swimmatte

Maybe they meant the other way around? Having the contractor get the permit while they did the work?

How big of a tank are you talking about? I would think that as long as you aren't removing any actual structural beams then you'd be fine without a permit. There's a big difference between a structural wall and one that isn't. Not really sure about a contractor for that work. Good luck!

Yep. No sump. I checked my levels again and my Nitrates have come down a bit. Still 0 and 0 for Ammonia and Nitrites. I'm really thinking that the LR and LS has allowed me to cycle in 2 weeks. I'll probably head over to either Aquarium One or Congressional tomorrow to pick up a pair of clowns. Thanks! Edit: Forgot to mention that I did a 20% WC after taking my readings.....

Significant water change first? Try to get the Nitrates down? What are your thoughts on adding a CUC before adding fish? My plan was to start with a pair of clowns when I went in the fish direction. My complete readings are: pH: 8.0 Calcium: 420 Alkalinity: 160 sg: 1.026 Temp: 80 Phosphate: .25 (using API kit) Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 60 Equipment: 56g Reef Octopus bh1000 Koralia 700 Maxi-Jet 1200 Aquaclear 70 (Just running Chemipure Elite, which was added yesterday) (2) Kessil a150w 15,000k Ocean Blue LED Fixtures

Just tested again today (I took the shrimp out this afternoon), and I'm 0,0,between 40 and 80.

I started my first SW tank two weeks ago and have a question about the cycle. My tank is 56g with almost 60lbs of live rock (taken from tanks that have been established for over a year), 20 lbs of live sand, and some regular aragonite sand. Along with the rock came a brittle starfish, a bunch of snails, some copepods, Bristleworms, etc. I've been monitoring the levels for a while which were reading 0,0,0 for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate for a while. I decided to use the shrimp idea to jump start the cycle. A few days later I was reading 0,.25, 40. Now it seems I'm reading 0,0,40+. My question is, am I ready to do some water changes to bring the Nitrates down? I'm guessing because of the active bacteria in the rock and sand (mainly rock), my tank only did a mini cycle? I may have seen a slight green tinge in my Ammonia at one point, but nothing major. I have since pulled the shrimp out btw. Thanks!

I'll take a box of IO.

I added another 30 pounds of LR yesterday and adjusted the PH's ever so slightly. It seems I now have perfect flow, both up high and at the sand bed level, with pretty much zero sand blowing. I guess the new rock is keeping the flow down slightly.

I just added another 35 pounds of live rock to the 25 pounds that I added two days ago. I'm sure this is going to change stuff quite a bit flow wise. I will try pointing them at each other as well. I'll post more pics once the tank clears as the guy I bought the rock from gave me some live sand that I decided to add to my bed, which made the water kind of cloudy. Thanks!

I am having a lot of trouble combating blowing sand with my newly set up tank. Attached is the current positioning of my set up, and as you can see, the front right corner has all of it's sand blown away. Any suggestions? The PH on the left is a Koralia 700 and the one on the right is a Maxi-Jet 1200. Also running an Octopus 1000 Skimmer and Aquaclear 70. I will be adding more rock today, as I'm headed to pick it up now. Oh, and please don't make fun of my backgroundless tank Will be taking care of that today as well.

Kessil's Aquarium Light Calculator says that for a 2'x2'x2' cube thank, the minimum light requirements are (1) a150w with the maximum requirement being (2) a150w's. They have a 2'x2' range. I happen to have one listed for sale

Yeah, I've been thinking/reading about the HOB, but decided to run one since I will not be running a sump (for now). I am only running the carbon in it right now, and that's mainly because my tank got cloudy after adding my sand, and got even worse when I added my rock, which stirred up my sand. I also went with it in case I needed to run any special media due to an issue. If I run anything at all when stocked, which I probably won't, I'll be keeping an eye on it closely. Thanks everyone!

Figured I'd introduce myself, as I'm new here. I have 3 current planted FW tanks, and have finally taken the SW plunge. I just set up my 56g with the following: 56g Maxi Jet 1200 Koralia 850 Octopus BH1000 Skimmer Current Outer Orbit 150w MH 96w x 2 PC Dual Actinic Aragonite Sand 25lbs LR (for now) Aquaclear 70 HOB I knew nothing about this forum until I randomly bought my LR tonight from a member whose forum name I do not know. I plan on adding both corals and fish, but will not be doing so until my tank has cycled. I look forward to talking to you all regularly!