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

[gimmito]

Brandie,

Do you have only one 250 watt mh over the 90 gal ? If so, place sun loving corals under the mh and non loving towards the sides. The radium 20k gives a nice crisp white w/hint of blue. A 6,500 bulb (such as Iwasaki) will be more yellow, but give more growth. It all depends what you like. LED strips will replace those CF bulbs in your fixture and give you much nicer color IMO.

 

[Coral reefer]

And not need to be replaced frequently at exorbitant prices

 

[goldielocke76]

Brandie,

Do you have only one 250 watt mh over the 90 gal ? If so, place sun loving corals under the mh and non loving towards the sides. The radium 20k gives a nice crisp white w/hint of blue. A 6,500 bulb (such as Iwasaki) will be more yellow, but give more growth. It all depends what you like. LED strips will replace those CF bulbs in your fixture and give you much nicer color IMO.

Jim, I have 2, 250 watt mhs over the 90 gallon. The pic that I posted with lights on, have both of them running. It's pretty bright every where in the tank.

Hope I understood right: if I get two strips of 36" 18 watt Stunner LED 445nm Blue (I think that is the one I need, I was going to ask LOL) I do not need to buy the CF light bulbs?? (**please say yes, please say yes**) And if you do say yes, do I run them as the same time as the mhs?

Mike, I know, holy crap, the CF actinics are going to be ungodly expensive, and I would need two of them. I hope Jim says yes! LOL

 

[gimmito]

YES !

You can put them on timers and have them come on before, during, or after the MH...up to you. I actually have three 12" stunner strips (that can be daisy chained) I'm not using...lmk if you're interested.

 

[goldielocke76]

YES !

You can put them on timers and have them come on before, during, or after the MH...up to you. I actually have three 12" stunner strips (that can be daisy chained) I'm not using...lmk.

YAY! =D Haha. Do you think one strip will be sufficient? Also, please let me know what you are looking for, for the strips =) Thank you!!!

W00t!

I'm getting there guys!!

 

[gimmito]

Ya got pm.

 

[goldielocke76]

One day I will bust out my T2i and use it for taking photos. Until there, please accept my apologies for the crappy phone pics LoL

This is what the set up looks like, under the hood =)

 

[goldielocke76]

Finally broke down the 60 gallon, took everything out, and am now in the middle of setting it up as a QT tank! Lots of work, LoL. Hopefully by the end of tonight, everything will be doing well =D


Also got my first sting by a bristle worm. Not as bad as I thought, but it still sucked. I think it was a little one, or it may have been worse LoL.

 

[goldielocke76]

Here's a shot of the newly named QT tank!

Should I keep a Koralia in there for flow? Just one, not two. Also, should I just wait until tomorrow to put the fish in there?
I will get PVC pieces in there, right now they are in the bin with the poor fish.

 

[goldielocke76]

Well, this has definitely been an all day project. Temp is stable, SG matches the tank, water is crystal clear, and it looks good. Now the fish are acclimating and thus begins my 8 week QT process of my fish. Went out and got 2 more gobies, and 1 more firefish. I plan on getting 2 more firefish, but I can't find them at the shops right now. Got my fish journal and my test kit ready!

 

[gimmito]

...looking good !

 

[goldielocke76]

...looking good !

Thank you sir! So far, everyone is doing well, and they all ate. Firefish are pigs, hands down. Not even a 4 hours in the tank for the new one, and he ate most of the food in there!

So I went out and got a green, yellow and citrinis goby. I planned on the yellow and green, did not plan on the citrinis. But, he was beautiful, and I wanted one originally. At least the little clown gobies stay small.

The blenny is not as grumpy; I put him in the tank last, so the diamondback goby can have a bit of a break. So far so good. The only one I worry about is my little black clown goby because he just about turned transparent from the move. He's looking a little bit better, but I would love to see him a dark, rick black again.

 

[goldielocke76]

How do you guys stand this? 1 step forward, two steps back.

The coralife skimmer pump doesn't work, and all I have is the HOB Bak Pak skimmer. Still having high nitrate issues in the QT tank.

This was supposed to get easier after this weekend, not harder = /

If I could just make it all magically work, and let me do nothing but concentrate on the fish, I think at this point in time I would.

 

[Kmooresf]

Sorry Brandie,

Unfortunately that is pretty normal. I have actually had to take days off from work to fix disasters of all kinds. That is always an awkward conversation. LOL! Pretty soon you will be an absolute pro at trouble shooting this stuff. You will also have a bunch of extra pumps lying around to throw in temporarily (maybe that is just me?). Good luck, keep your chin up. You'll have a beautiful reef soon enough. You are actually off to a great start.

 

[Apon]

The pump I gave you was working when you came. Does it not at all work now? I feel bad maybe I can help....does it even shake or anything?

 

[Coral reefer]

Coral life skimmer is pretty junky anyways... Bakpak should be fine for your temporary qt solution. As far as nitrates...water changes will do wonders. I'd personally go for 1/3-1/2 volume 2-3 times over a week or so. That being said...how high are your nitrates? What are you testing with? Are your results consistent from test to test?

 

[goldielocke76]

Sorry Brandie,

Unfortunately that is pretty normal. I have actually had to take days off from work to fix disasters of all kinds. That is always an awkward conversation. LOL! Pretty soon you will be an absolute pro at trouble shooting this stuff. You will also have a bunch of extra pumps lying around to throw in temporarily (maybe that is just me?). Good luck, keep your chin up. You'll have a beautiful reef soon enough. You are actually off to a great start.

Is it normal to leave an aquarium heater on the carpet thinking you unplugged it and it turns out you didn't? O...M....G.............

As Jim suggested, here's me going out and buying those DJ power strips with labeling as soon as I am able. *&@%#$!!!!

You know, I get this feeling that this thing is going to fight me every step of the way....and only my stubbornness is keeping me going. I AM going to do this, and I WILL get my fish healthy before sticking them in that tank. &%#$@!!!!

 

[goldielocke76]

Diamondback goby is gone. ='( Just poof! Gone, not in the tank, not anywhere near the tank, nothing, and my little yellow clown goby died. Ugh.

 

[gimmito]

...sorry to hear that Brandie.

 

[euod]

Is it normal to leave an aquarium heater on the carpet thinking you unplugged it and it turns out you didn't? O...M....G.............

As Jim suggested, here's me going out and buying those DJ power strips with labeling as soon as I am able. *&@%#$!!!!

You know, I get this feeling that this thing is going to fight me every step of the way....and only my stubbornness is keeping me going. I AM going to do this, and I WILL get my fish healthy before sticking them in that tank. &%#$@!!!!

And I thought this hobby is suppose to help you relax. From what I hear is that the DJ power strip gets stuck and can cause a fire. You may want to check in to it or I will send you a link.