Dan's 90 - for real this time!

[saltwaterwannabe]

Well, I am looking at a sandstorm tank after a looong time waiting to setup. I am still routing wires, building a new supply pipe with tees for gfo, carbon, uv, etc. I tried the pvc tube method to put the sand in but the bag slipped and now I have a sandstorm. I will post more pics later.

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[saltwaterwannabe]

I have high hopes that my tank will be ready for coral this weekend, although the sandstorm is looking to be the one issue I cannot fix in time. Here is a little history on my tank...

I bought it used on Craig's List 2 Christmas' ago and it has been in my Kitchen, utility room, and garage on more than one occasion. I buffed out a few scratches, and resealed it. I added supports to the stand and shifted one original support then refinished it. The inside was caulked, primed, and received several coats of alkyd enamel paint.

I have been picking up equipment periodically, some from other ARC members, to add to the setup. Here is what I have in the tank or soon to install atm:

Oceanic 90 gallon bowfront
Trigger Emerald 26 sump (from ARC member)
Jebao DCS 5000
Bubble Magus Curve 5
Apex with temp, conductivity, and 2 Ph probes (from ARC member)
Apex water alarm
Apex Dos pump (from ARC member)
32" Reefbreeder V1 (from ARC member)
Avast ATO and peristaltic pump (from ARC member)
Trigger Emerald 5 gallon ATO tank
Finnex 300 Watt deluxe titanium heater
Aqua 40 watt UV (from ARC member)
2 x Hydor Koralia pumps (from ARC member)
5 stage RODI with 2 GFO cannisters (part from ARC member)
2 x 32 gallon mixing station stacked vertically with a rolling 42 below
40 lbs "dead" Caribsea aragonite
Approx. 5 lbs sand from my 16 month old biocube

I still need to make a cover for the tank since I do not plan to use the glass tops. I am at a loss on how to make the cover with the bowfront and plan to research it.

The rock was purchased from two ARC members. The rock was bleached, well rinsed, and has been curing in a 42 gallon brute for almost 9 months at 80 degrees F, air, top to bottom low flow, MicroBactr7 and regular ammonia feedings. Before I moved the rock to the wet tank, it was eliminating a half cup of ammonia before the following 24 hour test regularly, long after stopping the MicroBactr7 doses. I cannot imagine fitting more rock in the tank and put a bunch in the sump temporarily. I may actually pull some of the rock out as I move my Biocube contents. I have a lot of golf ball and fist size rocks that I gradated, I may use it in the sump, but had planned to grow cheeto.

After plumbing and leak testing for a week, I set the tank up in the living room this past Saturday, filled it with saltwater and added Stability. Next I added the sand, which will be the subject of another post.

I have the skimmer working on 10 gallons of WC water from my biocube. I was amazed that it produced gunk in less than an hour.

I have high (likely false) hopes that the tank will be ready for coral this weekend with a close eye on water parameters for a while.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

I did a 20% WC yesterday trying to suck out as much of the fine sand coating as I could see in the foggy tank. I added a hefty does of Stability after hearing that the bacteria will bind to the particles, adding weight to the sand and making it clear. I have no idea if it was true but figured extra Stability could nothing but help it cycle faster and could help with the sand. Whether it is from time, WC, Stability, or a combination of the three, the sand cleared up a lot.

My drain bulkhead started dripping last night so I pulled the drain portion of the dorso and shut the power to the tank. I had the same issue with the return pipe bulkhead during testing and replaced it with a better one, at which time I bought better replacements for both bulkheads. I am planning to replace the bulkhead tonight with a better one. Unfortunately, I listened to some posts suggesting silicone (not from ARC) when I put the prior bulkhead in about a year ago so I will be scraping the silicone out as I did with the other one last week.

I now see several areas of fine sand I was not able to see in yesterday's WC. I am planning to do a WC to remove the fine sand covering. Since I am trying to pass the mini-cycle, should I worry about the WC yet to remove some of the excess fine sand?

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

Tank clear.

For the record in case someone is reading this...the red sea 4 inch sock does not fit in an emerald 26 sump without some inginuity to fill tje holes around the bracket and 300 micron does not filter finer material than 100 micron...just sayin.

I stirred the fines out of the sand bed again and blew off the rocks. I plan to do it again tomorrow. And looking good for the weekend

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[schwaggs]

Looking good! Pretty incredible that a garbage can of rocks can consume that much ammonia!

What type of sand are you using that causes that bad of a sand storm? Seemed to last forever. Have you been running a skimmer during the sandstorm?

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

No skimmer but I was using a very coarse sock that did not vatch the fine particles. After a pm from another member I fashioned a filter out of fine filter cloth tuesday night and picked up a filter sock wednesday. The water clears about 8 hours after the fine filter or sock.

I am using Caribsea argonite but did not rinse first.

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[aquaworld75]

For future ..if sand is not 'live' from bag .. rinse prior..
even live sand sometime says to rinse prior to setup..
sorry to hear the storm and filter trouble.


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[saltwaterwannabe]

Aquaworld75;1112621 wrote: For future ..if sand is not 'live' from bag .. rinse prior..
even live sand sometime says to rinse prior to setup..
sorry to hear the storm and filter trouble.


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Lesson learned. I have rinsed sand every other time I setup a tank, I just thought this would be different for some unknown reason. Once I saw the fine filter cleared the water, I have been stirring it every few times a day and blowing the rock off. I now have to give it a really good stir to make it cloudy and it clears up to a very light haze within a couple hours. It is good enough that if I had a screen top already, I would actually acclimate and move my fish over now.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

The Odyssea light I bought for a few dollars as add on to a larger purchase from a member does not work. Im not blaming the member since it was sitting around unused for a long time. Are these worth repairing or does anyone have a small inexpnsive fuge light I can buy at tomorrow's show?

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[saltwaterwannabe]

Acclimating my fish and coral. I was expecting the lught hanging kit today and it did not show so the light holder is temporary.

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[saltwaterwannabe]

I finished moving my coral and fish. 28 months after buying the tank.....it finally has occupants. I've gotta say, I really wish I would have set this up sooner.

Coral is opening up after moving mone of the powerheads and clowns seem happy. I will add strip lighti g to lessen the shade from the center support. Still need to hook up ato and other equip, but it can wait till after the show. Still waiting for snailmail to deliver my light hanging kit.

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[saltwaterwannabe]

I have been searching online for a relatively inexpensive dc controllable set of powerheads with Apex adapter. Jebao seems the cheapest but I have not found a reputable supplier. Anyone kbow where to order or pick these up? I am interested in options if anyone has relatively inexpensive options....understood that these can cost a bit with apex controllability.

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[saltwaterwannabe]

Sump pic. I still need to add the Dos, water alarm, amd UV then clean up the wires more. I dunked the fuge light tonight and have it in front of a fan. It never stopped, but there is water inside the shroud.

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[saltwaterwannabe]

My Apex connected for about a week and has since had a NoComm error. I tried restarting the Apex several times and resetting the router to no avail. I am accessing this page through my extender, so I am sure that the extender is not the problem. I have heard this issue recurs with some users, does anyone have any suggestions other than punching lots of holes through walls to carry Ethernet directly to the unit?

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

The thin cyano coat is already cleared. Looks like the first minicycle passed and curing the rock for 9 months worked like a charm. 9 months was longer than needed but it looks to be working out. All old coral is doing better than ever. Half the coral I picked up at the show is coloring up or showing decent extension after transfer. The other half is another story but most of those were a gamble at a few dollars a piece.

I have never had acros before winning some at the show. They have some extension, but not enough to say they look good yet. I will he checking parameters again and maybe moving them elsewhere in the tank. I would not have bought them with a new tank but will give them a try. Ive read up on them now but if there are some basic concepts I missed I am all ears.

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[saltwaterwannabe]

My skimmer was bubbling over and had filled the whole skimmer section when I got home. It took me a minute but then I remembered dosing something last night I have used in my biocube but not with a skimmer. That has to be yhe culprit. Any suggestions other than turning the skimmer off for a few days?

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[saltwaterwannabe]

My skimmer was bubbling over and had filled the whole skimmer section when I got home. It took me a minute but then I remembered dosing something last night I have used in my biocube but not with a skimmer. That has to be yhe culprit. Any suggestions other than turning the skimmer off for a few days?

The product was Seachem Stress Guard that I added since my cardinals decided to have a go at it and one is injured. I could not catch it without tearing my rock out, so I added Stress Guard in an effort to give him a chance until I had time to catch him. No sight of the injured fish but my skimmer overflows like crazy when I turn it on. I have my polishing sock in the sump, doubled the return flow, and re-leveled the saltwater in the sump due to the increased flow. Does anyone have any ideas when the skimmer will stop overflowing when I turn it on or ideas of how to improve the current situation?

 

[aquaworld75]

Sounds like the skimmer is 'skimming' out the product (assuming the water level in sump or settings for skimmer haven't changed) . If your skimmer collection cup has a drain plug, run a hose to a bucket and let it skim it out. It should calm down after a few cups or gallons of water. Or you could keep an eye on the collection cup and keep emptying until it calms down.


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[saltwaterwannabe]

Aquaworld75;1113729 wrote: Sounds like the skimmer is 'skimming' out the product (assuming the water level in sump or settings for skimmer haven't changed) . If your skimmer collection cup has a drain plug, run a hose to a bucket and let it skim it out. It should calm down after a few cups or gallons of water. Or you could keep an eye on the collection cup and keep emptying until it calms down.


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That seems to have helped. I emptied about 3 gallons of water through the skimmer. It is not quite back to normal but is not overflowing.

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[saltwaterwannabe]

Aquaworld75;1113729 wrote: Sounds like the skimmer is 'skimming' out the product (assuming the water level in sump or settings for skimmer haven't changed) . If your skimmer collection cup has a drain plug, run a hose to a bucket and let it skim it out. It should calm down after a few cups or gallons of water. Or you could keep an eye on the collection cup and keep emptying until it calms down.


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Back to fully normal operation now. Thanks

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