My 65 Gal Journey

[aolvera20]

Hello to all,
I need some help to set up my reef tank
First off, i have decided to start a new thread in here so that my tread is in the right place
the reason is i started a new one is because i started one on fowlr, but thanks to flower i decided to make a reef tank.
Here is a little summary of what ive done so far in my last thread.
I had a tank, a corner tank. it was brought to my attention that the corner tank might not have a good water flow and that the stand was not sturdy enough, in addition i had to cut the manufactures stand to put in a sump/ref which would further weaken the tank so i decided to purchase another tank stand.
Two months of waiting i found the perfect tank that meets my needs i would say. and i got a deal on it, or so i think. i got a 65 gal tank with a skimmer, three pumps, heater, uv sterilizer, lights for reef tank and a chiller. ill post pics as soon as i remember how, lol.
so im all set to buy the sand and rocks, and here is were the help is much appreciated.
im a total noob at salt water tanks i had a 30gal freshwater tank for 2yrs and have decided to transition to a reef tank
1st) what type of substrate should i buy, do i make a dsb and can i do away with buying plain sand, crushed coral, instead of the live sand what is ideal for a reef tank?
2nd) how many pounds do i need, are 2 inches of substrate across the tank enough
3rd) what live rock would i buy for a reef tank, how much base rock/ live rock do i need?
the tank dimesions are (38 x 21 x 26.2”) if this helps
much help in advance

 

[snakeblitz33]

For a 65g tank, get 60 pounds of dry aragonite. That is two 30pound bags. Live sand is overrated.
Any live rock is good live rock. Cheap live rock is ok too. All you are looking for is bacteria and good algaes and sponges. There is a website that you can buy 40pounds with free shipping for $140. It's a good start and what I used to get my tank going.
Flow is another major considerAtion. Consider getting the best powerheads you can afford.

 

[clown-keeper99]

The best advice I can give you is to take things slowly
I am living proof that bad things happen when you go to fast (Especialy to you pocket book)
can you give us the brand name and the specs of your equipment
this will help us guide you

 

[snakeblitz33]

Agreed. Take it slow.

 

[aolvera20]

Sry been busy but here I am now where was I
The Equipment I have is
Lighting 6 x 39W T5 Linear
Lighting- Blue LED 8
Circulation Pumps 1 x 1200 lph & 1 x 2400 lph (320 gph & 640 gph)
Skimmer water throughput 1000 lph (240 gph)
Skimmer max Air flow 300 lph (80 gph)
1 heater 200W
Aqua UV 8W Advantage 2000 HOB UV Sterilizer
JBJ 1/10HP Arctica Aquarium Chiller
And
Kent Marine Deluxe Hi-S Maxxima RO/DI System 60 gpd
Now for the equipment I need
60 pounds of aragonite to make a 2” bed
55 pounds of live rock
Test kits
Refract meter
Magnet cleaner
Net
Water changer hose
And lastly the help
What test kit should I buy and which ones
I have a list of the ones the store has for sale but don’t know if they are all important
Ammonia, calcium, copper, iodine, kh/alkalinity, nitrite, nitrate, oxygen, phosphate, ph, silicate, strontium
Which ones should I buy
I know that I need to test
Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, and alkalinity are the others needed
And what is this I’ve been reading and seen about buffers and doses are they crucial for a reef tank and if so which ones should I look into

 

[clown-keeper99]

The lighting is a little on the low end so I recomend you keep less light hungry soft corals
Your water pumps are a little low for a tank of this size (you want about 40x the tanks volume per hour)
The things you need to test for is Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphates, and Salinity
with these 5 basic tests you shouldn't have a problem
I don't use buffers and don't really think they are nessicary

 

[aolvera20]

ok guys been busy
thanks for the help
spent the last few days trying to set up the ro/di and found out i needed some extra parts i dint have so i hooked it up to a garden hose and ran a nother line out of the house to the garden for the water disposal, this is until i order the nesesary parts for the ro/di instal beneath my sink.
so here is a pic of part of the ro

here is a another one of the artica chiller, which im undecided if i want it as part of the tank, i might have it installed during the summer when its hot here. the problem is the noise the external pump and the chiller make sufficient noise to bother my wife lol. first obstacle i come across with the tank

 

[aolvera20]

a little up date
i bought the test kit and refractometer.
and finally here is a pic of the tank being filled up with ro/di water very long process to fill it up with the ro system

i think the water in the tank took 4 hours to fill and im waiting ........ and waiting......
in the meantime here is a pic of the tank without the stand

 

[aolvera20]

a little help guys i finished filling up the tank with water and salt started up the pumps and skimmer heater and noticed very very small air bubbles.
i've never had a salt water tank up and running and im wondering if those air bubles are the aeration in the water i've been reading about?
are those tiny air bubbles a normal. are those signs of the internal pumps malfunctioning?
ill be buying the rock in a saltwater expo that's coming to my city (los angeles) ;D in a few days

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by aolvera20 http:///t/391033/my-65-gal-journey#post_3467841
a little help guys i finished filling up the tank with water and salt started up the pumps and skimmer heater and noticed very very small air bubbles.
i've never had a salt water tank up and running and im wondering if those air bubles are the aeration in the water i've been reading about?
are those tiny air bubbles a normal. are those signs of the internal pumps malfunctioning?
ill be buying the rock in a saltwater expo that's coming to my city (los angeles) ;D in a few days
Where are the bubbles coming from? You should not have bubbles...tiny bubbles that look like dots all over are micro bubbles and often come from a skimmer not working properly. It also could be air in the pumps is they are exposed to air somehow. Often on startup you might have a flurry of microbubbles that stop pretty fast, but not constantly.

 

[aolvera20]

the bubbles are coming out of a return pump, and the pump is a submersible one,
im going to try something out when i get home from work i read that i have to put the pump upside down and give it a little pat, some say it stopped the micro bubbles,
ill let you guys know if it stopped the bubbles
just incase its a skimmer how would i fix the problem
in the mean time, im going to take out the skimmer, take it apart and reassemble it and install it again to see if this helpsSUBMIT

 

[acrylic51]

Quote:
Originally Posted by aolvera20 http:///t/391033/my-65-gal-journey#post_3467841
a little help guys i finished filling up the tank with water and salt started up the pumps and skimmer heater and noticed very very small air bubbles.
i've never had a salt water tank up and running and im wondering if those air bubles are the aeration in the water i've been reading about?
are those tiny air bubbles a normal. are those signs of the internal pumps malfunctioning?
ill be buying the rock in a saltwater expo that's coming to my city (los angeles) ;D in a few days
Quote:
Originally Posted by aolvera20 http:///t/391033/my-65-gal-journey#post_3467945
the bubbles are coming out of a return pump, and the pump is a submersible one,
im going to try something out when i get home from work i read that i have to put the pump upside down and give it a little pat, some say it stopped the micro bubbles,
ill let you guys know if it stopped the bubbles
just incase its a skimmer how would i fix the problem
in the mean time, im going to take out the skimmer, take it apart and reassemble it and install it again to see if this helpsSUBMIT
It looks like your off to a super start!!!!

Micro bubbles can come from numerous sources......I will mention or note; that just because a skimmer produces bubbles on the output doesn't mean it's not functioning properly.....Some are just more notorious for that than others.......With that being said we'll try to narrow down the source of the micro bubbles.....
I'm assuming and I didn't see any pics, but I am assuming you are running a sump underneath the tank......

The bubbles are being introduced somewhere in the system and the first place I would look would be where the water enters the sump area......Again this is assuming your running a sump, but I'm thinking you are since you mentioned a submersible return pump. I would get down on my hands and knees with a flash light and shut the skimmer off and watch the water flow through the sump and all the way across till it's in the return section; where the return pump is located......
If you see no bubbles floating across the sump to the return pump then we can isolate it more towards the return pump itself.....I will caution you that even small amounts of bubbles making there way across to the return pump will be magnified in the DT.......So watch very closely.......
Another bit of information needed about your return pump is how is it plumbed back to the tank......Are you using hard PVC, vinyl tubing...

. It's very possible if it's hard plumbed using hard PVC that you have a bad glue joint, or if your using vinyl tubing it's also a very good possibility that when clamping it down the clamp possibly could have cut the tubing, could be something as simple as a loose clamp or fitting......Even with the most tedious attention to plumbing it's super easy to get just a minute gap;pinhole, and it will suck air.....might not leak water, but will suck air and create again sort of a venturi and will magnify the micro bubbles in the DT.......
Also any pics of your skimmer......

 

[aolvera20]

sry dint put pictures of the equipment
the skimmer, return pumps are in a back compartment which is all within the tank. so the return pumps are in the back as well one in the right and one in the left,
i followed what was mentioned and i thought it was a pump but come to find out its from the skimmer,
and it has four compartments which is as follows
l (return purm) l (bio filtration) l (skimmer/heater) l (return Pump) l

and by following acrylic51 suggestions its coming from the skimmer
so i took it out and put it in again but same results but less now
and from reading i came across this sentence
A low level of microbubbles in marine aquariums is normal and should be expected. Intense skimming is the secret of great water quality, as it both removes organic waste before it can break down AND maintains a high redox level. This is achieved by super-saturating the water with air, i.e. dissolving more gas into the water than is normal for the given temperature and pressure. Once the super-saturated water leaves the skimmer, it “relaxes” and releases the extra gas in the form of microbubbles.
is this right and how long do the microbubbles last given i just put in the water salt and live rock

 

[aolvera20]

a little update
about the micro bubbles
they went away a day later was worried there for a moment and they were coming from the skimmer but gone know

i bought the rock and put it on the tank did a little aqua scape but got it bad lol very bad as you can see lol

so give me your thoughts lol

 

[aolvera20]

another pick with more light and very bad aqua scape

 

[aolvera20]

so with a little help with my wife here is my redone aqua scape lol still bad lol.

 

[aolvera20]

so not happy with the rock placement and hours of moving things around
i think i have a good aqua scape now lol i think lol,

 

[aolvera20]

so i added more ro water and more salt and here is my finish product

now its just a matter of waiting for it to get clear

 

[aolvera20]

this happened a bout a week ago
the water got clear, XD but...

about the same time i added the dry aragonite sand, i spent about 10 minutes cleaning the sand with water but to my dismay when i put the sand into the tank this happened

seems i dint cleaned it well enough ahhhhhhh!
a

 

[aolvera20]

"It will be helpful to turn the lighting system off for the duration of the curing process to discourage algae growth".
while finding things for my reef tank i came upon this statement, it came from a big pet selling retail chain store
i wanted to know if its true or just an opinion from their part.
i have a couple of questions if u guys could help
i am in my 12 day of curing the rock in my tank i have yet to see a diatom bloom or spikes in the water parameters.
have i done something wrong, or am i too anxious to see some thing growing?
what i did notice was yesterday was brown hair algae, it started to grow in the tank. today it grew more, thats the reason i asked about the statement being true or not
and is this brown hair algea normal