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Hockeynut's new 90 gal build
- Thread starter Hockeynut
- Start date
Great start! As everyone else said, the stand looks awesome.
Hockeynut
NJRC Member
Well a couple days in now and my water has finally cleared up.. I put in two welloy tail chromes to stare and plan on adding two more green on thurs when I can get to a store. Everything seems to be good for now. I took a seed from my sons nano so hopefully I'm on my way. I had a couple professionals come in to see is there were any unwanted guests.....
After a long fight they pulled this guy out. Thanks Gater Guys!!!
After a long fight they pulled this guy out. Thanks Gater Guys!!!
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Hockeynut
NJRC Member
Well I'm 12 days into cycling the 90 and as u can see the tank looks pretty crappy. From the posts I have read this is a normal part of cycling I have let it rum for a couple days with no lights on but it seems like it had no affect. The problem is that the tank is in my living room which has a good amount of natural light and even with the lights out it still gets defused light. I really don't want to add anything else to it right now I added dr Tim's to try and help with cycling. I know a lot of guys don't believe in instant cycling but the way I figured it was that it wouldn't hurt.. Here's a pic
Also how do you guys add those nice big pictures? I can't figure it out any help will be appreciated thanks.
Also how do you guys add those nice big pictures? I can't figure it out any help will be appreciated thanks.
An "instant" cycle sounds great, but in practice, it is not something you would want to do unless you absolutely have to. Example: if Tank A crashed, and you needed to house livestock immediately, that would be a time to try for and instant cycle, using a product, to try to save your livestock.
I like Dr. Tim's, I have used it myself, but keep in mind that instant cycle products work best with a live sand bed and fully cured live rock. Even with those two things, the instant cycle product is really just a bacterial culture. Does it shorten your cycle? I think so. At a minimum, it should help relieve some of the stress on your Chromis by reducing the amount of ammonia in your new tank. I would not add any more fish at this time, give your tank another couple of weeks IMHO.
Now, your sand bed: the algae is there because you have excess nutrients in your water. Once the nutrient level drops, the algae's presence will drop as well. The algae in the photo looks like diatoms. As your tank matures, it will go away, even if you can't black the tank out right now.
I like Dr. Tim's, I have used it myself, but keep in mind that instant cycle products work best with a live sand bed and fully cured live rock. Even with those two things, the instant cycle product is really just a bacterial culture. Does it shorten your cycle? I think so. At a minimum, it should help relieve some of the stress on your Chromis by reducing the amount of ammonia in your new tank. I would not add any more fish at this time, give your tank another couple of weeks IMHO.
Now, your sand bed: the algae is there because you have excess nutrients in your water. Once the nutrient level drops, the algae's presence will drop as well. The algae in the photo looks like diatoms. As your tank matures, it will go away, even if you can't black the tank out right now.
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Hockeynut
NJRC Member
Thanks a lot I haven't planned on putting any more fish for at least a month so I think I'll be safe on that part. As far as the diatoms that's what I figured. I also am not going to run my MH till I get some coral in the tank. D u think I should add macro algae now? My refugium is only sand right now. If so where is the best place to get it? I have seen posts in the past on this site people giving it away maybe ill post I'm looking for some. What do u recommend?
I think you are smart in holding off on the MH for now. Those lights are energy hogs, I would stay away from turning it on for the moment, although I would turn it on, and monitor temp swings, before you add too much livestock.
As far as macro in your refugium, go for it. Adding macro from another tank will also introduce microfauna like pods, which will be a good thing for your system. I like chaeto, personally. It doesn't become sexual, it isn't terribly invasive, it provides shelter for pods, and it is easy to cut a chunk off when the clump gets too big.
Many members have macro in their refugiums, you may just want to put up a post in WTB (if I had some, I would offer it, but I do not). You may also be able to buy it an LFS.
Hockeynut
NJRC Member
Already posted for the algae.
As far as the MH I bought two Chinese led fixtures and they seem really good dim able light looks nice but I don't think I'm going to use them at least not for now so many different opinions about the ability to grow and color coral it is making me crazy. Some people absolutely love them and others hate them I'm soooooo confused on that matter what I do know is the electric guzzling MH really work and I won't need a chiller I have good AC and even if I do I have a plan for a extremely cheap Geo Thermal chiller that I will post on a build thread at a later time I think it will be interesting.
I don't know....
As far as the MH I bought two Chinese led fixtures and they seem really good dim able light looks nice but I don't think I'm going to use them at least not for now so many different opinions about the ability to grow and color coral it is making me crazy. Some people absolutely love them and others hate them I'm soooooo confused on that matter what I do know is the electric guzzling MH really work and I won't need a chiller I have good AC and even if I do I have a plan for a extremely cheap Geo Thermal chiller that I will post on a build thread at a later time I think it will be interesting.
I don't know....
I think you will be fine.
When we ran a MH, our tank stayed at 80 degrees. The most important thing is avoiding temp swings, as you know; we did not have a chiller at the time. A fan can work fine to keep the temp stable too.
Our LEDs have too many options too, there is not much I can say about that. If you look at our build thread, you can see some of the issues we had- LEDs too close to coral and coral bleaching (but now recovering because the lights were raised).
I will say this about LEDs- if you can dial them in properly, you can get nice color and growth from them. All in all, I think you are off to a great start!
When we ran a MH, our tank stayed at 80 degrees. The most important thing is avoiding temp swings, as you know; we did not have a chiller at the time. A fan can work fine to keep the temp stable too.
Our LEDs have too many options too, there is not much I can say about that. If you look at our build thread, you can see some of the issues we had- LEDs too close to coral and coral bleaching (but now recovering because the lights were raised).
I will say this about LEDs- if you can dial them in properly, you can get nice color and growth from them. All in all, I think you are off to a great start!
Hockeynut
NJRC Member
Well the tank is just starting to come to life with my first corals from the meeting, hammer from Brian and raffle win cyphastrea, also the addition of my pair of black ice clowns it actually looks like something is in the tank.
I have been looking at it seemingly so long empty it's nice to see something in it. Thanks again Brian for your hospitality and for the hammer frag. Love your tank the rock work is awesome it makes me want to re do mine before I get anything else in the tank.
I met a lot of nice people at the meeting and hope to make the next one.
I have been looking at it seemingly so long empty it's nice to see something in it. Thanks again Brian for your hospitality and for the hammer frag. Love your tank the rock work is awesome it makes me want to re do mine before I get anything else in the tank.
I met a lot of nice people at the meeting and hope to make the next one.
