Reef nutrition

My 90 gallon tank: video update! (with narration this time!)

Let me just say: I was super worried about lack of flow...and there is water in the tank and I am looking at it thinking "OMG there is no lack whatsoever!" That is a TON of flow in that tank. My poor fish, they are soo out of shape, haha.

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FTS

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Tank shot with sump/'fuge


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Sump/fuge
 
jestersix said:
'Scape looks nice - I love to see Emaco in action! Told ya you could do it!
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Thanks! It was a PITA, but well worth it. I love how much sand bed shows ^.^ I did put some rubble in there, but that's because I wanted to plan for the pair of mandarins I will be getting next year. I want to have the best success rate with them, and I kind of like the way the rubble looks, sprinkled in the tank like it is.

Will be adding salt as soon as Denzil gets home. With the injuries to both of my wrists, I just don't have the strength it takes to open the damn salinity, but not from lack of trying. Although it's been a year since I got my 8 screws out, the doctor told me not even to chance it....OK! LoL. I have waited so long already, a few more hours won't hurt.

So excited! I can start the QT process on my fish when I get back! However, they are looking really good, still no spots today and counting. Can't wait to get them in and to get my anthias. ^.^
 
Finally got the salt open, after fighting with it for 30 minutes. Damn thing was on there tight! Salt is mixing, hopefully the water will be clear tomorrow morning. Then I can add Dr. Tims and put in some macro algae tomorrow afternoon! ^.^
 
Screw driver between lid and bucket to pop the seal does the trick, and it's too late, but I'd really advise mixing it in a seperate container rathe than in the tank.
 
You may want to make sure you have enough room between your rockwork and the glass of the tank for cleaning...unless you don't care about the sides of the tank growing algae then you are ok. Also you should move the power strips to some where that reduces the chance of them getting wet. If you have a chance I would label each plug/cord so you know what is plugged in, it makes it so much easier later when you need to unplug anything down the line. Maybe you can move them up on the shelves? If the tank is filled only with freshwater now watch the level of water in the sump/tank when you add the salt. It will raise the water level.
 
Ok, so, Mike, we tried a screw driver, and it didn't work, haha. We finally had to dig a bucket out that Jim gave us to make sure we were opening it right. Once we saw that we were, that it was just on tight, I sat around it, held on to it, and Denzil twisted. It took both of us to get it off.
Also, I mixed it in the equipment chamber in the sump, because I didn't want the salt to lay on the sand, so, in 5 cup intervals, I poured the salt, stirred it really well, then it went up the return into the main tank where the koralias were. Never seen salt mix so fast in my life haha.

BAYMAC, didn't think about drilling a hole, LOL.

And Arnold, I did xD I got the outside portion of my mag float and I made sure that I had space enough inbetween the rocks so it would fit and I wouldn't have to worry about it, because that is one thing that bothers me in the current tank.

Also, the electrical right now is not how it will be, I can't do too much until I get the canopy put back together to see how many plug ins I will need, but Denzil and I talked about actually screwing the strips into the side of the book casing to keep them off the floor then to cover the wiring with conduit. Just an idea, but things won't really happen until we get back and get everything figured out. The power strips are also powering 2 other tanks, so I have to be careful where I put them for right now, just so the cords reach the strips. I can't wait until we get home to make it look nicer!

And yes, it raised the water level, but I did shut everything off and I had plenty of room to work with. I have about 4 inches of sump walls to work with if the power goes out for a period of time, but I was surprised at how high it went.

What's the proper dosing of the Salinity? Is it something like, 1/2 cup per gallon? 1 cup per 5? Because my salinity is a little off (ok well, it prolly has the salinity of the Red sea at this point). So before I add anything, I need to remove some water and add some fresh back in. Oh well, good learning experience LoL.
 
I find that a 1 quart plastic deli container makes perfect 1.026 SG water with salinity in a 5 gallon bucket filled to the point at which the metal handle loop goes into the plastic.
 
Well, I will have to figure something out. We added waay to much salinity last night. After it was done mixing, it was at 1.038. LoL. So, I took out some water, and after a few trial and errors it is now at a perfect 1.026. Going to wait a few hours to make sure that it is stable, but I will go out and get some macro algae and then rinse a few smaller rocks of from the set up tank, the add a bottle of Dr. Tims.

Let the cycling begin!!

^.^
 
Got the light on the 'fuge. Now, after I clean and do some stuff around the house, I can go get some macro algae. Yay, getting so close. At least I am away for the boring part LoL.

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gimmito said:
Great news !
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Thanks Jim!!

Well, the aquarium will not let me sit and get other stuff done; it keeps begging me to finish it, so I couldn't help myself. I set up 3 buckets, all with approximately a gallon of water in each. I then added 1/2 of instant ocean to each and stirred vigorously. So I rinsed off in each bucket, about 5 smaller chunks of LR, and a few shells, to put in and seed everything. A small chunk of LR went in to the DT, along with a handful of shells, and the rest went into the fuge. Also got a bristle worm, and some smaller feather dusters.

I rinsed off the rock because of the crypt but then I realized, my tank will be empty for the 3 weeks we are gone, plus the 4-6 weeks I am doing QT on the fish I already have, so it wasn't really necessary, but I wanted to be safer than sorry. Here is what I have so far:

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if you are gone for 3 weeks do you have someone coming in to check for evaporation? I am sure you need to feed your other tank too.
 
Apon said:
if you are gone for 3 weeks do you have someone coming in to check for evaporation? I am sure you need to feed your other tank too.
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Feeding her tank to seed the cycle was mentioned a while back, and IIRC she said someone can do that :) Good point on the evap though :D
 
bondolo said:
I find that a 1 quart plastic deli container makes perfect 1.026 SG water with salinity in a 5 gallon bucket filled to the point at which the metal handle loop goes into the plastic.
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FWIW there are a dozen or so bucket manufacturers, with 3 being the main ones and they all size them a little differently, especially when it comes to where the upper ribs are. They cannot be the same due to patent infringements. Yup, I've spent some time researching buckets for work :lol:

Look on the bottom, the brand should be there.
 
Yes, I will have a big storage bin with treated water in it for evaporation for all my tanks. Heater, air stone, Prime added and it will be in the kitchen with a watering can right next to it LoL. She can get the water in the can, and use it to fill the tanks. On the sump, it's already marked to where the water should be haha.

But yup, someone will come in and feed all the tanks, and top them off. Big water changes will be done right before I leave, and feeding will be at a minimum to keep the water quality the best it can be. She can change the FW tanks, but doesn't know too much about the SW. I have 6 fish and a hermit in 60 gallon, so it's not too bad. I have also run mini tests for my own sake, and where as the water quality starts to deteriorate rather quickly after 2.5 weeks, it's not dangerous until after 3 weeks. Well, it's not excellent, but if I come home and get the water changes asap, hopefully everyone will be ok. This is all provided that she strictly adheres to the feeding schedule, and she assured me that she would. I will have food portioned out and everything. I have spent months and months going over everything mentally, and testing it out to see what the outcomes where and so far, provided nothing out of the ordinary happens (i.e. earthquakes, power outages) we should be good.
 
Really don't like tap water personally, even for top off. I would use ro di, and I don't worry about hearing it. Usually adding so little at a time doesn't matter.
 
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