Another new guy to the hobby. Need suggesstions.

[mmyuki]

Yeah I am pretty excited! though I am going to fill this one up and let it cycle and start a fresh tank, my girlfriend wants me to keep the 30 gallon with the two clowns in it as a semi - frag tank so to say.
I am about to buy a 48" 2x250W MH 16 LEDs and 4 T5 bulb fixture ( Hes giving me a 14k phoenix bulb free as well ) from a local for $200 bucks next week and then I will order the skimmer brand new once they tank has finished cycling.
Once I get it all glued I will silicone it in the tank, work the plumbing in and I should be able to start filling it with sand and some nice base rock from my LFS and I will seed it with some LR from my 30 and make some room for more frags =-)

 

[deejeff442]

if i remember you didnt drill the bottom of the tank for the drain? wasnt it on the side?

 

[mmyuki]

I drilled for a center overflow and a center return. I glued all three pieces together today and I will be siliconing them in monday, plumbing will be started by next weekend I hope. I will have my dad here to give me a hand with it. =-) I have a one way valve, a couple normal ball valves , unions, straight pipe, flex hose, hose adatpters and other stuff I might need a hand with. Im not stupid BUT he has done everything from carpentry, plumbing, tiling, HVAC... pretty much anything you need to DIY he can do and make it look really good so yeah.

 

[mmyuki]

So I bought a new light for the 75! its a

Current USA SunPod Metal Halide Fixture, 2X250 Watt HQI, 48 inch, 18 x LEDs.
Got it for a decent price, used but thats ok. I will get pics up tonight, will be doing the plumb work hopefully this week.

 

[deejeff442]

sweeeet light set up.you can for sure put anything in there with that .congrats

 

[travelerjp98]

yep, great light!!!!!! nice!!!!!!!!!

 

[mmyuki]

I got it for $200, with one light that has about 6 months use on it. Other broke when he was replacing the other bulb. So I figured I would just order two new phoenix 14,000ks I have never had MH before so are the phoenix good bulbs, if not what would you all suggest for those two?
I also have enough room on the tank to run my 2x48 PC fixture, I need new bulbs for those as well. what would you suggest to run with the MH bulbs?

 

[mmyuki]

Only thing I noticed with the light is the fan is a bit noisy, sounds like it is rubbing on something, I am going to take it apart and see if I can clean it up a bit, could be dirty / dusty, either that or are they not simply computer fans in there? I could order a new one and replace it...
Any suggestions?

 

[deejeff442]

i run the phoenix 14k there are a bit blue but the corals love them.after a while dust collects on the fans and they make noise. .dont bother with the other light fixture you will have plenty.in fact i would raise the new fixture to 6 -8 inches off the tank for a while .let the corals get used to it and watch for the tank temp.mh will raise water temp. i have ran mh for 20+ years i would never got to led or t5.

 

[mmyuki]

The two 250W MHs will be enough light for that whole tank?, so ditch the PCs eh? Ill listen to ya like I always have... I actually prefer a bit more blue, since the tank is still empty Im not using it, but I did get it with the legs to the light to so it raises them about 3 or so inches..

 

[deejeff442]

what just a sec....the mh system has led or are they just moonlights? if they are just moonlights keep the other pc.run the pc for 10-12 hrs and the mh for 6-8 .or what ever you like.i have 3 250 watt mh i run for 8 hrs and 4 pc 96 watts i run for 12 hrs.i have moonlights but never use them

 

[jsehlms]

They're just moonlights. You could get away with just the MH, but I wanted more blue than what the Phoenix provided, so I added two T5s (blue+ and purple+) in my canopy. I'm not sure why the fans were so noisy, I don't recall them being that noisy before. Maybe a good cleaning will silence them.

 

[mmyuki]

I dont have a T5 fixture to put on there with it so I will just get a 48" blue and a 48" purple PC bulbs from RMS or something.

 

[mmyuki]

Well hello everyone, I know it has been a very long time since I have been on here or updated this thread. Just wanted to let everyone know how everything was doing.
Due to being very busy at work, being newly engaged and doing a ton of house painting I let the tank get a little neglected. But on the up side to that I have not lost any fish, inverts but have lost a few corals and I am not sure why, my mushrooms just did not take off, my zoas looked like they were eaten by something and I am thinking I have an over abundant amount of those bad things inside my tank. I will post some photos here in a sec of them. I gave my tank a nice test this morning and everything came back good besides my nitrates...as you probably already know were very very high. I did a 50% W/C while gravel vaccing as I went along (The water I pulled out, from mixing up the sand bed looked as if I was keeping fresh water catfish, yes that bad!) I let the water re settle and and I waited a few hours and did another test for my nitrates ( came out to still be very high, around 150+ ) I will re test tomorrow morning and see how it looks. If I need to I will do another 50% W/C or do you guys think I should wait a day or two to not piss off the fish?

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by MMyuki http:///t/382927/another-new-guy-to-the-hobby-need-suggesstions/440#post_3508527
Well hello everyone, I know it has been a very long time since I have been on here or updated this thread. Just wanted to let everyone know how everything was doing.
Due to being very busy at work, being newly engaged and doing a ton of house painting I let the tank get a little neglected. But on the up side to that I have not lost any fish, inverts but have lost a few corals and I am not sure why, my mushrooms just did not take off, my zoas looked like they were eaten by something and I am thinking I have an over abundant amount of those bad things inside my tank. I will post some photos here in a sec of them. I gave my tank a nice test this morning and everything came back good besides my nitrates...as you probably already know were very very high. I did a 50% W/C while gravel vaccing as I went along (The water I pulled out, from mixing up the sand bed looked as if I was keeping fresh water catfish, yes that bad!) I let the water re settle and and I waited a few hours and did another test for my nitrates ( came out to still be very high, around 150+ ) I will re test tomorrow morning and see how it looks. If I need to I will do another 50% W/C or do you guys think I should wait a day or two to not piss off the fish?
Hi,
Glad your back...
Disturbing a sand-bed that has been left to sit a long time is dangerous, it could release toxins that were buried deep in the sand. Run some carbon and pray nothing dies. What test kits are you using?...API tests are bad for reading the wrong count on nitrates, and after a 50% WC you should not have nitrates that high, not to mention the inverts and all coral would be dead after the number went past 40+
So first things first... get a different kit... not API. I like the SeaChem tests because they all come with a regent so you can double check for accuracy. Instead of telling us all numbers are good except...post the numbers.
Now...LOL..Congratulations on the proposed and accepted marriage, and I hope the painting is going good and looking great!

 

[mmyuki]

Yes all painting is finally done, well for now untill she doesnt like the colors anymore. my
Nitrites - 0
pH - 8.0
Nitrates - API test kit, said was over 100
Not sure on calcium since all test kits are API didnt feel the need to test with them untill I purchase a new set.
I did that 50% change and mucked up the water real bad that day by gravel vaccing, let everything settle that night and was all settled and clear, nothing died so we are good. I plan on doing a top off on monday and doing another 10 gallon W/C then as well and vaccing the other 50% of the tank, hopefully by doing that I will get all the readings back to normal and be able to add the pajama cardinals I wanted to as well as some more snails and crabs ^.^
Oh those pictures I was going to post, I think there aiptasia , and a very bad infestation of them as well. Here are the photos.... Any information on how to kill them, or what to buy to kill them off would be much appreciated.

 

[mmyuki]

Here are those photos!




Here are some of my still surviving toadstool, which has thrived in this tank, when I got him it was only the size of a quarter when me and my fiance got it, now its the size of a softball almost!!

 

[flower]

Hi,
Best aptasia method of removal I have found to date:
I get some Joe's juice or aptasia X, and zap all the ones I can see and reach. Then I IMMEDIATELY added some Peppermint shrimp. I have done this with about 4 tanks and I'm aptasia free. In my present 56g tall seahorse tank, aptasia is growing wild and happy in the refugium...and you know how they spread...well not one single aptasia is in the DT because the peppermints keep it cleared. Aptasia stings and is deadly to seahorses, so it's a big deal. in the 90g potbelly seahorse tank I was zapping them with Aptasia X, and every time I looked in the tank I would spot another one. That tank is very cold, and I wasn't at all sure the peps could survive those temps, but I had to try. A year later and the 5 peppermints I added are doing their job, I have not found a single one since I have added them.
The reason I zap what I can first, is because I was told Peppermint shrimp like to eat the small new growths and tend to leave the big granddaddy ones alone. Although the huge ones I couldn't reach are also gone, so they must work on eating them as well, it just takes them longer.

 

[mmyuki]

With adding peppermint shrimp so I build a top for this tank? I have bought cleaner shrimp in the past and they just disappear never to be seen again

 

[smallreef]

shrimp dont normally jump... so no top needed for that reason...