First attempt at reefing 75G build

[rockstarta78]

Welcome to R2R. Nice setup. I am actually itching to start a discus tank. I love discus. I think my wife might leave me if I start another tank. . Do you have pictures of your old discus tank?

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Welcome to R2R. Nice setup. I am actually itching to start a discus tank. I love discus. I think my wife might leave me if I start another tank. . Do you have pictures of your old discus tank?

It was great having discus. I was very fortunate to be local to one of the most respected suppliers in the industry.

Just be prepared for LOTS of water changes if you buy smaller fish. Also beat advice is buy from a reputable source. NEVER buy from an LFS

I got mine from Kenny Cheung. His fish are incredible. His monthly import list usually sells out within hours

I grew these beasts out from about 3"

Tons of work but amazing watching them grow and develop color and pattern

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Welcome to R2R. Nice setup. I am actually itching to start a discus tank. I love discus. I think my wife might leave me if I start another tank. . Do you have pictures of your old discus tank?

If you decide to go discus I'll shoot you a link to my tank journal on SD. Will save you lots of time and money lol. Made some early mistakes but fortunately corrected the issues and had great success

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Just a quick update since my entire purpose here is to share the good, bad and the ugly. Here we are at the ugly.

Fuge light arrived. Chaeto will be here tomorrow so hopefully will help

I think this chaetomax light looks great. One complaint! The mounting bracket does not fit over a rim!! Ugh oh well guess one more diy project

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Chaeto from unique corals arrived today. Was planning algae barn but have been out of stock

 

[Will Milberger]

It was great having discus. I was very fortunate to be local to one of the most respected suppliers in the industry.

Just be prepared for LOTS of water changes if you buy smaller fish. Also beat advice is buy from a reputable source. NEVER buy from an LFS

I got mine from Kenny Cheung. His fish are incredible. His monthly import list usually sells out within hours

I grew these beasts out from about 3"

Tons of work but amazing watching them grow and develop color and pattern

Amazing!

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Amazing!

That is I was pretty happy with the success. Started out all wrong and had to make a lot of changes. Started with juvies in a planted and that's a big no no

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Hey guys so here is a dumb newbie question.

I tested my alk and it's sitting right about 7

Owning a pool business I have access to all the bicarb I could ever want. It's food grade bicarb. Can I use this to raise alk or is it not worth the risk?

 

[Will Milberger]

It should be good.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

It should be good.

Thanks for the response

Will go 2 part or kalk dosing eventually but figured this would be a good option for now, especially with especially no livestock in the tank.

Am curious why it's at 7 though since with the blue bucket red sea it should be 8 or 9 can't remember.

Made the mistake of not having the alk,cal,mag rests right away but figured it didn't matter much during cycle

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Well I don't know if it's pure coincidence it timing or if it has anything to do with my fuge startup but algae is suddenly significantly less. I can't imagine the chaeto is working that quickly

 

[Bob2bob Verified Admin]

Nice build! looking forward to following as you're a few months ahead of me with a similar setup, get to learn from you

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Nice build! looking forward to following as you're a few months ahead of me with a similar setup, get to learn from you

Thanks. I'll try to make the mistakes before you do and save you the trouble lol

My salinity was low. Guessing from removing so much water while trying to tune skimmer. Fortunately no livestock so a couple cups of salt brought me right back to 35ppt

I am astonished at how quickly the algae is going away. Just wish nitrites would follow suit lol

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Hey guys needs your advice. So I have been doing my best staying patient with the cycle but it has been a standstill for some time now. I know it's a slow process...

Anyway have been using api test, fully aware not the most reliable, but figured good enough for cycle.

I have been reading nitrite of 2-5 and nitrate of 20 for a couple weeks now

Tonight I decided to dig out my seachem test which has a small amount of reagent left.

Seachem test shows as 25+ nitrite and 50+ nitrate. That's as high as the test goes.

Should I consider 50% wc at this juncture?

The diatom bloom I had has mostly gone away.

Thanks

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Algae looking much better. Have this single hairy spot

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Should I yank this piece of algae or just let it do it's thing

 

[ryboy707]

Should I yank this piece of algae or just let it do it's thing

Get the rock out, and scrub the algae off. Where are you at in the bay area? Do you have an RODI unit?

 

[ryboy707]

Oh and grab some snails

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Get the rock out, and scrub the algae off. Where are you at in the bay area? Do you have an RODI unit?

What is it? Something concerning?

I am in the east bay and yes using RODI

Haven't gotten any inverts yet because tank is still cycling

 

[ryboy707]

What is it? Something concerning?

I am in the east bay and yes using RODI

Haven't gotten any inverts yet because tank is still cycling

Just looks like a giant blob of hair algae. You need to stay on top of that. It can get out of control fast. And since you have no corals it's easy for you now to take the rocks out and scrub them with a tooth brush. Whats your phosphates at? Might have to use some go already. How long has the tank been cycling? Did you dump a bottle of bacteria in when you started?