Newbie marine tank

[Validator]

Hi all so I finally received my tank and had it set up.  Kind of disappointed with the scape.  I had wanted more arches and less caves but had to scape with the sand inside(I don't want to talk about why the sand is inside it) so was literally scaping by feeling.  Unfortunately had already applied the bonding putty for fear of it toppling and cracking the glass so by the time the water settled the putty had set.  I don't intend to take this hunk of rock out now.  Hope the gurus can help me work with this. 

Appreciate my wife and daughter who saw the positive in it.  They say they can see a dragon in the rock work and a fortune cat. LOL!  

The first two pictures are from the side.  I was thinking of putting pulsing xenia on the ledge towards the back of the scape and the other side leather mushrooms.  I over compensated on the distance between the tank wall and the scape on the left hand side.

This is the front of the tank.  I am literally face palming as I take the picture.

[Validator]

Details of the tank :

Red Sea Reefer 200XL

Red Sea Reef LED 90

Jebao MDC 5000 return pump

Jebao SLM-20M wave makers on both sides

Nyos Quantum 120 skimmer(Not on yet as the tank is still settling)

Caribsea rock scape set plus 2kg additional live rock

Caribsea Oolite sand.

Teco Chiller

[Otaku Reefer]

Hi all so I finally received my tank and had it set up.  Kind of disappointed with the scape.  I had wanted more arches and less caves but had to scape with the sand inside(I don't want to talk about why the sand is inside it) so was literally scaping by feeling.  Unfortunately had already applied the bonding putty for fear of it toppling and cracking the glass so by the time the water settled the putty had set.  I don't intend to take this hunk of rock out now.  Hope the gurus can help me work with this. 
Appreciate my wife and daughter who saw the positive in it.  They say they can see a dragon in the rock work and a fortune cat. LOL!  
The first two pictures are from the side.  I was thinking of putting pulsing xenia on the ledge towards the back of the scape and the other side leather mushrooms.  I over compensated on the distance between the tank wall and the scape on the left hand side.


This is the front of the tank.  I am literally face palming as I take the picture.

Maybe can add a small rock on bottom left corner to touch up. To be honest, i think your scape dont look bad at all. But i also poor artistic sense maybe other senior can advise.

Dont fret too much, it will look nice when corals take over unless u going fowler. Just enjoy the hobby and happy reefing!


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[Validator]

Thanks Otaku, I do intend to put a rock on the left side for a zoa island.  The dome shape rock was supposed to be more to the right so that I could have a bigger zoa island.  I am just disappointed that I can't maximise the lighted area to put corals esp the part in the last picture which is grey and shaded from the light.  Not sure if there is any low light coral that I can place there.

 

Don't worry about being artistic, I am also not really there.  That's why seeking assurance that I can salvage this.

[JunHui]

I can see the dragon in the Rock-work too! I’m sure adding corals to the rock would make it look a lot better!

[Validator]

Thanks junhui.:)

 

First tank water test. Ammonia is high.  Tank has been sitting there for a week.

[JiaEn]

On 4/21/2021 at 5:01 PM, Validator said:

maximise the lighted area to put corals esp the part in the last picture which is grey and shaded from the light.

The idea is,  there is only so much light getting in the tank.  For a given light fixture, you can have intensity, by having a taller rock work.  However,  this will reduce the available light around it,  especially when the coral grows out.  It's not a bad thing,  because it  allows you to keep light demanding corals. 

 

On 4/21/2021 at 5:01 PM, Validator said:

bigger zoa island

It's all about proportion. Let your show piece dominate,  and let your scape support it. It's not always bigger = better. 

On 4/20/2021 at 2:18 PM, Validator said:

dragon in the rock work and a fortune cat.

Dragon and cat.  Perhaps you can keep a few dragon sps,  and a catalaphyllia or two at the back near the shade. 

All the best! 

[Validator]

Thanks jiaen, I really hope to maximize my light area but now is still the early stages so I will work with what I have.

 

thanks will look out for more dragon sps. :)

Now monitoring the stability of the water.  Ammonia apparently went down and nitrite went up by a bit.

I noticed this white flaky thing on my tank equipment when I moved the wave maker.  What is it?

[JiaEn]

It could be precipitation, or bacteria film. You can check your Ca, Mg kh readings,  but it's really not crucial during cycling period.

[Validator]

Thanks jiaen I thought it might be bacterial in nature.  Tank still looks the same since the last pictures.  Post my latest water test results later.  My lighting is at acclimate mode and very low till live stock goes in.  There is tha grey area in the centre where the light does not seem to reach.  I get quite abit of window light though.  Was wondering what coral I could place there...  also is my water classified as cloudy?  I have chemipure blue in the sump since day one.

 

edit added the water test numbers.  Ammonia still 1 ppm.  Nitrite appears to have gone up.  Nitrate remains constant.

[Validator]

Work life took over and I left the tank to run on it’s own for 2 days.  Noticed this in the sand.

[Validator]

My readings seem to be all over the place.  I thought it was trending in the right direction but not sure why the readings are such.  I did stop dropping fish food into the tank for 2 days so did the bacteria starve?

[JiaEn]

The problem of colormetric tests is that it tends to be rather subjective. They are also rather dependent on ambient light conditions. 

I would not worry too much at this stage. Just let your tank take its pace to cycle. Do ghost feed a bit though. Because we not only want to build up nitrifying bacteria,  we also want bacteria which help to decompose other organics. 

[Rudz Vankovic]

Hi bro.. just to share on my initial set up..

Other than live rocks in the dt (4ft), I threw more liverocks in my sump (3ft). Ran with just sea salt and tap water for almost 2mths (during the early days of circuit breaker). Threw in a while dead prawn and did my test (same test kit w urs) once a week. The ammonia spike will take sometime before toning down, after which slowly goes down as nitrite spike.Then during this period is when I noticed all those brown patches on my liverocks and it's a sign that the tank is cycling.. Of course, slowly again the nitrite will go down and nitrate will spike.. Bottom line,just let it takes its own time to cycle.. Once the nitrate is probably stable at 0 then good to go.. It's a damn slow process,but it's worth it..

I'm still learning.. Reefing can be quite a headache with many different answer.. good to have a sifu to guide u..All the best

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[Validator]

Hi Jiaen, yeah I was not sure I should get the Hanna type testers since each one costs a bomb on their own.  To top it off I am partially colour blind so I have to get the wife and daughter to read my readings for me. LOL.  I did a test yesterday and the nitrate went through the roof.  Will post the results later.  I took out some water and will monitor how it goes.  Resumed dropping food in.  I was wondering if I could start chaeto to manage the nitrate levels a little.  My protein skimmer is still off.  

Hi Rudz, I agree that the cycling is a test of patience.  It doesnt help when your daughter asks you daily when you will add fishes in.    I think she has not gone through a full tank cycle process because with my fresh water tank, there was an enormous feeder bull frog that she saved from the fish shop that was already in it building the bacteria. Edit : You are running on tap water?

[Validator]

On 5/1/2021 at 11:07 AM, Validator said:

Work life took over and I left the tank to run on it’s own for 2 days.  Noticed this in the sand.

Noticed that these patches were spreading over my sand.  Is it time for me to get a clean up crew in? And also yesterday’s numbers.

[Validator]

Is this algae build up on the sand?  It is closer to the window

[Validator]

Latest water test.  I hope that it is trending in the right direction.  Wondering if I should start chaeto to remove the nitrate?

[Validator]

Water test today.  Something strange happened when I was at work.  My Red Sea app sent me a prompt saying that my tank was not connected to the internet.  I thought my family accidentally unplugged the modem so left it as it is and continued to work.  When I came home I noticed that the switches to my light, return pump and wave makers were all switched off.  I asked my family members if anyone had touched the switches and no one had done so.  There is no way those switches were turned off by accident as they are tucked into a corner between the tank and the sofa.  Creepy part of the story later...

[Validator]

It appears my ammonia has fallen to zero, but I am worried that the bacteria died during the 6-7 hours that the pumps were not working.  Am I ready for fish?

Ok so here is the creepy part.  I can’t identify why the switches went off, but my wife who has heightened senses says there is a little girl spirit in my home.  She is usually seen at my fresh water tank.  But in recent days she is also spotted peeking into the marine tank.  Because there is no other reason, we suspect it was her who played with the switches.  She means no harm but I did say loudly that what she did would disrupt the cycling of the tank.  Hope she doesn’t do it again.  I believe she also is looking forward to the tank being stocked...  what do you think?  End creepy part....

[Validator]

Water test today after risking it and adding a load of livestock.  Parameters seem to be stable with live stock inside for 24 hours.  All swimming happily.

[Otaku Reefer]

It appears my ammonia has fallen to zero, but I am worried that the bacteria died during the 6-7 hours that the pumps were not working.  Am I ready for fish?
Ok so here is the creepy part.  I can’t identify why the switches went off, but my wife who has heightened senses says there is a little girl spirit in my home.  She is usually seen at my fresh water tank.  But in recent days she is also spotted peeking into the marine tank.  Because there is no other reason, we suspect it was her who played with the switches.  She means no harm but I did say loudly that what she did would disrupt the cycling of the tank.  Hope she doesn’t do it again.  I believe she also is looking forward to the tank being stocked...  what do you think?  End creepy part....

With livestock inside u need to make sure she dont do it again . Creepy...


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[JiaEn]

6 hours ago, Validator said:

adding a load of livestock.

This calls for a full tank picture!  

[Validator]

Just a few pictures of the fish in the tank  Pardon the blue coloration.  Maybe when the special phone lenses come in I can do a proper one.  There are 2 clowns, one algae eating tang(forgot the name but supposed to be a hard worker), 2 fire fish(they are paired so I didn't have the heart to separate them from the shop), 4 pajamas, 10 trochus snails, one skunk cleaner shrimp hiding in the over hangs.  Yes there is a baby blue tang, the shop said that they grow to the size of the tank so I will see how it goes.  Poor chap was all alone and would hide in the caves and even once got into my wave maker when I turned it off.  Eventually got pissed and drove him out of there and kept the wavemakers on.  My daughter kept saying maybe we should get another but I don't think so.  Eventually, he kind of paired up with the 2 clowns so without hesitation it was named Dory despite me telling my daughter to not name them until a week later incase they don't make it. 

 

Now my challenge is figuring out the skimmer which a kind reefer is advising me.  Hope to get it working soon.

[mhcraft]

Very nice tank setup! Will camp for more