Need suggestions for my planning

[leveldrummer]

you can add the firefish back, your really only going to have 4 fish, the neon gobies are tiny, and dont account for much strain on a tank, the watchman will stay at the bottom, so you will actually have 3 fish free swimming in the water column, seems like a good list in the first post.

[Fishboy93]

Okay, thanks im beginning to see the advantages of Metal Halides...would a 175watt to 200watt work nicely without burning up my shrooms and zoa's? they'd be toward the bottom anyway.....http://cgi.ebay.com/175-Watt-Metal-H...QQcmdZViewItem. would this work? Would i have to build something around it?

[leveldrummer]

a system LIKE that would be a great setup, but i would try to find a brand that you can trust, one that youve heard of, certain things you dont want to skimp on, and thats usually lights and a skimmer, im sure you can get incontact with a local reef club, and find a nice set up that is used. 175w wouldnt hurt your zoo's at all, or your mushrooms for that matter, even if you keep them all the way up, they will adjust to the higher light and thrive nicely.

250w would be better, but you might run into heat issues, and end up looking for a chiller. so a 175 is great. never seen a 200 though.

im also not aware of the exact dimensions of your tank, if its longer then 2', getting a could t5's or pc's to run with the mh would be a very good idea too.

[Fishboy93]

Well, I did end up purchasing a MH(75 bucks not bad eh?) its 250 watts. The bad news is that its magnetic ballast not electronic. Is 14k or 20k the best for all around good growth. We'd rather not use the PC's in addition(My bro gets free upgrade and so does my sump).

[leveldrummer]

Originally Posted by Fishboy93

Well, I did end up purchasing a MH(75 bucks not bad eh?) its 250 watts. The bad news is that its magnetic ballast not electronic. Is 14k or 20k the best for all around good growth. We'd rather not use the PC's in addition(My bro gets free upgrade and so does my sump).

there is a fine line between growth and looks, generally the 6500k or 10000k get the best growth, but they color is very yellow or white, if you want a blueish look, your going to sacrafice fast growth for looks and go with a 12-14-or 20 k, the higher the number the bluer the bulb. (usualy)

[Fishboy93]

Originally Posted by leveldrummer

there is a fine line between growth and looks, generally the 6500k or 10000k get the best growth, but they color is very yellow or white, if you want a blueish look, your going to sacrafice fast growth for looks and go with a 12-14-or 20 k, the higher the number the bluer the bulb. (usualy)

Will any degree K lighting work without atinics? Im trying to spread out my lights

[leveldrummer]

Originally Posted by Fishboy93

Will any degree K lighting work without atinics? Im trying to spread out my lights

yea, the k rating is a loose description of the color, im sure there is some science there, but after switching around the bulbs, it seems its just a manufacturers guess as to what K something really is.

i run 14k's with no actinics at all. they are blue enough to make the greens and other colors pop and flourese. but not so blue that it hurts my eyeballs to look at it. lol


if you want FAST growth, a 6500 or a 10 k is your best bet. if you dont mine slower growth and would like the bluer color, 14/15 to 20 is good too.

and even that isnt always true, some bulbs just have higher par/lux

XM's 20 k's have WAY more par then their 15k. its just one of those things.

[Fishboy93]

Okay thank you....Came up with another question...Is it a bad idea two add liverock at different times? Like 10lbs one week then 10lbs two weeks later?

[leveldrummer]

Originally Posted by Fishboy93

Okay thank you....Came up with another question...Is it a bad idea two add liverock at different times? Like 10lbs one week then 10lbs two weeks later?

no, thats fine, but you never want to add live rock once you have added and live stock. unless you cure it really well in a seperate container. if you add it 10 lbs at a time, you going to be throwing you cycle around. but as long as there is no animals in it, it wont do any harm, it will just be longer before you can stock it, the last piece of live rock will have to cycle and let the die off decompose completely.

just an idea, if you cant afford all the live rock at once, try to find some base rock, (just live rock thats been dried and dead for a long time) put a bunch at the bottom, and seed it with 10-15lbs of live. it will all be live before you know it.

[Fishboy93]

I have Base rock in(Look on second page) Its just i want to make progress before summer when I can buy from Tampabaysaltwater.com. ...All the live rock is cured. I just dont like an empty tank to stare at.If Both places have cured Live Rock will the tank re-cycle after the second addition?I'd like to add some beginner corals.. Thank you for all your help.

[leveldrummer]

no matter how "cured" live rock is, its not a good idea to toss it in a tank with animals already in it. for one, you dont really know how cured it is. unless you run test over a couple days. two... taking it out of the water and on a short ride home (or shipping it) can cause dieoff, which has to break down and be cycled. its always good to add all your rock and be done with ti before addin anything else.

once the tank is established, if you want to add a small piece once in a while, it shouldnt do any harm. but 10 lbs is a much different story.

[Fishboy93]

Well, i decided im gonna just buy it all on saturday. Getting RO water and salt tomorrow. MH light is on the way. I got a PC light in the meantime. Substrate is in. Made an mistake and didnt clean it that well and have a good amount of silt :/ .....


Also...How long after the liverock is in can I begin to add corals? Im going to call tomorrow and see how their liverock looks.

[leveldrummer]

Originally Posted by Fishboy93

Made an mistake and didnt clean it that well and have a good amount of silt :/ .....


Also...How long after the liverock is in can I begin to add corals? Im going to call tomorrow and see how their liverock looks.

some people say wash it, some say dont, either way, its gonna cloud up a little, but it will go away in a day or so.


you need to get test kits!! get ammonia, nitrate and nitrite. cycle the tank like a freshwater. ammonia spike, nitrite spike, nitrate. after the first two read 0, wait a little while, make sure nothing else comes up. do a small water change and start stocking. sometimes you can avoid a cycle with good liverock (but its very rare) and a cycle can take up to a month or two. so take your time and BE PATIENT!!

[Fishboy93]

Got all my test kits ahead of time. RO Water and Salt are in little cloudy but better than before. Didnt think I could anyway. Liverock and pics tomorrow..

[Fishboy93]

lol leveldrummer we have a lot of experience in freshwater (just never could afford s/w till now) and have read a ton about s/w...we kno the nitrogen cycle you can stop all the exclamation points =) i'll make sure he's patient don't worry.

EDIT: woops i posted on my brother's account its really k-dawg-

[Fishboy93]

Update: Bought 25lbs of liverock today. Pics:

FTS:


Auto TopOff, Mounted powerstrip(Re-wired the stuff):



Some sort of Fan like thing(sorry for bad pic):

[Fishboy93]

Found my first apistia...How do you guys suggest i kill this thing?

[leveldrummer]

Originally Posted by Fishboy93

Found my first apistia...How do you guys suggest i kill this thing?

joes juice, kalk paste, pickling lime, boiling water. any of those have been known to work (joes juice is probably the best bet) inject it into the aptasia, in the mouth/head area, with a syringe.

[Fishboy93]

Apistia is dead. Ammonia is at .5 , pH 8.3, Sg-1.026. These look alright? Should I wait till after the cycle to add some chaeto algae?

[leveldrummer]

i think macro algae is fine to add, shouldnt hurt it.