Help/Advice 4 Newb
- Thread starter spikekillifish
- Start date
Here is what my final set-up is starting to look like:
2X65W Aqualight 10,000K 50/50 actinic.
Danner Skilter 250 skimmer/filter.
Two JBJ 1300 Power Heads
3" DSB w/20lbs. live sand.
20lbs. LR
Water Temp. 70F -72F
PH: 8.0-8.2
Salinity 1.023 w/Instant Ocean.
I think I may have made a poor decision with my sand base as it appears to be high in silicates (looks white but has many clear pieces of sparkling grains which I assume is high in silica). I used masonry sand as it has very little contaminants. How much worry do I have with diatoms? I am thinking of removing this sand altogether and just sticking with the Aragonite live sand or will I be OK with just adding my live sand on top of the base sand?
What are the stocking rules for inverts? I know the fish rule but nothing about stocking inverts.
2X65W Aqualight 10,000K 50/50 actinic.
Danner Skilter 250 skimmer/filter.
Two JBJ 1300 Power Heads
3" DSB w/20lbs. live sand.
20lbs. LR
Water Temp. 70F -72F
PH: 8.0-8.2
Salinity 1.023 w/Instant Ocean.
I think I may have made a poor decision with my sand base as it appears to be high in silicates (looks white but has many clear pieces of sparkling grains which I assume is high in silica). I used masonry sand as it has very little contaminants. How much worry do I have with diatoms? I am thinking of removing this sand altogether and just sticking with the Aragonite live sand or will I be OK with just adding my live sand on top of the base sand?
What are the stocking rules for inverts? I know the fish rule but nothing about stocking inverts.
in one of my issues of tfh there is article about diatoms and silicates.basicly what it winds down to is diatoms aren't bad for your tank and that healthy diatom growth is desierable because it shows health in your tank.of course if you don't want to wipe down your veiwing surface every day or two.the one thing about masonry sand that i do know is that it tends to be sharp.if you any questions about that article i will gladly reference them for you.
Spike,
I understand you may not have the money but I'd run skimmerless before using a skilter. I know because I used one on my hospital/quarantine tank. I had the same opinion as you, its' cheap and should work. Well, mine didn't produce any foam until I drilled it and added an aitstone, even still it didn't produce much foam. Then after about 6-8 months of use, the pump died. All I can say is that it was a waste of money. They don't skim well and the reviews you posted links to were for HOT FILTERS not skimmers. Remember, your live rock and DSB will provide your biological filtration. Even if you did use the skilter, it should be run without filter media. The poly filter will house aerobic bacteria that will quickly convert ammonia to nitrite & then to nitrates. This results in high nitrate levels which can be deadly to SW inverts.
At least get the prizm(which I'm now running on my hospital/quarantine tank). You can get one for at worst $70 on ebay and mabye for less if you wait it out a little. My advice is stay away from the skilters, their loud and they just do not skim.
Brian
I understand you may not have the money but I'd run skimmerless before using a skilter. I know because I used one on my hospital/quarantine tank. I had the same opinion as you, its' cheap and should work. Well, mine didn't produce any foam until I drilled it and added an aitstone, even still it didn't produce much foam. Then after about 6-8 months of use, the pump died. All I can say is that it was a waste of money. They don't skim well and the reviews you posted links to were for HOT FILTERS not skimmers. Remember, your live rock and DSB will provide your biological filtration. Even if you did use the skilter, it should be run without filter media. The poly filter will house aerobic bacteria that will quickly convert ammonia to nitrite & then to nitrates. This results in high nitrate levels which can be deadly to SW inverts.
At least get the prizm(which I'm now running on my hospital/quarantine tank). You can get one for at worst $70 on ebay and mabye for less if you wait it out a little. My advice is stay away from the skilters, their loud and they just do not skim.
Brian
Advice taken, thanks Brian. The Prizm was my first choice as well. I will wait till I get the $$$$$$. When I first decided to do this tank my intentions were to get a skimmer in a few months down the road.
On another note my nephews went to the beach today and brought back a bunch of minnows. I told them the tank is not ready for fish but it was either put them in my cycling tank (two weeks now) or have them die in a bucket. I took a look into the bucket and these were not just minnows but very interesting fish. I removed the Dwarf Sole and placed them back into one of my brackish tanks. As I netted a few I discovered that about a dozen of them were baby yellow marbled puffers all about a quarter of an inch in length, at first I thought they were eggs because they puffed up In the net. Amongst the rest were about 6 little fry (again about a 1/4" in size) that I have no idea what they are but are really cool looking. Rounding it out was a cool sea slug, some snails and shrimp. I bagged the fish and floated them in my tank. This is the kicker all of these little guys devoured some live brine within an hour of being in my tank. I have never had wild caught fish feed so soon. They are acclimating unbelievably well and not one has died (6 hours in the tank so far) except a little puffer that got sucked into the filter. I have since placed a mesh over the intakes. In my lifelong experiences of keeping wild caught fish in captivity these first few hours are the most critical. Fish that typically make it through the first night are on their way to a good life in captivity.
My SPL should be here in time to sell them to my LFS. I know the tank is not fully cycled yet but I have some sort of gift at keeping things alive and flourishing. I think that's why my nephews brought them to me.
Time to get my dig cam clicking and I am off to the library tomorrow to try to identify these little guys.
On another note my nephews went to the beach today and brought back a bunch of minnows. I told them the tank is not ready for fish but it was either put them in my cycling tank (two weeks now) or have them die in a bucket. I took a look into the bucket and these were not just minnows but very interesting fish. I removed the Dwarf Sole and placed them back into one of my brackish tanks. As I netted a few I discovered that about a dozen of them were baby yellow marbled puffers all about a quarter of an inch in length, at first I thought they were eggs because they puffed up In the net. Amongst the rest were about 6 little fry (again about a 1/4" in size) that I have no idea what they are but are really cool looking. Rounding it out was a cool sea slug, some snails and shrimp. I bagged the fish and floated them in my tank. This is the kicker all of these little guys devoured some live brine within an hour of being in my tank. I have never had wild caught fish feed so soon. They are acclimating unbelievably well and not one has died (6 hours in the tank so far) except a little puffer that got sucked into the filter. I have since placed a mesh over the intakes. In my lifelong experiences of keeping wild caught fish in captivity these first few hours are the most critical. Fish that typically make it through the first night are on their way to a good life in captivity.
My SPL should be here in time to sell them to my LFS. I know the tank is not fully cycled yet but I have some sort of gift at keeping things alive and flourishing. I think that's why my nephews brought them to me.
Time to get my dig cam clicking and I am off to the library tomorrow to try to identify these little guys.
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Glad to hear you gave up on the Skilter idea....I've known several people that tried everything to get them to work right and it just never happened.
That's cool getting those fish and all. My son was going to Maderia Beach Middle school a couple of years ago and on one of their science outings, he caught a sea slug and brought it home to me. The thing was huge! Pretty cool, but later on I found out that when stressed, this kind could release a toxic ink into the tank so I turned it loose again. The slug looked like a lettuce nudi, but the back "flaps" were not so frilly and the animal had a kind of mottling on it's body. The slug could swim with those flaps too! Very odd to see....
About your sand.....my only concern was contaminates, not silica. I use Quicrete playsand in my 55g and it's silica based too. Aside from the normal diatoms that just about any newly set up tank gets, it really hasn't been a problem.
Stocking rules for inverts......well, there really isn't any. At least, not that I know of. The most important thing to consider with inverts is compatability (this applies to corals too!), lighting needs for corals, and room to grow. Some corals get huge, some have sweeper tentacles. Some shrimp will get along fine with other shrimp, while some will hunt down and kill all the shrimp in the tank. Some crabs will be fine with fish until they get a certain size, same with some brittlestars. Best thing to do is research whatever you catch to see what it's tendancies are.....
Good luck with this, it sounds like alot of fun!!
That's cool getting those fish and all. My son was going to Maderia Beach Middle school a couple of years ago and on one of their science outings, he caught a sea slug and brought it home to me. The thing was huge! Pretty cool, but later on I found out that when stressed, this kind could release a toxic ink into the tank so I turned it loose again. The slug looked like a lettuce nudi, but the back "flaps" were not so frilly and the animal had a kind of mottling on it's body. The slug could swim with those flaps too! Very odd to see....
About your sand.....my only concern was contaminates, not silica. I use Quicrete playsand in my 55g and it's silica based too. Aside from the normal diatoms that just about any newly set up tank gets, it really hasn't been a problem.
Stocking rules for inverts......well, there really isn't any. At least, not that I know of. The most important thing to consider with inverts is compatability (this applies to corals too!), lighting needs for corals, and room to grow. Some corals get huge, some have sweeper tentacles. Some shrimp will get along fine with other shrimp, while some will hunt down and kill all the shrimp in the tank. Some crabs will be fine with fish until they get a certain size, same with some brittlestars. Best thing to do is research whatever you catch to see what it's tendancies are.....
Good luck with this, it sounds like alot of fun!!
I am having a good time watching these little guys. One of the fry looks just like a little Trigger fish. He is yellow with white spiny spots. The other remaining fish are silver with blood red to copper looking sides that change colors like a chameleon. These guys are kinda shaped like a cross between a piranha and a tiger barb. I removed the sea slug (discovered it to be a real poop machine) and one larger sea bass looking fish. I am going to the beach today to release them and pick up some live rock (rocks with green hair algae that looks like grass) and a few more inverts. Now I want more SW tanks.
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I guess the term "live rock" in this case is not the best description. These are just rocks along the beach that may have small inverts and algae on them but no corals or other living things that are protected like reef live rock has. As far as collecting I have poured over the rules for hours. With a SW fishing license a great deal of marine life can be collected. Here are just a few things that are prohibited.
Collecting of corals, scallops, and conchs.
There are links from my website (rules and regulations on collectig native fish) with more details from the Florida Fish and Wildife Conservation Commission.
Collecting of corals, scallops, and conchs.
There are links from my website (rules and regulations on collectig native fish) with more details from the Florida Fish and Wildife Conservation Commission.
I couldn't resist (was going to wait till I got my Aqualight) and picked up some small peices (.08lbs total) of LR today just for the heck of it. The pieces I bought came from the Gulf of Mexico in keeping with my native theme.
The pieces are covered with red and purple coralline algae and I noticed some very small feather dusters. One piece has lots of very small white donut shaped growths as well as some white spirally thingies. I selected these pieces from a tank in my LFS's main filtration system and not from the tank with all the LR. They were the best looking of the lot IMO.
I placed each piece as high as I could and directly under my 15W actinic (about 8" below the light). Will this is enough light to keep it going till next week? I also added the other JBJ 1300 PH.
Soon after I added the PH a sandsifting crab I caught at the beach started to raise 1" long white "feathers" and began filter feeding. These guys are cool and make a great addition to a reef tank with a DSB flopping from place to place to feed from the current.
Since I have an RO filter in my house and can do frequent water changes I may skip getting a noisy protein skimmer altogether.
I am really digging this tank so far and thanks for all your help and comments and I hope you keep them coming. All the fry are doing great as well.
The pieces are covered with red and purple coralline algae and I noticed some very small feather dusters. One piece has lots of very small white donut shaped growths as well as some white spirally thingies. I selected these pieces from a tank in my LFS's main filtration system and not from the tank with all the LR. They were the best looking of the lot IMO.
I placed each piece as high as I could and directly under my 15W actinic (about 8" below the light). Will this is enough light to keep it going till next week? I also added the other JBJ 1300 PH.
Soon after I added the PH a sandsifting crab I caught at the beach started to raise 1" long white "feathers" and began filter feeding. These guys are cool and make a great addition to a reef tank with a DSB flopping from place to place to feed from the current.
Since I have an RO filter in my house and can do frequent water changes I may skip getting a noisy protein skimmer altogether.
I am really digging this tank so far and thanks for all your help and comments and I hope you keep them coming. All the fry are doing great as well.
Here is an update for any that are interested.
I am now down to a couple of puffers (from 6) but the rest of the fry are doing great. The puffers killed each other off until the 2 largest remained. The little Trigger is doing really well and the other fish I have yet to ID. The red plants I collected turned out to be red macro algae and are attractive. I picked up a couple of Polka-dot Hermits from my LFS as they are a native species to FL. I also had them throw in 6 spare shells that were covered in purple coralline algae (to help seed the tank).
My temp. drops too 80F. (26-27C) when lights (30W. total) are off and climes to 82F (28C.) when they are on (1 degree higher since I added a second powerhead). When I put in the Aqualight am I going to have to go with an open canopy to keep the temp down? The Aqualights come with built in cooling fans.
I have a couple of more questions:
Should I get the 96W Aqualight or the 130W? I am thinking the 130W might bring up my temp. too much. Both are 10,000K 50/50 actinic, but the 130 has 2 bulbs w/dual plugs for alernating lighting time and the 96 has only one.
I there such a product that is a good phosphate remover that can be placed in my filter (AC mini) and be left in there for a month like my activated carbon?
Thanks again for any help, comments, or suggestions.
Spike
I am now down to a couple of puffers (from 6) but the rest of the fry are doing great. The puffers killed each other off until the 2 largest remained. The little Trigger is doing really well and the other fish I have yet to ID. The red plants I collected turned out to be red macro algae and are attractive. I picked up a couple of Polka-dot Hermits from my LFS as they are a native species to FL. I also had them throw in 6 spare shells that were covered in purple coralline algae (to help seed the tank).
My temp. drops too 80F. (26-27C) when lights (30W. total) are off and climes to 82F (28C.) when they are on (1 degree higher since I added a second powerhead). When I put in the Aqualight am I going to have to go with an open canopy to keep the temp down? The Aqualights come with built in cooling fans.
I have a couple of more questions:
Should I get the 96W Aqualight or the 130W? I am thinking the 130W might bring up my temp. too much. Both are 10,000K 50/50 actinic, but the 130 has 2 bulbs w/dual plugs for alernating lighting time and the 96 has only one.
I there such a product that is a good phosphate remover that can be placed in my filter (AC mini) and be left in there for a month like my activated carbon?
Thanks again for any help, comments, or suggestions.
Spike
The amount of lighting you get depends on what corals you want to keep. With 130 watts you should be able to keep all but the most light demanding corals. On the other hand, either fixture is going to produce much more heat than your current set up. Try running it with the tops on but I think your going to have to go topless.
Is the 130 watt aqualight a 2 x 65 watt set up?
Brian
Is the 130 watt aqualight a 2 x 65 watt set up?
Brian