First day first problems and many more to come :)

[Filzan]

hi guys i am a FW convert, was getting my equipment 2 to 3 months ago. welcoming the challenges ahead with SW wanna learn as much before my BTO comes in at 2018 hopefully a bigger tank then. wanted to start SW even before i started FW but reading online says thats its too difficult etc. i guess through experience is there best way to learn

just newly set up my tank ytd after having trouble with the SG of the water but well need to move on and set up my tank cause everything was already ready.

Tank Specs

60cm by 30cm (10cm IOS) by 36 (small tank i know LOL)

Filtration

Oceanfree Filterwool

Boyu skimmer

polyplab biosphere (HAVE NOT ADDED IN YET)

ROWAPHOS (HAVE NOT ADDED IN YET)

LIGHTS

2X par38 ( one full blue and one mix of white and blue)

Caribsea Live rocks ( will be mixing with DEAD ROCKS hopefully if i can go to LCK to get some nice one)

Caribsea Live sand

1200L/Hr Pump to chiller to Display

Parameters on first day is

SG = 1.025 (corallife deep sea six)

PH = 7.8

Ammonia = 0ppm

nitrite = 0.25ppm ( not sure where there is nitrite but no ammonia. shouldn't there be ammonia if there are some bacteria die off?)

nitrate = 0ppm

(all taken with API saltwater master test kit)

Temp is set at 26degC to 27degC

see the First photo

First problem ON the First DAY !

1) My tank water isnt clearing up after 24 hours if you see the second photo you can see small bubbles floating around everywhere in the tank. OFF my skimmer for 15 mins an voala its cleared. anyone using boyu skimmer can advise me on using it ? first time operating a skimmer so no EXP. an another problem is that the cup gets filled up with water so fast within 30 mins.

2) and any good filter wool to recommend?

3) should i use rowa carbon and put it in?

last but not least JUST ADDED MY MARKET PRAWN IN MUHAHAAH

[RayL]

Leave the skimmer on. The microbubbles are normal for new setup. It should typically "break-in" in a couple of weeks. U will still need to fine tune abit to control the amount of bubbles.

From what I understand, the slimes that are built up will reduce the microbubbles eventually to 0. Though it is subjected to the build of the equipment itself.

[RayL]

Regarding the cup filling up fast, there should be a cap or valve to release the build up pressure or increase outflow.

Alternatively u should adjust the water level that the skimmer is sitting in.

I had a "fountain" display previously out of my skimmer cup and I wont ever want that again

[Solo77]

Yr first problem, micro bubbles likely caused by yr skimmer. Put some sponge near the outlet and any loose connection. Filter wool, no special brand. Cheap n good. Don't put carbon so soon, put after yr recycling. U will need to do another water change, then u put carbon.

[Filzan]

Alright bro RayL checked my skimmer everything seems to be cool and Oned it back on liao

The valve i opened it at maxed but seems to still be filling up with salt water still hmmmmmm

Alright bro solo !!! Roger that!!!

[RayL]

Then do lower the water level until the skimmer water level is at the neck area

[Filzan]

Alright thanks will post again here for future problems hahah

[Solo77]

Can put thing underneath yr skimmer to raise it's height.

[Filzan]

alright bro SOLO77, there is actually an adjustable hook on the skimmer for me to adjust the height

and so i have managed to adjust my skimmer to the water level around the neck area. and played around with my valve and air valve. Micro bubbles is still present but decreased abit. thanks guys

1) anyway can help me see the photo on the skimmer on the water level see whether it is ok ?

2) and another photo that shows the amount of water that is collected at the cup which is collected over a period of 8 hours just wanna know whether it is it normal ? that instead of brown skimmate it skimmed the water instead at this cycling period i understand i don't have a lot on skunk to skim.

water parameters is as such

DAY 4 of CYCLING

S.G 1.025

PH=8.0

ammonia = 0.25ppm

nitrite = 0.25ppm

nitrate = 5.0ppm

i am currently facing CLOUDY water, did some read up online i understand that it is normal during cycling it started to get cloudy after shrimp was added to kick start cycling.

3) one thing i don't understand is that can ammonia and nitrite be converted to nitrate in just 4 days of cycling ? shouldn't it take longer ?

damn uneasy looking at the cloudy water FW didnt give me this problem

patience is a virtue but damn LOL

[Filzan]

these are the photos

[Edmund Koh]

Cloudiness after adding of a dead shrimp is usually normal as particles from the dead shrimp will be all around in your tank.

Then we come to the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate part. I would say it is normal for Ur tank to have nitrates in just 4 days as U have started out with live rock and live sand which would have contained the necessary bacteria to convert ammonia to nitrite and than to nitrate. Another factor that is bringing down your ammonia would be your skimmer as it is skimming off the unwanted particles from the tank.

So I think the question now lies on why is the skimmate clear. The foam from the neck looks really good and that amount of skimmate after 8hrs is not too bad. My take would be there really is nothing much for it to skim out currently.

I would suggest turning off the skimmer, lights and chiller at least for the next 1-2 weeks as U go through the cycling process. This will allow ammonia to build up, allowing for the cultivation of enough bacteria to handle your bioload when u start adding fishes. One thing to take note though is that with the skimmer off, water will get slightly cloudier than it is now and your tank will start to smell.

Cloudiness should go off within the first couple of weeks so do not worry too much about it. Ventilate the area well so that the smell wouldn't build up in an enclosed area.

[Filzan]

thanks bro turtle !! that explains alot. good i will just keep the skimmer at that config then.

suprisingly this morning the cloudiness seems to have subsided abit but not fully. the micro bubbles are a pain in the ...

my lights are on for viewing only. and my chiller is already set to off as per your advice bro. skimmer i will want to keep it on to remove the microbubble issue and let then skimmer break in as per advised from bro RayL haha.

thanks for your prompt reply bro turtle.

i am heading to coral farm today to buy some small pieces of dead rocks to beautify the tank muahaha

[Filzan]

Day 7

PH= 8.0 SG= 1.025

AMMONIA= 0.5ppm

nitrite = 0.5ppm

nitrate = 10.0ppm

After giving up on the Live rocks i decided to pay razali a visit to get more caribsea Live rocks. He even reminded me when i was choosing the rocks on whether i had enough space in my tank. should have listened to him LOL

DISPLAY dimension 60cm by 20cm (10 cm was used for IOS) by 30cm

After bringing the rocks home and did some rock scaping i was really having a HARD TIME the WIDTH was too small.

This brings me to my second problem starting this hobby and that is to do some nice rockscaping. The restrictions are the rocks i've pick was too big and my display is still small

The first pic illustrates my first attempt its ugly i know. the rockscaping was very 2D.

so today i did some rockscaping and used EPOXY, bury the rocks deeper in the sand for any future sand shifting lifestocks. trying to make it as 3D as i can with only 20cm of width to play with.

so here are some questions, answers and feedback are welcome

1) how do you guys think of my scaping ? (second and thirs pic illustrates it) P.S personally i think its not bad but any improvements to suggest ?

2) i have polyblab biosphere thinking of adding it in should i soak in freshwater for 24hours before use ?

3) i've read that PH should be from 8.1 to 8.4 was thinking of getting some Ph buffer from seachem should i ?

thanks guys in advance newbie here sorry

P.S* to anyone who thinks of starting a reef tank before you get your tank make sure you got ample space to do some rockscaping

[dinGdinG]

Hey bro, we are having the same tank! Haha

But one piece of advice for u, learn from my mistake. Try to stack your rocks against the back wall because our display is too narrow, you will waste a lot of precious space to put corals if you don't do so... Epoxy them to be sure, you wouldn't want them to be falling as our glass is too damn thin..

I am also very eager to see how your caribsea rocks turn out to be! Exciting times ahead!

[Filzan]

Haha yes bro dingding, you are my inspiration!!! Your rocks looks good ! Was finding around for those kind of dead rocks but couldnt find before i bought the caribsea live rocks.so making do with what i have

was trying to stack the rocks againts the wall but my rocks are big so the bottom rocks was overshadowed no matter how i stack em. most prolly staying with this scape unless $$ permits me get more caribsea rocks

I am planning to get maxspect glaive m60 since just planning to keep mostly soft corals since you used it before should i get it ? Or use T5 fixture with ATI bulbs?

[dinGdinG]

Nah I made a huge mistake with my rockscape, wasted a lot of space that I can't put any corals and with more and more frags coming in, I am running out of space very soon.

With regards to the lightings, if u r planning to get a brand new maxspect glaive then I strongly suggest you camp out at the pasar malam section and hunt for a 2nd hand maxspect razor instead. Brand new maxspect glaive is 250, 2nd hand razor is around 320 if you are lucky. 70 bucks will give you a lot more in terms of lighting power, auto timer, 6 photo period with programmable intensity..

Trust me, you won't regret spending that $70. I am using the same tank and I have used both lightsets before..

Then again, if you are very very sure that you are only keeping softies and some lps then I think glaive is more than good enough, it will be good if you can get a switch timer for the glaive and it will be perfect.

[Filzan]

oh ok.

that sounds like a plan will wait till my hands itchy and cannot take it then i'll get a new maxspect glaive. Hopefully someone sells his razor .

yea most prolly softies and LPS aint got no confident to do any SPS let me handle the small stuff first LOL

anyway this tank will only have a life of 2years or less after that moving out need to decomm eventually.

bro dingding took your advice did some scaping again. tried my best to get a layer as much as i can cause the rocks are just way to big.

last pic is what caribsea live rocks look like in white light though looks better in person.

any bro can help me out with the previous questions on polyblab biosphere and ph buffer ?

[SubzeroLT]

Regarding ph buffer, I was thinking you should measure your Calcium/Alkalinity/Mg before adding buffer in an attempt to correct it?

Also, pH of 8 is perfectly fine.

[dinGdinG]

Yes, if I recall correctly, I did soak mine in freshwater overnight.

Can't really help u on the ph buffer as I am using the polyp lab one which helps me maintain my calcium, magnesium and ph, but u don't need it at the moment and it's quite expensive ...

[Filzan]

Thanks bro subZeroo, will do research on that first. Yes its 8.0ph by day 7.8 by night so its abit fluctuating and doing research online shows most lifestock suitable for mainly 8.1 to 8.4ph so thought of getting seachem ph buffer

Thanks bro dingding will do just that

[asg]

2) i have polyblab biosphere thinking of adding it in should i soak in freshwater for 24hours before use ?

yes bro, the instruction said soak for 24 hours, so just soak it as per the instruction ah

[Filzan]

Lol bro andtsg hahahaha looks like i never read properly.

Anyway what you guys think of adding crushed coral to increase ph ? Better than adding buffers

[asg]

Crushed coral is only useful if you add like 5-10kg or more of it. If add less wont have effect lah

[Filzan]

[rebbot]

Hi Filzan,

Welcome to the reefing club. I was also a FW convert many years ago and still love a good planted tank. Haha I have also gone through many heartbreaking scenarios with my reef tank, where I almost wanted to decomm permanently too.

In any case, I thought I would share some thoughts with you on your thread and hope it helps.

Firstly, I believe you are doing a great job cycling the tank. Hang on to it and let it cycle as long as you can, possibly up to a month to build up the BB. It will be worth your wait.

Secondly, I trust you did ample research before you went out to get your equipment. Do not be tempted to keep upgrading unless you are already at the limits of your equipment, which you are not. There is no end to upgrading honestly and you will burn cash too quickly.

Thirdly, your PH is absolutely fine. There is no need to obsess over it at the moment. KH and CA are more important and if you keep it within check, most of the other parameters will line up like the stars. I like to keep KH at 8 and CA around 400 or more.

Meanwhile, I would recommend you to keep your lights off during cycling as it will fuel algae growth, plus you do not have livestock in the tank. You can keep your skimmer and chiller on if you like. Again, everyone does things differently and there is no right or wrong, I guess.

Have fun with your upcoming algae bloom and do not give up!