Morcs Posted February 21, 2014 Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 FTS 17/5/14 FTS 12/5/14 ----------------------------------------------- 3 days ago this was a planted tank. I hit a crossroads where i either had to go for a larger planted tank (livestock options for the nano werent very exciting for me) or convert to SW which i had my eye on when i first bought this tank. Build list: Aquanano 40 tank 50L Stock Aquaone 55W Heater Stock Aquaone pump 500lph Finnex Fugeray 16'' LED light with 4 Actinic LEDs Resun Nano wavemaker 2000Lph 2kg aragonite sand 6kg dead coral rock Found a new stand on the cheap, a blueplanet atlantis stand for $30 6 x 10L bottles of Puredew RO water for initial fill and topups Red sea salt 4kg Smallmag float. Filtration is via the stock false wall with 3 chambers. I fashioned a 3 stage media basket from egg crate, with floss at the top, and will run seachem phosgaurd and purigen in the other chambers. A skimmer (when i find one) will go in the middle. And the 3rd chamber houses the stock pump and heater. Waiting for my test kit, hydrometer, phosgaurd, purigen and a few other bits and pieces to arrive, but tank is up and running just 3 days after being a planted tank Only question is, the dead rock seems pretty clean, will there be enough 'crap' inside it to decompose for cycling or should i start adding some flake to kick start it? FTS on blues only Side shot on blues only FTS's with whites and blues on Location Filter area I already have a vague idea what ill stock, but will depend on whats available at the time. In the future id like to start adding some Zoos and go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruju Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Yea boi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 We need a like button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted February 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 We need a like button. Agreed. the amount of times ive gone instinctively looking for one...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinnadian Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Why dead rock and not live rock? They typically cost the same, plus you typically get some nice coraline with live rock. Will take months to get that cycled, vs live rock which is a week or two. Easiest way to know if there is enough debris on your dead rock is of course to test it. A bit of extra ammonia won't really effect your cycle, the only thing that might happen is you get too much ammonia-eating bacteria which can die when the ammonia food source dies down. How do you like your light? Hard to say without corals in, but I think those have too low a color temperature (7000k vs typically 12-16000k) and too few blue lights in them. Why FOWLR and not a couple easy corals like zoos or mushrooms? Planning on buying an RO unit? I found one on ebay for $175 delivered (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Titan-Water-Pro-Counter-Top-Reverse-Osmosis-Alkaline-Water-Filter-75GPD-/130591523948?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e67dc846c) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted February 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Why dead rock and not live rock? They typically cost the same, plus you typically get some nice coraline with live rock. Will take months to get that cycled, vs live rock which is a week or two. Easiest way to know if there is enough debris on your dead rock is of course to test it. A bit of extra ammonia won't really effect your cycle, the only thing that might happen is you get too much ammonia-eating bacteria which can die when the ammonia food source dies down. How do you like your light? Hard to say without corals in, but I think those have too low a color temperature (7000k vs typically 12-16000k) and too few blue lights in them. Why FOWLR and not a couple easy corals like zoos or mushrooms? Planning on buying an RO unit? I found one on ebay for $175 delivered (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Titan-Water-Pro-Counter-Top-Reverse-Osmosis-Alkaline-Water-Filter-75GPD-/130591523948?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e67dc846c) You can't just go out and buy live rock... You have to wait for someone selling. Then you don't know what's going in your tank as far as undesirable things goes. The light looks good and is bright, fine for this application. Finnex do a marine+ which would be my choice if I upgrade. I do plan on a few zoos down the road, see how well they go under current lighting etc. As for to water, cost only 35 for my initial fill, and a 10% water change works out to be about 3$! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellydave Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Will take months to get that cycled, vs live rock which is a week or two. bit of a over statement as long as you seed the tank with a piece of lr which you will want to do because that will have pods,snails,worms, stars ect ect in it already your dead rock should be cycled with in a couple weeks. this misconception of months to cycle a tank is wrong nither of my tanks took "months" and that was using all dead rock then adding one piece of live rock eg my 240ltr tank i used around 20kg dead rock and 1kg live was cycled in under a month as for going out and buying live rock you can at most pet shops that sell marine stock where are you located? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellydave Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 whoops just seen you are in auckland, aquaworld, hollywood fish farm just to name a few both sell live rock i would advise buying at least one piece to seed your tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted February 22, 2014 Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Length of cycle depends on quality of dead rock used and many other factors, set up many tanks and no two were exactly the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted February 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 whoops just seen you are in auckland, aquaworld, hollywood fish farm just to name a few both sell live rock i would advise buying at least one piece to seed your tank Didn't think hff did, I still like the idea of knowing what's in my tank, and corraline doesn't need seeding, should appear in its own at the right time. Expecting to wait 6 weeks for the cycle anyway. Gives me time decide whether I'll upgrade the pump and get a better skimmer. Loved your tank Dave, what was your WC schedule? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted February 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2014 Gave in and got a piece of live. only a 310g piece with good coraline in it. Of course my scape was perfect before and there was no where for more rock! Not entirely happy with it now. While i was getting my hands wet a put a bit of flake in and moved the wavemaker around to see whats the best position - i was right on the money with original placement. I'll post a pic when water clears up. Broke the rear lid whilst it was on the floor - but no drama as I won't need it when I've got a skimmer going in there, will just have to be a bit more onto it with topups and jumping fish are a no go or a risky experiment at best. (Rear lid covers about an inch of the display area too) Edit: rock problems solved. As it doesn't match display rock I put in the media tray. That'll be ok? Better flow past it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinnadian Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 You can't just go out and buy live rock... You have to wait for someone selling. Then you don't know what's going in your tank as far as undesirable things goes. The light looks good and is bright, fine for this application. Finnex do a marine+ which would be my choice if I upgrade. I do plan on a few zoos down the road, see how well they go under current lighting etc. As for to water, cost only 35 for my initial fill, and a 10% water change works out to be about 3$! I've personally never seen a fish store that sells marine fish/corals that DOESN'T sell live rock. It is incredibly abundant, it is basically free money for them because they just put it in their sump and sell it for a bit extra over dead rock. Where did you find that RO water? bit of a over statement as long as you seed the tank with a piece of lr which you will want to do because that will have pods,snails,worms, stars ect ect in it already your dead rock should be cycled with in a couple weeks. this misconception of months to cycle a tank is wrong nither of my tanks took "months" and that was using all dead rock then adding one piece of live rock eg my 240ltr tank i used around 20kg dead rock and 1kg live was cycled in under a month as for going out and buying live rock you can at most pet shops that sell marine stock where are you located? He hasn't added any live rock at all and said he had no intention of adding any. In all of your examples you are using live rock, he has used none. It WILL take months with NO live rock, and just doesn't make sense not to get live rock. I won't need it when I've got a skimmer going in there I think most people will say that a skimmer is unnecessary in a tank that size, as long as you are doing water changes. Especially since the aquanano 40 has an overflow box there which essentially redissolves protein. But of course up to you, if you have the money to spare it definitely can't hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted February 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 I've personally never seen a fish store that sells marine fish/corals that DOESN'T sell live rock. It is incredibly abundant, it is basically free money for them because they just put it in their sump and sell it for a bit extra over dead rock. Where did you find that RO water? He hasn't added any live rock at all and said he had no intention of adding any. In all of your examples you are using live rock, he has used none. It WILL take months with NO live rock, and just doesn't make sense not to get live rock. I think most people will say that a skimmer is unnecessary in a tank that size, as long as you are doing water changes. Especially since the aquanano 40 has an overflow box there which essentially redissolves protein. But of course up to you, if you have the money to spare it definitely can't hurt. I've asked before for live rock and been told no so that has always been my assumption. For RO water, puredew 10l from countdown. Says reverse osmosis as one of the purification methods use so good enough for me. Yep don't need a skimmer, but I like gadgets so I'll have a cheap one to make me happy, even though it will have minimal effect. Please elaborate on this redissolving of proteins as I haven't heard of this. Pretty sure I have my water level too high to act like a true wier overflow. Its just submerged grilles which water gets pulled through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellydave Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 pure due is fine if you dont have a ro/di filter, as for water changes i was doing 10L a week and was getting great growth from all my corals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 In marine rock takes awhle to become fully 'live' as the anaerobic bacteria takes a long time to become established Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted February 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 pure due is fine if you dont have a ro/di filter, as for water changes i was doing 10L a week and was getting great growth from all my corals Sweet, im hoping to get away with either 5L per week or 10L per fortnight. In marine rock takes awhle to become fully 'live' as the anaerobic bacteria takes a long time to become established Indeed, it doesnt happen during the time of the 'normal' cycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinnadian Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Please elaborate on this redissolving of proteins as I haven't heard of this. When you get excess proteins in your water you will notice an oily sheen on the surface of your water. This is dissolved proteins which collect at the surface of your water, and they limit the exchange of oxygen into your tank. In small tanks or tanks with low protein load, you can redissolve the proteins back into the water using an overflow or a surface skimming function on your canister filter (something like this). Then the proteins can be removed with regular water changes as they are (approximately) equally dissolved in your water rather than collecting on the surface (where it is rather hard to remove them during water changes). Alternatively you can use surface agitation with a powerhead to redissolve them, but in little tanks the amount of agitation you need can be unattractive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted February 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 When you get excess proteins in your water you will notice an oily sheen on the surface of your water. This is dissolved proteins which collect at the surface of your water, and they limit the exchange of oxygen into your tank. In small tanks or tanks with low protein load, you can redissolve the proteins back into the water using an overflow or a surface skimming function on your canister filter (something like this). Then the proteins can be removed with regular water changes as they are (approximately) equally dissolved in your water rather than collecting on the surface (where it is rather hard to remove them during water changes). Alternatively you can use surface agitation with a powerhead to redissolve them, but in little tanks the amount of agitation you need can be unattractive. Ah yes i get ya. I run my water level far too high for mechanical surface skimming via the overflow - the entire weir is submerged. Ill play around with my water level to see if it helps. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted February 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2014 Test kit arrive today. 5 days in: PH 8.0 Ammonia 0.5ppm Nitrite 0ppm Nitrate 10ppm Strange there's no nitrite? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 You have a test kit? I'm not doing any of that ATm haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted February 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Yah. Its handy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellydave Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 in a fish only you will probably get away with a 5L wc a week i was only doing 10L a week because i had a lot of coral in there so wanted to keep the levels up. some times i would stretch it out to 10L every fortnight or 3 weeks depending on if i had enough salt lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted February 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 Cool cheers Dave. Skimmer arrived. Kent nano skimmer also sold as a resun sk300. Fits snugly in 2nd chamber. I've had one before and wasn't impressed but then I was expecting it to pull better skim than it does. Particularly sensitive to water level too, but for a total of 42$ shipped i though worth another go even if it pulls weak tea-like skim. Better than an air driven unit, the only other option that will fit is the tunze 9002 but costs $299... Which is a lot for something I don't really need. Not my tank, but shows it fitted in the middle chamber of an aquanano 40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted February 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 Finally managed to ID my rock, its pukani, and from reading this stuff leaches phosphates like mad, I'm hoping this isn't the case with mine. I already have a 500ml jar of phosgaurd on the way, and cycling with lights off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted March 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2014 I still don't see any nitrites showing up. Ammonia has gone down to 0.25 and nitrates still around 10ppm Tank was seeding with a piece of live rock a week ago in my filter area, and added some fish food twice in the last week (doesn't seem to be much die off from the dry rock. Ideas of what's happening? Haven't yet experienced the algae cycles yet, but I'm not running my lights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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