They’ve arrived!!! Two AI Sol Super Blues and my Eheim Auto-Feeder!
Finally, my reef tank gets to enjoy its own lighting! It’s been up two months now with just the living room lights on all day. Can’t wait to install them!
Finished cleaning up my tank this morning. Made some 25 gallon water change. Letting the system sit for the rest of the week and by Saturday, I’ll be ready to introduce the next occupants. Yeah!
Meanwhile, I’ll try to ask for cheato from local reef keepers.
PS: KUNG HEI FAT CHOI!!!
I just installed a couple of CFL spotlights for my refugium! Yey! They’re a lot brighter than they look. Put them in reverse daylight timer.
Some cycling news: My ammonia and nitrates dropped to zero two days ago. I’m almost ready to clean up and polish my tank. Just need a PH test kit, one or two more mid-size rocks (hopefully, adding some more LR will not start a mini-cycle) and I’ll be ready for the next step.
After adding LR, I’ll monitor my tank parameters for ammonia and nitrate for the next couple of days to make sure they both remain zero. I’ll then make a 25% water change, clean the tank up, start my protein skimmer, maybe add a couple of cups of carbon and then, if my parameters remain stable, add a handful of cheato (if I can find some).
Come next Saturday, I should be ready to add my next fish! I’m planning to get a couple of small clowns! Excited!
UPDATE: For more information on refugium lighting, click here: http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html
Cycling Day 4!
I’m surprised to see nitrites and nitrates this early. I guess the rocks were really cured.
Me pulling out some of the shrimp (OMG! The stink!) must have caused the drop in ammonia. Plus, my damselfish has been snacking on some shrimp too.
Putting shrimp in the first place may have been a little overkill but I was thinking of having some ammonia ready for the live rocks. Only two bodies are left in the refugium, each covered in white cocoon. And after having the smell of rotting shrimp on my right hand for hours, I’m not about to pull those out. I guess I’ll let nature take its course and let them decay, although next time, I’ll remember to put them in a bag.
Also, since I put those shrimp in there, my water has been a little cloudy. I’ve been reading that its part of the cycling phase and it will should sort itself out. I’m cycling my tank without the skimmer so that could probably be another reason why.
Lastly, two parameters are missing: PH and Temperature. For the PH, I forgot to buy a test kit last weekend but I’ll make sure that it’s stable before I start adding live stock. And for the temperature, my tank has been a ranging form 30°C to 32°C which is, yes, very high. I know. I know.
I can’t really afford a chiller, let alone operate one 24/7. It’s just plain too expensive. I live in a tropical country so the average room temperature is 30°C. That, along with my return pump, a RIO 32HF, ramps up the temperature to as high as 32°C. I could try putting a fan over the tank but that would ruin the overall look.
Cycling Day 0!
Yey! Finally started cycling today with 45 kgs of live rock. Added half a dozen cocktail shrimps to get things going. Will post updates as things become apparent.
A couple of notes for future sump designs:
- The return section must contain the entire overflow volume from the display tank or at least keep the water level in the skimmer section constant even during a power outage. That is to avoid the skimmer overflowing when the power comes back in. You don’t want detritus going back into your tank.
- Right now, water gets into the return section with too much splash causing a lot of bubbles and salt spray. Not sure if it’s because my return pump is too powerful or there’s not enough water in my return section.
It’s only the first of January but I got so many things to do!
I finished that overflow guard I wrote about in my last post and I just spray painted the new return nozzles black. It will be ready by tomorrow.
I got my own RO unit the other day and now, I’m generating a total of 170 gallons of water for cycling. So far, the sump’s almost full and I’ll need around 110 gallons more to fill the display tank.
Hopefully, I get to aquascape by Saturday.
This is a picture of the leak test I did Christmas day. So far the new pipes are holding up. I took extra care to put more than enough PVC cement so I guess that paid off.
I found-out that there’s a couple of holes going into the pre-return section in the sump, each going through the skimmer and refugium sections. I sealed those up with some silicone caulk. Also, the return pump is so powerful that it pushes out the pipe and leaks some water out, reducing the amount of water that gets into the display tank. I decided to join the pump to the return piping with a little bit of silicone.
I only need to tweak a couple of things before I start cycling:
- Point the return nozzles to the front of the tank to maximize the flow. It’s pointed to the sides of the tank so I think most of the force of the water is being dissipated along the glass.
- Add a guard along the wall of the sump overflow section to keep the water in when bubbles come up.
Hopefully, I get to start cycling early next year. I’m planning to get an RO unit before that since I discovered that my top-off water had significant amounts of phosphate. Not sure where it came from since it’s supposed to be purified drinking water. Having my own RO unit should fix that. Anyways, we’ll see next year.
Happy New Year!!!
Remember, I got rid of the piping hanging off the display tank. Well, last week, I finally put a new set together and so far from the leak test, they’re holding up.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Tomorrow, I get to come home to my parents and celebrate New Year’s with them. Enjoy the holidays y’all!
