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55g First Marine Tank Journal

Haven't checked prices recently but I recall premiumaquatics.com to have good deals on LR when I was looking last march...
 
Good job you dont live in the UK! live rock averages between £12-£15 per kilo roughly $23-$28 :crazy: I set my sump up for about £25 then added skimmer and pump etc.
 
Today I placed some orders for Lr. I found a free sample of base rock, all you pay is $4.50 to ship a 5-6 inch piece. Ive also found a deal for 30 pounds of live rock for 3 dollars a pund from a store about an hour away from my house. The free sample of base rock is from marcorocks.com. Ill be picking up the LR on saturday.
 
Marco rocks is mad sick stuff

Where are you in jersey?
Have you joined NJRC?
IF you buy some marco rock i will some off ubecause the only sell in big boxes and i only need 6 pounds.
 
Oh by the way, I ordered the Live Rock from www.seatrademarine.com Anyone in Nj looking for LR should give this guy a call, he offers some great prices, and with the option to pick up Im saving loads.
 
Live Rock is in today. I went to Sea Trade Marine and ordered 30 pounds of fiji live rock for 3.50 a pound. I went to pick it up to avoid shipping charges. I also bought a new 50/50 lighting, a Coralife Aqualight 130w 10000k. I also have two nice peices of base rock on the way to me from marcorocks. Calcium is at 425ppm. Ammonia is at about .75ppm, Nitrite is minimal ppm, light blue is 0ppm, but the test shows a dark purple(ish) blue. Temp is steady 77-78F. Sg 1.023. I havent test Nitrate today yet. I picked out five nice sized peices of LR. Tomorrow I will be working on a DIY protein skimmer. Has anyone DIYed a skimmer or has a good link to plans for one? So anyway here are the pics

Full tank shot

Side View

Live rock pile

Different flash/lighting
 
I have not DIY'ed a skimmer myself but I have read a lot about them. Everything I read of those who tried it themselves seems to indicate that building one as tall and wide as possible is the best way to get it done. They all also say that building one was more trouble than it was worth, so only try the project if you really like workin on DIY stuff.
 
Its more about me not being able to justify paying 150 bucks for a couple feet of pvc and a couple powerheads that make bubbles. As long as it works even a little bit its saving me a lot of money. On a side note I have re-aquascaped the rock to have it show the colors better. I got some pretty nice looking pieces with decent coraline coverage. I am verry happy with my new lighting, and Im waiting to order the mounting brackets so I can raise it above my tank, and leave the top open, which I think looks much better.
 
Cyanobacteria or diatoms are starting to appear. Definately seeing brown growth on LR and substrate. Also some green algea, hoping it isnt bubble aglea. Did tests today and probably changing 5-6 gallons of water tomorrow.
SG: 1.023
Temp: 77.8
Ammonia: between 0 and .25ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5ppm, was 20 two days ago, good sign?
Ph: 8.0
So CUC time? I dont realy know much about clean up crew. Any good suggestions for type and ammount. Im definately getting a cleaner shrimp. After that species and number recomendations would be great.

If you want I can grab some pictures.
 
Just make sure you get a good mix of CC.

I'd wait a while before getting the shrimp as they are a little more sensitive than the other candidates

Personal Favourites:

Nassarius Snails
Turbo Snails
Nertie Snails
Electric Blue Hermits
 
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