New 150 set up

[bosco0633]

Hello everyone. I just wanted to introduce myself and start a thread on my progress of my new setup. A bit about me. I have been in this hobby for 18 years. I started at the age of 15. When I was a kid I worked at the LFS and learned alot about aquariums. I start with cichlids but after 3 years I tried my hand at salt. I started with a 10gal reef then to a 20gal. I maintained a 35 gal. For five years before switching to a 46gal. Bowfront reef. After 10 years in the hobby I decided to take a break as we started a family.
Last year I purchased a 150gal tank and went back to cichlids. I like it but didn't love it. We moved 3 months after setting it up and needed to finish the basement. We finished the basement 2 weeks ago and my wife said that I should get the tank going. She suggested going back to salt. After a little debate I figured that I should give it another go.
I have a custom built pine stand for my 150gal. I currently have the following:
150gal marineland tank
4x96w PC lighting with led moon lights
2x300 hydor heaters
1xhydor stage 4 pump
2xhydor stage 5 pump
2xaquaclear 110 with sponge and reef balls
1xaquaclear 110 to be converted into refrugium
octopus sRLX2000s HOB skimmer
250lbs of crushed aragonite bottom
i set everyhting up and will post pics as I go. I need a better lighting system as this is only giving me 2.66w per gallon. I plan on grabbing a combo 3x250w halide and 8x39w t5 hood in the next few months. But for now this will be ok ad I don't plan on going into corals until the new year.
You may be asking why no sump. I don't like them and have never been comfortable with them. I prefer HOB units because of this. I also like Berlin theory of reef keeping and only want aquaclears for some mechanical clean up.
On Wednesday I am picking up 200lbs of premium Fiji live rock. I plan on having two corners with rock and a smaller island in middle for aquasaping.
I appreciate all input and critique me as I go. I have been out of the saltwater world for many years and have tons to catch up on

 

[bosco0633]

On Sunday I painted the back of the tank with tremclad flat black paint. This was the first tank that I ever painted as I never used back drops. I tried putting on the plastic background with some special juice they sell however after 3 hours of working the bubbles, I couldn't make it work.
Last night I added the two aqua clear 110s with sponge only. I also added to polishing pads to the intakes to help clear up the cloudy water.
I turned on the skimmer octopus sr lx2000s. I purchased the unit online and was lucky enough to order the day that the new black units came in. The red was terrible! I opened the box and found the worst set of instructions. I just viewed pictures and hoped for the best.
I added salt yesterday and I fired up the skimmer to get the break in process started. I read a thread from a guy named Jason on here. I learned a ton about the skimme as the unit has little instruction.
My initial thoughts on the lx2000s are:
the unit is extremely loud but from what I read this will quiet down a bit.
There is no venturi to control the air flow. The pump is very poweful and I think that it may be to big for The skimmer. After running for 10min the unit was overflowing like crazy. I was down there to see it or it would have been very bad!!! I used jasons trick and added vice grip to the air line to slow down the unit until it breaks in. Once you add the clamp it gets louder and causes water to rush through and overflow at the front. But atleast we are not flooding anymore. Jason suggested that I slowly release the vice grips over the next month or so.
I do have micro bubbles but I expect them to slow down as the skimmer wears in and the tank matures. This skimmer is a beast and with the bubble maker I think it will be great for my tank. It is rated for 150 gal so it should be enough.
I shut the hydor pumps off as the bubbles are out of control right now. The polishing pads are dirty and thebwater is almost clear in 24 hours.
Tomorrow I will go and get my rock. The guy said that it is cured but hopefully I can get a bit of a cycle out of it. I may suspend a dead shrimp in a net and let it rot as well to assist. I don't like amonia cycles and try to stay natural during cycle time.
My goal is to add rock and begin treating the rock to encourage coraline development. I have never used kalkwasser and think that I am going to try a range of seachem products that I have used in the past.
After I cycle I plan on adding to clowns to the tank to start. That should take me into December. I am thinking that I will start adding corals in January. That should give me enough time to get a system down.
I plan on doing 5gal water changes 3 times a week which will give me 10% a week. I know that the salt is loaded with goodness for the tank so I want to keep this system rather than a shocking 10% all at once.
I am going to start getting RO water delivery 3 jugs a week to start and may switch over to an RO unit later.
I think that's it for now. When I get home from work I'll take some photos of my progress.

 

[bosco0633]

So I took a couple of pics with my iphone, so the quality is not that great. Here is my tank and stand just before we moved

it was a cichlid tank

Tonight I went downstairs to check the skimmer as I am terrified of it overflowing again. So it has been on for 24 hours and the foam that makes it to the top of the collection cup in the consistancy of whip cream. It is thick and has turned brown. Lets not forget that this tank is empty!!

The next picture is the lip of the lx2000s that sits in the tank. As you can see I still have micro bubble issues. but i really am pleased with this unit so far. I still have the vice grips on the air tube to prevent the unit from over flowing.

Here is a pic of the tank with the lights. As you can see on the right, I have polishing filters on the intakes to my aquaclears. This is helping out greatly with clearing up the unit.

I will try and take more pictures with my DSLR as it clears up. Still a little cloudy but it is getting better.

 

[bosco0633]

Ok, so I went a little over 200lbs of figi rock. I got 275lbs. It is all in the tank, not much coraline from what I can see. This worries me a bit, just wondering most coraline areas appear to be white?? is this ok or is it dead now? Will the coraline grow back with treatment?
Anyways, I spent the past 3 hours trying to get it right. I dont want to make it a rock tank, but think maybe a few more pieces?? Input on the aqua scape please. I think my skin has fallen off trying to get this right.
Anyways, here are some pics, the water is once again cloudy but I hope it will clear up.

left side

middle

right side

 

[fishhunter]

looks good! I would have put the rock in first then the sand around it. This will prevent critters from undermining your rock and having it collapse. The coralline should come back with time as well but only when your water parameters come back in check.
I'm starting up a 125 gal reef and I ordered 200 LBs of Bali live rock and it should be here in a few days. It will be cool to compare the way the rock looks!
Good start though keep up the good work!

 

[lluv24]

Hey it looks great

keep up the good work. my rock looked looked like that, the coraline will come back. just like the other poster said.

 

[btwk12]

i like the aquascape

 

[bosco0633]

thanks so much for the kind words. I had my salt at 1.023 and I was having trouble with the calcium level. I was using seachem calcium and the bottle fell into the tank causing percipitation to occur. I did a 15% water change and cleaned the filters, the water is clearer today. I was scratching my head until I read that salt should be 1.026. I added more salt and now my water is good to go, good calcium, and alk but ph is high at 8.6.
Here are a few updates of my pics. I plan on making a mixing chamber tomorrow for my salt and ro water. as well as making a top off unit of some sort, without a sump, im thinking a jug with a line dripping into the tank at night. I have decided not to run fish or coral for a month or two because I want to figure out what this tank requires to run. I want to know how much top off each night, how much salt to mix for water changes, chemicals and peramters of my water and so on. Once I am comfortable with the chemistry, I will begin with a good clean up crew and go from there.

I added a little more rock with coraline to help spread and develop on the rest of the rock. I have 300lbs of live rock and 250lbs of aragonite. I am starting to like the layout a little more. I am so tempted to put my hands in there and keep messing around, but when will it ever be enough if I start now???
comments welcomed