New Set-up

[yorkcoparamedic]

Hello everyone! I am setting a up a 30 gallon saltwater tank for the first time. So I am looking for advise and guidance to make sure I am doing things right and have the proper equipment to accomplish my goals.

Ok...I am planning on a fairly strict Indo-Pacific theme in as much as possible. I would like to create a habitat that is as close to home as possible ( as far as being trapped in a aquarium with people staring at you goes). I would also like to recreate a small scale fringe reef with some sandy area at the bottom where live plants could be used to help against algae growth. Mostly I would like inverts, soft coral, and maybe pair or two of fish.

I have been reading the forums, devouring marine life books and trying to follow directions to the best of my ability, even when they vary as they so often do.

So here is what I started out with.

-30 gallon glass tank (remnant of a freshwater tank I had in the past.)
The rest was purchased from a topical fish store in Lancaster, PA, USA.

-Arag alive reef sand -Indo Pacific Black 20lbs
-Meridian Oolithic Aragonite 40lbs
-Tropic Isle Tahitian Moon Black Gravel 20 lbs (to add more black to the mix)
This gave me a nice 3 to 3.25 inch DSB

-Fluval 205 (45g) canister filter (5 internal trays)
Tray 1- Foam Screen (Runs vertical height of canister on the side)
Tray 2- Biomax ceramic rings (Top stacked tray)
Tray 3- Biomax ceramic rings (mid tray)
Tray 4- Carbon 100gram bag (Lower mid tray)
Tray 5- Purigen 75gram bag (lowest tray)
Should I be using Bio-balls in one of the top trays and is carbon OK or should I use something else?

-Seaclone protein skimmer #100 with maxi-jet 1200 sump pump.

-Hydor koralia 1.2.3.4 Power head turbo pump

-Aqueon submerisble heater 150W

-Lifeguard digital time and temp with submersible probe ( currently probe is at oppisite end of tank from heater and at the bottom).

-Coralife T-5 series lighting 36"
21W 10K Daylight Lamp
21W True actinic 03 blue lamp

-Coralife power center
Day-Night timer or Wave-Maker (currently set for 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night)

-Tropic Marin Sea Salt

I cleaned the tank as recommended with saltwater and fresh water rinsed it several times. Placed the tank in a good area, leveled it and so on. Rinsed the substrate as recommended to get the dust and dirt off and then placed the substrate in the tank and leveled it out. Mixed the sea with tap water after getting several recommendations from various people including marine biologist, local water company biologists, and the LFS input. They all seem to agree that due to lack of money for an RO unit that doing so on the initial fill up should not create any proplems as long as future top off and water changes are done with RO unit or distilled water. OK everything is installed, filled up, turned on and running just fine (so far).

I was also instructed to buy the following chemicals to place in the tank.
-Nutrafin Cycle
-Red Sea, Prime
-Red Sea, Stabilizer
After reading the directions on these the chemicals are placed in the tank.

The first 24 hours are now up and I have been getting hourly values of water temp and SG. The water in the tank is a constant 77.9 F and SG is 1.021 holding very nice so far. Density 1.0233. Salinity 32ppt. Should this be adjusted from here or left alone?

I forgot to get a pH testing kit and alkaline testing kit, which is going to be purchased in the morning. But the other readings are as follows.
NO3 = 20ppm
PO4 = 0.3 ppm
Ca = 400 ppm

And thats that for now. Any questions, feedback, advise, or input of any type is appreciated!

Also I am planning on buying 25 lbs of premium Fiji LR (uncured) in the morning. What is the cheapest way of curing this stuff? I dont have to set up more expensive equipment do I?

When do I need to install the power heads? Should I have them running to help circulate the particulates in the tank still or hold off until the LR is placed in the show tank?

Any recommendations for the type inverts, fish, soft coral, and live plants?

I know this was a long post so I am going to stop here for now. Thanks for reading this!

Chuck S.

 

[yorkcoparamedic]

In 36 hours I have lost about 1/2" of water. Is this due to the DSB or possibly something else? Does it take some time for the water to completely saturate the substrate and work its way into all the spaces?

Possible factors:
1. The filter.
2. Protein skimmer.
3. Not using a cover to allow good gas escape.
4. Low humidity in the room causing the tank to act as a humidifier.
5. Normal water evaporation (not normally that fast right?)

I'm puzzled. I'll just top it off and see if it happens again.
-----------------------------------
Another question if I may.

What is the best way to clean the glass on the inside of the tank once it is filled with water? (Splash marks and smears from adding substrate and water)

 

[chrissaysyes]

I something close to that...it's natural, just keep up with the evaporation and make sure you're topping off with fresh RO water to keep your SG at the right level. Remeber that water evaporates, but salt doesnt. Your setup sounds a lot like my old 29g, except you have some nicer items. I ran skimmerless, but I did run the fluval 205. After try a lot of different configurations with it I found my best luck is with 1 tray of carbon (replaced every two months) 1 tray of rings (not sure if theyre helping or hurting, I just didnt have enough rubble to toss them out last time), 1 tray of the fluval phosphate remover, and 1 tray of live rock rubble. I'd put as much rubble as possible but still make sure to leave room for the addition of carbon or some other media later on. Rubble does a lot better job of harboring bacteria than rings. You'll see in about a month how disgusting those rings will get. Also make sure to stay on top of that foam filter, it gets pretty gunky. Also, a DSB is something I wouldnt recommend a beginner jumping into...I just hear a lot of stories where DSB either goes really well or REALLY bad. Personally I'd stick with a simple 1" layer. Anyhoo, sounds good, keep us posted

 

[SkiFletch]

to the marine section. You've got a lot of things goin on in your thread here, so I'll just comment on a few. I too would be careful with using that much sand... That's a LOT of sand for a 30g. I only have like 10lbs in my 65g . Another concern is that with your tapwater having 20ppm nitrate and 0.3ppm phosphate, that's a little disturbing and WILL lead to algae problems in the future if you continue to use it. If RO units seem costly to you, consider purchasing used off craigslist or ebay. Membranes last a long time. And as far as powerheads, they should be installed when you put LR in. Furthermore, rocks need to be buried in the sand so that they are resting on the bottom glass. If not, they can shift and settle in the sand, ultimately leading to a collapse.

As for livestock, if you're looking into softies, one of the signiature indo-pacific softies is the yellow leather

 

[chrissaysyes]

be careful buying leathers online as I learned the hard way.

 

[yorkcoparamedic]

Thanks for all of the input! I too have read some of the pro and cons of DSB, probably not as much as you both have. It did seem like a lot of sand to me and wife when we put it in, so I took some out. Approximately 10 lbs and maybe just a little over (didn't weigh it). After you two telling me on here that it might not have been the greatest idea, I am a little worried now! I was trying to do as much reading on beneficial habitat building and DSB was pretty high on the list of everything I was reading. I am going to get a white sandsifting starfish and other burrowing inverts to keep the substrate turning over. Before I go any further please give me detailed feelings on the DSB. I just might remove some more sand anyway.

I will post some pictures maybe in the morning or later tonight.

What is the best way to raise my specific gravity from 1.020 up to a range of (1.022 - 1.025)?
I know that replacing evaporation with fresh water will help keep it stable. Do I add more salt or play with the temp of the water? I have done some looking around for this and have not found a lot of info on best practices.

Here are tonights water quality test.

Temp 78.4F
SG 1.0200, Density 1.0224, Salinity 30, pH 8.3, Alk 3.2, NH3/NH4+ 0.25 approximately

Once again, thank you very much!!!

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, ok here's my sum-up of the DSB. First, what it's good for. A deep enough DSB will create anoxic zones near it's bottom (meaning without oxygen). In these anoxic zones, anaerobic bacteria (oxygen-free) can colonize over time which consume nitrates to create N2 gas. Usually you need at least an 8" deep sand bed to create a true significant anoxic zone. This is obviously difficult in a dispaly aquarium as you're usually left with something around 5" deep and this is where the problem lies.

At medium sand bed thicknesses (~3-8") you can create a zone of very low O2 but not truly anoxic. The "good" nitrate-eaters cannot live here, but what can are bacteria that can create pockets of sulfur gas, or worse-yet cyanide pockets. These conditions for producing toxic substances occur when the surface of the sand bed is rarely stirred. They stay-put but what happens when a rock falls into the sand, a scared fish goes burrowing, or a brittlestar ventures too deep? The gas pocket is released and the tank can be nuked, ouch. Having lots of sand-sifters can surely help, but they're still a risk in a display tank.

Having a more modest sand bed of ~2" thick does not run the risk of creating toxic zones, still allows home for beneficial organisms, and offers buffering capacity. If you really do want the benefits of a deep sand bed, your best bet is to use a remote deep sand bed. Basically a 5g bucket plumbed off the tank and filled with sand. There you don't have to worry about anything stirring up any pockets of bad gasses, and still get the nitrate-fixing benefits of a DSB.

As for raising the salinity, mix up some saltwater with the salinity you want to have. Then, allow evap to occur normally and topup with the saltwater until the display tank gets to the level you want. Works easy and slowly

 

[chrissaysyes]

what he said.

 

[yorkcoparamedic]

Thanks very much for the info on the DSB. I am going to take some sand out tonight and get the level down to 1 1/2" to 2". Then I will make some SW w/ higher SG and add at top offs.

Thank again for the good info,
Chuck S.

 

[chrissaysyes]

I think you're making a very wise decision

 

[yorkcoparamedic]

Ok I took off about 20lbs of sand and now I am down to 2" or less in some places.

Is it normal for a protein skimmer to fill the tank with tiny little bubbles? I have the instructions for it and it said to open the air line completely and then slowly close it until the air pocket in the J-tube went away. I did this and it really stirs up the bubbles something crazy.

I also replaced the water after the sand removal with distilled water until I make it the LFS in the morning for a RO unit. Can someone tell me the added benefit of DI that comes as an addon option? Is it needed? And how does it affect the water quality? In addition what chemicals will I need to place in the RO water to bring the pH up to normal levels?

 

[chrissaysyes]

Someone else will be able to give you a more intelligent and knowledgeable response to the benefits of de-ionization so I'll keep quiet but as far as raising the pH, a marine pH buffer should be fine, Im sure you can pick something up at your LFS.

 

[yorkcoparamedic]

OK. Everything seems to be holding very stable so far except the high NO3 level of 20ppm. I can get this down with water changes using RO/DI correct?

I am going to buy 25lbs of Premium Fiji LR this weekend. Only problem is that I can not find cured LR anywhere and dont feel like doing the mail order. I was reading an article that said I can cure the rock in a large bin. I know that I need a heater, saltwater mix, lighting (I have read this is optional), and a filter. What type of filter will do here? Just a cheap $10 or $20 dollar particulate mechanical filter from the LFS? No chemical and biological is needed right? I am not attempting to establish a biofilter in the curring bin am I?

 

[SkiFletch]

Dont even bother with a filter, just drop a smaller powerhead in there like a maxijet and a little heater like a 50watter. What you're trying to accomplish here is to allow the bacteria on the LR to process the ammonia that is produced from some of the surface dieoff that occurs in the un-cured rock.

And yes, waterchanges will bring nitrates down, but remember, a big large change (say 50%) is prolly the best and most economical way to do this

 

[yorkcoparamedic]

Thanks for the advise!