First SW tank - 30 gallon softies

[puddleglum]

I have kept FW tanks for 25 years, but I am going to take a crack at a reef tank. 30 gallon (36Lx12Wx16H) small soft corals: zoas, palys, ricordeas, mushooms, one isolated rock of star polyps where they can't spread.

I dug the 30 Gallon out of my garage today, cleaned it up and put it in my TV room:

I bought 50 lbs of pukani rock from BRS 7 years ago for a tank I never set up because I moved for work. I vinegar washed it and bleach soaked it, and then it sat in the garage for years. I pulled it out and hosed it down to get the cobwebs off, and then put most of it in the tank:

I am going to put saltwater, a heater, and a Rio pump in the tank, let it soak, and test phosphates. I'll do water changes and keep testing until the rock is done leeching, which hopefully won't take long since I vinegared and bleached the rock already. Then I can figure out my aquascape which, obviously, won't use all that rock.

The owner of the house, pictured here, thinks a sushi bar with four walls and a lid is pretty dumb.

Gonna go looking for salt today, after coffee... Everything after coffee...

-pg

 

[Peace River]

Congratulations on the new adventure! What are your plans for filtration and lighting?

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

Looks like a great start!

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

Everything after coffee...

This.

 

[steveschuerger]

I have kept FW tanks for 25 years, but I am going to take a crack at a reef tank. 30 gallon (36Lx12Wx16H) small soft corals: zoas, palys, ricordeas, mushooms, one isolated rock of star polyps where they can't spread.

I dug the 30 Gallon out of my garage today, cleaned it up and put it in my TV room:

I bought 50 lbs of pukani rock from BRS 7 years ago for a tank I never set up because I moved for work. I vinegar washed it and bleach soaked it, and then it sat in the garage for years. I pulled it out and hosed it down to get the cobwebs off, and then put most of it in the tank:

I am going to put saltwater, a heater, and a Rio pump in the tank, let it soak, and test phosphates. I'll do water changes and keep testing until the rock is done leeching, which hopefully won't take long since I vinegared and bleached the rock already. Then I can figure out my aquascape which, obviously, won't use all that rock.

The owner of the house, pictured here, thinks a sushi bar with four walls and a lid is pretty dumb.

Gonna go looking for salt today, after coffee... Everything after coffee...

-pg

Looks like a nice start. By the way here’s a suggestion for salt

 

[steveschuerger]

Seriously though, I use AquaForest Reef . I changed from ReefCrystals 2 years ago and haven’t looked back. And it’s periodically on sale at BRS.

 

[puddleglum]

Congratulations on the new adventure! What are your plans for filtration and lighting?

I have an unopened Aquaclear70 filter in the garage, which I may hang on the end of the tank. I just have to devise a way to keep that gremlin that looks like a housecat from sitting on it. I will be building a canopy for the tank, so I am sure I can build something to cover the power filter. I also am going to get an Xp Aqua sumpless ATO. For water movement, I am thinking two Jebao wave makers on the ends of the tank.

Lighting: I am considering Kessil A80s and a Quanta Meso Blue LED bar. I love the Kessil Shimmer and the Quanta is inexpensive and will add some violet and deep blues, fill in the edges, and lets me support a business here in the Great State of Wisconsin.

-pg

 

[Peace River]

The Aquaclear may/may not be able to keep up so you may need to do a lot of water changes or consider alternate filtration. Also check Chewy for salt. Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

[puddleglum]

The Aquaclear may/may not be able to keep up so you may need to do a lot of water changes or consider alternate filtration. Also check Chewy for salt. Good luck with whatever you choose!

I will keep the bio load reasonable, maybe just three fish, and let live rock + power heads and regular water changes do the work.

The Aquaclear might be empty a good bit of the time, and be there for when/if I need mechanical or chemical filtration. Maybe a few pieces of live rock rubble will sit in there, that can serve to weigh down filter floss or a media bag when they are being used.

-pg

 

[puddleglum]

I put about 20 gallons of water in the tank yesterday, hard to estimate with rock in there. I then added 10 cups of instant ocean. The Rio pump is cranking, and the Cobalt heater is working. This is the test for leeching phosphates phase. Hoping it will be short, since I bleached the rock, but am ready to do water changes for months if needed. Actually, that might be better, as it would give my checkbook a break.

I ordered a refractometer today, and I will work on getting my salinity correct when it gets here. It doesn't have to be exact for this process, but it will be good practice using the refractometer. Also ordered a Tropic Marin test kit, which I should get tomorrow, so I can test phosphates, and then compare in a week. I am going to test water coming out of the tap that I am using for water changes, to get a baseline.

I went to a store that is 25 miles away which, as far as I know, is the closest to me. They have a good selection of corals and fish, clean tanks, and at least one knowledgeable staff member. Since she let me pick her brain for about 20 minutes I purchased a 200 gallon box of IO salt from them, rather than the Petco nearby. Good service gets rewarded, and I like supporting non-chains sometimes.

-pg

 

[puddleglum]

I tested the phosphates and nitrates after a week of the rocks curing. Phosphates were 0.3ppm and nitrates were 1.0ppm.

So I guess the rocks leached about 0.3ppm phosphates in a week’s time, and there is minimal nitrates. I tested my tap water and it is about 2ppm nitrates and .05ppm phosphates, but those could easil be a bit less on the color compare chart.

I did a 100% water change and am going to let another week go by and see how the phosphates look.

At what level of phosphates could I be comfortable starting a cycle and not worrying about phosphates being too much algae food?

Thanks,
-pg

 

[puddleglum]

After another week of soaking, my phosphates measured around 0.2ppm. I am using the Tropic Marin test kit, using my eye to do color comparison, so the exact number is a little squiffy. I have a decent eye for color, however, and it is more than 0.1, less than 0.3, and seems closer to 0.1. Good progress on pulling out the phosphates.

I did another 100% water change, refiled, re-salted, and will see what the test reads in another week's time.

The reef lady at my LFS (local being 30 miles) advised me to wait until I am down below 0.1ppm before starting my cycling.

I ordered an XpAqua Sumpless ATO, which I will set up when it gets here to get an idea of where the water level will stay on the tank. Since I am going to building a canopy, if the water level is a little below the rim, I can cover that easily. This will be a good time to dial in the salinity, and see how good of a job the ATO does maintaining it.

-pg

 

[puddleglum]

I picked up a used Kessil A360WE and found some hardware at my local hardware store for hanging it once I get my canopy built. I think centered above the tank will give me decent coverage for most of the tank, almost certainly will be turning it down so I don't cook the moderate light corals I want to keep. I also will have the option to raise it as high as 12" although I think I probably will hang it at 8".

Also: 'Dat shimmer doh'!

Got a Quanta bar, Meso Blue, to fill in the edges, and add a little extra color to the tank. It is very blue, so I figure the Kessil will be turned just a bit more into the white than 50/50

I think I should have very reasonable PAR with the Kessil across the middle of the tank, and some lower PAR areas on the ends for something like blastos down the line.

The XPAqua Sumpless ATO keeps the waterline exactly at the bottom of the plastic rim on the tank, so I will build the canopy to cover the rim and drop down just a bit below.

The rock has been soaking for 6 weeks now, with 100% water change weekly, and I am now down to about 0.15 ppm phosphates after the rock leeches for a week. I plan to keep doing 100% water changes for a few more weeks, hopefully getting the readings to 0.05 after a week of soaking before I start my cycle.

-pg