It's up & running!

[byronious]

My 125g is up and running. Will post pics tommorrow hopefully. Added approx 20 llbs live rock to the approx 90 lbs dry rock. Also 20lbs live sand to the existing 80lbs dry sand. I have liquid in the skimmer collection cup. Haven't seen any bubbles up top but the liquid in the cup stinks to high heaven. I am taking that as a good sign. I am going to test the ammonia tomorrow.

I also have the timer for the daylight T5s set and working. Maybe tomorrow I can get the actinic and moon lights on a timer. One problem I do have is the tank is to warm, almost 80° I have the two heaters in the sump turned way down. Not sure if the extra heat is from the lights or the in sump return pump.

My wife, grandson & I sat looking at the tank for quite awhile hoping to see something crawl out of the live rock. No luck.

 

[revsgirl]

Woo! Hoo! Congrats!! Lookin' forward to those pics!!

 

[KSzegi]

Congrats!!

 

[Connie]

Congratulations on your new tank and Good Luck!

 

[wysiwyg]

congrats looking forward to some pics

 

[byronious]

Okay here is the picture I promised. Wife laid out the rock the way she wanted. (translation, if she likes it, I am smart enough to like it too)
Now the waiting game. Plus I need to get the temp. down a few degrees.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Congrats!!

 

[Reef Keeper 18]

Nice!! Good options with a tank that size, have you decided what type of tank it will be yet? FOWLR, reef, predator?

 

[Russellaqua]

Nice!! Good options with a tank that size, have you decided what type of tank it will be yet? FOWLR, reef, predator?

+1

Isn't this the most painful part, sitting and waiting for the cycle to finish? Congrats on getting it all set up. Have fun with stocking and keep us updated on everything.

 

[byronious]

Hope to set it up as a reef tank with soft corals.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Can't wait to see how it progresses!!

 

[byronious]

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement.

[h=2]Ammonia Level in a new tank[/h]

I have a newbie question to ask.
125gallon w a 25g sump
20lbs of live rock with 80 lbs dry rock (approx)
20lbs of live sand with 75lbs of dry sand

running my protein skimmer from the start.

Ammonia after 4 days is still reading 0 same as Friday

should I not be running the protein skimmer?
Should I toss a piece of shrimp into the sump?

I thought I was looking for a spike and then a drop in ammonia. oh:
​

 

[Aquaph8]

The amount of ammonia in a new tank can vary from tank to tank. What your worried about is not adding more livestock (waste) than the bacteria levels in your tank can handle. Give your tank a month to settle in, you may or may not have stuff in your rocks that will start to die off (all dry rock varies). Tossing a piece of shrimp in the tank is fine, just give your tank some waste to get your cycle going. The most important thing at this point is being patient and letting things develop and mature naturally. The biggest mistake I see new hobbiest do is get excited and add too many fish too fast.

 

[Aquaph8]

Congrats on the new tank, looking forward to it progress.

 

[caudill187]

Great setup and great advice. In reference to the comment on tank temperature, I would suggest putting the heaters on a controller. One step better would be the heaters and a fan of some sort (over a sump, clip on the tank), both controlled to maintain temp. You should be able to accomplish this pretty cheaply.

 

[byronious]

Aquaph8, I am not rushing into it. lol I hope to add a fish or two by Dec 1st!
I just thought I should be seeing some ammonia by now.

 

[bknapp]

I wouldn't worry too much about 81*, that shouldn't cause any issues if it stays closer to 85* than you may run into issues. Being too cold is also an issue. The rock work looks good. Walmart has clip on fans for around $10, I have two on my tank one on the tank and one over the return section of my sump. Best of luck with the build.

 

[byronious]

Still reading 0 on an API ammonia test. But now on most of the dry rock I have a light brownish red algae starting to grow. Too soon to order a first wave (1 of 3 or 4 waves) of CUC? Skimmer is still off for now.
Thanks

 

[Titus]

I have had luck dosing a small amount of pure ammonia in the tank to get it started. You must make sure it is PURE ammonia... most grocery store ammonia has scents and/or soaps. if you shake the bottle and it bubbles, then don't buy it. Ace Hardware sells the pure stuff labeled as Janitorial strength. I also recommend the Seachem Ammonia Alert. It is about $7 at petsmart and you won't have to bother with the ammonia test kit again. Put the ammonia alert and ammonia in the tank, and just check the color each morning. Once it goes back to yellow, you know the first half of your cycle is good.

 

[byronious]

On Friday the 2nd I added the following

10 small blue hermit crabs
3 Bumblebee snails
3 Nassarius snails
1 Peppermint shrimp

One crab had shed his shell otw home from lfs. He was quickly snatched up by the Peppermint shrimp.

As of last night. All seem to be doing well.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate ~5
Calcium 480
Ph 8.4 (should I worry because this is at the max upper level? Was tested when the lights had been on for 5 hours.
If so, what should I do?)
Wife wants to order more snails, crabs & shrimp asap. What does everyone think?