Journal: 24+10g Low Light Reef

[RMc]

Hi everyone,

My account was just approved and I wanted to get a little journal going for my first build. 24G + 10G sump, low light (70W metal Halide). It has been up and running for 2 weeks now with appr 45 lbs of live rock. The rock was sourced from 4 different tanks and came with lots of life.

Day 1 (jan 14, 2013):

Adding rocks sand and water

 

[RMc]

Day 3 (Jan 16, 2013):

Added more rock from two sources and some livestock

Fauna: 2x Astrea snails, 3x blue legged hermits
Coral: 1x red mushroom, 1x red polyp, 1x GSP, 1x Kenyan Tree, 1x Blue mushroom(?)

Blue legged hermit and mushroom

kenyan tree

Full tank - not yet connected to sump

Red Polyps lookin sad

GSP hiding out

 

[RMc]

Day 3 (continue):

Red Mushrooms

 

[RMc]

Day 6 (Jan 19, 2013):

Diatoms are running wild, but the snails are cleaning up.

GSP is starting to come out

Red Polyps looking better

Full tank shot

Red Boomers, doin what they do

 

[RMc]

Day 10-11: (Jan 24/25, 2013)

Had a major phosphate / algae issues due to the decaying organics - used kent's sponge for 36 hrs and it cleared right up.

Running activated carbon in the upstairs filter to reduce organics further. - Has cleared up water substantially.

Added 14-17 Nassarius snails / 10 lbs of live rock to the sump.
Sump also has a bunch of Cheato. Having issues with it getting sucked into the powerheads.

Testing parameters: PH 8.2, Temp 78F, DkH 8-9, CA: 400-480, Nitrates 5ppm (would prefer a bit higher for the macro algae), Ammonia 0ppm, Phosphates 0? very low - hard to tell with the test kit.

Full tank shots:

GSP out and about:

Kenyan Tree Nassarius and poor slob bristleworm:

 

[RMc]

Day 10-11 Continue

Added a little peppermint shrimp to take care of the Aiptasia.

Red Polyps:

Red Mushroom:

Peppermint Shrimp:

 

[RMc]

Day 10-11 Continued:

Equipment:
Remora Pro Protein Skimmer - Mag 3 pump
Eheim 1250 return
Sunpod 70W (unsure of temp)
250W heater
small Fluval in tank filter (for now)

Blue Shroom just waking up:

Strawberry Anenome - 10-12 of these around the lower part of the tank:

 

[THE WOOKIE]

I love the pic of the peppermint shrimp hanging upside down! my skunk cleaner shrimp does the same thing

 

[coder35]

Very nice and great looking photos
Was it an upgrade or downgrade from a previous setup?

 

[s_kelley]

Welcome aboard. Keep up the progress shots. Looking good.

 

[RMc]

Coder, this is my first marine build. The LR /sand came from a very well established tank and have helped me out a lot. Major thanks to the previous owner. Over the last 4 months I've set up two freshwater tanks that have been very beneficial in learning the chemistry and rituals of keeping a tank alive. My girl wanted a saltwater tank and I happily obliged.

I currently run an 8g nano with CO2 injection - the fauna includes 1 beta, 15-25 red cherry shrimp, 2 amanos, 8 Pygmy cory cats, and some nerites. This was my first tank, started in october of last year as a better bowl for my beta.

http://i.imgur.com/vIRVmVq.jpg

After which I started an experimental sumped freshwater tank with a large refugium stocked with floating plants. It's a naturally planted tank with most of its lighting coming from a south facing window. It houses 6 bolivian rams, 14 (+-) harlequin rasboras, some ottos, nerites, and a few species of shrimp.

http://i.imgur.com/UO7cmlv.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0kqVF4q.jpg

I love this hobby, but have a small fear of how possessing it can be.

 

[RMc]

No photos, but Laura (the girlfriend) tells me we have major algae! Aaaaarrrghhh. This tank did go through some swings initially and the phosphates climbed way up as all the organics from the LR / sand were processed. We used Kent's phosphate sponge and brought them back to zero. This made for 2-3 days without any algae, but now I hear it's back with a vengeance.

I've gone and purchased 2x 2LF Phosban reactors off of CL and plan to start running GFO and carbon this weekend. I'll likely run the sponge again as well to give the GFO a head start.

 

[Shawnburg]

You could be having an algae problem from the tank getting too much sunlight through the window.

 

[RMc]

Good call, we lowered the shade - but a decent amount of light still gets through.

 

[Shawnburg]

Maybe try getting a darker shade I think there light blocker from Lowes or Home Depot. I have them for my bedroom and they work well to block out the light.

Good call, we lowered the shade - but a decent amount of light still gets through.

 

[BlackSmith]

Hi everyone,

My account was just approved and I wanted to get a little journal going for my first build. 24G + 10G sump, low light (70W metal Halide). It has been up and running for 2 weeks now with appr 45 lbs of live rock. The rock was sourced from 4 different tanks and came with lots of life.

Day 1 (jan 14, 2013):

Adding rocks sand and water

Like your idea of a journal. I've seen lots of journals on different sites of all types of hobbies. Nothing like real world expience to read about and see. I might start one myself since I am still piecing together my hardware bit by bit. Should be leak testing in about a month. I have a Marineland 60g cube.

 

[RMc]

Game over - Idiotically cracked the rear when adjusting the drain in the sump.
Sourced a 45G + overflow.

We will rebuild.

 

[jarrodsanborn]

Oh carp! Bummer...

 

[jselzler1]

Great macro photosin this thread. Too bad about the dam bursting.