Coral Keepers 180 gallon reef diary.

premilove

Active Member
Originally Posted by MaTT B
http:///forum/post/3019378
How would adding LIVE sand cause a cycle? Haha. You people with the term "Cycle". The only way that would happen is if the sand was full of hydrogen solfide and waste. That is why he would just rinse it in a 5g bucket with sw.
CK, Make sure you leave the lights off for a few weeks when you add the sand, Cause there will be no bacteria on it and you will get a massive alage bloom.
Rinsing live sand will totally defeat the purpose of having live sand in the first place. Rinsing it would wash way most of the small worms, pods, baby stars, etc.
relax. well you need to understand not everyone knows/claims to know everything. I was asking a question that I did not know the answer to. just trying to learn something new.
 

matt b

Active Member
Originally Posted by premilove
http:///forum/post/3019389
Rinsing live sand will totally defeat the purpose of having live sand in the first place. Rinsing it would wash way most of the small worms, pods, baby stars, etc.
relax. well you need to understand not everyone knows/claims to know everything. I was asking a question that I did not know the answer to. just trying to learn something new.
Um no? You put it in a bucket and fill it with sw stir it up, Let it sit for a few seconds to let everything get back on the bottom and get all the crap water out. And all the bacteria will still be there. Its like saying sand sifting kills the sand. I would rather lose a few copepods and stars then put nitrates into the tank and risk releasing hydrogen solfide.
 

premilove

Active Member
ck said he was going to add live sand from his existing tanks, if there is no air or dry time expos then dump shistuff in. if he's running systems with the coral he has, i highly doubt he has a nitrate problem.
 

matt b

Active Member
Originally Posted by premilove
http:///forum/post/3019411
ck said he was going to add live sand from his existing tanks, if there is no air or dry time expos then dump shistuff in. if he's running systems with the coral he has, i highly doubt he has a nitrate problem.
There is no point in you trying to argue this. One sand just traps waste, His sand bed will be full of waste. And two it is like 2-3in deep, Meaning there is anarobic bacteria in it, If that gets air, That will create hydrogen solfide. That can crash the PH in a tank. And it could be exposed to air for a few hours and him still be able to put it right into the tank without any problems as long as he rinses it.
 

premilove

Active Member
Originally Posted by MaTT B
http:///forum/post/3019521
There is no point in you trying to argue this. One sand just traps waste, His sand bed will be full of waste. And two it is like 2-3in deep, Meaning there is anarobic bacteria in it, If that gets air, That will create hydrogen solfide. That can crash the PH in a tank. And it could be exposed to air for a few hours and him still be able to put it right into the tank without any problems as long as he rinses it.
sand just traps waste. what ever you say.
 

matt b

Active Member
Originally Posted by premilove
http:///forum/post/3019569
sand just traps waste. what ever you say.
I have had tanks with and without sand, Work at a coral farm that has had sand and no sand. Please explain how it does not trap waste? If you have a BB tank you know that all the waste will collect in one area depending on the flow. Once you see this you will realise why BB is better. Sand does have critters in it that will eat some of the waste but not all of it. Have you ever stirred your sand? If you have you would know exactly what I am talking about. Any sand bed esstablished for more then a year without cleaning is going to be a waste trap. Let me teach you a little something about sand beds, OK?
Some people use shalow sand beds cause they want more surface area for arobic bacteria and like the looks. This will collect waste over time and there are some animals to keep it stirred but not keep it 100% clean. This is why gravel vacing is key when you have a SSB. It may suck up a few pods and brittle stars but they will breed. And it gets all of the waste out of the sand.
And then there are the people that do deep sand beds. The idea behind having a DSB is to get denitrification (Remove nitrates). Now what removes the nitrates is the anarobic bacteria. And if that anarobic bacteria gets air to it it will create hydrogen solfide. Now what normally happens in DSBs is over time a animal will come along and get air to the arobic bacteria little by little slowly causing algae blooms. And the sand bed will still collect and trap waste over time and there is no way to safely remove this waste. I personally would love to see a reef tank that has had a DSB for over 3 years without removing the sand and replacing, Moving and cleaning the sand, Or crashing the tank, Or having alot of algae problems.
 

coral keeper

Active Member
Here are a few pictures of the tank with just the Actinics on like I promised!

Front


Back

Rock Anemone

Green Stony coral

Female Maroon Clownfish

Yellow Tang

Tell me what you think! =D
 

reefforbrains

Active Member
2 questions.
#1 you DID install the two braces in the top of the tank's lip correct? They are very important for long term health of the tank's structure. The glass is quite thick but those braces are important.
#2-Building a canopy to cover the top?. Light seems like it bleeds through right at eye level.
Just curious
 

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by ReefForBrains
http:///forum/post/3020755
2 questions.
#1 you DID install the two braces in the top of the tank's lip correct? They are very important for long term health of the tank's structure. The glass is quite thick but those braces are important.
#2-Building a canopy to cover the top?. Light seems like it bleeds through right at eye level.
Just curious
#1 Yup.
#2 Actually its fine, it doesn't really shine in your eyes. The fixture is pretty low so, light doesn't really shine in your eyes.
 

coral keeper

Active Member
I got a few updates!! I got a 2-2.5 inch Niger Trigger from a local for $10, a Wrasse from a LFS for $16, and a Engineer Goby from a LFS for $7.50. The Niger Trigger is in the 180 DT and the wrasse and goby I got from the LFS are in a QT tank. Will post pictures soon!
 

d-dzel

Member
Wow, that's an awesome tank! Wish I had money to buy something like that.
What kind of bulbs are you running? That's going to be one sick looking tank
 

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by D-Dzel
http:///forum/post/3021963
Wow, that's an awesome tank! Wish I had money to buy something like that.
What kind of bulbs are you running? That's going to be one sick looking tank

Thanks!

The bulbs that came with the fixture.
 

coral keeper

Active Member
Here are a few pictures of the trigger! I'm uploading a video of the tank right now, so I'll post a video soon. Tell me what you think!
(ignore the algae, working on getting a CUC)

 
Top