Redoing my 187 gallon (making a reef) Super Pic Heavy!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
fishfreak2009;4720363; said:
Tank is clearing up! :nilly:

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Going to the LFS tommorrow to get the water tested. Gotta see if I can convince the parents into a coral beauty as well if my water tests out all fine. :naughty: I do know for sure that my salinity is 1.025. Temp is at 77 degrees F.


Being that the tank is brand new, you need to let it "cycle" before you can put any fish in it. You will most likely kill or severly stress anything you put into the tank right now. The bacteria must grow in the water and on the surfaces of stuff in your tank for it to be fish safe. You will need to test the water frequently for at least a couple weeks before nitrates start to show up and ammonia and nitrite are 0.
 
livebearerfreak;4721606; said:
hes had this tank before,so its not new. just cleaning it and redoiong it, looks nice btw!

I see that, however, he replaced the substrate and the water making it a new tank as far as bacterial processes go. Unless he kept most of the water which I don't think he stated.

I think it looks good too, I just think he needs to be careful and watchful because he removed a lot of the bacteria.
 
Sometimes when moving, I find it best to start over substrate wise anyways.

I had the pleasure of moving a 6" deep 125g DSB this summer, and not only did I only reuse half of his sand, I washed all the substrate that I DID use, and I lost 0 corals, and 0 fish.

Sometimes its better to be completely sterile than to have dying stuff in your substrate. My .02
 
He should expect a mini cycle. However, the rock is cured, and if he has re-used some of the water, it should go fairly quickly.

Neat tank BTW - anxious to see how it works out.
 
nonstophoops;4722251; said:
I see that, however, he replaced the substrate and the water making it a new tank as far as bacterial processes go. Unless he kept most of the water which I don't think he stated.

I think it looks good too, I just think he needs to be careful and watchful because he removed a lot of the bacteria.
He would have probably had more trouble from using the old substrate then by going with new.

With mature LR, and seeding a small amount of old sand into the new, he should have a small cycle.
 
I actually used a large portion of my old water, as well as adding a thing of bacteria from the LFS. Didn't get to go to the LFS today, but I am going tomorrow (I went skiing all day :nilly: ). I also kept all the sponges off of the old filtration moist in saved saltwater, and they are now in the overflow of the tank.

As for using the old substrate is was filthy, cyanobacteria covered crushed coral. Besides the fact that crushed coral is a horrible dirt trap, it is also bad for burrowing fish like leopard wrasses and diamond sleeper gobies (both animals I plan to add).

As a side note, I lost one of the six yellow tailed blue damsels. As it turns out, my clownfish laid eggs again (in the small tank). I found the dead damsel when I got home around an hour ago, saw the eggs and all the fish huddled in a corner, and removed the eggs. Now all the fish are behaving perfectly.
 
fishfreak2009;4723013; said:
I actually used a large portion of my old water, as well as adding a thing of bacteria from the LFS. Didn't get to go to the LFS today, but I am going tomorrow (I went skiing all day :nilly: ). I also kept all the sponges off of the old filtration moist in saved saltwater, and they are now in the overflow of the tank.

As for using the old substrate is was filthy, cyanobacteria covered crushed coral. Besides the fact that crushed coral is a horrible dirt trap, it is also bad for burrowing fish like leopard wrasses and diamond sleeper gobies (both animals I plan to add).

As a side note, I lost one of the six yellow tailed blue damsels. As it turns out, my clownfish laid eggs again (in the small tank). I found the dead damsel when I got home around an hour ago, saw the eggs and all the fish huddled in a corner, and removed the eggs. Now all the fish are behaving perfectly.

Sounds good, I didn't see whether or not you had kept all those things so wanted to make you aware, but you have all your bases covered.

Getting your clowns to breed in a temporary sump with a bunch of other fish is impressive as well, I must say.

Also, I was saying he used new stuff, not that it was bad that he was doing so. I agree, it was a good idea to use new stuff and not leave detritus in dirty old substrate.
 
FLESHY;4722280; said:
Sometimes when moving, I find it best to start over substrate wise anyways.

I had the pleasure of moving a 6" deep 125g DSB this summer, and not only did I only reuse half of his sand, I washed all the substrate that I DID use, and I lost 0 corals, and 0 fish.

Sometimes its better to be completely sterile than to have dying stuff in your substrate. My .02

Agreed.

I thought you were anti DSB in the main tank?? And yikes washing all that doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun.
 
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