First Reef Tank

[Lynchcon]

Hi Folks,
I'm posting this coz, well, it's good to share, but also to hopefully pick up a few hints..

I bought an old RSM 130 off a friend in late January. He hadn't used it in a few years and the T5s were kaput.

I've always had tropical fresh water tanks.. easy peasy.. but decided I'd like a reef tank.

I spent the next few weeks swapping out parts like the bulbs and fans (not easy to get parts for an old RSM in Ireland) before I decided to bite the bullet and order Steve's LEDs.

I installed live rock ( out of water 1 week ) and got it cycling 8 days ago... today my LED retrofit from Steves arrived and after about 3 hours toil, I installed them.

The fan on the LEDs is a little noisy but the skimmer sounds like my dishwasher. Is this normal? I've adjusted the air valve to get it performing as quietly as possible (dishwasher sound).

I bought a Tunze Nanostream 6020 (its almost silent), but otherwise components are original.. and noisy.

Been testing Ammonia/ Nitrites/ Nitrates daily and its definitely cycling.

I'm probably 1 - 2 weeks away from introducing CUC and then fish (clowns & damsels).

I think it looks great with the lights (see pic). The live rock is a little unsteady (Seachem coral glue is useless) so I'm gonna Epoxy that.

I've determined the Tunze nano skimmer will help with the noise but I've just blown my budget on LEDs so that's gonna have to wait.

Ultimately I want to have corals/ fish/ inverts...

Any suggestions, tips or otherwise much appreciated, especially with the noise coz I'm running the dishwasher constantly to convince my lovely wife that it's not the tank.. Thanks.

 

[dantimdad]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Lynchcon]

Thanks man.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Welcome! My Steves LED was a retrofit on our Biocube and we don't have the issue you mentioned so not much help here. You might shoot them an email and ask about the fan noise. They might have a tip to help quite them down.

 

[Lynchcon]

Will do. Thanks.

 

[Sod Buster]

Run the skimmer when nobody is home until you upgrade. You don't really need it until you stock some fish in there. Just make sure you have good surface agitation in the display for gas exchange while the skimmer is off, or a air stone in the sump in the drain chamber. Welcome.

 

[Lynchcon]

Yeah I was thinking I might just run it at night. Would I get away with that if I had a CUC and a few fish? I mean before I introduce corals? I'd get the new skimmer before corals.

 

[Sod Buster]

It depends how you are cycling the tank and your ammonia source. Are you using ammonium chloride, a shrimp, ghost feeding? Ammonium chloride is the cleanest way without all the gunk. When you get one fish in there, get your flow to the external drain in the middle I see in the pic to float the fish turd into it. A filter pad or sock in the sump to catch the turd. Change that pad out every few days skimming at night, and keep testing the water. Your cuc poops also, so don't go crazy until you can export the waste.

 

[SPR1968]

The tank looks great and welcome to R2R!

 

[Lynchcon]

Thanks guys. I didn't add anything to start the cycle. I presumed the dead stuff on the once live rock would do the trick. I spiked in Ammonia already and its coming down. I'm spiking Nitrite now. I have a mechanical filter in the sump area.. course and fine. Should do the trick.

I'm a little confused about the Ammonia source. Should I be adding something? Guys at LFS never mentioned it when I bought the nitrifying bacteria.

 

[Sod Buster]

What did you spike at? Anything over 2.5ppm you are good and with bottled bacteria available almost foolproof. It's all about efficiency converting the ammonia. The only reason you would add more ammonia is to document your ability to convert it. Bring the tank up to 2ppm again and it should measure 0 in 24hrs or less. That is easy and accurate using drops of ammonium. Then you are confident to get tank stocking plans in effect.

 

[Lynchcon]

Yep I was over 2ppm say two days ago and yesterday was 1.2. I'll test again later and but I reckon I'm on the right track. Thanks for you help.

 

[Captain Quint]

Welcome to R2R!

You're doing great with the tank and plans for it. LOL on running the dishwasher so the Misses will think it's that.

Glad you joined.

 

[Lynchcon]

Thanks Capt. Its definitely the friendliest and most active site I could find. Lots of great info shared here.

 

[Sod Buster]

Any updates on progression? Or did the wife pull the plug?

 

[sfin52]

 

[Lynchcon]

Ha... no still going strong, although I've heard the word divorce mentioned a few times more than I'd like. Think she's jealous!

I tried to epoxy my aquascape together and ended up breaking an integral link part off one of the rocks. Too much tinkering. I'm having to rethink the layout. Think it looks more natural now than it did and also presents more places for frags when the time comes... still might change it up slightly.

Meanwhile I've gotten a couple of clowns, a couple of turbos and a couple of red legged hermits (love these guys) into the tank. So it's just become a whole lot more interesting! Much to the delight of my lovely wife!

Tried to upload a couple of pics. Hope it worked.