My first Saltwater Tank.

bwilson

bwilson

Member
Details are as follows.
150gal Glass Tank
30gal Sump
10Gal Fuge (Not yet installed)
Two T4’s for the return.
Aqua C EV-200 (---- Used) with mag 12 pump
Arctica 1/3hp chiller with mag 7 pump.
80W Titanium Heater.
227lbs Live Cured Rock
160lbs Live Sand (about 3 inches)
Lights Hamilton Two VHOs and Three MH 14,000K (On Order to be in next week)
Tanks Goals: SPS with safe Fish.
So my wife and I finished the pluming and set up on Thursday night and then after some loaner water containers and two trips to the LFR our tank was full of fresh salt water and up and running Friday Night. I have two questions:
#1. NOW WHAT? I tried testing the water using our new test kit “FasTest Master Kit”
AMM = 0
Rate = 10
Rite =0.2 or nothing. I used the “High Rate Test” that it says to do with new tanks which is 0.5 tank water and the rest tap water.
#2. WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE MICRO BUBLES? There are a lot of bubbles coming out of the skimmer so I have attempted to cover the out put side with a foam filter media I am also going to get a sock and see if that helps. My sump is a pre made version with two baffles I guess I could try to make more. What are others doing to reduce bubbles in this module skimmer?
Here are some pictures for reference.





Thanks,
BW
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
No, the bigger sump is what you want to keep just in case the power goes off and the water begins to back siphon, or such. You can keep the 30 gallon half filled, and the 10 gallon fuge will work out nicely. I have a 15 gallon fuge, with a 30 gallon sump hooked up to my 210 and it works beautifully.
What kind of skimmer are you using?
I would also recommend getting a bigger heater. 80 watts will not suffice for that size tank. I would recommend getting a 500 watt heater, or two 250 watt heaters.
Also, about the levels, you will need something to start your cycle, like three or four frozen cocktail shrimp from the grocery store. Let them start to decay so that all your levels spike. You have 200 lbs. of live rock, which is fantastic, but it is all already cured, so this will not start any cycle.
Beautiful tank however!
 
bwilson

bwilson

Member
Sorry you are right my Heater is an 800W lol just missed a zero. Its the Finnex TH-800.
I called my local LFR to ask about the shrimp thing he said I wont need that because I used live rock and live sand however if he was right shouldnt my Amm be getting higher by now? Its been almost three days? I am running my skimmer mabey thats doing something? My skimmer foamed alot after about the first hour and then it just stopped. It is foaming its just not rising enough to catch it. I did check the water level and its ok. Dont know if that information will help but there it is.
P.S. If you look at the picture of my $250.00 new sump. You can see that my two year old used the marker that I used to mark my water line to draw a picture. Lucky I caught him before he made it to the new stand.

BW
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Well the heater should work fine then. As far as the ammonia, you will need the shrimp unlike what your lfs said because you used cured live rock and what I am guessing as cured live sand as well. If you used cured stuff, then you did not put anything into the tank to begin a cycle. That is what a decaying shrimp will do and I only recommend 3 or 4 because it will speed the process up. The shrimp will begin to decay, your ammonia will spke, bacteria will form, and your live rock will help to bring it down, allow the the nitrites to spike, and the bacteria will also break this down into nitrates.
And as far as your sump, I am glad that you cleared that out because I was very curious about that.
 
jokerj

jokerj

Member
Until you cycle the tank you should not have to run the skimmer! I would cut the skimmer off until the cycle it complete. At this point add a couple of shrimp from the grocery store and watch them for a couple of days. Once it spikes and gets a cycle going ( anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks) then you will be ready for first water change, cutting on skimmer, and adding clean up crew.
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Yes I agree. It's fne if you wanna run it and see if it works, but you do not need it on until after your cycle is complete.
 
blitz99

blitz99

Member
i skipped tank cycles twice using live sand and live rock... never saw a spike at all because i added enough "good bacteria" when i started...
 
bwilson

bwilson

Member
Yes I was talking about bubbles in the tank. I am going to try a sock and see how that goes. When I cut one pump off it looks much better however my flow is slower. My pumps are rated for 1225gph -3ft. I am running them at about 4 1/2 feet. I am going to test again and post my results. My wife went and bought some more test's tonight so we can see where we are at.
BW
 
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