Sump is finished! Salt is going in the tank tonight!

[au01st]

Let all the glues cure, sealed with aquarium sealant, cured for 48 hours. I did the leak test last night on the front porch and everything went great, no leaks whatsoever. My protein skimmer is running in a tub with vinegar and water, it's super quiet. I have all my plumbing and hope to get it plumbed tonight. I also finished the automatic top off, you can see the hole on the left side of the sump. It goes to a float valve and a 6 gallon trash can that will refill water lost to evaporation. I'm getting excited...

 

[nemo addict]

what is the sump being used for just equipment ?? or was you planning on putting chaeto or culpera in there ??

 

[au01st]

Just equipment for now. I'm thinking about a HOB refugium in the future that will hang on the front or back of the sump, since I have the room in the stand. I have a mid term at 5, then when that's over, off to Home Depot for a few last minute things. When I get home I'm taking all the water out of the tank into 4 tubs to mix salt up. I have spare powerheads to throw in the tubs. While the salt is mixing in, I'll pull the tank/stand off the wall. I have to take the tank off the stand to put the sump down in the stand, but once I get everything situated like I like, I can start plumbing the system while it's off the wall, making sure everything fits just right. Then, just slide it back and pump the water back in and start it going. I'll be sure to post pics!

 

[nemo addict]

with the refugium are you using as a algae filter or for cultivating pods ?? if for pods I would put on back of main tank as return pump will kill some as returning back to display tank I used to have mine on sump but now on back as pod culture was dying before it reached back to main tank

 

[au01st]

Yes, it was going to be for pods. I really really really want a Mandarin in the future, but I know they consume tons of pods and need a well established tank. If I get one, it won't be until next fall at the earliest.

 

[nemo addict]

that's why I got my hob fuge for my manderine I put 2 bits of my live rock in to the fuge to start with in the sump and it didnt do very well so I hung on back of tank as they were getting killed by return pump (as advised by friend) so hung on back and pod culture is thrieving and manderine is eating good also eats brine from fuge I put dead shrimp/clam under rocks and works well which can also be done in tank

 

[au01st]

Well, finally got all the plumbing finished and it works great. It's a little noisy on the inlet to the sump (to me anyways, no one else thought it was loud at all), but not noticeable in the living room. The spray bar works great and moves a ton of water across the surface. Eshopps overflow box works very nicely and nothing leaks. I guess I'll check the s.g. in the AM and make adjustments if I need to. I'm ordering my "dead" rock on Friday and will seed with small pieces from the LFS. Soon to come, clean up crew, corals, and fish!

Pics when I wake up...

 

[au01st]

Woke up this morning to a nice dry floor...no leaks!

 

[nemo addict]

Lookin Good

 

[Peterpiper]

Looking very good! dry feet are a good sign

 

[agsansoo]

Dry feet, saltwater and electricity is a real good sign ! Look like a great start.

 

[au01st]

Well, checked my s.g before I went out of town this weekend, 1.022. Checked it when I got back, 1.022 and the automatic top off container was getting close to empty, so I guess that works. I picked up 10lbs of live rock for $1.99 a pound (the sign said $3.99 a pound) and I would have gotten more but I didn't want to risk the price changing, lol. I already had to correct the guy using the scale because he was measuring in kg and not lbs, so I figure that saved them enough I wasn't going to worry about it being 1/2 price.

I already saw some kind of worm coming out of one of the rocks, and there is minor coraline algae on a few of them. My 60lbs of "dead" rock should be arriving this week and after soaking that for a day or so, I will put it in and do some aquascaping. I'll try to get a pic tonight. The water has cleared up A LOT from the day after we put the salt in and I think things are starting to get going (fewer microbubbles, skimmer is foaming, etc). Hope to have fish within a month!

 

[nemo addict]

the worm if its a bristle worm can be good as long as it not got a white strip as these tend to eat anything google fire worm .
you said you have minor coraline as is a problem ?? or did you mean a little ??? as coraline is good but they way you put it sounds as if you think its bad ? as minor or major is normally phrased as a problem
and also would be nice to see some more pics

just one other thing when adding your reef bones I would add another 10 pound of live rock to aid in the bones becoming live as with 10 lbs it will take some time

 

[Shaina]

Nice looking sump - where did you get the glass for the baffles?

 

[au01st]

I'll see if I can get some more pics soon. It's been hectic with work and school.

I had a glass shop make the baffles out of acrylic. Then I glued them in with "Mr. Sticky's Underwater Glue", then sealed them with aquarium silicone.

The Coraline is not a problem, I was just saying that it had a little bit, more than I expected from buying "seeded base rock".

I'm waiting for my parameters to stabilize and make sure my cycle finished. It seems to be almost done; I dropped a shrimp in the day after I got the s.g. stabilized, had an ammonia spike, nitrite spike, and then a nitrate spike, and my skimmer just yesterday started producing some nice black liquid in the collection cup, as opposed to the greenish/brownish water it's been making, so that is hopefully a sign it's broken in.

I adjusted my fish list one last time after seeing what's available locally (don't really want to order to pay s/h, since my local store has lots of tank raised specimens available):

2 Ocellaris clownfish
1 Yellow Headed Jawfish
1 Six Line Wrasse
1 Purple Firefish
1 Orange Firefish
1 Zebra Dartfish
1 Flame Angelfish

I saw the jawfish at the local store and he said he's had him in the display tank for over a year and he's eating dry foods no problem. He is so cool, just hanging out above his burrow watching the world go by.

One question, my dKH is extremely high, like 17-18. My calcium is at 420 and magnesium is around 1250. I'm told if I keep waiting, it will lower on its own, but I'm wondering how long that will be. I know my tap water has extremely high PH (like, over 8.0 straight out of the faucet, I'm slowly weaning my freshwater tank off buffers since most of those fish like it 7.0-7.2) and with the reef crystals, my PH sits at 8.3 day or night (higher dKH makes it more stable). Could it be that the Reef Crystals added an extra buffer to my already high parameters? I have a bottle of purple up, but I haven't added any yet; with readings like those, I should be getting Coraline growing out the wazoo.

The only thing I can think of is if I can get something that just absorbs calcium, it will make the dKH drop as well, then I can dose just calcium til the dKH gets to an okay level, then dose to keep them both balanced. Any thoughts?

 

[au01st]

Sorry, no pictures yet, girlfriend has the camera.

Since the cycle finished I got a little diatom bloom, no biggie.

Just ordered my CUC, some inverts:

10 Nerite Snails
50 Cerith Snails
20 Nassarius Snails
2 Brittle Starfish
20 Blue Leg Hermits (already have 15 in the tank, as well as 3 scarlet legs)
500 amphipods/copepods
4 mexican turbo snails

I already have 15 blue hermits and 3 scarlet reef hermits as well as about a dozen astrea snails. There is 70lbs of rock in there (more on the way), a feather duster who gets supplemental feeding, a little set of polyps about the size of a dime, and a single purple mushroom, all of which are doing great. My local store has some peppermint shrimp, 2 for $10 so I may get some of those next week, then, hopefully, fish!