Advice needed for starting new

[viper0419]

Got the call that my tank is arriving Wednesday. Can’t wait!

Meanwhile, got a few pressing question to ask:-

1. For first time filling tank. Do you mix the salt water outside then fill or fill with ro/di water In tank then mix?  I don’t have a large drum and will probably take several pails if method one

2. For live rocks to live rocks sticking, epoxy or super glue gel or both.

3. I noticed that my radion Xr-15 is blue version. But read that the pro version is more versatile for mix community tank. Shop says can change since I have not open. Should I? Not sure which is better.

cheers!

[dtdream]

1. Fill with ro/di water then add salt mix in tank. Have some pumps to circulate water and mix the salt.

2. You using dry rock? If so, you can aquascape outside your tank before putting in. Epoxy will be much more stable. For me I used both. So Epoxy for gluing the large rocks together. Then supper glue for the minor /small things. Allow time for epoxy to cure, about 24 hours should be ok.

Tip: you can use small chipped off rocks to cover the epoxy joints so the epoxy is not obvious.

3. I don't use Radions so others can probably chime in. But just from brief reading the pro should be "better". Blue might be too blue unless you going for that look. Some corals pop better in blue, but personally I prefer a whiter look. But I think you can adjust the colour of the Radions if you using their app in any case.

Again, hopefully other bros with Radions can advise you.

[viper0419]

2 minutes ago, dtdream said:

1. Fill with ro/di water then add salt mix in tank. Have some pumps to circulate water and mix the salt.

2. You using dry rock? If so, you can aquascape outside your tank before putting in. Epoxy will be much more stable. For me I used both. So Epoxy for gluing the large rocks together. Then supper glue for the minor /small things. Allow time for epoxy to cure, about 24 hours should be ok.

Tip: you can use small chipped off rocks to cover the epoxy joints so the epoxy is not obvious.

3. I don't use Radions so others can probably chime in. But just from brief reading the pro should be "better". Blue might be too blue unless you going for that look. Some corals pop better in blue, but personally I prefer a whiter look. But I think you can adjust the colour of the Radions if you using their app in any case.

Again, hopefully other bros with Radions can advise you.

Hi Bro,

2. I bought the caribsea live rocks 40lb box. 4 pcs arranged together quite nicely so no left over pieces to glue to cover epoxy joins. But based on what I see, there is not a lot of crazy sticking required. there is one huge piece that I need to stack on top of another so I think epoxy might be safer than super glue I guess. 

[dtdream]

2. Yes, Epoxy will be much safer. By right you should be able to lift the top rock without the bottom rock dislodging once epoxy cured if you have used enough epoxy. I prefer to use more Epoxy then less just in case, especially if you able to glue it without it being too obvious so it looks nice visually too. 

[Mark Liew]

Gratz.. i have a 1yr old reefer 170.. same skimmer but xr30 g4.. suggest u cycle ur tank without lights for about 3 months.. u may start buying your first fish once ammonia is zero.. continue lights off for 3 months if u can self control.. btw wat wave maker u have in mind?


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[viper0419]

2 hours ago, Mark Liew said:

Gratz.. i have a 1yr old reefer 170.. same skimmer but xr30 g4.. suggest u cycle ur tank without lights for about 3 months.. u may start buying your first fish once ammonia is zero.. continue lights off for 3 months if u can self control.. btw wat wave maker u have in mind?


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Thanks!

Yes, I'm gonna cycle the tank without lights and chiller on until its ready before adding any corals/fish. Gonna take it slow.

For wave maker i've gone with the budget Jebao SOW-8.

 

[Mark Liew]

Chiller do not need to be turned on during cycle.. as for hardware.. u can start with budget than upgrade to high end stuff.. i too started with 2 jebao and now 2 mp10..


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[Mark Liew]

Since now you have some time during tank cycling.. next you gotta start considering and budget for Testing Equipment and Dosing..

Testing Equipment:~

Budget go for Nyos or Salifert.. if got budget go for Hanna..

1. Alk

2. Cal

3. Mag

4. Salinity

5. PH

Dosing :~

You may need a dosing pump.. suggest u get a jebao 4 head..

1. Alk

2. Cal

3. Mag

Once u go CRAZY and willing to throw tons of $$$..

Get Apex or GHL to fully monitor and automate your tank..

[viper0419]

17 hours ago, Mark Liew said:

Chiller do not need to be turned on during cycle.. as for hardware.. u can start with budget than upgrade to high end stuff.. i too started with 2 jebao and now 2 mp10..


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Yeah. It’s an expensive hobby…

 

better to space things up

[viper0419]

17 hours ago, Mark Liew said:

Since now you have some time during tank cycling.. next you gotta start considering and budget for Testing Equipment and Dosing..

Testing Equipment:~

Budget go for Nyos or Salifert.. if got budget go for Hanna..

1. Alk

2. Cal

3. Mag

4. Salinity

5. PH

Dosing :~

You may need a dosing pump.. suggest u get a jebao 4 head..

1. Alk

2. Cal

3. Mag

Once u go CRAZY and willing to throw tons of $$$..

Get Apex or GHL to fully monitor and automate your tank..

I read that for Hanna only Alk and Ultra low phosphate worth getting. 
I think Red Sea has a foundation kit that takes care of a few tests. Not sure how good is it. Salinity use refractormeter can alrdy?
 

what should the healthy levels be for all these. I am reading conflicting info. Eg Alk some say 7.7. some say 9?
 

As for dosing guess will go manual first for now.. 

[Gabriel Ng]

I read that for Hanna only Alk and Ultra low phosphate worth getting. 
I think Red Sea has a foundation kit that takes care of a few tests. Not sure how good is it. Salinity use refractormeter can alrdy?
 
what should the healthy levels be for all these. I am reading conflicting info. Eg Alk some say 7.7. some say 9?
 
As for dosing guess will go manual first for now.. 

Hey man,
i also do manual dosing its completely fine js need to be timely and dun forget... hahaha

as for alk, im pretty sure it depends on
a. the inherent salt mix that u use
b. what you plan to keep in the tank

ive heard sps corals cant swing too high....

but it depends alot from tank to tank, see what ur tank responds to?
natural seawater is at 7.5-8.5 just fyi


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[Mark Liew]

I read that for Hanna only Alk and Ultra low phosphate worth getting. 
I think Red Sea has a foundation kit that takes care of a few tests. Not sure how good is it. Salinity use refractormeter can alrdy?
 
what should the healthy levels be for all these. I am reading conflicting info. Eg Alk some say 7.7. some say 9?
 
As for dosing guess will go manual first for now.. 

Hanna phosphate ulr
Hanna nitrate hr
Hanna alk
Hanna copper (qt tank)

Manual dosing will not do it once u start to play sps.. especially when u start to play with kalk.. i am currently dosing 52.5ml of alk n 22ml of cal.. and my sps frags are just babies.. u cant manual dose.. needs to be spread out throughout the day..
What alk to shoot for depends on ur salt.. high alk will require higher nitrate n phosphate level whereas lower alk will require lower nitrate n phosphate..
I am currently at 10.5 alk with 10 nitrate 0.06 phosphate.. different tank will get different levels of nitrate n phosphate level.. it will level out by itself with a form of nutrient export like chaeto as u need to maintain the redfield ratio..

[Mark Liew]

Hey man,
i also do manual dosing its completely fine js need to be timely and dun forget... hahaha

as for alk, im pretty sure it depends on
a. the inherent salt mix that u use
b. what you plan to keep in the tank

ive heard sps corals cant swing too high....

but it depends alot from tank to tank, see what ur tank responds to?
natural seawater is at 7.5-8.5 just fyi


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Fyi.. indo sea water where indo lps are farm have alk at 9dkh

Different parts of the oceans dkh are different..


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[dtdream]

9 hours ago, viper0419 said:

I read that for Hanna only Alk and Ultra low phosphate worth getting. 
I think Red Sea has a foundation kit that takes care of a few tests. Not sure how good is it. Salinity use refractormeter can alrdy?
 

what should the healthy levels be for all these. I am reading conflicting info. Eg Alk some say 7.7. some say 9?
 

As for dosing guess will go manual first for now.. 

yes hanna only alk and phosphate ulr. but hanna just released the nitrate HR and heard good things. yet to try.

others i think salifert is good enough. all kits have some slight margin of error anyways. but just rmb that testing consistency is important. for for example, is using the salifert Calcium and Magnesium test kits, try to ensure when you draw the reagent into the syringe, it is always at about the same level. from watching some youtube videos, it should be 0.85.

[viper0419]

Thanks for all the advices!

[mhcraft]

nice congrats bro. Do open a tank thread to update us

[viper0419]

1 hour ago, mhcraft said:

nice congrats bro. Do open a tank thread to update us

Once I am able to fill up my tank.

The RO/DI that I am using is producing like a standard pail of water every 2+ to 3 hours. 

At this rate, don't know when will tank be filled.. lol

[mhcraft]

Just now, viper0419 said:

Once I am able to fill up my tank.

The RO/DI that I am using is producing like a standard pail of water every 2+ to 3 hours. 

At this rate, don't know when will tank be filled.. lol

Should be so slow? Yea this is the annoying part of this hobby. Get used to it as you will need to do water changes

I hope you measured the TDS level?

[dtdream]

Gotta use the higher flow ro/di units for faster fill. Big pail about 45mins for me. Mine is supposedly 400gallons per day model. But I think in actual use rate is a bit less. Depends on your water pressure too 

[viper0419]

29 minutes ago, mhcraft said:

Should be so slow? Yea this is the annoying part of this hobby. Get used to it as you will need to do water changes

I hope you measured the TDS level?

Yes tds is 0. 
zzzzzzz

[DottyClown]

Since it’s for cycling and such a big volume, why not just get salt water mix straight from a LFS?

[viper0419]

7 hours ago, DottyClown said:

Since it’s for cycling and such a big volume, why not just get salt water mix straight from a LFS?

All down to poor planning and insufficient research. Never thought it would take 2 days to fill a 40 gallon tank. 

[viper0419]

Guys,

For cycling is it required to test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate like freshwater? If yes which kit is advisable? Something like the Red Sea map marine test kit?

Also on the subject of testing, based on my research, these are the essential tests and the corresponding best kit for testing.  please correct if wrong :-

1. Hanna test kit can get - alkalinity, ULR phosphate and LR Nitrate

2. Calcium - Red Sea calcium pro

3. Magnesium - aqua forest test pro

4. Ph - salifert or red sea

5. Chlorine - Hanna 

any of them redundant?

I plan to keep a bit of everything in terms of corals and livestocks

[Mark Liew]

Guys,
For cycling is it required to test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate like freshwater? If yes which kit is advisable? Something like the Red Sea map marine test kit?
Also on the subject of testing, based on my research, these are the essential tests and the corresponding best kit for testing.  please correct if wrong :-
1. Hanna test kit can get - alkalinity, ULR phosphate and LR Nitrate
2. Calcium - Red Sea calcium pro
3. Magnesium - aqua forest test pro
4. Ph - salifert or red sea
5. Chlorine - Hanna 
any of them redundant?
I plan to keep a bit of everything in terms of corals and livestocks

Hanna hr nitrate not lr nitrate
Why need chlorine when u should be using rodi or di filter?
Ammo n nitrite suggest u use api will do.. after few weeks it will be collecting dust.. tbh u don really need nitrite as it is not lethal in salt water as in fresh water.. as long ammo is zero u are good to go plus if u put bacteria in bottle.. u will mostly get zero nitrite all the way..


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[viper0419]

4 hours ago, Mark Liew said:

Hanna hr nitrate not lr nitrate
Why need chlorine when u should be using rodi or di filter?
Ammo n nitrite suggest u use api will do.. after few weeks it will be collecting dust.. tbh u don really need nitrite as it is not lethal in salt water as in fresh water.. as long ammo is zero u are good to go plus if u put bacteria in bottle.. u will mostly get zero nitrite all the way..


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Good call on many of the things I didn't thought about. 

That's the effect of watching too much Youtube 

Thanks for advice!