Fishmonger70's 75 Gal Reef Journal

[TRe]

btw even the ugly pieces of "dead" rubble i threw in my sump are now cover in pink coraline

 

[Fishmonger70]

No, but it does need to be alive. Should I leave the bioball chamber empty or should I put something else in it. Should I leave the Pre-filter pad in. Its nice to have in cause it catches any crap that might get in the system.

 

[Fishmonger70]

Ok, will sift through the bucket of tonga rock and pick out the nice pieces and put those in the sump. They don't have any grwth on them what so ever. I will have to pick up a small PC light to put on top of my sump then.

 

[FishGeek]

We got pieces and 'junk' rock from the bottom of the bins at my LFS when we had SW. The more porous and lighter the better.

 

[Joe Fish]

You could save the tonga for coral frags... It won't take long for LR to become beneficial. Fiji would be better than tonga just because it's more porus.

 

[TRe]

hey all those pieces of rock you say are dead will become live if u put them in either the sump or display tank... id use them all!

 

[Fishmonger70]

Ok, bioballs are out and chamber is empty. Filled up Main chamber with tonga rock minus areas where heater and skimmer are.

 

[TRe]

sounds good! i know how bad u wanted to leave the bio balls in but u did the right thing how bout some pics?

 

[Lorna]

I agree, you've done the right thing. People confuse the term "live rock" and think it refers only to rock covered in coraline or other "visible" growth. The term live refers to rock that is coated in beneficial bacteria and unless you have some mighty microspopic vision I doubt you could tell just by looking at it if it were live or dead. Any rock that was in the previous set up is probably live and will benefit your new set up. Bioballs are okay in a fish only tank where nitrate buildup isn't a major concern......but are not recommended in a reef due to their becoming a nitrate sink. As to the filter pads, that is hit or miss but would need to be kept clean to be effective. I would definitely upgrade on your skimmer......pm me, I have a used Aqua Remora Urchin Pro that I used in my sump on my 75.....works great and maybe we could work out a deal.....

 

[TRe]

u get a new skimmer lorna?

 

[Fishmonger70]

Thanks Lorna, I might just do that. It will have to wait a week though. I'mgoing on vacation next week and I won't be around. When I get back my light fixture will be waiting for me and I will be ordering my live rock. I will send you a PM when I get back in town. I will try to snap a pic of the tank tonight and post it before I leave town in the morning. It cleared up quite a bit overnight from the sand storm so you can actually see inside the tank now.

 

[Fishmonger70]

Well boys and girls, I'm back home from vacation and I have an updated pic. I also changed my water flow a little from what it was. I now have 2 Koralia 3's and a Koralia 2 for powerheads so thats 2300 GPH of flow plus I have my return, which is approx 600 GPH itself. Hopefully it's not too overboard. I think it's safe to say that I shouldn't have any dead spots now. My lights should be here by Tuesday and I am ordering 90lbs of LR this week. I'll keep em coming as things progress.

 

[sweetpickles7]

Thats a very nice looking tank you have there. Cant wait to see this start taking shape.

 

[Fishmonger70]

I'm looking at a Aqua C Urchin Pro skimmer and am wondering which is a better pump...the Rio 1400 or the Mag-Drive 3

 

[Joe Fish]

I'm not a fan of the rio line of pumps. I would say the mag drive would be better. I think the mag drive might be a little bigger though.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Nice looking tank! The Mag drives are always a favorite, durable pumps. Not sure about the Rios.

 

[Fishmonger70]

Thanks. Yeah, I've heard a lot more about the mag drives and not much about the Rios. I think I will stick with the Mag drive. It's a few bucks more but probably worth it.

 

[Lorna]

worth every cent for the mag upgrade.....

 

[FishGeek]

I like Mag Drives too. Im running one on my Tidepool filter thats on my 90G and I used them when I did SW too.

 

[Fishmonger70]

Yeah, I think I'm gonna go with the Urchin Pro with the drain fitting and the Mag Drive 3 pump or is the drain fitting not necessary? I sometimes go out of town for about a week and it would be nice to have an option to have a container to collect extra waste.