Not really sure what i'm doing

[ian.pereira]

Hi All kinda new here. just bout a 3ft tank with jebao canister filter, aquazonic 4x39w t5 light, Hailea HS-28A chiller, jebo 1250 skimmer some old rocks from a friend and about 10kg of new live rocks, water bought from farm.

1. Been running for 2 days now but the air bubbles from the Jebo Skimmer keeps making my tank look cloudy.
   
2. Even with the skimmer off the water still very particalish.
   

anyone can help?

been trying to fidget with the air control and output valve on the skimmer still not much diff.( tbh dont even know how the skimmer setting should be HAHAHAHA!)

[RockyBoy]

Welcome to SRC Ian,

Where do you put your skimmer? Seems like you put your skimmer in your main tank. Normally it is better to put it in the sump tank.

[ian.pereira]

no sump tank should i get one? kinda budgeted. do advise

[peacemaker]

I spotted this, so thought I would point it out. Your hose is pinched. You have to adjust it to give it more slack to optimize flow.

[ian.pereira]

haha thanks thats for the chiller will get that fixed asap

[Kakani]

Have a sump will be must better and easily to manage your tank. Your main tank how many mm thick???

[ian.pereira]

my tank about 6mm just kelong kelong buy one $70 tank

[iskay]

Please don't add any livestock until your tank is fully cycled and that is 4-6 weeks. Even then add one at a time with 1 or more week intervals. Plan your livestock additions. For fishes, start with the least aggressive to allow them to stake their territory before the more aggressive ones does.

[ian.pereira]

yeah was planning to cycle but the shop fella told me since i bought the water from him only need to cycle 2 days! dont quite trust him was thinking of maybe a week. as for the fishes been reading the compatibilty chart and planning.

[Sprinter]

Bro sorry to give some comment 1 pump hose bent 2 get a Hand on skimmer instead of putting more pump in side your main tank 3 you can use you canister to pump in you chiller 4 Get a surface skimmer to clear the water surface.5 where are you putting po4 media.for long run you may have problem controlling algae .

[Terryz_]

Sand is new too, I presume.. With the old rock and "new" rock (which presume is uncured), there is no way it can be cycled in 1 week ogre a few days.. Even with cured Liverocks, live sand, it took me 2-3 week to get my ANN all to desired parameter which is 0 for ammonia and nitrite and nitrate should be more than 20..

[Terryz_]

Not to be a wet blanket, a 6mm 3ft will start to warp within a year if there bracing is not done properly, or there is no bracing..

[Terryz_]

And I can tell you your maintenance cost will kill you becos the chiller is under power, and all the jebo equipments are running extra watts for undesirable results... it is better to spend on the initial setup.than to spend on the maintenance cost..

[hotsoup]

cautious: 6mm for a 3ft tank, the pressure from the salt water will eventually overrun the tank thickness

[ian.pereira]

ok so here goes, how long should i cycle the tank for? my skimmer is working properly now and its a external one. fyi all these equipment was just to set up the tank first i am planning on upgrading everything as soon as more $$$ comes in starting with skimmer, filter to sump, chiller when it starts failing and lights seem pretty good now.

Am really not to sure what you mean by bracing or the other stuff like ANN or po4. btw anyone know how i can post more it says this is my last post for today till 2 am tomorrow oh and btw my live rock had a crab hidden inside which seems to be moving around fine for now. below are pics of my new set up please feel free to advise and i'll reply when i can and get more post. thank you

[surreal1228]

Hi bro, those bros comments are valuable, better run it a month at least. Use cainister to feed ur chiller and do install fans to help coll down before u get a larger chiller. My 2cents

[John Deroe Kenedy]

4-6weeks for cycling. add Beneficial bacteria and market prawn to speed up process..

3ft 6mm is very risky.. myself 2x1x1 5mm, already have the creek sound at times..

for water clarity, use carbon.. better yet use chemi pure or pura complete

[Sprinter]

Bro cycle your tank about 6-8week and check the parameter no2, 3 amonia everyweek throw a few pc of market prawns chop it & put on the sand bed for decompose add beateria everyday for 10 day. Once you check parameter 0 change water 50%. Cycle done.

[John Deroe Kenedy]

ok so here goes, how long should i cycle the tank for? my skimmer is working properly now and its a external one. fyi all these equipment was just to set up the tank first i am planning on upgrading everything as soon as more $$$ comes in starting with skimmer, filter to sump, chiller when it starts failing and lights seem pretty good now.

Am really not to sure what you mean by bracing or the other stuff like ANN or po4. btw anyone know how i can post more it says this is my last post for today till 2 am tomorrow oh and btw my live rock had a crab hidden inside which seems to be moving around fine for now. below are pics of my new set up please feel free to advise and i'll reply when i can and get more post. thank you

ANN is Ammonia (cant remember the acronym), Nitrites(no2), Nitrates(no3)

Ammonia and nitrites are toxic, nitrates are bad too but too much of it = harmfull

During cycling process Ammonia turns into NO2 which turns into NO3.

Eg

Ammonia 10ppm - NO2 5ppm - NO3 - 0ppm 1st week

Ammonia 5ppm - NO2 10ppm - NO3 - 5ppm 2nd week

Ammonia 0ppm - NO2 15ppm - NO3 - 10ppm 3rd week

Ammonia 0ppm - NO2 10ppm - NO3 - 15ppm 4th week

and so on Until

Ammonia 0ppm - NO2 0ppm - NO3 5ppm Fully Cycled

PO4 = Phosphate

Phosphate - http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

All this perimeters readings is needed by the use of Test kits

For Salinity/Specific Gravity - Hydrometer or Refractometer (Recommended)

Test Kits Needed For Fish Only With Liverocks (FOWLR)

PH

Alkalinity

Ammonia

Nitrites

Nitrates

PO4

Min Test For Reef (Fish, Corals, LR, Inverts)

PH

Alkalinity

Ammonia

Nitrites

Nitrates

PO4

Magnesium

Calcium

There are many others test kits needed too but it depends on reefers. chlorine/chloramine, silicate, strontium (inaccurate), iodine (inaccurate) test.

[Sprinter]

Bro which brand of salt are you using . Sg 1.020 to 1.023 for fish only. Sg 1.023 to 1.026 for reef tank.PH 8.0 to8.3 for fish & reef. NO 3&4 0ppm. Ammonia 0 ppm.PO 4 0.3 to 0.7 cause sea level 0.7ppm. Magnesium 1340 to 1400. Calcium 380 to 450 ppm. for test kit brand use DD H2Ocean 3 in 1 KH . Calcium . Magnesium . No3 & Po4. For me i cycle my RSM 130 reef tank for 1 month all parameter o ppm once cycle completed change water 50% at a time add 2 fish that you like and coral monitor for a week. For your tank no place to install PO4 reactor you can dose Red sea PO4 & NO3. see instruction for dosing.

[Harlequinmania]

Welcome to SRC. If you are not really sure what you are doing, at least you have make the right move by registering as a member here and starting a post about it. There is tons of information in our forum, i would strongly advice you to do some research / reading here to save you on time / money so as to have more time enjoying your hobby.

[John Deroe Kenedy]

Bro which brand of salt are you using . Sg 1.020 to 1.023 for fish only. Sg 1.023 to 1.026 for reef tank.PH 8.0 to8.3 for fish & reef. NO 3&4 0ppm. Ammonia 0 ppm.PO 4 0.3 to 0.7 cause sea level 0.7ppm. Magnesium 1340 to 1400. Calcium 380 to 450 ppm. for test kit brand use DD H2Ocean 3 in 1 KH . Calcium . Magnesium . No3 & Po4. For me i cycle my RSM 130 reef tank for 1 month all parameter o ppm once cycle completed change water 50% at a time add 2 fish that you like and coral monitor for a week. For your tank no place to install PO4 reactor you can dose Red sea PO4 & NO3. see instruction for dosing.

errrr PO4 0.3 to 0.7? No.. PO4 needs to be <0.03... Aquarium with Po4 of 0.3 or more will cause algae problems.. Sea and Aquarium are diffrent...

[ian.pereira]

Ok so updates, fixed the bent hose, added more live rocks about 25kg, put 4x 39w t5 white and 2x39w t5 blue on timer staggered, set chiller to 25 degrees( chiller cant run direct from cannister as not enough push for flow so using 2000l/h pump toned down) skimmer seems to work properly now, cleared the snails but waiting to catch the damn crab its always hiding. just realised cycling with no dead prawns or anything so gonna add the prawn tomorrow, bought test kits mostly ammonia very low about 0.25, nitrate around 12.5high 2.5low. Filteration running 2 cannisters now instead of 1, put in a wavemaker sunsun 101, got a 1300l/h pump to simulate waves and all the outlets (from chiller and cannisters including skimmer) on one side and intake on the other.( hopefully wavey enough). Just read up alot last night till about 8 am so am gonna cycle the tank for at least a 3 weeks min and monitor from next week( unless u guys think i should do something else)

Oh and btw how to post video? or pictures?

any comments much appreciated. thank you.

[ian.pereira]

Ok so updates, fixed the bent hose, added more live rocks about 25kg, put 4x 39w t5 white and 2x39w t5 blue on timer staggered, set chiller to 25 degrees( chiller cant run direct from cannister as not enough push for flow so using 2000l/h pump toned down) skimmer seems to work properly now, cleared the snails but waiting to catch the damn crab its always hiding. just realised cycling with no dead prawns or anything so gonna add the prawn tomorrow, bought test kits mostly ammonia very low about 0.25, nitrate around 12.5high 2.5low. Filteration running 2 cannisters now instead of 1, put in a wavemaker sunsun 101, got a 1300l/h pump to simulate waves and all the outlets (from chiller and cannisters including skimmer) on one side and intake on the other.( hopefully wavey enough). Just read up alot last night till about 8 am so am gonna cycle the tank for at least a 3 weeks min and monitor from next week( unless u guys think i should do something else)

Oh and btw how to post video? or pictures?

any comments much appreciated. thank you.

[Sprinter]

Bro be more patient on cycling time. 6-8week check your parameter every week happy reefing.