55 gal tank (experience#2)

[chingchong]

Starting a thread for my 55 gal tank progression (2/26/05).
Equipment:
- Jebo 48in 220W 2x 50/50 and 2x actinic 03 bulbs.
- CPR BakPak 2 Protein Skimmer w/ MJ1200
- Fluval 304 loaded with Carbon only
- 2 MJ900 to be changed soon with 2x SEIO M620 (monday)
- HOT Magnum 250 with micro filter cartridge (2/3/05)
- about 60lbs of LR
+ 20# from LFS
- DSB 80lbs
- 60lbs sugar-sized aragonite sand
- 20lbs of reef sand)
+ 10# LS from LFS
History:
this is my second tank. I moved to a new place and while I was moving the PS quit working and I had the heater in it ... so temp dropped, and everything died. I realized this 3,4 days afterwards.
I picked up the LR, some LS and rebuilt the tank. Most of the LR stayed in cold salt water, so did the sand.
Question:
- is everything dead?
- are 2 seio m620 too much when i have sugar-sized sand? I m just scared the sand is going to fly all over the tank.
I am going to the LFS pickup a 10lbs LR piece(s) and some LS to seed my new DSB. and probably put a damsel ...
I will also post a picture sometime tonite.
Tank's age 3 days.

 

[arkey.d]

Sorry to hear about your delema. That's a tough loss and having to restart is definetly a downer.
The powerheads should be OK just don't place them close to the DSB or you'll get sand dunes....
You probably have some dieoff on your LR, but adding new LR will seed your old as well as the sandbed.
Don't get a damsel!:nope:
Instead go to the grocery store and get 2 cocktail shrimp about 2 inches without the tail and pop them into your tank and just let them rot. This will start your cycle off with out hurting any fish or using a damsel that you'll want to get rid of later on.

 

[22caddy]

If using live rock and live sand that will be enough to cycle.

 

[chingchong]

this is my tank - 4 days ... i m still thinking about buying 50lbs or 25lbs fiji live rock from here or the LFS or somewhere else. I have another thread.
lemme know what you think... I left the right hand side empty for that purpose.
there is about 60lbs of LR in here; a lot are buried under the sand as base rock.

 

[arkey.d]

Looks Great!:jumping:

 

[chingchong]

Okay, I couldn't wait ... I bought 20# LR for $140 ... but they look nicer and are covered with coralline and some living stuff (although I can't really say living anymore).
Worth it? I don't know but I got to choose the pieces I wanted.
I will take a picture when water clears up.

 

[chingchong]

whole tank

 

[chingchong]

left side

 

[chingchong]

right side

 

[chingchong]

left side view

 

[chingchong]

right side view

 

[chingchong]

close up on ...

 

[chingchong]

close up on new rock ... is this algae/plant live or dead

 

[chingchong]

close up

 

[chingchong]

close up (continued)

 

[misty7850]

Sorry to hear about your having to start over. Tank is looking so far so good. As for the ID it looks like aiptasia to me. Do a search on it. I had aiptasia in my tank, was starting to spread like wildfire. I got a couple peppermint shrimp that promplty got it under control (I wouldn't put them in your tank until cycled though). There are other ways to get rid of aiptasia such as joes juice and also some homemade remedies out there.

 

[chingchong]

getting a test kit today and start logging the evolution of this tank ... i wanna see exactly after how many months/days it took for the cycle to complete, the diatom to disappear, the coralline to propagate ...

 

[mike6969n]

hey ching, sorry about your tank problems, but it looks like you are rebounding very well and i like the idea of tracking your tanks progress i am keeping a scrapbook on mine. i also noticed that you are changing ph's, may i ask why and what you are planning on doing with your mj900's. if they are still working fine i might like to take them off your hands if you are selling them i need a couple more for my 55.
mike6969n@aol.com
email me if you are looking to get rid of them
looking good, good luck with your tank,
mike

 

[maeistero]

2 questions: why carbon only in the fluval? isn't that a pain to change all the time? and why have your powerhead right next to the fluval outlet? isn't it better to create opposite currents?

 

[chingchong]

about the fluval, no it's not too much pain .. i just disconnect the hoses, dump the carbon, put new one ... that's it.
i have my powerhead on a wavemaker ... 30s interval ... it does create a lot of turbulence overall but nothing too bad...
in the long run, i will just remove the fluval and keep the hot magnum 250 running ... it's even easier to maintain ... right i m just cycling the tank ... so i m using all the filtration i can use ...