mpitzer

yea he was MIA for the first two days. good now though. here is a better pic. wis I could respond to yor q's but my stupid keyboard hates forum for some reason.....this took 3 mins to type

Everyone, I just added this purpl firefish to the tank on Friday. He has been all good up until now when I went downstairs and he was chilling on the sandbed barely moving. It looks like he has ich but ive never dealt with it before so I wanted confirmation. I don't have a QT so that's out of the question unless someone wants to quarantine him. He also have a strange looking clearish growth or parasite looking thing behind his right fin. Please let me know if this is ich and how I should treat the tank. I have a few zoas, palys and a Duncan in the tank.

I have started to notice some ripping on the base of the Duncan but I am not experienced enough to diagnose whether this is the result of too much flow. I have a 36"x18"x20" tank with an MP40 placed in the middle of the left side of the tank that runs at 35% max lagoon and short pulse while the lights are on. The Duncan was placed about 12" to the right of the powerhead and I feel like the flow bouncing off the opposite side of the tank is too much. I have moved the Duncan below the powerhead but still unsure whether I should decrease the flow rate. I also have some zoas and paly's in with the Duncan so im not sure if decreasing the flow would hurt those guys. Let me know what you think based on the picture below.

Good Morning, I have had my tank up and running now for 1.5 months. Had a little diatom algae bloom at the beginning which has been taken care of by the snails. Was wondering about lighting duration though....I have my radion xr30s currently programmed on the radiant color setting at 50% max turning on at 2pm and shutting off at 9pm at which point it slowly runs from 3% to 0% until midnight. Is there a rule of thumb on the # of hours lighting should be on? Regarding coral, I am looking to start some zoas or other soft corals in the near future. Do I need to start dosing calcium/alk or are zoas pretty hardy and can survive/thrive without it. I wouldn't go into any LPS/SPS until I have a full dosing setup in the future but trying to get my green thumb going and get some experience in the meantime. If zoas would be okay, how would it affect my lighting schedule. What intensity should I be running after they are acclimated? Thanks for any advice. Matt

The nitrite and nitrate tests are very easy to read. Never had a nitrite reading and nitrate spiked around 10 and has dropped to around 2.5

Also, I am using a salifert ammonia test kit and I want to make sure I am reading it correctly. When I follow the directions and hold the test vial to the white piece of paper, the water is slightly cloudy but there is no yellowish hue to it. Although its slightly cloudy, I would not compare it to any color other than zero ppm......would that be your interpretation?

Thanks Tom.

I am looking to introduce a firefish to the tank this weekend and was wondering if I should do a water change before I add the fish? The tank has been up and running since January 15 and I haven't done any water changes.

Alright, so I went and talked to Vince at Quantum Reefs and he told me to keep cycling it for another few days and monitoring. I did notice yesterday a bunch of little slugs or snails crawling around on the glass.... at least its a sign that something can live in the tank. Are these small snails? I'm sure they will make a tasty treat for a wrasse soon enough.

That is excellent news! Ill take a sample to quantum reefs tonight to make sure my readings are correct. Thanks for the responses.

Good Morning All!! Although originally planning a 60G cube build, I ended up changing my mind for a 57G Deep Dimension standard aquarium. I finally got around to starting the tank on Sunday, January 22 so it has been up and running for 5 days now. I got some established live rock and live sand from Big Sarge's tank on Thursday January 19 and kept the rock in a holding tank with 50/50 established water/new water with a powerhead and heater added on Friday. So, filled the tank on Sunday and put the rock, sand, and around 20% established water and 80% new water in the tank that day as well. Have tested three times this week and as of the test last night, have not seen any ammonia or nitrites but get a nitrate reading around 10ppm. I have been reading about cycling and know that "some" tanks can be cycled immediately with established "stuff" but I would find it hard to believe that I would be in that boat. Would appreciate any help I can get regarding how these readings should be interpreted or whether the cycle just hasn't started yet and what I could do to jumpstart it.

following. please be my mentor.

+1 on the FTS. Also, I really want to see your sump setup after seeing the first few pictures in this thread. Looks clean and I want to mirror my 60g sump setup after you.....and now it should be really clean

I am not planning on running a refugium unless I splurge for a trigger system ruby cube sump. Right now, my sump doesn't have a refugium area, it has the main drain area where I would put the Reef Octopus 110SSS skimmer, a 1.5" baffled filter area, and a return section.

Am I good with the equipment for now as long as I get an ATO?

Good Afternoon Everyone, After three months of buying equipment and reading, I am finally ready to start setting up the FOWLR aquarium. I am a little reluctant to set it up now given that I have a 2 week vacation at the end of December but I also assume that it would be a good time to buy some live rock and get it cycled. Here is a list of what I have so far: Tank and Stand 16G Sump w/o refugium (Drain section/filter baffles/return section) Salt RODI System 250W titanium heater with controller 2 wES MP10s Reef Octopus 110 SSS Tunze Recirculation Pump (634 GPH) Ecotech Radion G3 and tank mount Vertex Cerebra Prima Controller Going to buy an ATO this week. Please advise on any other necessities that I absolutely need before starting the process. Also, any thoughts on whether it would be a good idea to hold off until after my vacation next month would be appreciated. Thanks, Matt

Please update this with your review. I just ordered one this morning

Nevermind. I'm a dummy and measured it wrong. It's only.5" haha

Good Afternoon all, I am currently looking for some powerheads for my 60G cube. However, my glass is .75" thick so I am trying to determine whether the manufacturer specs are guesstimates or absolutes. If I go Vortech, MP10s are out of the question based on their max tank thickness and I am thinking two MP40s would be overkill. Was also thinking about the maxspect gyre or hydor controllable but both are on the cusp at .6" max tank thickness. I would appreciate any help concerning the selection of powerheads for my tank. Will I have to go with the MP40s or full internal suctioned powerheads OR is .75" close enough to .6" that it wouldn't be a problem. Thanks, Matt

GODdarn its gorgeous. When I said "most intimidating," I meant intimidating to my wallet. I just purchased a 60g cube and like you, I am taking my sweet time to make sure I have everything I need before setting it up. I am in love with the Ruby cube from Trigger but its pricey....you got a H-E-double hockey sticks of a deal on yours. Maybe I will wait to see about the next group buy and get everything I need then.

Holy Schnikes!! That is the sexiest and most intimidating sump ive ever seen!!! please teach me....

thanks for the advice guys!

Good Afternoon everyone, I recently had one of my quarterly urges to start a saltwater aquarium and get back into the hobby after a brief stint in college around 2006. I have purchased a 60G cube/stand/sump/LED light/pump that I plan to start setting up in the next few weeks. The tank has obviously already been drilled and plumbing was provided. The extent of my very limited experience was a 30G tank that I had for 6 months at my college apartment where I kept some live rock and damsels. Due to my inexperience, the fish ended up dying and it really had a negative affect on my mindset as I questioned whether I was really fit to be a tank owner. Sustainability was on the forefront of my mind back then and still now as I dont want to kill any of these beautiful creatures due to inexperience and perceived irresponsible practices. I am planning to take the first few months doing a lot of research and slowly building up the tank. I live about a mile from the Quantum reefs store in Springfield so I expect to be spending a lot of time in there learning about the most sustainable practices while also keeping a 'reasonable' budget in mind. I am super excited to be part of this group and learn from the most experienced reefers as well. My plan is to spend the first three months conditioning the tank with live sand/rock while purchasing the necessary equipment for fish and inverts. I am currently looking for a protein skimmer (likely 100G if it will fit), one or two powerheads, and potentially an RO/DI filter pending everyone's thoughts on here. My previous tank used the fine white live sand which I loved but may be too fine when putting powerheads in the tank. Any recommendations for equipment and substrate would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Matt