New to Reefing, do I have what SPS needs?

[Guest PCXPRT]

Hi all, Hope everyone is well this evening...

 

I am Jim, I live in Frostburg, MD, and am eagerly anticipating the day that I can have a beautiful tank full of SPS corals. First, let me give you a little background...

 

I started with saltwater fish in spring of '03. I had a 45 gallon all glass with undergravel filter and 30 lbs of live rock with crushed coral substrate. (My LFS steered me wrong, too hard to upgrade from what I bought.) A few months ago I bit the bullet and purchased an all glass 120 gallon drilled tank with Megaflow overflows. I installed the new tank in the dining/computer room and installed my old 45 gallon in the basement as a refugium. I tied the two tanks together with a basement mounted 25 gallon sump and a Dart pump for the return. I also have a closed loop setup plumbed on my 120 gallon for more flow also powered by another Dart pump. I built a hood for the tank and installed 2- 400W Metal Halides in it. I also have 2- 25W Actinics for morning/evening viewing/warmup, and 4 led moonlights for nighttime. I have an Aqua-C Remora Pro Protein skimmer on my sump upgraded with a Mag drive 3 pump. I have 135 lbs of live rock in this system now with 120 lbs of sand. My tank is cycled, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate are all 0. PH is 8.3, DKH is 10, Magnesium is 1250, Calcium is 440. The livestock so far includes 33 Margarita snails, 2 Queen Conch snails (1 in.), 30 blue leg hermits, a Gold Stripe Maroon Clown, a Coral Beauty, a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, a Curlicue anemone and a buble tip anemone. I am dripping Kalkwasser at a very slow rate to maintain my PH at 8.3. I am also lighting my fuge off-cycle with my main tank.

 

 

Now for the questions...

I am getting a pretty heavy green haze on my glass daily. Rock has been cleaned well by the snails, but the glass needs a good Mag-floating each day to stay clear. I assume this will pass in a month or so? After it does, assuming, am I ready to start adding a coral or two? Is SPS too difficult for a starter? I don't really prefer the look of mushrooms, but I guess a Xenia or Zoanthid might be ok?

 

Fire away with the suggestions and I hope I can learn what this group has to offer. I plan on Joining WAMAS very soon also. Just testing the waters with your forum first

 

Jim

[F&Fmgr]

hi jim-

 

what kind of macro is in the fuge, how often have you trimmed it..if you trim it more frequently it will force the macro to regrow causing it to use more po4...just a thought. also try to adjust your skimmer to produce more in the collection cup

 

Welcome,

Sean

 

 

Hi all, Hope everyone is well this evening...

 

I am Jim, I live in Frostburg, MD, and am eagerly anticipating the day that I can have a beautiful tank full of SPS corals. First, let me give you a little background...

 

I started with saltwater fish in spring of '03. I had a 45 gallon all glass with undergravel filter and 30 lbs of live rock with crushed coral substrate. (My LFS steered me wrong, too hard to upgrade from what I bought.) A few months ago I bit the bullet and purchased an all glass 120 gallon drilled tank with Megaflow overflows. I installed the new tank in the dining/computer room and installed my old 45 gallon in the basement as a refugium. I tied the two tanks together with a basement mounted 25 gallon sump and a Dart pump for the return. I also have a closed loop setup plumbed on my 120 gallon for more flow also powered by another Dart pump. I built a hood for the tank and installed 2- 400W Metal Halides in it. I also have 2- 25W Actinics for morning/evening viewing/warmup, and 4 led moonlights for nighttime. I have an Aqua-C Remora Pro Protein skimmer on my sump upgraded with a Mag drive 3 pump. I have 135 lbs of live rock in this system now with 120 lbs of sand. My tank is cycled, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate are all 0. PH is 8.3, DKH is 10, Magnesium is 1250, Calcium is 440. The livestock so far includes 33 Margarita snails, 2 Queen Conch snails (1 in.), 30 blue leg hermits, a Gold Stripe Maroon Clown, a Coral Beauty, a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, a Curlicue anemone and a buble tip anemone. I am dripping Kalkwasser at a very slow rate to maintain my PH at 8.3. I am also lighting my fuge off-cycle with my main tank.

Now for the questions...

I am getting a pretty heavy green haze on my glass daily. Rock has been cleaned well by the snails, but the glass needs a good Mag-floating each day to stay clear. I assume this will pass in a month or so? After it does, assuming, am I ready to start adding a coral or two? Is SPS too difficult for a starter? I don't really prefer the look of mushrooms, but I guess a Xenia or Zoanthid might be ok?

 

Fire away with the suggestions and I hope I can learn what this group has to offer. I plan on Joining WAMAS very soon also. Just testing the waters with your forum first

 

Jim

 

 

hi jim-

 

what kind of macro is in the fuge, how often have you trimmed it..if you trim it more frequently it will force the macro to regrow causing it to use more po4...just a thought. also try to adjust your skimmer to produce more in the collection cup

 

Welcome,

Sean

 

Oh and as far as the sps go, Id say that you have proper lighting and chemistry....not familiar with the flow rates of the those pumps. Assuming water flow is enof you should be ready for sps. Two suggetions tho

 

1)do a lil research reading maybe to help you generate some more specific questions therefore getting more specific answers

2)when you decide to add sps or any stony for that matter, add slowly and test calcium frequently as the more calcium dependent animal that live in your aquarium the more calcium youll have to supplement.

once you have added a few sps to the tank(3-4 to start) Id recomend not dosing for a day maybe two maybe three maybe a week as to see how fast and how much calcium is used on a daily basis by these new animals. this will greatly help you with dosing

[Guest PCXPRT]

I have about 3 gallons of Caulerpa Serrulata and a small piece of Chaetomorpha, and Gracilaria (Tang Heaven Red). I get about 1 - 2 cups of skimmate daily. I was emptying my skimmer every other day (by necessity) so I have now installed a drain to run the skimmate off to a gallon milk jug. I also plan to sell the Caulerpa if anyone is interested. I am listing it on eBay tonight. do a search for it after 10pm eastern, it will be there by then. I have not pruned it yet. Would a phosphate removal additive be something that I might need until the Chaeto takes off and is large enough to prune?

 

The Dart pump is a 3600 gal/hr pump at 0' head, so my closed loop is supposedly flowing 3600 gal/hr, minus flow restrictions from 90's and pipe length. My other Dart pump has 8' of head, so it is flowing 1200 gal/hr. My total flow should be around 4200 gal/hr which is 35X turnover rate on my main display/hr, if a closed loop counts as turnover.

Jim

 

 

 

 

Hi all, Hope everyone is well this evening...

 

I am Jim, I live in Frostburg, MD, and am eagerly anticipating the day that I can have a beautiful tank full of SPS corals. First, let me give you a little background...

 

I started with saltwater fish in spring of '03. I had a 45 gallon all glass with undergravel filter and 30 lbs of live rock with crushed coral substrate. (My LFS steered me wrong, too hard to upgrade from what I bought.) A few months ago I bit the bullet and purchased an all glass 120 gallon drilled tank with Megaflow overflows. I installed the new tank in the dining/computer room and installed my old 45 gallon in the basement as a refugium. I tied the two tanks together with a basement mounted 25 gallon sump and a Dart pump for the return. I also have a closed loop setup plumbed on my 120 gallon for more flow also powered by another Dart pump. I built a hood for the tank and installed 2- 400W Metal Halides in it. I also have 2- 25W Actinics for morning/evening viewing/warmup, and 4 led moonlights for nighttime. I have an Aqua-C Remora Pro Protein skimmer on my sump upgraded with a Mag drive 3 pump. I have 135 lbs of live rock in this system now with 120 lbs of sand. My tank is cycled, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate are all 0. PH is 8.3, DKH is 10, Magnesium is 1250, Calcium is 440. The livestock so far includes 33 Margarita snails, 2 Queen Conch snails (1 in.), 30 blue leg hermits, a Gold Stripe Maroon Clown, a Coral Beauty, a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, a Curlicue anemone and a buble tip anemone. I am dripping Kalkwasser at a very slow rate to maintain my PH at 8.3. I am also lighting my fuge off-cycle with my main tank.

Now for the questions...

I am getting a pretty heavy green haze on my glass daily. Rock has been cleaned well by the snails, but the glass needs a good Mag-floating each day to stay clear. I assume this will pass in a month or so? After it does, assuming, am I ready to start adding a coral or two? Is SPS too difficult for a starter? I don't really prefer the look of mushrooms, but I guess a Xenia or Zoanthid might be ok?

 

Fire away with the suggestions and I hope I can learn what this group has to offer. I plan on Joining WAMAS very soon also. Just testing the waters with your forum first

 

Jim

[flowerseller]

Welcome to WAMAS.

 

You didn't mention how long your tank has cycled.

I would start out with some nice LPS and wait on the SPS for several months.

I would also replace all evaporation with KALK from here on out.

On a newly or recently cycled tank, it is not unusual to get algae nor is

it out of charactor to get it on the glass as long as you have it.

Your skimmer may be set rather high since you are producing so much wet foam,

try backing it off to produce a drier, stickier foam.

Wet skimmate removes more salt so monitor your salinity which many of us keep around 1.025-10.26.

 

You're selling calerpa on Ebay?

[Guest PCXPRT]

I have a float installed in my sump for top-off fed from my 110 GPD RO/DI filter. My tank has been cycled for only 2 weeks for now. I am not trying to rush the system, I know patience is key, I am just checking to make sure what needs done before the corals also. I did raise my skimmer cup about an inch, producing a much darker, stinkier skimmate. Yes, the Caulerpa will be on eBay tonight, thought I could make a buck off it instead of throwing it in the yard. After all, I bought my first macro on eBay also.

I am dripping about 5 gal/week of Kalk as of now.

Jim

 

Welcome to WAMAS.

 

You didn't mention how long your tank has cycled.

I would start out with some nice LPS and wait on the SPS for several months.

I would also replace all evaporation with KALK from here on out.

On a newly or recently cycled tank, it is not unusual to get algae nor is

it out of charactor to get it on the glass as long as you have it.

Your skimmer may be set rather high since you are producing so much wet foam,

try backing it off to produce a drier, stickier foam.

Wet skimmate removes more salt so monitor your salinity which many of us keep around 1.025-10.26.

 

You're selling calerpa on Ebay?

[Lee Stearns]

Jim,

It would be worth your effort to join the club- You will find we meet at various times during the year and swap out sand, marcos and corals- mostly free or tarded so you do not have to pay shipping ect. You would also get access to the members only section where a lot of the things you are asking are discussed.

It looks like you have the basics for a good system that will eventually support SPS. You would be suprised at how many folks will give you a cutting to get started when your tank is ready.

Regards,

Lee