Starting a 10 gallon reef

rotarymagic

rotarymagic

Active Member
take that white branch out on the left side and smash it in two or three with a hammer and chisel... It just looks odd in that tank with its present shape. one its three different branches, you can make some crazy zoanthid and ricordea colonies. Also is there anyway you can top up the tank to the black trim or will the outflow not work right? You can always elevate that powerfilter.
 
mckevinfang

mckevinfang

Member
here's the new pics!!

parameter readings as of today
salinity = 1.023
PH = 8.0
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Ammonia = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 0 ppm
Temp = 81'F
Pics with MH turned off
hows it look so far?
oh i added 6 turbos and 4 tiny BLH
 
subielover

subielover

Active Member
Good start, I think you should add a background, either blue or black, that way you can't see all the wires and other stuff in the back of the tank. Have you aquascaped yet?
 
mckevinfang

mckevinfang

Member
Originally Posted by NaNo-NeWb1983
http:///forum/post/2791692
WOW!!!! Looking freaking awesome man, im excited for you... lol
lol thanks man!!
Originally Posted by subielover
http:///forum/post/2791698
Good start, I think you should add a background, either blue or black, that way you can't see all the wires and other stuff in the back of the tank. Have you aquascaped yet?
how about a black back? i have aquascaped but not sure i like this one yet lol
 
mckevinfang

mckevinfang

Member
ok i think i just had a crazy/cool idea let me know if this could work and how i should go about setting this up
"my evil laugh" lol jk
i have my girlfriends 5 gal tank laying around with sufficient lighting. would it be possible to create that into like a fuge? and run my 2 HOB filters and the skimmer on that tank? and only have the powerheads in the DT? it will add more room in my 10gal and look a lot nicer.
i would place it under my tank and have it run back up
- if i should do this how should i set it up?
- any picture or diagrams would help a lot

- what do i need to buy?
- do you guy think its a good idea?

i dont want to spend more than $50.00 on the setup
 
nano-newb1983

nano-newb1983

Active Member
WOW! that sounds like an awesome idea. Cant help ya on how to do it tho, definitly interested in the HOW TOO part. I would do it too
 
rotarymagic

rotarymagic

Active Member
looks like you broke up the branch.. looks good now.. I noticed you got a cpr skimmer, be prepared to clean out the intake thing because algae will grow there... it gets clogged alot so be forewarned lol. My aquafuge 2 used to make me angry.
 
mckevinfang

mckevinfang

Member
Originally Posted by Rotarymagic
http:///forum/post/2792079
looks like you broke up the branch.. looks good now.. I noticed you got a cpr skimmer, be prepared to clean out the intake thing because algae will grow there... it gets clogged alot so be forewarned lol. My aquafuge 2 used to make me angry.
lol i didnt break up the branch yet its now in the back as a support beam but i do intend to hammer that thing down like you suggested
. i've heard the stories of the CPR and i plan to take action when time comes

any suggestions on the fuge or should i say sump?
do i need a battery powered pump what will happen if the electricity goes out? will it over flow in a sump/fuge?
 
rotarymagic

rotarymagic

Active Member
Originally Posted by mckevinfang
http:///forum/post/2792299
lol i didnt break up the branch yet its now in the back as a support beam but i do intend to hammer that thing down like you suggested
. i've heard the stories of the CPR and i plan to take action when time comes

any suggestions on the fuge or should i say sump?
do i need a battery powered pump what will happen if the electricity goes out? will it over flow in a sump/fuge?
I'm not familiar with HOB overflows and such.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Originally Posted by mckevinfang
http:///forum/post/2792299
lany suggestions on the fuge or should i say sump?
do i need a battery powered pump what will happen if the electricity goes out? will it over flow in a sump/fuge?
I have my pumps hooked up to an APC UPS system. Whenever the power goes off it immediately switches over to battery backup and can power the pumps for about 8 hours. Plenty of time for most outages... If it's longer than that I could switch over to a generator. Having a few battery operated pumps is not a bad idea if you don't plan on hooking everything up to a UPS... The least you can get are some battery powered air pumps.
Whether or not it overflows your fuge in a power outage is totally dependent upon how you plumb your system. The return line that sends water from the sump and into your tank needs to only be an inch or so below the water level. So this way when the power goes out it will siphon down to the opening on your return line and then stop. If you were to place your return nozzle deep within your tank then it could possibly siphon your whole tank out...
You need to leave enough room in your sump/fuge so that water flowing from the display tank will not overflow the sump when the power goes out. This may cause a problem with your HOB filters... It depends on how low you can get the water level in the sump and still have the HOB filters operate.
Basically you want the display tank to drain down to the return line and then stop. Water from the display will flow into the sump and fill it up, but not overflowing. If you can get it to operate like this then you will not have a problem with overflows in a power outage.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Ok... noticed a few things. First it looks like you have some Amquel... Amquel binds toxic ammonia into a less harmful state. The problem with this is that if the ammonia is bound up, then the bacteria which feed of it do not get enough to eat. You want a strong, healthy bio-filtration system. Bacteria converts ammonia to nitrite and then nitrate. Nitrate is relatively harmless and is easily removed with regular water changes or live rock and a fuge with macros. If you use something like Amquel, you bind the ammonia up so that the bacteria can't utilize it. What this means is that the rest of the bio-filtration process stops or slows down dramatically.
In the long run it's always better to rely on natural filtration to keep your tank in balance than relying on chemicals to do it for you. If you have a good water filter such as an RO/DI system or "The Tap Water Filter" and you do regular water changes, you won't need to use products like Amquel which are normally only used in emergency situations.
Second, I noticed you have iodine. Iodine is very poisonous. If dosed improperly you can kill all the bacteria in your tank. If the bacteria dies, then you will have a tank crash and your water will become poisonous, possibly killing everything. If you want to dose iodine then you need to first get a test kit for it if you don't already have one. Iodine should be dosed at 0.06ppm and not much more. There is some debate as to whether or not it is even necessary. The only reason I dose iodine is because I also use ozone in my tank. Ozone reacts with iodine and practically eliminates it from the aquarium. I dose it just to replenish what the ozone takes away.
This leads into the next suggestion... With all the chemicals you have you need test kits for all of them. If you dose your tank with calcium it can negatively affect your alkalinity and magnesium if dosed improperly. These are necessary for a stable pH and for coral health. The trace elements shouldn't really need to be dosed that much unless you plan on not doing many water changes. Regular water changes will replenish trace elements that are lost over time.
It looks like you are getting off to a good start... Keep it up.
 
mckevinfang

mckevinfang

Member
Originally Posted by Sly
http:///forum/post/2792481
You need to leave enough room in your sump/fuge so that water flowing from the display tank will not overflow the sump when the power goes out. This may cause a problem with your HOB filters... It depends on how low you can get the water level in the sump and still have the HOB filters operate.
Basically you want the display tank to drain down to the return line and then stop. Water from the display will flow into the sump and fill it up, but not overflowing. If you can get it to operate like this then you will not have a problem with overflows in a power outage.
thanks for the info great stuff
do you happen to have any pictures to help me?
Originally Posted by Sly
http:///forum/post/2792496
In the long run it's always better to rely on natural filtration to keep your tank in balance than relying on chemicals to do it for you. If you have a good water filter such as an RO/DI system or "The Tap Water Filter" and you do regular water changes, you won't need to use products like Amquel which are normally only used in emergency situations.
This leads into the next suggestion... With all the chemicals you have you need test kits for all of them. If you dose your tank with calcium it can negatively affect your alkalinity and magnesium if dosed improperly. These are necessary for a stable pH and for coral health. The trace elements shouldn't really need to be dosed that much unless you plan on not doing many water changes. Regular water changes will replenish trace elements that are lost over time.
It looks like you are getting off to a good start... Keep it up.
SUPERB INFORMATION TO KNOW THANKS AGAIN I WONT USE THEM UNLESS ITS AN EMERGENCY
AND ILL GO AND GET SOME MORE TEST KITS.
CAN YOU POST A PICTURE OF YOUR TANK? THANKS
 
mckevinfang

mckevinfang

Member
picking up my new SPS corals tomorrow!! heres a pic of what im getting


what do you guys think?
should they be placed up high in the middle or near the sand bed?
ill post picks when i get them
 
nano-newb1983

nano-newb1983

Active Member
Originally Posted by mckevinfang
http:///forum/post/2793736
picking up my new SPS corals tomorrow!! heres a pic of what im getting





what do you guys think?
should they be placed up high in the middle or near the sand bed?
ill post picks when i get them
Those look amazing, cant wait to see them in your tank
 
mckevinfang

mckevinfang

Member
Originally Posted by Sly
http:///forum/post/2794216
I have a few semi recent pictures in this thread: https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...=329913&page=3
your tank looks great love all the urchins
dont they eat corals though?
Originally Posted by NaNo-NeWb1983
http:///forum/post/2794301
Those look amazing, cant wait to see them in your tank

me to. looks like i wont be able to pick them up until Wednesday afternoon. pic's will follow right after i'll also do a water change and post parameters
 
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