and I dose 60 ml. on a roughly daily basis. Maybe you meant 2.0 oz??

I have followed their directions for adding magnesium (add it all in). FYI I keep mine up around 1400-1500.

[twychopen]

Sorry, I just put the name of the tank in the thread title, not the size, it is around 55 gallons total volume. Below is straight from BRS. I guess I just don't understand, so I dose Alk, Calcium until I have used 1 gallon of each then dose magnesium!?

"Once the dose is dialed in continue daily dosing until the gallon jugs of Calcium and Alkalinity are finished. At this point it is time to dose 20oz of the Magnesium solution. This can be done entirely in one dose just remember to add slowly to a high flow area of the tank."

"It is OK to dose the Magnesium portion in multiple doses instead of one dose at the end. If you opt to do this, just keep to the following ratio: 20oz of Magnesium solution for every 1 gallon of Calcium and Alkalinity. (20oz Magnesium:1 gallon Calcium:1 gallon Alkalinity)"

I just thought that they all should be dosed at the same time. It would take me a while to go through a gallon of solution. Has anyone else used this stuff before?

Yes I have used the reef calculator so I do know how to get it to the right parameters, as well as once I am there, how to find out how much is taken out daily. Then I can just dose to keep it in the right range, but Magnesium should be coming out of the system too so not sure why I would wait till the end. BTW thanks all for your help!

[stoneroller]

Ah, you were speaking of 20 oz of Mg. Indeed it takes a while to go through a gallon of alk and calcium. It takes me a couple of months to go through each batch. When you are done with the gallon of each, you can dose the Mg all at once.

[twychopen]

Ah, you were speaking of 20 oz of Mg. Indeed it takes a while to go through a gallon of alk and calcium. It takes me a couple of months to go through each batch. When you are done with the gallon of each, you can dose the Mg all at once.

but i need to get my magnesium up before I start daily dosing right?

Anyone have some explanation or article I can read on this? I just don't understand how at the end of a couple of months it would be ok to dose Mg when I havent been doing it at all....

[stoneroller]

The assumption they are making is that your Mg is at a good starting point and that by the time you dose your gallon of calcium, that your Mg will be ready to be boosted.

It would be better to get your Mg in a good range, then start dosing. But it won't hurt anything to start dosing while you start raising your Mg with something like Seachem reef advantage magnesium or Kent Tech M. that way you'll have all the two-part Mg ready to go.

here's a good one to start snowballing Reef Aquarium Water Parameters (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php)

[twychopen]

Ok, I tested the water after my H2O change yesterday and am going to begin dosing to get the parameters where they need to be.

I did the BRS reef calculator and here is the results.
Calcium is 280.Need: 675.5 ml; 22.8 fl oz; 135.1 tsp=to make it 400
Alk is 2.86. Need: 125.4 ml; 4.2 fl oz; 25 tsp=to make it 4.0
Magnesium is 930ppm. Need: 1641.1 ml; 55.4 fl oz; 328.2 tsp= to make it 1300

How much should I dose daily of each and how far inbetween each one should I wait? I don't want them to mix during dosing
Also, why is it that you are supposed to mix the solutions in filtered water?

[stoneroller]

Mix the solutions up with RO-DI water so that the concentrations are accurate.

Using 55 gallons system volume and recipe 1 supplements...

The BRS calculator says not to increase calcium by more than 50 ppm per day which seems reasonable. Using 330 as a target (280+50) it says to add 281.4 ml of recipe 1 calcium supplement. That's a lot of solution and you could add that each day until you get to 400. BUT..... I would not use my dosing solution for correcting my calcium. I would use a dedicated Ca product like the Seachem Reef Adv. Ca.

Same goes with ALK (0.5meq/l per day) and Mg (100 ppm per day).

[twychopen]

That does seem like a rediculous amount! Should I add them all at seperate times?

And does anyone else use the seachem products in this fashion?

[twychopen]

Also, Does seachem make all 3 of these needed, Calcium, Mag, Alk?

[stoneroller]

Add them at separate times. I usually add ALK first, wait until the water is not cloudy anymore and then add calcium, minutes probably. Some reefers wait considerably longer between alk and ca, hours. Yes seachem makes all three and there are many other companies as well.

[twychopen]

So the dosing has started and all is going well! I also received my VorTech MP10 in today! That sucker is awesome! In the meantime I have gotten a dragon goby and he has turned over every inch of sand as well as eaten all the algae off the bottom, soooo hopefully those combined will take care of that problem.

Dosing has gone well, I am slowly but surely increasing Alk, Mag, and Cal. It is working great! I am excited because I am pretty sure the coraline algae will begin to grow quickly. Every other parameter is great and it has now been 3 months!

I have a few pictures, one FTS and a few with just the LED's on! Next time I will use the timer to take all the blur completely out of the picture. We got a tripod for the camera finally :)

[corruption]

Ahh, so you ended up going with the MP10 after all? Very nice :) Looks like all is settling in well! :D

-Justin

[stoneroller]

Cool, keep us posted!!

[twychopen]

I decided to re-arrange the rocks becuase my magnet could not clean all the way around the glass :/. I knew that this would be a project but I didn't think it would take 3 hours! I am glad and think it was worth it. Here are some before and after shots.

On a side note, some of the zoanthids are starting to really spread. A few have naturally grown onto the rock that they have been set on!

Also these pictures are taken with my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3! I haven't had the time to play with all the settings but I love the automatic ability of the cam!

[stoneroller]

It always takes longer....

Looking good.

[twychopen]

Anyone else have tons of algae starting to grow in their sumps? My main tank is great, but I have mangroves and some chaeto growing in the sump. Is the algae going to hurt anything? Most of is it black.

[corruption]

Most people tend to keep their algaes in the sump... Black? Seems like an odd color for it.. How are you lighting the sump?

For the record, I have a combo of chaeto, and 2 species of Caulerpa in my sump..

-Justin

[twychopen]

Well its just some type of hair algae or something. Nothing I think I want... I just have one of those 65watt desk lights.

[corruption]

nuisance algae growth can happen in the sump... just manually remove it like it was in the display tank :)

-Justin

[epicfish]

Great looking tank!

You're the second reefer I know that's in the area. Hah!