My journey back to salt

[bosco0633]

Hello everyone. I just wanted to introduce myself and start a thread on my progress of my new setup. A bit about me. I have been in this hobby for 18 years. I started at the age of 15. When I was a kid I worked at the LFS and learned alot about aquariums. I start with cichlids but after 3 years I tried my hand at salt. I started with a 10gal reef then to a 20gal. I maintained a 35 gal. For five years before switching to a 46gal. Bowfront reef. After 10 years in the hobby I decided to take a break as we started a family.

Last year I purchased a 150gal tank and went back to cichlids. I like it but didn't love it. We moved 3 months after setting it up and needed to finish the basement. We finished the basement 2 weeks ago and my wife said that I should get the tank going. She suggested going back to salt. After a little debate I figured that I should give it another go.

I have a custom built pine stand for my 150gal. I currently have the following:
150gal marineland tank
4x96w PC lighting with led moon lights
2x300 hydor heaters
1xhydor stage 4 pump
2xhydor stage 5 pump
2xaquaclear 110 with sponge and reef balls
1xaquaclear 110 to be converted into refrugium
octopus sRLX2000s HOB skimmer
250lbs of crushed aragonite bottom

i set everyhting up and will post pics as I go. I need a better lighting system as this is only giving me 2.66w per gallon. I plan on grabbing a combo 3x250w halide and 8x39w t5 hood in the next few months. But for now this will be ok ad I don't plan on going into corals until the new year.

You may be asking why no sump. I don't like them and have never been comfortable with them. I prefer HOB units because of this. I also like Berlin theory of reef keeping and only want aquaclears for some mechanical clean up.

On Wednesday I am picking up 200lbs of premium Fiji live rock. I plan on having two corners with rock and a smaller island in middle for aquasaping.

I appreciate all input and critique me as I go. I have been out of the saltwater world for many years and have tons to catch up on

[bosco0633]

On Sunday I painted the back of the tank with tremclad flat black paint. This was the first tank that I ever painted as I never used back drops. I tried putting on the plastic background with some special juice they sell however after 3 hours of working the bubbles, I couldn't make it work.

Last night I added the two aqua clear 110s with sponge only. I also added to polishing pads to the intakes to help clear up the cloudy water.

I turned on the skimmer octopus sr lx2000s. I purchased the unit online and was lucky enough to order the day that the new black units came in. The red was terrible! I opened the box and found the worst set of instructions. I just viewed pictures and hoped for the best.

I added salt yesterday and I fired up the skimmer to get the break in process started. I read a thread from a guy named Jason on here. I learned a ton about the skimme as the unit has little instruction.

My initial thoughts on the lx2000s are:

the unit is extremely loud but from what I read this will quiet down a bit.

There is no venturi to control the air flow. The pump is very poweful and I think that it may be to big for The skimmer. After running for 10min the unit was overflowing like crazy. I was down there to see it or it would have been very bad!!! I used jasons trick and added vice grip to the air line to slow down the unit until it breaks in. Once you add the clamp it gets louder and causes water to rush through and overflow at the front. But atleast we are not flooding anymore. Jason suggested that I slowly release the vice grips over the next month or so.

I do have micro bubbles but I expect them to slow down as the skimmer wears in and the tank matures. This skimmer is a beast and with the bubble maker I think it will be great for my tank. It is rated for 150 gal so it should be enough.

I shut the hydor pumps off as the bubbles are out of control right now. The polishing pads are dirty and thebwater is almost clear in 24 hours.

Tomorrow I will go and get my rock. The guy said that it is cured but hopefully I can get a bit of a cycle out of it. I may suspend a dead shrimp in a net and let it rot as well to assist. I don't like amonia cycles and try to stay natural during cycle time.

My goal is to add rock and begin treating the rock to encourage coraline development. I have never used kalkwasser and think that I am going to try a range of seachem products that I have used in the past.

After I cycle I plan on adding to clowns to the tank to start. That should take me into December. I am thinking that I will start adding corals in January. That should give me enough time to get a system down.

I plan on doing 5gal water changes 3 times a week which will give me 10% a week. I know that the salt is loaded with goodness for the tank so I want to keep this system rather than a shocking 10% all at once.

I am going to start getting RO water delivery 3 jugs a week to start and may switch over to an RO unit later.

I think that's it for now. When I get home from work I'll take some photos of my progress.

[yeloowtang]

welcome back

all looks good and all ways of doing it work,i would only suggest looking into a sump even if you don't like them the reason is that IMO they simplify things.
you put all the equipment in them,heaters,skimmer,refuge and your top off water plus additives all go in the sump and get mixed up nicely before going back in the display,all that while keeping the water level constant in you DT.
but thats just my opinion like i said the other way works.
having said this,i'm thinking your tank is not drilled and you would need a HOB overflow,these i don't know much about them and can understand the concern so i'm sure others will have some say as to how reliable they are.

the only thing i don't realy see usefull is 2xaquaclear 110 with sponge and reef balls.
being that you have a skimmer for mechanical filtering and 200 lbs of live rock i see no use for them.

have fun and best of luck getting it going,looking forward to the pics

steff

[yeloowtang]

just saw your post right after i posted
hope the link works b,heres what came with my skimmer to regulate air flow.
http://www.tunze.com/fileadmin/image...e/9420.045.jpg

if the link doesn't work look for part number #9420.045 on the tunze web site

just to promote the usage of a sump having the skimmer in there also avoids spills and will rid of micro bubbles with the use of bubble trap walls in the sump.

for that air line controler,i'm sure others make one if you look arround

steff

[bosco0633]

That is perfect. I am going to order one today. I appreciate the advice on the sump but I really want to give it a go without. I may make an ATO unit in the room beside and plumb into tank but not for now

I am going to drill hole in collection cup this week and put an overflow in. I liked jasons design and will coppy that to avoid overflow in the future.

The aquaclears are going to be utilized for carbon from time to time and just a little mechanical filtration. I have the room for it and I have 4 of them so figured why not. I may remove them keeping only 1 and finding a large reefrigum HOB in the future.

I am wondering if 200lbs is going to be enough. I don't want to be buying again so I'm thinking maybe an extra 50lbs. Any thoughts??

[yeloowtang]

sounds like a good plan
for the aquaclears,like you said !! you have them and they will give you more flow wich is all good..

for the rock,it's realy hard to say because it all depends on the type /density of it.
when i had my 120 all i needed was 150 lbs and now in my 92 corner tank i have just over 90 lbs because the rock had lots of holes so the big ones weren't that heavy..
you don't want to order to much and then again you don't want to be short !!!
i'm thinking if you have a LFS near by order what you think is right and then get a little more if needed at the LFS that way you will get a variation going plus you would get to pick and choose the best looking pieces..

steff

[crvz]

Originally Posted by bosco0633

I am wondering if 200lbs is going to be enough. I don't want to be buying again so I'm thinking maybe an extra 50lbs. Any thoughts??

It should be fine. I've never really liked the idea of cramming a tank full of rock. Especially if you're not going to run a sump (which implies somewhat of a depressed filtration potential), it's important to ensure that you don't have any wastes collecting in various spots throughout the tank so that they are carried around and can make their way to the skimmer. This would mean eliminating any dead zones of flow, and if you pack a lot of rock in a tank you're certainly going to have trouble getting flow in and out of the rockwork. I like to take my time and build deliberate rock structures instead of simply piling rocks up. In my 150 gallon, I probably didnt even have 100 pounds of rock.

[bosco0633]

Just curious why you think I will have depressed filtration? Is 1500gal per hour mechanical not enough in conjunction with 150gal skimmer and almost 7500 gallons of water pump movement.

I appreciate the comment about dead spots something I will need to be careful of during rock placement. The three aqua clears will give good flow up top just wondering where others place water pumps. I currently have a hydor 5 on each side of my tank pointing in different spots and a hydor 4 in the top middle of tank bouncing of glass. Should I have some high and some low??

[bosco0633]

I just got back from the glass cutting store and had them cut me an inch off of the back of my lid to fit the new skimmer.

I came home from work, and I have noted that my skimmer has already began to calm down. The micro bubbles have slowed down now and I notice that the unit has quieted down a bit. (maybe im just getting use to it)

The tank only has aragonite, however, the skimmer is now producing a white thick foam that is slowly collecting in the cup. I cant wait to see the kink of junk that gets pulled once I have it up and running.

I really think that I have a winner here with this Octopus LX 2000S. I have a couple of mods that I am going to do to it, to make it work more to my likeing.

I am finally excited and found a private reef rock dealer that is giving me my rock for 3.00lb canadian. All fiji rock and I get to pick from over 1000 lbs for the best pieces.

This time tomorrow, I should have my aquascape going. I cant wait to start seeing things develop.

Slow and steady, slow and steady, I just need to keep telling myself this. I will try and post some pics tonight.

But, still waiting for some input of where I should place my hydors in the tank. I have one hydor #4 and 2 hydor #5.

Any input will be much appreciated.

Im getting very excited!!!!!!

[bosco0633]

So I took a couple of pics with my iphone, so the quality is not that great. Here is my tank and stand just before we moved



it was a cichlid tank



Tonight I went downstairs to check the skimmer as I am terrified of it overflowing again. So it has been on for 24 hours and the foam that makes it to the top of the collection cup in the consistancy of whip cream. It is thick and has turned brown. Lets not forget that this tank is empty!!





The next picture is the lip of the lx2000s that sits in the tank. As you can see I still have micro bubble issues. but i really am pleased with this unit so far. I still have the vice grips on the air tube to prevent the unit from over flowing.





Here is a pic of the tank with the lights. As you can see on the right, I have polishing filters on the intakes to my aquaclears. This is helping out greatly with clearing up the unit.





I will try and take more pictures with my DSLR as it clears up. Still a little cloudy but it is getting better.

[crvz]

Originally Posted by bosco0633

Just curious why you think I will have depressed filtration? Is 1500gal per hour mechanical not enough in conjunction with 150gal skimmer and almost 7500 gallons of water pump movement.

I appreciate the comment about dead spots something I will need to be careful of during rock placement. The three aqua clears will give good flow up top just wondering where others place water pumps. I currently have a hydor 5 on each side of my tank pointing in different spots and a hydor 4 in the top middle of tank bouncing of glass. Should I have some high and some low??

I'm not saying you will have inadequate filtration, just saying it's higher potential. Many products, particularly skimmers, are not optimized when using hang-on designs. I'd also point out that skimmers are always highly over-rated; I'd recommend taking the manufacturer's recommended tank size and cutting it in half to get a true idea of expected performance.

Regarding the powerhead placement, it's probably a good start but just monitor the tank. Due the variability induced with rock placement, it's hard to say what would be the best setup in your case.

[bosco0633]

Ok, so I went a little over 200lbs of figi rock. I got 275lbs. It is all in the tank, not much coraline from what I can see. This worries me a bit, just wondering most coraline areas appear to be white?? is this ok or is it dead now? Will the coraline grow back with treatment?

Anyways, I spent the past 3 hours trying to get it right. I dont want to make it a rock tank, but think maybe a few more pieces?? Input on the aqua scape please. I think my skin has fallen off trying to get this right.

Anyways, here are some pics, the water is once again cloudy but I hope it will clear up.







left side


middle


right side

[Metal Man 1221]

To Reef Central

gotta say the tanks looking good, Im confident that you have plenty of rock,
however the skimmer you claim to be running is only rated for 100-150 gallons which may be inadequate to your filtration needs IMO. Iv always been told to buy a skimmer rated to an additional 50-100% of your system size. Especially if you plan to keep SPS corals.

keep us posted, good luck