My First SW tank

[Cliff519]

I’m very happy to see the ammonia jump up to .50 ppm.

I’m amazed at how much live stuff is on these formations (live rock) in the ocean. I mean that it’s one thing to read about it, but its another to experience it. In the below pics you can see the darker coloured rock is the live, uncured rock. After two days of being in the tank, ammonia is .50 ppm. Also, the water got very cloudy over night. Another thing that caught me off guard was the smell. You’d swear I have a 4 day old dead salmon hidden in the basement. I filled my reactor with carbon to help with the smell. It should pass on its own in a few weeks but I can’t wait that long.

I spent a few hours moving the live rock around until I found a look that I like which also allowed for good flow and lots of hidding places for the new live stock (when the tank is ready). But I will likely change it a few more times as I look at it more.

After making many adjustments to the sump, I’ve made up my mind to up grade the sump before adding any livestock. I found a really good deal on a 55 gallon so I bought it today. Going to get some plexiglass sheets and put the baffles in this weekend so I can hopefully have it up and running a few days after. There just isn’t enough room in my sump anymore after getting the Vertex 180 skimmer.

 

[FLESHY]

Its a lot of rock, but I think you will get it worked out.

 

[Cliff519]

Ya, I'm starting to think that as well. I do want around 120 lbs of rock to help ensure good bio filtration, but a 90 gallon doesn't have a good foot print for that much rock. Once I get my new sump in place I think I will be putting some of this rock in the sump to help with the arranging of the rock in the main tank and free up some tank space.

 

[FLESHY]

Good plan. Although I once had 140# in a 75...it was a grouper cage!

Everyone would come up to the tank, and say..."Why is there a tank with no fish?"

*Holds a silverside at the top of the tank*

*THWACK**SPOTTED GROUPER*

"Oh..."

 

[Cliff519]

Getting close to the end of the first week of the cycle. The new skimmer seams to be breaking in nicely as its starting to take a lot of crud out of the water and I have yet to adjust anything on it. The water has really cleared up nicely. Tested the water this morning and got the following readings: PH 8.2, ammonia 2, nitrite 0, nitrate, 10. I completed a 25% water change to bring down the ammonia and help keep it just under 2. Looks like the dye off is done now as the “dead salmon” smell is almost all gone now. I’m going to take a water sample in to our SW LFS tomorrow to be tested just to make sure my test kit is giving me accurate readings. I was a little surprised at the ammonia spike up to 2 from 26 lbs of live rock in about 100 gallons (total) of water

Tomorrow I’m going to see if I can get some pcs of glass cut so I can put the new sump together.

 

[FLESHY]

Dont shy away from acrylic when building a sump. Easier, and safer to work with, and cheap too!

PS - Most sushi enthusiasts will tell you that dead salmon shouldnt smell like that. I know what you mean though because its hard to get fresh (ocean caught, vs great lakes) salmon here in central wisconsin.

 

[Cliff519]

Dont shy away from acrylic when building a sump. Easier, and safer to work with, and cheap too!

PS - Most sushi enthusiasts will tell you that dead salmon shouldnt smell like that. I know what you mean though because its hard to get fresh (ocean caught, vs great lakes) salmon here in central wisconsin.

I know next to nothing about acrylic so you'll have to pardon the beginner level questions here. I thought acrylic needed a special adhesive? Can I use aquarium safe silicone to glue acrylic to glass ?

 

[FLESHY]

You may be able to. Heathd is the person to talk to about this. My work with acrylic is limited, and I have only used it by itself.

When you "glue" acrylic to acrylic, you need a special glue that actually melds the two joints together.

 

[Cliff519]

You may be able to. Heathd is the person to talk to about this. My work with acrylic is limited, and I have only used it by itself.

When you "glue" acrylic to acrylic, you need a special glue that actually melds the two joints together.

Thanks Fleshy.

My SW LFS recommended a local glass shop in town that stocks 1/4" glass. I called them this morning and they will have all of it ready by this afternoon for me, all cut to fit. This should be a little easier for me as I have worked with glass and silicone before.

I'll post some pics this weekend when it's all done.

Can't wait to have it done and set-up

 

[Cliff519]

I finished up-grading my sump today. I made the new sump out of a used 55 gallon tank I bought. I had glass pcs cut at a local glass shop to use as baffles. I siliconed them in place and let it cure for 36 hours. I also built a little stand for the skimmer to sit on as I’ve made the baffles so the sump will hold the maximum amount of water, a lot more water than the last sump. I replaced my old return pump with a new quite one 6000 and re-did some of the plumbing so I can have the reactor hooked up to the return pump as well.

I did the power fail test a few time with different levels of water in the sump to find the max and min levels in the sump so there will be no spills should the power go out. As only 10 to 12 gallons will drain out from the tank, the new sump can more than handle that amount of water draining back.

I also now have a compartment for live rock and some macro algae. I already have a light fixture for the sump from an old 20 gallon I have. When the tank is done cycling, I’ll move some live rock in the sump.

I now have a total of approximately 125 gallons (90 gallon display tank and 35 gallons in the sump).