New tank questions...

kender

kender

Member
Okay. So I am trying to get into this hobby and I am in the process of setting up a new tank. I have a 55g AGA w/ stand and canopy that I just bought. I purchased a Current T-5 Sundial lighting fixture using timed actinics for 2 hours transitioning to 10k's for 8 hours and back to actinics for 2 hours before going to moonlights for the remainder of the 24 hour cycle. I am looking to get around 80 - 100 pounds of live rock for the tank shortly and already have 55 pounds of live sand for the substrate.
 
I am a little confused on closed loop systems and may have gotten a little crazy creative. I purchased a fluval 405 and ran the intake from the middle of the tank. The intake on it is modified and running through a fluval 240 skimmer. I modified the out lines of the filter to run through a SCWD and pumped it to either side of the tank to create an alternating current. Not sure if this is proper or not. Any feedback here? My goal is to have a reef tank so not sure if I am on the right track or not. 
 
geoj

geoj

Active Member
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kender http:///forum/thread/380176/new-tank-questions#post_3308252
Okay. So I am trying to get into this hobby and I am in the process of setting up a new tank. I have a 55g AGA w/ stand and canopy that I just bought. I purchased a Current T-5 Sundial lighting fixture using timed actinics for 2 hours transitioning to 10k's for 8 hours and back to actinics for 2 hours before going to moonlights for the remainder of the 24 hour cycle. I am looking to get around 80 - 100 pounds of live rock for the tank shortly and already have 55 pounds of live sand for the substrate.
 
I am a little confused on closed loop systems and may have gotten a little crazy creative. I purchased a fluval 405 and ran the intake from the middle of the tank. The intake on it is modified and running through a fluval 240 skimmer. I modified the out lines of the filter to run through a SCWD and pumped it to either side of the tank to create an alternating current. Not sure if this is proper or not. Any feedback here? My goal is to have a reef tank so not sure if I am on the right track or not.
 
It sounds ok, I think the flow through the SCWD wont be as much as needed and you will need some power heads.
 
When the T-5 actinics come on leave them on till the moons switch on...
 
kender

kender

Member
The moonlights are are automatic so they click on when main's click off. So now that I have water, sand, and salt in the tank (1.022 sg and 31ppm where the numbers last time I checked if I remember), how do I get the tank to start its cycling process? I am still trying to find some live rock at a reasonable rate in my are area but being land locked makes its oh so expensive and hard to find.
 
geoj

geoj

Active Member
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kender http:///forum/thread/380176/new-tank-questions#post_3308319
The moonlights are are automatic so they click on when main's click off. So now that I have water, sand, and salt in the tank (1.022 sg and 31ppm where the numbers last time I checked if I remember), how do I get the tank to start its cycling process? I am still trying to find some live rock at a reasonable rate in my are area but being land locked makes its oh so expensive and hard to find.
If this is a FOWLR then the 1.022 sg is ok, I would go 1.023 and top off at 1.024.
If this is a Reef then I think start at 1.025 and top off at 1.026 would be more to the Inverts liking.
 
If you are going to get live rock then the waste on it will start the cycle, if you have to buy dry rock then put it in the tank then push the cycle by ghost feeding it.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by kender http:///forum/thread/380176/new-tank-questions#post_3308252
 
I am a little confused on closed loop systems and may have gotten a little crazy creative. I purchased a fluval 405 and ran the intake from the middle of the tank. The intake on it is modified and running through a fluval 240 skimmer. I modified the out lines of the filter to run through a SCWD and pumped it to either side of the tank to create an alternating current. Not sure if this is proper or not. Any feedback here? My goal is to have a reef tank so not sure if I am on the right track or not.
No your thinking is logical and yes a CL is a self contained loop as your describing.....an input to the pump and out through the SCWD to the tank!!!!!! It should be fine....I know the SCWD had issues with premature wear/failure of the internals, but should be ok, since your not pushing mad flow through the thing. I would still think you'd need additional flow via PH's of some sort as suggested earlier.
 
 
kender

kender

Member
Okay, so I got some live rock and place it in the tank. I tried to take some picture with my phone so they aren't the best but here they are.
 

 

 
 
 

 

 
So yea, my live rock came with a little pest from what I have been reading. I will get a peppermint shrimp when I add my cleanup crew after the cycle completes to take care of it. There are actually three of them all on the same rock and its on the bottom of the aquascape. As far as flow goes what if I add a second scwd/cl system and plumb the pipes to lower levels in the tank? I really want to try and keep powerheads out of the tank if possible.
 
Oh, and tank conditions are as follows:
 
Phosphate 1 ppm
pH 8.0
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
Specific gravity 1.028 (I know its a to high and plan on a water change once cycling is complete.
Salinity 37
 
What else should I be testing for???
 
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