Brandons 125G Tank Build Thread

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brandonsivek

Guest
Well everyone, I have finally got my 125G up and running and it is still in the cycling phase. I am getting my 3 powerheads for the tank tomorrow and there have been 2 250 Pro heaters added since these pics were taken. Next thing to do is get a better lighting set up. I have around 130 lbs. of live rock in there that came with a coco worm, those little starfish, pods, zoas, kenya trees, and shrooms. I will keep yall up do date on the build but for now, here are some pics of the tank in the cycling stage. Hope yall enjoy this thread!
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
YAYYYY....I know I saw that rock before..LOL...I commented on the 2 holes in it
Looks great, I can not wait to see what you put in it
 
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brandonsivek

Guest
Thanks yall!
Quick question. My tank has been cycling for 2 weeks now and I am getting strange test results. As some of you know, the 130 lbs. of live rock came out of a VERY mature tank and were only out of the water for about an hour, in an ice chest. So after I added them, after a couple of days, my ammonia went up, probably because of the inevitable die off on the rocks. Then earlier this week, my ammonia went down, then there was a VERY small hint of Nitrites, and a reading of 20 ppm of Nitrates. Never really saw the nitrites move. Now, as of tonight, here are my readings.
PH 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 5.0
This is just strange to me, can anyone make sense of this? I know I have heard that tanks with very mature live rock in them, while cycling, can finish faster. But wouldnt I be getting a higher reading of Nitrates?
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Did you introduce any kind of bio load into the tank other than the live rock? There was probably a short cycle cause from the die off on the rocks probably, as you said. Did you use live sand as well?
 
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brandonsivek

Guest
Yeah there is about 50 lbs of live sand in there also. The ammonia did get pretty high there around the beginning, but dropped really fast. As in a couple of days. Then all of the sudden, Nitrates!
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Did you test everyday? Just curious cause usually the ammonia breaks down into nitrites.....then nitrites go to nitrates
YOu have 2 HOB filters right? and you have nothing living yet...right? What media are you running in the filters?
 
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brandonsivek

Guest
Yeah I know Meow, thats why its strange to me. I do have to say though, I might have slacked a little in my readings. Maybe every once in a while i would go a couple of days without testing.
I have 2 Aquaclear 70s and a Eheim 2217 Canister Filter. I am running charcoal, and biomax inserts. In the Eheim, I have the foam, and charcoal.
 
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brandonsivek

Guest
Oh ,and the only thing living in the tank are the things that came on the liverock, I havnt added anything.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Well I am betting your stirred stuff up....I mean from the rock....the nasties that get in the little nooks and crannies that we hope our cuc take care of, but sometimes don't....LOL
I might be tempted to tell you to do a w/c and get a little bit of cuc.....cuc and fish can live with trates and 5 is not catastrophic
 
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brandonsivek

Guest
yeah meowzer, I am going to agree with you. I am getting detrius pretty bad and its getting ugly. The corals are still alive and there were 3 nasarius snails that came with the live rock that are still kicking. Think I should be good to get a CUC going.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
detrius
.....I think you mean diatoms.....the brown algae that grows in the beginning over your sand
 
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brandonsivek

Guest
Oh and i will do another test before the water change and let you know what I am reading. I will have to do that tomorrow though. Taking my dad to my favorite LFS. Giving him my 55 after this ones done and I break the 55 down. I am getting him into this hobby and been giving him books to research, and the other day i went over there and caught him looking at different kinds of fish online and researching each one and then he told me he ordered a book online. LOL
 
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brandonsivek

Guest
Well, got my fish and other critters from the 55 moved into the 125 today. My snowflake eel, bar goby, decorator crab, cc starfish and still trying to fish out all my snails. Also got a Starry Blenny today. Now I gotta tear my 55 down, but its going to my dad. He wasnts to do a reef tank so I said he could have my 55 set up.

Oh and for what its worth, the bar goby is going to my dad once his 55 is ready to go, he is in temporary holding.
 
snowflakeclown

snowflakeclown

Member
Nice Tank!
The best filtration you will ever use is a wet/dry. Now I know the Eheim says wet/dry on their canisters, but it isn't the same. Remember that canister is sealed after all so everything in it is essentially "wet". For what you paid for the Eheim and the 2 HOB filters, you could have probably come close to buying a acrylic with overflow.
I used to be a big fan of the HOB filters until I went the other route, my parameters never change one bit, solid as a rock. The ceramic filter media that come in the mesh bags is what I think you said you have in your HOB's. Those are really good, I keep a couple in my sump for bacteria.
I am thinking I might have to upgrade from my 55 to something like you have, not looking forward to it really. It is a TON of work setting one up, much less doing it again, lol.
Oh by the way, most of that rock looks uncured. There are a couple of pieces I see in there that have decent growth on them, but all the rest looks brand new. I would say that is why you received a spike in your readings.
Good luck!
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snowflakeclown http:///forum/thread/383326/brandons-125g-tank-build-thread#post_3358269
Nice Tank!
The best filtration you will ever use is a wet/dry. Now I know the Eheim says wet/dry on their canisters, but it isn't the same. Remember that canister is sealed after all so everything in it is essentially "wet". For what you paid for the Eheim and the 2 HOB filters, you could have probably come close to buying a acrylic with overflow.
I used to be a big fan of the HOB filters until I went the other route, my parameters never change one bit, solid as a rock. The ceramic filter media that come in the mesh bags is what I think you said you have in your HOB's. Those are really good, I keep a couple in my sump for bacteria.
I am thinking I might have to upgrade from my 55 to something like you have, not looking forward to it really. It is a TON of work setting one up, much less doing it again, lol.
Oh by the way, most of that rock looks uncured. There are a couple of pieces I see in there that have decent growth on them, but all the rest looks brand new. I would say that is why you received a spike in your readings.
Good luck!
Wet/dry?
lol
Hardly anyone with reef tanks use those anymore. Sumps with refugiums is really the way to go those days...much more flexibility and options available with a fuge. I'd only recommend them for folks with fresh or planted tanks.
@: BrandonSivek: How are the readings looking lately?
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Well if you insist, even though you didn't say please.
Wet//dry...aka Trickle Filter. Is typically a sump tank that has a compartment that is filled with Bio Media such as bio balls, bio bail, ceramic rings...etc. Most often they utilize a drip tray and as the water drips into the bio chamber it helps to oxygenate the water and and the bio media provides a place for bacterial growth.

A sump tank most often times does not utilize a bio chamber. But rather a place place for a protien skimmer, return pump chamber (sump chamber) and or a refugium as well. They are more flexible in how they can be set up. The refugium chamber (depending on set up) can be just as efficient if not more so in the effective break down of nitrogens in the system. They also are excellent breeding grounds for pods (free fish food) for the system and don't require as much maintenance as bio media because they don't have to be cleaned on a regular basis in order to get rid of deitrus or organing build up. Bio media in wet/drys need to be cleaned regularly in order for them not to turn into nitrate factories which can be counter productive for the system. I think if you were to take a poll you would find that 9 out of 10 reef keepers no longer run wet/drys as apposed to sumps with refugiums these days. And since most people run protien skimmers and have a good amount of flow inside their tanks then their water is already ogygen rich there for the "Dry" part of a wet/dry filter is not needed.
Sump tank...

Again, both tanks are technically sump tanks. But when you refer to a Wet/Dry vs a Sump than I'm sure most people are thinking you are refering to a trickle filter.
 
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