72 Gallon Bowfront - New Tank

[stvguerrero]

hey Jesus its coming out sweet , let me know if you need any help im just around the corner

[jtinoco]

And...... We're back!!!!

[stvguerrero]

two thumbs up!

[psuedopimp]

cool....let me know if you need anything....

[stanger50lx92]

I remember those days of looking at a tank with freshly mixed salt water and looking at bare live rock for hours. I remember looking at my first aptasia and being so happy cause I had life in my tank lol. Of course I didn't know what aptasia was!
Tank looks sweet!!!

[jtinoco]

Thanks for the comments! I couldn't stay out of the hobby for long. Hopefully the tank settles quickly. Thanks for the offer Justin. I'll keep in touch.

I had a friend start curing my rock in a 55 gallon drum with powerheads and a heater about a month ago. Because of this I dont think I'll have that bad of a cycle. I used all the water the rock was in and only mixed in about 15 gallons more. We'll see how the cycle goes.

[Rafa67]

Hey man glad you are back I still have some kenia tree its been splitting so when your tank is ready i'll be more than happy to give you some!!!

[jtinoco]

Went through the shortest cycle ever. Almost makes me think something is wrong.

Two days after setup (friday the 6th) parameters were:

Ammonia spiked only to 0.25 ppm
Nitrites 0.50 ppm
Nitrates 5.0 ppm

I tested today and I couldn't believe it. I tested three times with same results.

Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 10.0 ppm.

If nitrates start increasing, I will start with the vodka again as I had before.

I forgot to mention that I will add some coral in and maybe my hippo tang today and see how it goes.

Wish me luck!

[jtinoco]

Looks like everything is doing good. Added the hippo tang and two yesterday. Got a small flare up of cyano today. Nothing huge but expected due to the tank being new. Will keep an eye on it. Nitrates went up so started dosing vodka. Hopefully they drop and cyano disappears as well.

So far so good.

[jtinoco]

A couple pics from yesterday.

[Chaka]

looking good!

[jtinoco]

Well I decided to modify my Nova Extreme Pro lights and add some moonlights.

I wasn't able to get a good shot with my phone of them on but they do give off a nice white glow. Really like the look of it.





I just taped them to the reflector near the back of the light. Electrical tape should hold.




Put one on each side, soldered wires together and used an AC/DC transformer. Hid all wiring on back of reflector. And drilled a hole near the other electrical cords for the transformer wire out.

[psuedopimp]

looks good. is that too much light for a moon light?

[jtinoco]

I thought the same thing at first Justin. I don't think it's that bright tho. Heres the best shot I could get with my phone.

[jtinoco]

Yesterday morning.

[jtinoco]

This is what Happens when you're bored at home and find you have "useless" stuff lying around.

I noticed my pH had been low (7.4 during day and 7.2 at night even tho the light in the fuge comes on at night). My alkalinity was at 6dKH. Calcium was at 320 and up to 380 ppm after a water change of 10 gal. I figured I am going to add sps eventually so might as well get the calcium up, pH, and alkalinity. I started dripping lime (mrs wages ) this past Monday. As you can see in the pics below I started with a plastic bottle. The bottle is less than a gallon and I found mysel having to refill it twice a day because of how fast I loss water to evaporation. What a pain! So I switched over to a 2.5 gallon tank. I set it at a slight angle so I keep most of the solution dripping once it's running low. I built a little stand out of the scrap wood I had left from the stand build. The tank sits higher than the sump and it drips by siphon and a valve. I tested the water this morning before the lights came on and pH was at 8.0. I tested once I was home from work and it's at 8.2. alkalinity is at 9 dKH and calcium at 420 ppm. I'm believe I might have saturated the solution a bit much so I diluted it a bit. I will keep an eye on everything.

Then I found some 36 inch T8 bulbs and some ballasts. I wired everything and put the on the ceiling of the inside of the tank. I'm not sure if they may be too high to keep the chaeto alive but I'll keep an eye. If I notice any effects on growth I'll add some reflectors. I might have some lying around somewhere too. Ha ha!

That's about all the updates.

[psuedopimp]

looks good. i would definately watch that hand clamp holding your frag rack. it has a metal pin that will rust on you.

[jtinoco]

You're right. I hadnt even noticed it was under water.

[pnavarro170]

looks good, but im curious of why there is a lip at the top of the new stand. where you cant see the sand line ?

[jtinoco]

The lip is supposed cover the plastic frame the tank has. However being the newbie at carpentry that I am, it covers a tiny bit higher than the plastic frame. Plus the flow at the front of the tank is a bit stronger and has pushed some of the sand back so it's a bit shallower up front.

Second purpose to covering the frame was in case I build a canopy later. That way both top and bottom frames would be covered.

[stvguerrero]

for a newbie you still did a heck of a good job,

[jtinoco]

Thanks Steve.

[iadubber]

Looking good. Do you have future plans to re-home the hippo?

[jtinoco]

Originally Posted by iadubber

Looking good. Do you have future plans to re-home the hippo?

Yeah. Once he gets a bit larger he's going back to the LFS and being traded for a smaller one. Then the same once that one gets big.

[pnavarro170]

Originally Posted by jtinoco

The lip is supposed cover the plastic frame the tank has. However being the newbie at carpentry that I am, it covers a tiny bit higher than the plastic frame. Plus the flow at the front of the tank is a bit stronger and has pushed some of the sand back so it's a bit shallower up front.

Second purpose to covering the frame was in case I build a canopy later. That way both top and bottom frames would be covered.

Ah makes sense.