90G Tank Build

[govolsguy31]

Eggsellent

That does seem a little low on the salt grav though

It is. 1.025 is about where it should be for reef, right? Should I worry about gradually bringing it up, or am I ok to just add a few cups of salt directly into the tank at a time since there's nothing in it besides live rock? My only concern with doing it that way was if it didn't fully dissolve and got mixed up in the sand, causing issues later down the road.

 

[Squirrel_reefer]

It is. 1.025 is about where it should be for reef, right? Should I worry about gradually bringing it up, or am I ok to just add a few cups of salt directly into the tank at a time since there's nothing in it besides live rock? My only concern with doing it that way was if it didn't fully dissolve and got mixed up in the sand, causing issues later down the road.

everyone will tell you something different but you should have it between 1.023 and 1.026 so generally I run at 1.024 which is in the middle and its also matched up to my LFS salt grav so it works out perfect. To bring it up I would just try to do a good water change and maybe put one extra helping of salt into each bucket or however you do it. check it again and if you over salt just change out with some fresh RO water. luckily since there is no fish in there you can afford to do some tweeking

 

[govolsguy31]

everyone will tell you something different but you should have it between 1.023 and 1.026 so generally I run at 1.024 which is in the middle and its also matched up to my LFS salt grav so it works out perfect. To bring it up I would just try to do a good water change and maybe put one extra helping of salt into each bucket or however you do it. check it again and if you over salt just change out with some fresh RO water. luckily since there is no fish in there you can afford to do some tweeking

Sweet. Makes sense. I'll give it a week or so and do that. I've heard topping off with saltwater is another good way to do that too. I'll get it raised over the next few weeks.

 

[Squirrel_reefer]

Yea for sure, the salt doesn't evaporate from the water so if you top off with salt you'll bring it up. not to mention its slower and more controlled

 

[mhaun]

Great looking start man!

 

[govolsguy31]

Still no detectable amount of ammonia yet with tonight's test. PH 7.8, salinity 1.021 after topping the sump off with heavy saltwater.

 

[govolsguy31]

Slowly bringing salinity up with water top offs. 1.022 last night. Still no ammonia. Sprinkled a little fish food in the tank to help it along.

We did see our first hitchhiker last night! A tiny white starfish. He was on the back wall. Must have come in on the live rock. I know its silly, but cool to see something living in there!

 

[govolsguy31]

Slowly bringing salinity up with water top offs. 1.022 last night. Still no ammonia. Sprinkled a little fish food in the tank to help it along.

We did see our first hitchhiker last night! A tiny white starfish. He was on the back glass. Must have come in on the live rock. I know its silly, but cool to see something living in there!

 

[Squirrel_reefer]

Slowly bringing salinity up with water top offs. 1.022 last night. Still no ammonia. Sprinkled a little fish food in the tank to help it along.

We did see our first hitchhiker last night! A tiny white starfish. He was on the back glass. Must have come in on the live rock. I know its silly, but cool to see something living in there!

Nice, slow and steady wins the race. Now comes the hard part....resisting the temptation to throw stuff in there. In all honesty a couple damsels or chromis would help that cycle right along. The shrimp method can take a while to cycle through. If I was you I'd wait till the diatoms to appear before testing again

 

[govolsguy31]

Nice, slow and steady wins the race. Now comes the hard part....resisting the temptation to throw stuff in there. In all honesty a couple damsels or chromis would help that cycle right along. The shrimp method can take a while to cycle through. If I was you I'd wait till the diatoms to appear before testing again

Is that what you'd do at this point to get it going quicker? Would it be ok to put a couple damsels in there at this point? Its only been running 5 days or so.

 

[SandJ]

Is it one of these:
https://reefcorner.com/reef-database-index/hitchhiker-index/asterina-starfish/

Some find them harmless, some eat corals. We thought they were neat so I left them (maybe had 6 or so in the tank). Then I started finding them on top of my corals eating on them. Luckily I do not have expensive corals (were on GSP and zoas). Now I have picked dozens out of the tank. I am all about having a natural tank, algae and all lol, but these got evicted.

 

[Squirrel_reefer]

Is that what you'd do at this point to get it going quicker? Would it be ok to put a couple damsels in there at this point? Its only been running 5 days or so.

Ive put in damsels sooner than 5 days, it's a $5 fish. They're hardy. If you're worried about the fish get some biospira and Chuck em in. Honestly they'd be fine if you just chucked em in as is

 

[govolsguy31]

Is it one of these:
https://reefcorner.com/reef-database-index/hitchhiker-index/asterina-starfish/

Some find them harmless, some eat corals. We thought they were neat so I left them (maybe had 6 or so in the tank). Then I started finding them on top of my corals eating on them. Luckily I do not have expensive corals (were on GSP and zoas). Now I have picked dozens out of the tank. I am all about having a natural tank, algae and all lol, but these got evicted.

Yep, that's the ones it looks like. I saw him from the top, so can't tell for sure, but it certainly matches the description.

 

[SandJ]

Is that what you'd do at this point to get it going quicker? Would it be ok to put a couple damsels in there at this point? Its only been running 5 days or so.

I would put pure ammonia in the tank. ACE Hardware brand is safe (if you are going to be I the area I have some you can have).

I would not add fish for these reasons:
-if not quarantined you could add diseases
-when the ammonia spikes, it will damage the fish
-and if you add a fish you don't plan on keeping, you will have to catch it later. Sometimes easier said then done lol
-when adding pure ammonia, you know exactly how much your tank is capable of processing.

 

[govolsguy31]

I would put pure ammonia in the tank. ACE Hardware brand is safe (if you are going to be I the area I have some you can have).

I would not add fish for these reasons:
-if not quarantined you could add diseases
-when the ammonia spikes, it will damage the fish
-and if you add a fish you don't plan on keeping, you will have to catch it later. Sometimes easier said then done lol
-when adding pure ammonia, you know exactly how much your tank is capable of processing.

OK. How much ammonia from ACE do I put in? What do I want the ammonia to get up to?

 

[SandJ]

Shoot for 2 ppm...let me find the calculator...

Here you go (at the bottom of the page)

http://www.fishforums.net/aquarium-calculator.htm

You will need to put in the concentration of ammonia.

 

[R_C]

I realized I'm really bad at using a caulk gun. Oh well. That's why the sump is in the cabinet, right?

That is not too bad. I've seen worse. But if you are really conscious about it, just add a litter spray paint like I did

 

[govolsguy31]

That is not too bad. I've seen worse. But if you are really conscious about it, just add a litter spray paint like I did

Thats an awesome sump dude. Dual overflow and dual return it looks like?

 

[govolsguy31]

At lot has happened over the weekend. @mhaun hooked me up with a sweet Prestige Gamma LED/T5 hybrid light. Even built a sweet bracket for it with our name engraved.

Now to play with the 4 colors in the spectrum. I know it doesn't matter until corals are in there, but still really exciting! Thanks Mike!

Still basically zero on ammonia and nitrites, small amount of nitrates in the tank.

 

[Squirrel_reefer]

NOICE!!!! glad to see this coming along