![]() |
#1
|
|||||
|
|||||
![]() Hi Everyone,
Now that I have some time on my hands, I am going to be showing my build to everyone. This is my first saltwater tank but I have done a lot of research and felt completely comfortable with setting this thing up. Currently my tank is about 2 months old but I am going to take you back to the beginning. Please comment and tell me if you see anything wrong and give me suggestions. Frame of the stand ![]() Plywood for the sides and top of the stand ![]() Painting The Stand ![]() Finished Stand ![]() Siliconing baffles in 20 Gallon Sump ![]() Finished Sump ![]() Koralia 750 (Circulation) ![]() Test Kits, got calcium after I took this picture ![]() Maxi Jet 900 (Circulation) ![]() Eheim 1000 (Return Pump) ![]() Bulk Reef Supply 4 Stage RO/DI Unit ![]() Aluminum Bar for my 250W PFO Metal Halide. This was painted black and another piece was added to it for better mounting ![]() Ready for placement in my living room ![]() Sitting in it's permanent spot, looking pretty nice. I know It is by a window but the tank itself won't get any direct sunlight. Also I will be keeping the blinds closed most of the time. ![]() This is up to about February 10th. Hopefully I did everything properly. I will post some more pics of the tank up and running from the last month later tonight or tomorrow. Please comment and tell me if I should change anything. Thanks |
#2
|
||||
|
||||
![]() Very nice stand you built ! You would be very proud of yourself if you see how I built my ugly stand
![]() |
#3
|
|||||
|
|||||
![]() Quote:
![]() |
#4
|
|||||
|
|||||
![]() Filling up with fresh RO/DI water. Very exciting!!! Also got 3/4's of the rock in. Not my final aquascape.
![]() Adding Reef Crystals Salt ![]() Made a stand for my skimmer so that it would be sitting in the proper water level in my sump. All I did was cut a square of egg crate out to the right size, then the PVC legs, then cut and drilled some holes in them so that detritus wouldn't build up in there, then I zap strapped the PVC legs to the egg crate. ![]() Added the live sand ![]() ![]() Under the stand ![]() Water clearing up a little bit ![]() I will post some more pics later. Enjoy! |
#5
|
|||||
|
|||||
![]() Here is where the fun part began for me. Watching the tank grow into a small piece of the ocean.
New aquascape. This I believe is my permanent scape. A new powerhead for the time being since the Koralia 750 was blowing my sand around a little. I will be putting a Koralia 550 in here along with this Maxi Jet 900. In the future I will hopefully get 1 MP10 which would be ideal since the 2 power heads that are in there now don't look the nicest. View from my chair ![]() View from the front. On the front right rock there will be a neon green torch coral. I will also have 2 True Percula Clowns that will hopefully host the torch. ![]() A couple of close-ups of my rock work ![]() ![]() ![]() The Koralia 550 is now in and I also got a fan to blow over the water surface. ![]() Also bought a Reef Keeper Light to control my metal halide, Koralia, heater and fan. I absolutely love this thing!! It keeps my temperature perfect. Between 78.4 - 78.6 ![]() Will be posting some more pictures a bit later, SPS and Zoas!! Stay tuned. |
#6
|
|||||
|
|||||
![]() Looks great so far. How do plan to cycle?
|
#7
|
|||||
|
|||||
![]() There was an instant cycle from adding the 40lbs. of live sand. The Nitrates looked like this for the first 5 days
Day 1: 3ppm Day 2: 2ppm Day 3: 2ppm Day 4: 1ppm Day 5: 0ppm Correct me if I'm wrong but I think this is a full cycle, right? |
#8
|
|||||
|
|||||
![]() I would still wait, dont be surprised if you see an ammonia or nitrate spike.. wait your not usin any live rock? technically you have no real biological filtration, I would add a chunk or 2 of live rock even just in the sump to add the filtration, that will also ensure a cycle happens.
__________________
I'm not 'fallow' you must be talking about my tank! |
#9
|
|||||
|
|||||
![]() Yes don't count on live sand to cycle your tank. If you are not interested in damsels or clowns to cycle then a bit of rotting uncooked shrimp will get things going along with a seeded rock.
|
#10
|
|||||
|
|||||
![]() Quote:
|