James' 20G Build!

J

James_G

New member
I started a thread to keep updates on my build. Its a basic build with no sump. For lighting I have 4X24 watt t5's (2X actinic and 2X 10K).

For mechanical filtration Im using the AquaC Remora w maxijet 1200 and pre-skimmer. I have a small hob filter also so I can run some carbon.

About three months ago I ordered 25lbs of marco rocks. I cleaned it in a mixture of vinegar and rodi for one week. After that I soaked it in pure rodi for 2 more weeks with a powerhead, changing the water every other day to make sure I got all the vinegar out.

While the rock was soaking I decided to paint the back glass of the tank black with semi-gloss rustoleum paint. IMO this is the way to go, It looks very clean. I will never put one of those backround things on there ever again.

Im using 15 lbs of Tropic Eden Reef Flakes (3.5mm). The sand was fairly clean and I would recommend it to anyone. I did rinse it for a while and when I finally added it to the tank the water did not cloud up at all.

Since I used all dry rock and sand I added 3lbs of LR to seed the tank with some critters.
 
J

James_G

New member
Heres a pic of the rock after I added the sand and water (pic was taken 20min after I added the sand so you can see how little the tank clouded up).



Some close ups of the rock..





 
J

James_G

New member
My cycle is almost over ( I cycled with a raw shrimp), please let me know what you think... This tank will be mainly for corals. Im not worried about fish right now, but I do like the yellow-tailed damsels (cheap and very colorful)! That will probably be my only fish.
 
FishBeard

FishBeard

New member
The rock looks awesome, just got the same stuff for a 40 breeder reef I'm putting together. Stacks like legos and just plain looks good however you stack it!

 
J

James_G

New member
very cool, thats not my final scape but your right about it looking awesome no matter how you stack it. Great product IMO
 
J

James_G

New member
My tank has been cycling for just over a month now. For the last week my parameters have read:
pH - 8.1
NH3-0
NO2-0
NO3-20

Yesterday I decided to do a 20% waterchange to try and get the NO3 to drop a little. Today I tested the water again and my parameters read:

pH-8.2
NH3-0
NO2-0
NO3-10

I decided to go ahead and get the fish I wanted, (1) yellow tail. He will be my only fish..



Im starting to get some diatoms also..





 
J

James_G

New member
I just want to give a quick update on my build. Its now 34 days old and everything is going great. My yellow tail looks healthy and is eating NLS pellets, PE Mysis, Rods Fishfood, and flakes. My skimmer finally broke in and is taking out some pretty nasty stuff.

The rock are starting to change colors. I can see green, pink, purple, yellow, orange, and red. It really is amazing. Here are some pics of whats going on.







 
J

James_G

New member
Yesterday I did a small water change and tried blowing off my rocks with a turkey baster but nothing came off... My sandbed is starting to turn brown too...
 
jcarlilesiu

jcarlilesiu

Active member
All of these colors are representative of new tank break in. Parameters are all out of wack, and until they get in line, you will continue to get various out breaks of bacteria and algae. By the looks of it, everything is normal and the treatment is just time.

The brown on your rocks and sand is diatoms. Caused by silicates in the water. Usually introduced to the tank by the new sand. Once the diatoms consume the silicates, they will disappear. Its going to get worse before it gets better. There is really nothing you can do here but wait.

Pink/green is probably various forums of algae. Hopefully coraline, but probably not at this early in the game. Plus it looks like you didn't seed the tank with any live rock containing coraline which is necessary to get it started.

My guess is that its a combination of cyno bacteria and green hair algae. Both of these usually show up in new tanks. Once some of the nutrients, primarily phosphates are taken up they disappear.

People experience problems when they continue to introduce these compounds. If you aren't using RO water for instance, there is a good chance that you will continue to introduce phosphates from your tap water. By doing this, you continue to feed the algae and in some cases, this is how it can get to epic levels.

At this point, I don't think there is anything to be concerned with. The tank will balance out in time. Continue to perform water changes with RO water and practice good husbandry, and you should be good to go in the long run.

Its looking good!
 
J

James_G

New member
Thanks for the detailed response!

I put a few pieces of LR in during the cycle. You cant really see it because its under the dry rock. Im using RODI with a 0 TDS reading so hopefully this will help. I doubt its coralline growing but the LR has layers upon layers of nice purple coralline on it and when I first got it I scrapped pieces off to spread it around the tank.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top