Few questions about my new tank

[greene.phillip]

Finally got water in my tank this weekend. Starting with 30 lbs dry sand, 20 lbs "live sand" and 13 lbs of live rock from the LFS. I have about 100 lbs of other rock and about 40 lbs of sand that I bought from someone locally that turned out to have a hair algae problem. So trying to avoid grief I decided to just let it dry out and die. It's been drying for a while and am about ready to get it back into the tank with the rest of the stuff. So questions.

1) Live rock with hair algae, left out to dry for a week or two now. I intend to scrub it with fresh water and let it dry out again or at least rinse it well with RODI water. Is there anything else I should do to make sure no HA comes back with it?

2) Sand from the same tank as the rock. I rinsed it about a dozen times and then left it out to dry for a week or so, I i've been shifting it around a table in front of a fan to make sure it all gets dried. Anything else I should do before introducing it to my tank?

3) I have a Supreme Classic Mag 9.5 return pump. The first day it was a noticable hum. Shifted it around some and it was reasonably quiet. Now it has started chattering(?). Its almost like its got air in it but it does not. It is plumbed to a 1 1/2" line and is flowing well but is quite noisy. I took it apart and cleaned everything (Wasn't much there just some brownish slimy stuff that looked kinda like old food in my old freshwater tank. Ceramic shaft intact but took the assembly apart and soaked it in vinegar/water just in case. Re-assembled same noise. I had a video but I seem to have lost it so I can make another if needed.

4) May be related to 3. My skimmer produces WAY too many bubbles and ultimately overflows. Manufacturer suggests this is due to the conditioning agents in newly made salt water (RODI and Instant Ocean in my case). Anything to make the water more skimmer friendly or just wait it out? Is this possibly causing the pump noise as well?

5) I have an emerald crab and a few brittle stars that were on the rocks. (Paid for the emerald crab because he didn't want to get out of a hole in the rock). I'm curious if there is enough food for these critters since I'm not feeding the tank? Will he become a nuisance since he will have free reign of the tank for 1-2 months for the cycling period?

6) I've read/been told you need not run the lights during cycling but there is some coralline on the rocks from the LFS and I'd like to not lose it so should I be running the lights? Perhaps for less than 12 hours? Will the crab eat the coralline if he runs out of food?

Thanks in advance.

[coralsnaked]

Greetings from the great State of Texas


1-2) Well since you are using rock and sand from a tank with a known hair algae
problem is it is safe to assume that there is PO4 in the rock and substrate and I would pre cure that rock to remove the PO4 or it will fuel new hair algae when you get a frag or some small algae introduction into the new tank which will happen. Comes w/ snails crabs rock frags frag plugs ect…. The substrate as well can be saturated w/ PO4 that a simple rinsing will not remove. As cheap as new dry aragonite sand is I would buy new sand and ditch the old. Or you could cure it as well but IMO I don't think it is worthwhile. (Lanthanum Chloride)

3-4) I don’t use Mag pumps so i can't really say about noise level but I hear they are noisy. If shaft is intact and impeller in good shape then motor should be water tight, I wouldn’t know what else to say about that. Wouldn't think skimmer would cause return pump to be noisy. However a new skimmer can often times throw a lot of bubbles during the break-in period. Set it so it doesn't overflow though, and wait it out.

5-6) There will be a substantial amount of die off from the rocks for a single crab going into a straight cycle process, however, remember IMO a curing process is needed for that rock. I would trap him in a bottle trap and remove him to a quarantine tank that you'll need anyway prior to placing fish in tank and cure that rock prior to placing into display w/ substrate. I don't think the crab will eat the Coralline and cycling with the lights off is my preferred method because of the reduced chance of starting an algae outbreak. But in any case no need to run lights for more than 8 hours during the cycling process. If you are skipping the curing process and going straight to cycling process then I would be more concerned w/ maintaining Alk which tends to drop during this process to preserve the Coralline.

Hope this helps and Merry Skerry

[greene.phillip]

Originally Posted by coralsnaked

Greetings from the great State of Texas


1-2) Well since you are using rock and sand from a tank with a known hair algae
problem is it is safe to assume that there is PO4 in the rock and substrate and I would pre cure that rock to remove the PO4 or it will fuel new hair algae when you get a frag or some small algae introduction into the new tank which will happen. Comes w/ snails crabs rock frags frag plugs ect…. The substrate as well can be saturated w/ PO4 that a simple rinsing will not remove. As cheap as new dry aragonite sand is I would buy new sand and ditch the old. Or you could cure it as well but IMO I don't think it is worthwhile. (Lanthanum Chloride)

3-4) I don’t use Mag pumps so i can't really say about noise level but I hear they are noisy. If shaft is intact and impeller in good shape then motor should be water tight, I wouldn’t know what else to say about that. Wouldn't think skimmer would cause return pump to be noisy. However a new skimmer can often times throw a lot of bubbles during the break-in period. Set it so it doesn't overflow though, and wait it out.

5-6) There will be a substantial amount of die off from the rocks for a single crab going into a straight cycle process, however, remember IMO a curing process is needed for that rock. I would trap him in a bottle trap and remove him to a quarantine tank that you'll need anyway prior to placing fish in tank and cure that rock prior to placing into display w/ substrate. I don't think the crab will eat the Coralline and cycling with the lights off is my preferred method because of the reduced chance of starting an algae outbreak. But in any case no need to run lights for more than 8 hours during the cycling process. If you are skipping the curing process and going straight to cycling process then I would be more concerned w/ maintaining Alk which tends to drop during this process to preserve the Coralline.

Hope this helps and Merry Skerry

I think i've been a bit unclear. The rock currently in the tank is from the LFS tanks with their fish not their live rock tank so I would think it should be ready to go? None of the old stuff has been put in yet, I'm seeking info on prepping the formerly "infected" items.

I don't think the skimmer is causing the noise as the skimmer isn't currently running because I've adjusted the air valve everyway possible and it still produces too many bubbles and overflows. Manufacturer says this is common with newly made salt water and to let the water mature a bit and it will stop. I'm wondering if the "New water syndrome" could be causing the strange noise from the pump.

The rock from the LFS shouldn't have a lot of die should it? Neither should the dried out / cleaned rock right? Maybe I'm missing some info there. My intentions was to head straight into cycle with the store bought rock. Initially my ph was around 7.9 and has over the last few days crept up to 8.1 other parameters (Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia) have all reamained at 0 thus far. I don't currently have testing kits for Calcium or Alkilinity thinking I wouldn't need them until I got it cycled.

Either way thanks for the information.

[thegrun]

1. I would give the hair algae rock an acid bath Look here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...ight=acid+bath It is very difficult to eradicate and the acid will also remove most of the phosphates.
2. Ditto, acid bath.
3. Mag pumps tend to run noisy, solid performers but they generate heat and noise. Try placing it on a mouse pad to dampen the vibrations and use flex hose to attach it if you are not already doing so.
4. Skimmers often take a week to break in, hopefully that is the case with yours. They are also very sensitive to water levels so you may want to raise or lower it slightly to see if that helps.
5. Any crab is a potential fish killer although emerald crabs are fairly mild as far as crabs go while they are small. You can add a small pinch of dry flake food every other day, but scavengers will often find enough food on their own.
6. You will need to run the daylight bulbs at least 6 hours a day to preserve the coraline. In general you should only run the main daylight bulbs 8 hours a day but the actinics (blue) can run for 12-14 hours.

[greene.phillip]

Originally Posted by thegrun

1. I would give the hair algae rock an acid bath Look here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...ight=acid+bath It is very difficult to eradicate and the acid will also remove most of the phosphates.
2. Ditto, acid bath.
3. Mag pumps tend to run noisy, solid performers but they generate heat and noise. Try placing it on a mouse pad to dampen the vibrations and use flex hose to attach it if you are not already doing so.
4. Skimmers often take a week to break in, hopefully that is the case with yours. They are also very sensitive to water levels so you may want to raise or lower it slightly to see if that helps.
5. Any crab is a potential fish killer although emerald crabs are fairly mild as far as crabs go while they are small. You can add a small pinch of dry flake food every other day, but scavengers will often find enough food on their own.
6. You will need to run the daylight bulbs at least 6 hours a day to preserve the coraline. In general you should only run the main daylight bulbs 8 hours a day but the actinics (blue) can run for 12-14 hours.

1-2) I picked up 3 gallons of bleach and 4 gallons of muriatic acid today. Gonna soak in bleach tonight prolly and then acid tomorrow. Should I just put the sand in with the rocks? Will the sand absorb anything harmful from the process? Or just following the procedure and all should be well? I'm assuming this acid bath will prevent any major ammonia spike from die off as well?

3) I have uploaded a video, warning its a bit loud:

The hum I can live with. The other noise is a bit much.

4) Tried another go on the skimmer and it's still way too foamy to leave and fills with water quickly. It did start out with a bit of brown foam so I think things are progressing.

5) I'll feed him a bit and keep an eye on him. Was just curious if it may be worse since he has full reign for a while.

6) I guess I'll have to work on this because my controller doesn't have enough outlets to seperate the two main lights and was thinking 12 hours for both was appropriate.

Thanks.

[squishifishi]

ime the hair algae will grow back anyway. Howver, emerald crabs are fantastic hair algae eaters! they are also very peaceful and pose no threat to anything besides algae!

[squishifishi]

what's the point of paying for live rock if youre just gonna kill everything in it anyway?

[greene.phillip]

Originally Posted by squishifishi

what's the point of paying for live rock if youre just gonna kill everything in it anyway?

Obviously, Wouldn't have bought it if I had known it included hair algae. Bought the rock/sand from someone taking down a tank so got a good price on it and thought I was getting a good deal.

I may still buy new sand, it's only about 35-40 lbs. The rocks in the 1:10 bleach:water now.

[squishifishi]

oh true. good luck. i still reccomend emeralds instead.