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Unread 07/18/2011, 09:41 PM   #26
papagimp
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NateDawg View Post
I didn't like the fact that it takes so long to make the water, and me being... well myself, I know I would forget about it.
lol +1, i'm the same way. I buy mine most the time even though I have a ro/di sitting all dusty in the back room. The filters wear out on me and I just start buying water again. I'm lazy and now broke :P

for a light cycle, I'd start with 6-8 hours of full light and go from their. If you need more, bump it up 7-9 or 8-10 hours. ime, theirs a good chance you'll be adjusting it to suit at some point anyways, so I prefer to start at the lower end and work up instead of too much light and fighting back any potential algae blooms or bleaching.

what do the lighting experts think?


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Unread 07/19/2011, 12:30 AM   #27
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Thanks for the input. What time do I turn MH's on? When do I turn moons, and actincs on? When do I turn them off? Whats the best schedule to replicate the natural habitat of the fish and corals? Thanks


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Unread 07/19/2011, 09:48 PM   #28
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Unread 07/20/2011, 12:21 AM   #29
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I'm not sure what's considered "the best" as different species of corals like different lighting. If you have INTENSE lighting, but moderate light corals, you dont' want to blast them for a full 12 hours or anything. But alternatively, if you have some moderate light corals and your light is just barely enough for them, a longer light cycle may help. (along with proper coral placement of course)

I find the "full light" time frame that works for me, and do my actinics an hour before the rest, and an hour afterwards, and the moonlights by themselves when the rest are turned off. My current tank is still cycling but I went ahead and set my lights for a 7 hour cycle. just so i can "watch the grass grow" so to speak. And when I do start to stock my coral life, I'll play that by ear depending on how they are doing at the time.


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Unread 07/20/2011, 11:02 AM   #30
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Hows this sound?
5AM: Actinics only
7AM: Actinics + 1 MH
9AM:Actinics off, 3 MH's on
5PM: Actinics on, 2 MH's off
6PM: All MH's off
8PM: Actinics off, moon lights on
11PM: moon lights off


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Unread 07/20/2011, 02:08 PM   #31
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I know this thread is kinda dead now, but I have a question. When I get my 2 clowns, I am going to have them do QT first for 2 weeks, should I add fish food in the tank these 2 weeks to have an ammonia source?
The way I would setup this tank for its first live stock is to test the tank the night after the move. Test it once again the following night. And if on the third day everything tests well then I would go get a chromis. As for lighting I would start somewhere around 6-8...


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Unread 07/20/2011, 05:07 PM   #32
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6 Sounds like a better idea. I think I am going to start off with 2 clowns first. The 2 sponge filters I have been using have been in my friends 225g sump for a week, I hope they are at least partially cycled by then... :|


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Unread 07/20/2011, 06:13 PM   #33
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take plenty of pics?


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Unread 07/20/2011, 06:15 PM   #34
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Keep those sponge filters well cleaned (in saltwater if your using them as any means of biological filtration) and make sure the tank is cycled before the clowns and YES plenty of pics


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Unread 07/20/2011, 10:05 PM   #35
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Will take pictures, really excited to take the plunge into saltwater after years and years of freshwater. I'm so happy I found this amazing deal!
And papagimp, do you think the 2 sponges will house enough nitrifying bacteria (both sponges rated for a 20 gallon,) to be an instant cycle or do you think I will expect a spike in ammonia in the QT?


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Unread 07/20/2011, 10:16 PM   #36
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Oh yea, another question. Is there a special way I have to aquascape the LR? I LOVE the island look, but I heard its not recommended, what do you guys think?


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Unread 07/20/2011, 10:35 PM   #37
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Not sure why the island look is not recommended. You aquascape to your liking imo. Naturally you want to have your rock secure where you put it, don't want it falling and cracking the tank or anything. Stack carefully. You can also use products like Aquamend to hold them together. But theirs tons of ways about securing rock. I just stack mine but I make sure it's solid where it's put. It's a big ol' jigsaw puzzle you just gotta work with until you get the right picture out of it. You don't get the box to look at on the puzzle either :P

As for your sponges for your QT, they'll be seeded with bacteria for sure, but only for the amount of bioload they've been exposed to. When you move them to your QT, if theirs nothing feeding the bacteria, it'll start to die off. You can add a little fish food here and their (not alot, just a teensy bit every couple days or so) to keep it going but you gotta watch water quality, Once you add fish, it's possible to see a spike in ammonia, but hopefully that won't be the case. I currently have two running in my "sump" with the plans of keeping them colonized properly (and constantly cleaned/ringed out in my old water change water to free them of detritus build up, so when I do need to get my QT tank out, I can just plop them in and be good to go. Just be careful if your medicating the QT tank, don't want some stuff getting back into your DT. I don't keep a QT setup all the time, just pull it out when I need to use it.


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Unread 07/20/2011, 11:23 PM   #38
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Thanks for all your help, appreciate it man. The sponges are in the sump of a 225 with a huge bioload. She loves to overstock, but is upgrading to a 500. I'm just not sure 1 week is enough.


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Unread 07/26/2011, 12:02 AM   #39
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I'm pretty disappointed right now. I picked the tank up on Friday. That night I filled the tank up with the 40% of water it had I put the rocks in, and the sand and the water barley covered the rock. I put a few power heads in and left if for the night. The next day I filled the tank up more, and picked up my sponges. I just threw them in the tank, and let them float in the tank. Then on sunday I filled it up all the way, oveflow started, made the aquascape, turned the main pump on. put the lights on and got it running. That evening I set up the qt tank, set up the sponges and heater and got that going too. I also threw a lot of fish food in there. Today, a day later, I test it, in high hopes of it being cycled after sitting in an excising tank for 1 1/2 weeks, and was planning to put clowns in it tomorrow. Tested it and ammonia is .25 no nitrites or nitrates. Now what... I have to wait for my qt to cycle 3 weeks to get fish?


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Unread 07/26/2011, 01:47 AM   #40
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i'd say give it a few days of testing each day to see if the ammonia continues to rise and nitrites show up. It could be a spike due to "threw a lot of fish food in there". The sponge filter you used was in an existing tank so it'll have bacteria colonized (assuming you didn't leave it out of water or anything) but the amount of bacteria on it surely isn't enough to filter the entire tank it was in. It's just a small portion of that tanks biological filtration. You may have over fed more than it was able to filter quickly enough. Give both systems enough time and test often to see where the cycle is going. May just witness the small spike.


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Unread 07/26/2011, 02:06 AM   #41
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Thank you for all your help, I was getting worried. Pictures soon.


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Unread 07/26/2011, 02:19 AM   #42
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yes pictures! lot's and lot's of pictures


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Unread 07/27/2011, 01:39 AM   #43
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Ok, I have pictures, and a lot of questions.
It looks WAY better in real life. 20,000K bulbs



Now for the important questions. This morning I cleaned it up a bit, and a huge nassarius crawling along the side scared me. Tonight I tested water, wanting to order a clean up crew, and I don't know if the ammonia level is 0 or .25 tank has been running since Friday, and I wouldn't understand why there would still be ammonia. Sorry for the crappy pictures, what do you guys think?



Should I give it more time, or what?
Stressing out about all this to much, things just seem to be going out of plan, and it seems like if I do something wrong I will never be able to add any thing live. My friend asked me when I can tank my corals back because they are tanking up alot of space, and I don't know what to do. They will die with traces of ammonia... ahhhh


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Unread 07/27/2011, 03:55 PM   #44
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