My 180g peninsula build

[justingraham]

Blue hippo? I enjoy the yellow belly ones

 

[Nicolas_Brown]

A couple blue tangs would be awesome and have always been part of my stocking plan so maybe that is the way I will go... probably give it another week or so before I order them then 4 weeks in QT... tank should be more than ready by then.

Get a yellow belly!

 

[Daniel Strickland]

Yellow?? Awe come on now..

 

[Daniel Strickland]

On the wrasses... should I be sure and have a top before I get one of these?? Seen where they can be jumpers. Is this common?? See a lot of pics of tanks that have wrasse in them with no top on..

 

[Nicolas_Brown]

On the wrasses... should I be sure and have a top before I get one of these?? Seen where they can be jumpers. Is this common?? See a lot of pics of tanks that have wrasse in them with no top on..

They generally only jump when spooked. It's not a bad idea to have a screen. Brs has a simple diy kit that's esteticly pleasing

 

[bubbaque]

Where did you get your sump from? Are you happy so far with it?

 

[Daniel Strickland]

Where did you get your sump from? Are you happy so far with it?

It's a trigger systems sump I got from BRS. I like it it's a really well built but I do wish I would have gotten the next size bigger. Just need a little more volume for drain back. I have to be pretty precise on water levels so when I shut the pump down it does not overflow the sump.

 

[bubbaque]

What size did you go with?

 

[Daniel Strickland]

I got the crystal 30 which is a 21g sump. In all honesty when I ordered it I had planed on a separate 20-30g refugium also but later opted to go with a ATS instead.

 

[tj w]

I would avoid the blue reef chromis. There hasn't been a lot of success at all with those fish. The blue green chromis fare much better.

 

[Daniel Strickland]

Cycle is done!! 0 ammonia...
Nitrates are way high, but that is to be expected right??
Ran myself out of salt but UPS should bring me a big bucket tomorrow night, will get it mixed up and do a 25% water change this weekend..

Calcium is 300.. got to get that up. Ordered the 2 part starter pack from BRS..

PH wants to hover around 7.8. Got some PH booster from PetCo, it raised it to 8.2 but then I ran out and it started dropping fast. Think I'm gonna try soda ash..

Clowns are n the tank and seem super happy..

Pretty excited to get some more fish in the tank.. guess I'm gonna go with tangs based on the advise from you guys. Thanks for that... Going to OKC next weekend for the PBR event think I will pick them up then and bring'em home and start the QT process again.

So...... how long do I wait till I get my first coral???

 

[bubbaque]

I wouldn't use ph buffer or chase a ph number. If possible run a hose from your skimmer to outside to suck fresh air and it will raise your ph. Ph buffer will spike your alkalinity which could kill the corals you want to add. Which salt did you use? 300 seems really low.

 

[Daniel Strickland]

I wouldn't use ph buffer or chase a ph number. If possible run a hose from your skimmer to outside to suck fresh air and it will raise your ph. Ph buffer will spike your alkalinity which could kill the corals you want to add. Which salt did you use? 300 seems really low.

I wish I could get outside air but it's just not possible, at least not and keep the hose hiden and the "clean look" I want.. I will keep trying to figure out a way tho... I did set my powerheads up to break the surface hoping that would help but it hasn't so far.. Is soda ash a "ph buffer"??

Used reef crystals for my salt to get the tank started. Had read lots of good things about that salt. However since I have been told they are lacking. So I ordered Red Sea Coral Pro salt for water changes going forward.

I am pretty shocked about the calcium as well. I am on well water which is WAY high in calcium. Actually when I tested my straight tap water out of curiosity my Red Sea calcium test kit maxed out at over 500.. we have to use a water softener in our home. I just assumed my RO/DI unit was doing a really good job of stripping out the calcium..

 

[Higher Thinking]

7.8 is perfectly fine. You will do yourself a disservice by chasing pH. Just allow your system to do its thing.

 

[Daniel Strickland]

7.8 is perfectly fine. You will do yourself a disservice by chasing pH. Just allow your system to do its thing.

Interesting.. Thanks...

 

[bubbaque]

Soda Ash is used for the alkalinity portion of dosing 2 part. It does raise ph some but you don't want to use just to do so. 7.8 is in the acceptable range of ph.

 

[bubbaque]

Also I would double check your reading of the calcium level in the reef crystals. The calcium in reef crystals in generally well over 400

 

[Nicolas_Brown]

@Daniel Strickland just like everyone else I wouldn't chase the ph. Mine always ran that way. One thing you can try temp is getting the inlet of the skimmer outside the stand not outdoors. Also soda ash will increase alk not ph or cal

 

[Daniel Strickland]

@Daniel Strickland just like everyone else I wouldn't chase the ph. Mine always ran that way. One thing you can try temp is getting the inlet of the skimmer outside the stand not outdoors. Also soda ash will increase alk not ph or cal

Thanks for replying.. yeah I got myself confused on the soda ash. To much info to try and remember to fast.

I will run a hose outside the stand think I can make that happen without to much problem thanks.

Guess it's just gonna be one of the challenges of this hobby but sure seems to be a lot of conflicting information out there about fish, dosing, levels, and just about everything. One thing you read says one thing and it's totally different in the next article or conversation you have. Sure explains the height rate of failure in reef keeping.

 

[Nicolas_Brown]

Thanks for replying.. yeah I got myself confused on the soda ash. To much info to try and remember to fast.

I will run a hose outside the stand think I can make that happen without to much problem thanks.

Guess it's just gonna be one of the challenges of this hobby but sure seems to be a lot of conflicting information out there about fish, dosing, levels, and just about everything. One thing you read says one thing and it's totally different in the next article or conversation you have. Sure explains the height rate of failure in reef keeping.

That's the beauty of it also there is no right or wrong way, I go against a lot of what people say and do and have been successful. Iv learned to watch corals and not chase numbers, only thing I test for in my tank is alk. Best advice i can give is keep your hands out of the water as much as possible and just observe