My New (1st) Build

[denrobare]

Well, it has been a long time coming. A lot of work, research, and $$$ just to get started, but can't wait to start watching the tank mature and come to life.

Here are the basics of tank and equipment used. Please save all judgements till you read entire post.

Tank - 120g long, 30g long sump w/ 3 chambers (skimmer, fuge, return)
Hang on the back Overflow - from AquaTraders Filtration - Overflow
Odyssea return pump (1000gph) http://www.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-WP1000-Water-Pump-p/72013.htm
60lbs dry rock from BRS BRS Reef Saver Dry Aquarium Live Rock - Bulk Dry Live Rock - Bulk Reef Supply
160lbs fine sand MarcoRocks Aquarium Products - Sand
300 watt Heater Aquarium Heaters: Marineland Visi-Therm Heaters
Odyssea 350gph powerhead http://www.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-EX350-Powerhead-p/71014.htm (currently used as powerhead/siphon pump, works like aqua lifter)
Eshopps PSK150 skimmer Reef Aquarium Filtration & Protein Skimmers: Eshopps In-Sump Protein Skimmers
BRS RO/DI unit 75gpd
DIY stand (need hinges on doors still)
1" pvc for supply to sump
1" braided nylon hose for return, split to two at tank
42" coralife light with 2 bulbs as TEMPORARY light source, planning to purchase 72" T5 fixture soon (prior to Corals).

I did a lot of research on the equipment, realized I was/am taking change with Odyssea brand, but so far they are great! No problems whatsoever, I have had the tank up and functioning for a few weeks. Just now getting to stock it.

I recently picked up 3 Yellowtail Damsels to start with. One got pulled into overflow because I didnt have the crate up high enough and he did edventually die. My bad. One other died two days later for no apparent reason and the other is still doing fine, although he is just a tiny little guy in a big tank atm. I have tested the water twice already since the day I got them (Sat) and all is well. 0ppm on everything, ph of 8, 1.025 salinity.

I do have a few questions for you more experienced reefers. First, I am getting a lot of micro bubbles in my tank from the return pump. The overflow splits with 1 line going to skimmer section and another to return chamber. I am not sure if the disturbance in the return chamber is the cause. I do have a sm. hole in each return to break siphon on power outage. I have tested power outages A LOT to make sure my house is safe.

The second question is about the dry rock. How should I go about getting it to start growing crystalline algae? Should I seed it with live rock from LFS? I did put a small frag of live rock from my sump that I bought already established from another hobbyist. But the rubble I added to the sump isnt growing crystalline algae yet and its been a few months?

I am sure I will have a lot more questions soon enough. In the meantime, here are some pics. Thanks, Dennis.

 

[denrobare]

 

[denrobare]

Still doing some maintenance and cleanup, but the bubbles from return seem to be less now then a few days ago. I ordered from foam to put on the overflow drains to help stop the splashing and bubble making in the sump, hopefully this will help. I realize the foam media will need to be periodically cleaned. I can live with that if the noise level and bubbles go down.

Any advice would be appreciated. I am planning on picking up a few more damsels since they are cheap.

 

[Bry]

Nice looking build. I really like the rockscape and openness of the tank!

 

[Bry]

Scrapings from coralline algae will help or some live rock that has it on it. I have better coralline growth with Reef Crystals than Instant ocean.

 

[wysiwyg]

very nice looking build keep the updates coming

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Looking great bro!

 

[Mr. D]

You will have to get something that already has coralline algae already growing on it for it to get into your tank, and it will take quite some time to grow onto other surfaces so be patient with it.

Maybe you could post up a video somehow giving more detail into your set up so we can help give pointers on where to help with noise and bubbles.

Tank does look good. I'd also suggest picking up a bit more live rock if you can afford it. Since all your other rock isn't biologically active, this will help seed it.


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[denrobare]

I have micro bubbles coming from the return pump as you can see in the last picture. I believe they are created from the down pipe in the return chamber splashing and creating a lot of bubbles. I bought some foam online to place over the ends of the down pipes as the water enters the sump, hopefully that will eliminate a lot of the turbulance that is creating bubbles.

Also, I am getting a large amount of evaporation it seems. Not sure if the turbulance from the overflow is causing this to increase, but its about 1 gallon every day or so. I am adding water almost daily to keep it above the return pump. Any suggestions, when I do a power outage to test water levels I do have about 2 inches left in the sump once the siphons stop, so I guess I could raise the regular running water height some.

When should I introduce a small cleanup crew? Do I need to have a lot more fish first?

Thanks for the kind words and the advice. More pics will come as I get the tank cleaned up and cables, etc. put in the permanent positions.

 

[Isoprene]

I am new to the hobby as well (almost 10 months). First nice looking set up, I am jealous that your first tank is so big!
Anyways I'll add my only real input on the evaporation. For a 120g tank 1gallon a day does not seem like a lot to me. I add 2 to 3 gallons per week of freshwater to keep my water levels right in a 55 bow front with a 13 gallon sump. So you having such a high volume of water I would assume 1 gallon a day is not bad. Then again I am no expert.

 

[revsgirl]

Looks great!!

 

[Mr. D]

Hey!

1 gallon a day or a tad more is perfectly normal for a tank your size friend. No worries there.


As for the CUC... I wouldn't start adding then until you begin getting a diatom bloom- meaning a butt load of brown algae. And you don't want to add as many as your tank can hold all at once. Say if you plan on 30-40 hermit crabs only go with a quarter of that then bump it up after your cycle is for sure finished. Same with snails.

Even though you're reading 0ppm doesn't mean you're done cycling yet since it looks like all your rock is dead except for a very small portion.

Hope that helps!

Tanner


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[denrobare]

Thanks on the evaporation info. I won't worry about it.

As for the rock, it is certainly dead. Was dry rock and I put a small piece of live rock in from my sump, how long should it take before I start seeing the live rock spread to the rest of the rock?

Also, I recently read an article that kinda put down the idea of having hermits in a tank with corals. The author was saying that hermits will hurt the corals? Any truth to this?

 

[jgraz]

First nice set up. congrats on the first tank.
As to hermits, I have never come across any that hurt corals. Bother, yes. I have some that climb on them especially the monti caps. They will kill snails for thier shells though. As for the damsels, one day you will be happy that you lost them. They will eventually turn into terrors.

 

[Mr. D]

Haha +1 on the damsel comment.

I get the same issue in my 12 gallon DT. The hermits like to run around on top of everything and knock stuff off where I place it.

If you invest in some Corrafix super glue or Aquasilk putty you can keep the corals in place just fine. That's what I did.


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[SeahorseKeeper]

The tank is looking good. I am not a hermit crab fan. I have seeing them kill snails and leave the shells behind. I also have seen them munching on my zoas. So that means no hermits for me.

 

[denrobare]

I stopped by Petco the other day along with another LFS to check out the stock. Petco had Blue-legged hermits for $1.99. I never realized they were so small. These things were tiny. The snails they had were 4-5 times the size. Are all hermits this small for aquariums?

I also picked up a nice piece of live rock from the other LFS to help seed my DT. Just a waiting game now.

 

[Newb73]

You will have to get something that already has coralline algae already growing on it for it to get into your tank, and it will take quite some time to grow onto other surfaces so be patient with it.

Maybe you could post up a video somehow giving more detail into your set up so we can help give pointers on where to help with noise and bubbles.

Tank does look good. I'd also suggest picking up a bit more live rock if you can afford it. Since all your other rock isn't biologically active, this will help seed it.


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Yea but but but......with the problems i have had in the past with both Red Cyano and Aptisia, i have sworn NEVER to put any cultured live rock into any build again. Im seriously just considering having nothing but the base rock and just going FOWLR/LS......JUST to avoid aving outbreaks of aptisia and Red Syano

 

[jgraz]

You can put all the dead rock in the display you want. It's gonna become live anyway. The live part really only refers to the bacteria. The rest of the stuff is just hitchhikers. Some of which may come in on coral or other things even snails will bring stuff in. In fact snails are an great way to add corriline algae.

 

[Mr. D]

I stopped by Petco the other day along with another LFS to check out the stock. Petco had Blue-legged hermits for $1.99. I never realized they were so small. These things were tiny. The snails they had were 4-5 times the size. Are all hermits this small for aquariums?

I also picked up a nice piece of live rock from the other LFS to help seed my DT. Just a waiting game now.

It seems odd if they're as small as you're describing. Normally they're about 1/2 an inch or more in length.


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