Question about Live Rock and Heating

[brandonsivek]

LOL Thanks Gemmy! Another couple of things I have found as well are about 6 small Kenya Trees and a single Orange Ricordia Mushroom. I may not be able to put fish in for a while, but I have enjoyed just sitting in front of the tank and discovering new things!

 

[al&burke]

Looks really good, great deal - however one of the rocks looks like lava rock, I don't know if that is good for SW, see what the others think. Post 12 first picture. It is going to look great once you get some corals and fish, good for you. I have read that lava rock has metals in it.

 

[hunt]

Ive read that too, but i also have a large lava rock like that in my tank (for 3ish years) and i havnt had any problems.

 

[al&burke]

That is good to know Hunt, the rock is really good in FW - I know that - I call it the live rock of FW tanks. Plants like a little iron in their diet.

 

[brandonsivek]

Thanks Al and Hunt! Thats good to know, the guy I bought all the rock from had it in his tank for over 2 years so I guess it was okay.
Here is another question. I am wanting to upgrade my lighting, but dont know what I want to do. My 125 Gallon has 2 braces on the top, so there are 3 seperate top sections. I wanted to do like 2 36 inch T-5 HO lamps, but they would meet in the middle where there is no brace for the legs. And I SURE dont want to spend what the 70 inch lamps are going for. Any suggestions on good lighting that isnt expensive, and would fit on my tank?
Thanks so much,
Brandon

 

[al&burke]

It all depends on what you want to have in the tank. Corals like softies don't need as much light as LPS or SPS. Lights are very expensive part of this hobby, I have a 65 gallon tank 3ft long with 6 - 39 watt T5HO lights. You might want to look into getting MH with T5HO actinic lights. LED are getting popular these days. I started slow with lighting when I first set up I only had 2 T5HO lights, being a newbie I went and bought an anemone then the good people on here told me they need more light - so then I eventually bought another two sets. I can pretty much have anything in my tank now - clams SPS any corals, as long as my water parameters are good. Look around on the Internet see what is available but lighting is a huge part of your budget in this hobby. There are a lot of good people here that I am sure will chime in and help you out. Good Luck< I look forward to seeing this tank mature.

 

[brandonsivek]

Thanks so much Al, LOL its funny, everything else I have so far I have gotten really good deals on, but lighting......well, there is no cheap way around that I have learned. The only things I have as far as corals go are mushrooms, zoas and kenya tree. These are pretty much all I want to keep in my tank, but would like to add different types later. I was loking around on the internet and I was thinking of for now, getting a Odyssea 72" 384W Power Compact Advance. It has 8 T-5 HO's 4 of which are Actinic, the other 4 are 12,000's. Also has 6 Bluemoon Duel LED's. I know this isnt the best lighting but I think it would be a big step up from what I have now. This would just be temporary until I could invest in something better. Do you think this would work for now?
Thanks so much Al,
Brandon

 

[al&burke]

I just googled that it says Power COmpact, I may be looking at the wrong light, but if it has T5HO lighting then it is good, you still have a lot of time - your tank is cycling (I think) - have a look around like I said the MH and T5HO combo one's would be great on your tank. PC light bulb replacement costs are huge.

 

[brandonsivek]

Thanks a lot Al, I am deff going to keep looking around. I appreciate the input.

 

[brandonsivek]

Okay everyone, have a question. I have been getting mixed reviews about how long it takes for a tank to cycle with cured liverock out of a very established tank. I have had Ammonia present and still is, but its almost like it skipped the nitrites completely during the cycle and went straight to the nitrates. Just seemed kinda strange to me. So anyways, here are my readings.
PH 8.2
Ammonia .50
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5.0
Temp 78
What do you guys make of this? Is it heading in the right direction? I guess that strongly cured liverock will help it along faster but just seemed strange to me that the nitrites never seemed present. This has only been a week, but I cant see the process reversing and showing nitrites when nitrates are already becoming present. I am probably completely wrong about this but just wanted yall opinions.
Thanks so much