Where am I ??

tigger · Jan 21, 2012

I have kept fish all my life, but I am pretty new to saltwater! So when my little brother got into saltwater, well you know I had to keep up with the Jones!! LOL And so I started on my adventure. I started with a 75g. With about 70lbs. crushed coral, and 40lbs. of rock, and a cleaner pack. And started learning about cycling and water chem. I had this set up until my move 4 months ago and have built up my stock to 9 fish. I think that I am ready to take the plunge and go to reef! I would like any and all help and advice that all of you can help me with.
I have a 125g display with a 55g sump. I just move to this house about 4 months ago. (set tank up 2 weeks before move, and all rock and sand had been in my 75g for a year and a half prior). I have about 3" of crushed coral and white sand mix in my display. And about 10" of same mix in my sump. I have about 60 lbs. of rock in the display and 50 more coming today. In my sump I have a pretty good clump of Grape Cluster micro. growing. I am buying a used Coralife 6' with 3 250 MH 20K, and 8x54w HO tubes on the 8th of next month. Ok...Ok I guess you would all like to know what livestock I have. 1 Yellow Tang, 1 Pj Card., 2 Eng. Gobies, 1 Clown, 1 Dimond Watchmen, 1 Six Line, 1 Green Crom, and 1 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp.
OK, So where am I????

Murfman · Jan 21, 2012

I think more importantly what are your water parameters? What corals are you looking at keeping? Anything you put on the sand bed is in danger of getting buried by the Engineer Gobies and Diamond Watchman. Crushed coral has a reputation of holding in nitrates. (don't worry, I am guilty of it too)

returnofsid · Jan 21, 2012

You look like you're on your way to a nice reef tank! The only changes I might suggest, and they aren't mandatory, would be to change your substrate. The options that we typically have are: Deep Sand Bed 3"-6", Shallow Sand Bed typically 1" or less, Bare Bottom.

Deep Sand Beds require a bit more maintenance, but aid in denitrifcation, if done right. Crushed Coral requires more depth than fine sand, in order to create low/no oxygen zones (Anaerobic Zones). Crushed Coral is also notorious for trapping detritus, which leads to nitrate problems. Nitrate isn't much of an issue, in a Fish Only system, but becomes a major issue, in a reef tank. The problem is, your Engineer Gobies and Diamond Watchman like the crushed coral. So, you'll want to do some research into different types of sand beds and decide which direction you'd be best off with.

The only other suggestion I'd make is to consider investing in a good skimmer. This will go a long way towards getting you the water quality that a reef system needs.

Test Test Test! Test for Nitrates and Phosphates.

Be prepared to start testing, and dosing if needed, for Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium.

tigger · Jan 21, 2012

Thanks for the info. I am working on getting some pics posted so that everyone can see where im at.

tigger · Jan 22, 2012

Well my 50lbs. of rock turned into about 70lbs. of rock!! Thank You little brother!!

returnofsid · Jan 22, 2012

and still no pictures??!! lol

tigger · Jan 22, 2012

This is the latest pic I have right now. Working on getting some up to date pis soon.

tigger · Jan 22, 2012

OK, guys!! Got up to date pics. of where I am at as of right now on my 125g reef conversion. So what do you guys (and gals) think?.......Well, I was going to load some pics, but it keeps giving me an error code #2038 and wont let me load them. Anyone know what I might be doing wrong?

tigger · Jan 22, 2012

OK, guys!! Got up to date pics. of where I am at as of right now on my 125g reef conversion. So what do you guys (and gals) think?.......Well, I was going to load some pics, but it keeps giving me an error code #2038 and wont let me load them. Anyone know what I might be doing wrong?

tigger · Jan 22, 2012

Well, I love r2r, but I don't like trying to navigate this web sight and load pics!! But I did manage to get these two uploaded. Please tell me what you think and what I need to do dif.

Murfman · Jan 22, 2012

why not use photobucket to host your pix?

I love your rock work!

tigger · Jan 22, 2012

Just got my new test kit! Readings are as follows...cal. 400 ppm, Ph 8.2, nitrate 30 ppm, nitrite 0.25 ppm. Now I just put 60-70lbs. more rock in my tank that my brother gave me. Now the rock should'nt have much dead on it since it came right out of his tank and brought right to me. I have also been doing a 20% water change once a week. Should all the new rock help me with my high nitrate?