Hey guys I figured id give you all an update on the 125 I was setting up for my friends father. So far its going well and has made a lot of progress and hopefully soon will be ready for some fish!
So to start id like to thank Mikem for his generous donation of a skimmer, reef lighting, live rock, and other misc items which helped put the final pieces to the system together. It was a pleasure meeting him and seeing his tanks wonderful guy with over 47 years experience it was definitely cool to meet him.
Over the last 2 weeks I have added rock sand and water to the tank, set up the sump and equipment spent many frustrating hours tweaking the adjustments on the skimmer and return pumps as well as stared blankly for like an hour at a HOB over flow box trying to understand how to create a vacuum and why they didn't put this in the instructions.
Any ways all the equipment was set up and bunch of bio spira has been added to the tank and the cycling process has been started, there is still a few tweaks and kinks in the system that need to be worked out but all in all the system is functioning.
monday marked the 2 1/2 week mark with water in the tank and the cycling process going, I preformed a test of the water that focused just on the cycle and got some decent readings they are not perfect but it shows that the cycle is well underway. to start Ammonia is roughly 1ppm (which isn't ideal but its come along way from 8ppm) Nitrate was 4ppm and nitrite was roughly 4ppm and some phosphate levels were detectable but I honestly don't remember the score. Now I know these levels indicate that the cycle has started and isn't complete but they are dropping steadily which is a good sign.
Yesterday we added some Inverts to the tank Snails and a few hermits about 1/4 the CUC needed for the tank and I know this is gonna get me scolded by a few but a damsel fish was added to help assist the initial cycle and break in of the tank.
Today I was informed by my friend that some cyano algea has appeared on the glass he was worried at first but I advised him that this was all part of the process and that cyano was just the start of his alegea worries lol
A few issues to note : I believe a second hob over flow will need to be added to the system cause the return pump seems to out pump the tank though it could also be an issue with finding the right water level in both the tank and sump system its like a weird balancing act for me at the moment. also I will probably modify the HOB over full to include a syphon break (learned the hard way that the water will continue to flow until you flood)
Another issue which im trying to figure out has to do with temperature the tank has 1500 watt heater in the display tank ( I want to move it to the sump) and attached to the heater is a probe and digital thermostat which is indicating the tank is at 78 degrees how ever the water to me feels slightly chilly no the instructions that came with the heater state the probe should be no more the 5 inches from the heater but thinking logically about this a 1500 watt heater in my mind could easily warm water with in that distance from it self indicating to the thermostat that the desired temperature was reached but leaving water farther away cold so my thought was put the thermostat double that distance away so the majority of the water is heated to the desired temperature. Any thoughts on this ??? am I right or wrong ??? honestly this is my first large scale system so I could use some help.
So to start id like to thank Mikem for his generous donation of a skimmer, reef lighting, live rock, and other misc items which helped put the final pieces to the system together. It was a pleasure meeting him and seeing his tanks wonderful guy with over 47 years experience it was definitely cool to meet him.
Over the last 2 weeks I have added rock sand and water to the tank, set up the sump and equipment spent many frustrating hours tweaking the adjustments on the skimmer and return pumps as well as stared blankly for like an hour at a HOB over flow box trying to understand how to create a vacuum and why they didn't put this in the instructions.
Any ways all the equipment was set up and bunch of bio spira has been added to the tank and the cycling process has been started, there is still a few tweaks and kinks in the system that need to be worked out but all in all the system is functioning.
monday marked the 2 1/2 week mark with water in the tank and the cycling process going, I preformed a test of the water that focused just on the cycle and got some decent readings they are not perfect but it shows that the cycle is well underway. to start Ammonia is roughly 1ppm (which isn't ideal but its come along way from 8ppm) Nitrate was 4ppm and nitrite was roughly 4ppm and some phosphate levels were detectable but I honestly don't remember the score. Now I know these levels indicate that the cycle has started and isn't complete but they are dropping steadily which is a good sign.
Yesterday we added some Inverts to the tank Snails and a few hermits about 1/4 the CUC needed for the tank and I know this is gonna get me scolded by a few but a damsel fish was added to help assist the initial cycle and break in of the tank.
Today I was informed by my friend that some cyano algea has appeared on the glass he was worried at first but I advised him that this was all part of the process and that cyano was just the start of his alegea worries lol
A few issues to note : I believe a second hob over flow will need to be added to the system cause the return pump seems to out pump the tank though it could also be an issue with finding the right water level in both the tank and sump system its like a weird balancing act for me at the moment. also I will probably modify the HOB over full to include a syphon break (learned the hard way that the water will continue to flow until you flood)
Another issue which im trying to figure out has to do with temperature the tank has 1500 watt heater in the display tank ( I want to move it to the sump) and attached to the heater is a probe and digital thermostat which is indicating the tank is at 78 degrees how ever the water to me feels slightly chilly no the instructions that came with the heater state the probe should be no more the 5 inches from the heater but thinking logically about this a 1500 watt heater in my mind could easily warm water with in that distance from it self indicating to the thermostat that the desired temperature was reached but leaving water farther away cold so my thought was put the thermostat double that distance away so the majority of the water is heated to the desired temperature. Any thoughts on this ??? am I right or wrong ??? honestly this is my first large scale system so I could use some help.
