Couple questions for you guys

crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
I post in other sections and seem to never get a answer. Dont know why.
Anyway.
What is a good skimmer? Doesnt need to be the best. What size sump? I bought a 75 a few weeks ago and Im planning on setting it up. I have a 20 gallon breeder laying around. Will that be enough? How many returns should I put in? Im going to be using a HOB overflow due to it not being drilled and I dont want to mess with drilling. The back will be painted black so It wont be ugly looking.
Secondly.
What causes an ammonia spike? I started a small tank. 15 gallons. I added some live rock that was curred. No smell. I even took water param's from the person tank and had zero ammonia. It came from a person tank that had been running for a while. I also took some sand. Then I poured in that Craibsea pure saltwater. I let it do its thing for a day and then took water to see what if anything had shown up. Sure enough ammonia. Good amount. I have the API kit add 8 drops from each bottle. I tested it 5 times. Same reading. Cleaned it and dried it after each time.
BTW I got a new fish. I ended getting rid of the eel and sold the trigger.




 
it's chuck

it's chuck

Member
Octopus skimmers are the best bang for the buck, if you are looking to spend a little more money Aqua C Ev series and ASM are very nice skimmers. Ammonia is caused by the breakdown of any organic material in the tank whether it be food, poop, a dead critter, or in your case die off from your live rock. You are going to go through a cycle no matter what when setting up a new tank; by adding established live rock and sand yours should be signifcantly shorter. Your tank has to build up the bacteria for the denitrification process which is only on hard surfaces and none of is contained in the water column
I love the blueface The are becoming my fav angel
 
small triggers

small triggers

Active Member
yep,, everything Chuck said,, i set up my 150g w/ cured everything and it stii took 7 days to cycle. also i LOVE ASM skimmers
 
crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
7 days to cycle is nothing for that big of a tank. That is very fast. Hell I started a nano with everything new and it took 15 days. Its 12 gallons lol.
Thank you Chuck.
 
it's chuck

it's chuck

Member
No problem, Also that 20 would be fine for the sump. I am finally setting up my 100(Pics coming to a thread near you soon) and if end up building a sump/refug I would use a 29. One return/overflow is fine that is all my 100 has. What eel/trigger did you get rid of?
 
crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
SFE and Blue throat. It was a female blue and ugly as hell. I made room for the blueface. Its my favorite fish. Its small. My 90 will be fine. Im actually going to upgrade to a 125 or 150 soon. Im really cheap on my current 90. It came as a package deal. Its been doing great. Im probably going to sell it and use that money towards the 125 or 150. Right now the 90 has 3 fish all under 3 inches. They are messy but since the eel and bluethroat have been gone my bio load is nothing. My skimmer is picking up nothing.
 
it's chuck

it's chuck

Member
Haha I have a Both of those in my over stocked 55, maybe my female has really good color because after he saw mine he wanted to start getting them in at the LFS he runs
 
crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
Thank you very much. The coloration on it is amazing. As soon as I saw it I looked at the guy working and was like when you get a chance bag it!
Chuck. When I saw it it was an impulse buy. I was there picking up some water for my nano and some corals. The fish was swimming around in his main tank and he didnt want it. I knew very little about them except how pretty they were in my mind. I thought they got more color as they got older. Come to find out the females can be blah. I actually sold her to a guy who had a male and was looking for a female. It worked out nice.
 
hammerhed7

hammerhed7

Active Member
As far as skimmers go, I have not owned an octopus, but I have heard good things. I currently have 2 ASM's and I really like them, they skim great, and don't need constant tinkering.
 
crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
Im getting ready to purchase the asm gx1. Im starting my 75 with no idea of what to do. I guess once its up and running I will figure it out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top