eric b 125
Active Member
The tank is filled up to the teeth on the overflows. I'm mixing 30 more gallons of SW today. Once the water clears I'm going to take a rod with a string on one end to assess the flow in different parts of the tank.
Smaller place, bigger tank...My 200DD build
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eric b 125
Active Member
Thanks man! I'm really happy with how it's turning out.
I snapped a pic before stirring up the cloud again. There is a small island in the front that is covered by sand in the pic that will be used for a zoa garden.
I have high hopes for this skimmer. When I was running it in FW I was a little disappointed in the bubble production, but once SW got running through it I was really impressed
I'll have to add more sand, I think. I stirred it up again when I was moving it around so I can't really see how much more I'll need. I put a filter pad b/w the sump baffles to help clear the water faster. I have Thursday off to add more sand.
eric b 125
Active Member
Thanks! I'm going to run the system while I'm at work for the first time today. I'm a bit nervous about it but for the last hour or so it's been fine. I'm very happy with how the aquascape turned out. I'm going to get some putty to hold the top rock on the left side a little better, but it's wedged in there pretty good as it is.
eric b 125
Active Member
No major issues yesterday when I was at work. There is a slight drip from the bulkhead on the return line that will definitely need taken care of, but it's only one drip every 5 minutes or so. I will keep a hand towel under that plumbing and keep the tank running until I can fix it. That's what I did last night and the towel was barely moist in the spot where the drip falls. I'm thinking I might wrap the last threads on the male side with teflon tape and then goop the whole thing up with Rectorseal again to see if that will do the trick.
Some more cloudy pics of the aquascape:
I moved the sand around a bit more after taking these pics and added another 20 lbs. The tank is back to being cloudy so I'll have to wait for another day to assess the flow throughout the water column.
Also, one of the channels on the right side fixture is flickering so I'll have to send it back to have it fixed. It was doing that before I moved so I knew it needed to be done. Better late than never and I don't need lights during the cycle anyways.
Some more cloudy pics of the aquascape:
I moved the sand around a bit more after taking these pics and added another 20 lbs. The tank is back to being cloudy so I'll have to wait for another day to assess the flow throughout the water column.
Also, one of the channels on the right side fixture is flickering so I'll have to send it back to have it fixed. It was doing that before I moved so I knew it needed to be done. Better late than never and I don't need lights during the cycle anyways.
eric b 125
Active Member
Got the reservoir tank filled up this morning, too. Going to test the ATO for the first time today. Right now I'm at 1.025 which is exactly where I want it to stay.
eric b 125
Active Member
Yeah, people seem to be real happy with them. I'm going to wait until the second generation comes out and some of the bugs are fixed. I don't have a controller right now, but I've been considering one for some time, and the second gen is supposed to be compatible with some controllers.
eric b 125
Active Member
After a few, very pleasant e-mails back and forth, Logan from ReefBreeders is sending me a replacement driver for the fixture. I had the option of sending it back, but with my weird schedule getting to the post office would be more of a hassle than fixing it myself.
eric b 125
Active Member
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5.0 ppm
I didn't expect much of a cycle, but I doubt that that's it. Either way, it's time to start planning the fish list.
Part of me wants to stick with smaller fish: a few groups of anthias, maybe some wrasses (the problem with that is that I don't want a top, so might skip on wrasses), a mandarin, flame angel, and midas blenny. I recently read a cool article on clown gobies and I'd like to have one of those as well. Possibly some firefish, too.
The second list is pretty much the same, except I would dial back on the anthias and add a powder blue and/or a purple tang.
I'm more of a coral person and I'd rather not push my filtration to it's limit. Also, I probably only have 120-150 lbs of LR, so I think the smaller fish would be smarter and add more movement to the tank.
I am a big fan of inverts so I'd like to have a brittle/serpent star, some peppermint shrimp, a few cleaner shrimp, various snails, a few emerald crabs and a handful of pom-pom crabs. I had one pom pom crab in the 125 and it was always a special surprise when I'd see it (literally once a year, lol). Once I start getting coral, I definitely want to get an acro crab, too.
Input would be appreciated!
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5.0 ppm
I didn't expect much of a cycle, but I doubt that that's it. Either way, it's time to start planning the fish list.
Part of me wants to stick with smaller fish: a few groups of anthias, maybe some wrasses (the problem with that is that I don't want a top, so might skip on wrasses), a mandarin, flame angel, and midas blenny. I recently read a cool article on clown gobies and I'd like to have one of those as well. Possibly some firefish, too.
The second list is pretty much the same, except I would dial back on the anthias and add a powder blue and/or a purple tang.
I'm more of a coral person and I'd rather not push my filtration to it's limit. Also, I probably only have 120-150 lbs of LR, so I think the smaller fish would be smarter and add more movement to the tank.
I am a big fan of inverts so I'd like to have a brittle/serpent star, some peppermint shrimp, a few cleaner shrimp, various snails, a few emerald crabs and a handful of pom-pom crabs. I had one pom pom crab in the 125 and it was always a special surprise when I'd see it (literally once a year, lol). Once I start getting coral, I definitely want to get an acro crab, too.
Input would be appreciated!
eric b 125
Active Member
Also, I am going to place an order for an automatic fish food feeder. Does anybody have suggestions? I have GFO, calcium reactor media, salt and food, but I'm going to get some more since I'll need it eventually. I should probably add a new algae scrubber magnet to that list too. Hmmm...anything else? LOL
trigger40
Well-Known Member
what type of corals are you gona do?
eric b 125
Active Member
Why is the feeder not a good idea? I've always wanted a blue jaw, pink tail, or cross hatch trigger. I think all the shrimp would be fair game to a trigger, though.
Mostly SPS. I'm going to get a 20 piece frag pack, probably in January. There's a few frag swaps in February where I will get a few less-common pieces, but for the most part I want things to have space to grow. I have a one-rock island for a zoa garden or maybe some type of LPS or even GSP.
trigger40
Well-Known Member
shrimp should be fine with a blue jaw trigger and cross hatch trigger but i wouldnt trust the pink tail. but all trigger fish are different so you never know. with SPS/LPS i would have a refugium with lots of macro algea if you do a trigger. they are messy eaters. i like the idea of a powder blue tang(my favorite tang). like the coral choice too.
trigger40
Well-Known Member
i just dont like them. part of the joy in this hobbie is feeding your pets. and my freinds tank crashed from one of thoes things. i gess there was a power outage and the thing reset its self and it started dumping food in way more than it was. half his fish died. but he was also on vacation so he couldent do much about it.
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eric b 125
Active Member
I just wouldn't trust a trigger to leave shrimp alone. I have a refugium section in my sump. I read about keeping chaeto b/w two pieces of eggcrate, almost like a chaeto sandwich. I'm going to give that a try.shrimp should be fine with a blue jaw trigger and cross hatch trigger but i wouldnt trust the pink tail. but all trigger fish are different so you never know. with SPS/LPS i would have a refugium with lots of macro algea if you do a trigger. they are messy eaters. i like the idea of a powder blue tang(my favorite tang). like the coral choice too.
I agree that it's fun to feed fish but I'm a nurse and work long hours...I'm not home enough to feed anthias several times a day. I would still be manually feeding frozen foods and nori but I think having an auto feeder would be a good idea. The auto feeders I'm looking at are battery powered and the feeding drum will not stop in the "feed" position.