Tank setup since 12/08/2004 update

[skennelly]

Wanted to share my tank setup, now about a month old.



I have about 130# of live rock and a bunch of critters, but I am yet to see a climb in ammonia levels after a month I've been at 0.0 ppm and the same with Nitrites 0.0 ppm. * Its puzzling me, because I have what I think to be enough critters to raise ammonia levels. *All of the critters are doing great and everywhere I look things are popping out of the live rock.

1 yellow tang
3 pecula clowns
25 hermit crabs
15 Margarita snails
2 LT anemones
130# live rock
45# of sand mixed with 20# of aragalive live sand mix.

It's got to spike sometime, I just thought it would started happening by now.

[Matt Rogers]

That's a lot of stuff in a month old tank (slow down , probably the rock and live sand keeping it together would be my guess, how big is the tank?

[skennelly]

Matt,
* * I know its a lot of stuff *. *I had a friend getting out of the hobby and was either dumping the fish and inverts or giving them to me, and I'd rather attempt to keep them if I can even though the tank is so new. *Believe me I keep such a close eye on my levels. *I agree the rock and sand are holding it together very nicely. *I don't plan on adding a single thing for a quite a while.

oh I almost forgot, its 90 gallon tank

Sean

[OldandNew]

Sean,

I'm in Indonesia and the way they do it here is LS, LR, and NSW. It is all cycled to begin with.

You are also lucky in that you have access to a cleaning crew. The hermits and snails. Here, they refuse to sell them locally. The garner a much better price in the States.

I had issues with green algae as my living tank aged. It never cycled, but it certainly aged. The algae is abating and being taken over by red coraline. I have a couple tangs and a lawnmower blenny doing duty now, along with a dozen little (1 inch) orange starfish, but they don't do the job that snails and hermits do.

You got it licked, just go slow with any additions.

You do have a skimmer on that tank? That is the key filter. Get the mess out before bacters get to it.

Cheers,
Ray

[skennelly]

Ray,
I do indeed have a skimmer on the tank a Berlin Classic attached to a mag drive 9.5. I know it gets grief for not being a good skimmer, but it produces alot of skimmet from my tank.

Sean

[OoNickoC]

[quote author=skennelly link=board=General;num=1105110640;start=0#4 date=01/11/05 at 16:55:01]*I know it gets grief for not being a good skimmer,
Sean[/quote]

Its what use on our LR tanks at work....they do just fine Your tank looks good bro....

[OldandNew]

I don't belittle Berlins. I bought a skimmer for a 29 gal FO tank on an UG filter powered by air stones. So was the skimmer. The bed was crushed shell (a great buffer). Great FO tanks, but not loved today.

Anyway, back to the skimmer, shoot, mine was a $29.95 contraption of plastic barrels and a collection cup. Again, powered via air stone. And it worked.

I guess they don't make those any more. No profit.

I am learning real quickly that in today's systems, the skimmer is very important. I don't care what skimmer one uses, it is still important. As long as you can make it work for you, then great. You would have replaced it if it didn't do what it was suppose to do.

My sump has a skimmer attached. It is in the intake bay. Powered by a venturi. And it works. That is the important thing, it is working. The junk it has removed from the water is great. Any junk removed is better than none at all.

Someone showed me a German skimmer, and how the skum coming off it was basically dry. OK, well, is that a good thing? I think I can replace the small amount of water and minerals that come off with the goo that collects in my cup.

You know, this stuff looks like Marmite, and kind of smells the same. I wonder if my Aussie and Brittish friends would appreciate it on toast?

Cheers,
Ray

[skennelly]

Ray,
That is disgusting! . Just thinking about what that stuff in my collection cup taste like makes me gag. I think I have to go home from work early now.

Sean

[MacnReef]

Cool. Well if I may make a suggestion, re-do your liverock so it is not so close to the glass on the ends. Eventually, algaes and stuff will build up between there and make it hard to clean. But besides that...lookin good!

Mike

[skennelly]

Mike,
All suggestions are welcome. And you bring up a good point, I have an magnet scraper that just barely fits between the rocks and the glass, but where the rock touches the glass I obviously can get too. Guess I should move it now rather then later.

Sean