29 Gal Build Log : My First SW Tank

[spllouder]

Ok i here you all Ill save my pennies and get the remora . First I have to save my bills for a light First .

Well i just got my 9 pound uncured figi live rock and its Great , No smell Looks Fresh . Took only 39 Hours from tank to my door step . UPS ground . Here the pics speak for them self's.

The Goodies :

 

[spllouder]

Heres i got the rock in a bucket with the rio 200 and temp is 80.5 Deg F .

I bought 5 gallons of pre mixed salt water from my LFS . i still have 2 gallons of fresh . The bucket the live rock is in only holds 3 gallons .

Heres some pics . What do you think ?

 

[TRe]

not bad...now lets see it all in the tank

 

[Lorna]

looks good better get some salt water mixed up as you will want to change the part of the water to reduce any ammonia spike. I would set up your tank pdq and get the rock into it. You should try to get all your rock in at once that way you wont have to go through mini cycles everytime you add some.

 

[spllouder]

I dont mind the mini cycles , i gona get more live rock in 2 weeks or less the final amount .

I worked hard getting 5 gallons at a time from the grocey store . They have a RO/Di Glacier Machine for $45 cents a gallon . I did FOUR trips To get 20 Gallons . man that was fun carrying a 5 gallon bottle thru the checkout four times .

So, I have 20 Gallons running now that i just mixed up been 1 hour , should i do a mini water chage on the bucket ? 1/2 gallon ? 1/3 gallon Tonight ?

tommrow morning will it be cool to put the live rock in ?


What you'all Think ?

Test photo of close ups on my camaera an old dightal kodak .

 

[TRe]

pretty good.... just imagine i get natural seawater from a lfs for my water changes and i do 30g every other week...i have 3 5g containers (like the ones u use for gas) so thats 2 trips right in the middle of a water change*crazysmil

 

[spllouder]

Ya do you go to exotc aqautic . on Oakland park blvd . I been there before they sold fresh seawater for .50 gallon . also they had RO/Di for .25 cents .

Ya i used to live in fort lauderdale for awhile . man i miss down there ...

why iam doing this reef ......

 

[spllouder]

so whould it be ok to put the live rock in ? morning ? after work ?

soon iam going MOD the aquaclear into a refuge . Pics will come .

I just bought 32 Pounds of live sand and a 1 ounce ball of cheato . says size of softball . Should be here saturday .

 

[TRe]

lol thats actually where i get my water from i love that store rob is pretty cool and always hooks me up when he can.... i just bought a house though all the way out west and latley its been easier to just go to big al's.. dont get me wrong i love big al's but its just not the same exotic is the s***

btw what made u move??? my girl wants to move out of FL in the next few years but i love it as far as reefing goes

 

[spllouder]

i check salt level . tank is 75 deg and 1.021

bucket is 80 deg and 1.018 ??? is this to low . Is this because the temp ?

 

[spllouder]

good question TRe , Well it was hurracaine willams all doing . destroyed a bulings that fell on are apt . so we just left because we really had no choice. they condemed are apt . UNSAFE they said , and i have a dag named Cali , shes a pitbull , and i could not find nowhere to go . no power , no gas , awwww. . so i left and my mom left to , came here to missouri . my moms family lives here and housing is CHEAP . Pay the SAME .

i have a 2 story townhouse apt problly 1000 sq feet for only $450 a month .

that in fort lauderdale . You know . proabbly 800-100 a month .

thats funney what you said your GF said , I said That and All my Freinds for years done there . But when its all said and done . it SUCKS .

oya , me and my friends always said , The peaple here are so Shadey , and rip you of any chance they get , and cant trust no one . Well guess what it WOrse the fater you get away from Paradise . Make peaple more hungery to Rip you off and be shady and ack like dicks .

Now i deal with Shadey ass peaple all the time here . and god dam i hate the farm boys spiting shit all the time and think they they SHi mT >

anyways if you move saty in florida i wish i did . maybe orlando or pensolcal or naples ...

 

[TRe]

well i just bought the house im in now so i have no plans of moving anytime soon she was born and raised in ft. laud and cant wait to leave...i on the other hand was born and raised in ny and moved here like 10 years ago and i remeber how misrable i was for the first few years after the move

 

[spllouder]

So shat should i do with the live rock . the salinty is low in the bucket and the temp is 80 deg ?

i want some hitchhikers , will this be liky what should i maybe exept to see ?

 

[Lorna]

You should try and bump up your s/g to about 1.025 and easier to do it now without anything in the tank. Go ahead and put your rock in ........and take a pic.

 

[spllouder]

ok i let it mix all night now iam going put the rock in . temp got low i forgot to hook up the heater last night . temp was 73 deg in the tank when i woke up and 75 in the bucket.

so....

i put the heater in the tank and gona wait till it hits 75 deg before i put the rock in . Then go to work

 

[spllouder]

looks like i did not get the s/g right ? i added alittle 1/4 cup salt to tank then added the live rock 15 mins later . only raised to . between 1.021 and 1.022 on my swing arm hydrometer . what do i do ? do i need it higher ? where did i want to keep it at ?

my lfs store premix is 1.020 s/g , Also what should i do with the 3 gallons of the pre mix SW in the bucket i used to cure the live rock . Can i use it ?

 

[TRe]

i keep my salinity at 1.024 oh and id prolly get rid of the water in the bucket

 

[spllouder]

thanks ill chuck the water in the bucket .

how do i raise my s/g ??? i have the live rock in the tank , Iam going take pics soon .

 

[spllouder]

heres a pic i have all the rock in 29 pounds total . Still gona move them around more . heres a pic :

 

[spllouder]