gypsybrat
New Member
Todays the day I get my clean up crew that I ordered from Saltwaterfish....and thanks to all of your wonderful and informative posts, my little inverts will have a happy home 
To think, this all started cuz I had 15 minutes to kill before Hollywood Video opened. I wandered into everyones "favorite" pet store and fell in love with Mr Picasso Triggerfish! Little did I know at the time that this infatuation would cost me my left arm, right arm, and a couple toes......
Skipping the video store, I searched the internet for information and found myself here :happyfish
The past 3 months I have been studying like it was the night before finals....honestly, I didnt know the difference between Nitrates and Nitrites :notsure: After reading the prerequisite books, OO7's posts -'101 everything' and numerous other posts, I started gathering up the equipment I would need for my reef tank.
Due to size constraints, my little friends new home will be a 45 gallon with a 38 gallon sump with the following equipment:
5 inch DSB
50lbs live rock and 30lbs base rock
Euro Reef protein skimmer
2 Maxi Jet 900 powerheads
2 MH 175 watts 13k
2 Ebo Jagar 150 watt heaters
Mag Drive 9.5 return pump
A note on the cycle - I threw in a shrimp to kick start the cylce , but not ascertaining how long to keep it in there, it stayed in the tank like an unwanted relative for 10 days - nasty nasty nasty! 5 weeks after collecting what was left of the shrimp, and the past 10 days with these readings, my water perameters are as follows:
Specific Gravity: 1.025
PH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: roughly 1 ppm
Alkalinity: "high" (I know, need to get a better test for this)
The denizens arriving today are:
5 Nassarius Snails
3 Mexican Turbo Snails
20 Astrea Snails
10 Blue leg Hermit Crabs
10 Scarlet Crabs
3 Emerald Crabs
1 Coral Banded Shrimp
5 Peppermint Shrimp
2 Brittle Stars
3 Feather Dusters
2 Queen Conches
My Fish List, to be added later
Threadfin Anthia
Pajama Cardinalfish
Sixline Wrass
Percula Clownfish
Remember Mr Picasso Triggerfish that started this all????? oh the irony of it all!
Anyway, I will probably add some Anemones soon and way down the road will look into Corals.
I also commited 2 OOPSES. I got my new Iwaki pump and proceded to check it out in the bathtub....after a couple minutes of it fully submersed, it decided to go up in a puff of smoke. First OOOPS! Iwaki pumps are NOT submersable! I can laugh at this because I am still alive LOL. Second OOOPS, peel of the bluish film that covers the reflectors on your MH lights before running them......saves hours of time spent scraping it off after its melted
That I think wraps it up. Again, I thank you all for your insights and experiences you all share on this board. I for one can say I would be totally lost without it, and so would my poor aquarium inhabitants. If there is anything you see wrong with the setup, or any pointers, I am more than happy for suggestions!
James
To think, this all started cuz I had 15 minutes to kill before Hollywood Video opened. I wandered into everyones "favorite" pet store and fell in love with Mr Picasso Triggerfish! Little did I know at the time that this infatuation would cost me my left arm, right arm, and a couple toes......
Skipping the video store, I searched the internet for information and found myself here :happyfish
The past 3 months I have been studying like it was the night before finals....honestly, I didnt know the difference between Nitrates and Nitrites :notsure: After reading the prerequisite books, OO7's posts -'101 everything' and numerous other posts, I started gathering up the equipment I would need for my reef tank.
Due to size constraints, my little friends new home will be a 45 gallon with a 38 gallon sump with the following equipment:
5 inch DSB
50lbs live rock and 30lbs base rock
Euro Reef protein skimmer
2 Maxi Jet 900 powerheads
2 MH 175 watts 13k
2 Ebo Jagar 150 watt heaters
Mag Drive 9.5 return pump
A note on the cycle - I threw in a shrimp to kick start the cylce , but not ascertaining how long to keep it in there, it stayed in the tank like an unwanted relative for 10 days - nasty nasty nasty! 5 weeks after collecting what was left of the shrimp, and the past 10 days with these readings, my water perameters are as follows:
Specific Gravity: 1.025
PH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: roughly 1 ppm
Alkalinity: "high" (I know, need to get a better test for this)
The denizens arriving today are:
5 Nassarius Snails
3 Mexican Turbo Snails
20 Astrea Snails
10 Blue leg Hermit Crabs
10 Scarlet Crabs
3 Emerald Crabs
1 Coral Banded Shrimp
5 Peppermint Shrimp
2 Brittle Stars
3 Feather Dusters
2 Queen Conches
My Fish List, to be added later
Threadfin Anthia
Pajama Cardinalfish
Sixline Wrass
Percula Clownfish
Remember Mr Picasso Triggerfish that started this all????? oh the irony of it all!
Anyway, I will probably add some Anemones soon and way down the road will look into Corals.
I also commited 2 OOPSES. I got my new Iwaki pump and proceded to check it out in the bathtub....after a couple minutes of it fully submersed, it decided to go up in a puff of smoke. First OOOPS! Iwaki pumps are NOT submersable! I can laugh at this because I am still alive LOL. Second OOOPS, peel of the bluish film that covers the reflectors on your MH lights before running them......saves hours of time spent scraping it off after its melted
That I think wraps it up. Again, I thank you all for your insights and experiences you all share on this board. I for one can say I would be totally lost without it, and so would my poor aquarium inhabitants. If there is anything you see wrong with the setup, or any pointers, I am more than happy for suggestions!
James
