It's a tankless job...

T

Threshold

New member
Being a newbie is a tankless job... ...but someone must be it. :)

I've been researching saltwater reef tanks for about two months. I have been active in that time on reef central but only stumbled into chicago reefs recently.

I'm up in round lake if there are any folks up here that can help show me the ropes! :)
 
Thank you all for your welcomes! :)

I haven't been to ShoTank yet -- I have known of that place for years (when I used to live in Vernon Hills and worked at Abbott Labs, I'd drive past ShoTank every day). I did stop by a few days ago... ...to learn that they were closed on Tuesdays. :)

Yesterday, I looked at their hours BEFORE heading over but they are closed Thursdays, too. :)

But today is the day -- I'll head there after work tonight! :) (Don't tell my wife -- she'll think I went to that area to get flowers from Flowerama for her.) :)

Thanks also to mapower125 for offering to help me out! I am not sure where to begin with my questions. I think I'll wait until after ShoTank -- because some questions may be easier in person (e.g., what to consider with how the sump is plumbed).

Right now the big struggle I have is between waiting until I've designed my ideal tank (e.g., 40-100 gallons) or getting a nano (20 or fewer) for now while I design the ideal tank. :)
 
Threshold said:
Thanks! :)

I've ordered a stand/hood from Sho Tank -- and it is there in-progress now! It should be done sometime between next Wednesday and the weekend. :)

Then I'll start cycling and then get my first saltwater fish! :)
Click to expand...

Well, what size tank did you get? Let's hear about it.
 
Sawdonkey said:
Well, what size tank did you get? Let's hear about it.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I keep forgetting to reply to this. :)

I bought a 75 gallon DT with a 30 gallon sump. Custom stand with hood. I also have a Photon 48 for lighting, a vertex 130 skimmer, about 50 pounds of dry rock (I'll get the live rock after the tank has been tested for leaks)...

I stopped by Sho Tank last night on my way home from work. There were a lot of people there and I had to get home -- so I didn't have a chance to ask Matt if it was completely done. It LOOKS like it is done to me! He had it set up, everything was painted, the sump had been assembled... It looks complete to me!

My current plan is:

Take the tank home either tomorrow or this weekend. (If it is done then tomorrow.)
Add three layers of black spray paint to the back of the DT.
Setup the tank in the house.
Add fresh water.
Wait 24 hours -- checking for leaks.
Add salt.
Wait a couple more days and check parameters.
If everything looks good, add live rock.
Wait several weeks, testing parameters, possibly adding additional live rock along the way.
During this time, I may purchase a pair of ocellaris clownfish and keep them in my QT tanks. I will use TTM, so the QT tanks won't need to be cycled.
After the tank has cycled, add dry rock, substrate, wait for the water to clear if the substrate makes a cloudy mess, and then bring the clowns over to their new home. :)

Then every month or so, bring additional fish and corals through QT and into the DT until stocked. :)

A few months in, add macro algae to the refugium and stock it with pods.

As necessary, add a CUC. (eg, if I am having a problem with pests then buy the snail/shrimp/whatever that eats that pest)

After a year, if the pod levels look good, get a mandy -- my dream fish. :)

Currently, my plan is to stock the tank with:

Fish
Ocellaris Clownfish x2
Firefish
One Spot Foxface
Red Head Solon Fairy Wrasse or Whip Fin Fairy Wrasse
Starcki Damselfish
Mandarin Dragonet (after the tank has been running a year)


Corals
Starburst Polyp
Cauliflower Colt Coral
Toadstool Mushroom Leather
Open Brain Coral
 
I would put your rock and substrate in and then cycle the tank. If you cycle and then put rock and substrate in you may cause it to cycle again.
 
Siebo said:
I would put your rock and substrate in and then cycle the tank. If you cycle and then put rock and substrate in you may cause it to cycle again.
Click to expand...

One thing about the substrate I probably didn't mention is that it is live sand -- so that shouldn't prompt a cycle (and won't need to be cleaned before going in the tank).

I did ask Matt (the owner of Sho Tank) about adding everything later -- I had always thought it was there for the whole cycle. He said that the algae that people often have when cycling their new tanks (for whatever reason) love the color white. The dry rock and substrate are white -- so by waiting for the tank to cycle before adding them things will go better.

The substrate should be fine. The dry rock is mostly from reclaimed reefs -- not having been alive for decades and decades. Only a few pieces showed signs of life -- like small remnants of sponge. Those pieces I am trying to clean as best I can -- so that won't prompt a cycle.
 
Just an update on things. A week and a half ago (or so), I picked up my tank, stand, hood, etc. It looks great!

After painting the black of the DT black, I brought it in. Over the next few days, I assembled the sump. This past Monday I filled it with freshwater. A day later with no leaks I added salt. A few days later (yesterday), I added 12.6 pounds of live rock. :)

I found a few hitchhikers -- some good, some bad. I have a handful of snails and a crab and one polyp of some kind of coral. I also have some aiptasia. I'm looking at that as an excuse to get a peppermint shrimp after the tank has cycled. :)

Any guess if the crab, snails, polyp, and aiptasia would survive the cycling of the tank?
 
Aiptasia will survive a nuclear bomb :). Boiling water or "aiptasia X" will work to kill them. Don't wait for a shrimp and don't try to scrape it off. Otherwise you may have a ton pop up everywhere! There easy to get rid of if it is done the right way!
 
Threshold said:
I have a handful of snails and a crab and one polyp of some kind of coral.
Click to expand...

I would pull these out until the tank is done cycling. They probably wouldn't survive anyway bc of the ammonia and it's cruel to cycle with livestock IMO. As for the aiptasia use a syringe and some vinegar. Jam the needle into them and release a little vinegar. The aiptasia will shrivel and die immediately.
 
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