SCA 50 Gallon PNP System EcoTech Marine Edition

fishguy242 · Mar 10, 2021

Why-Me said:
I made a deal to get some live rock from a local reefer, that fell through. (Or so I thought)
So I placed an order at @Gulf Live Rock for 20lb of Premium Decorative Live Rock and 20lb of Coralline Base Live Rock.
Hours later the local guy got back to me and I can still get that 25lb of live rock with corals too!!
I'll be adding a ton of biodiversity to this tank from Day 1.
I may throw the Decorative Live Rock into a 20 gallon and cycle it to watch what comes out of it and make sure I'm not adding any die-off into the new tank.
Getting excited, this is becoming very real very quickly.
Now I'm planning the move in my head as to draining the 40B into totes and heating circulating one with the fish/anemones, then the rest of the water into buckets.
Next I'll move 40B/Stand out of the way setup 120/Stand and start filling.

This is where I get stuck...
If starting this 120 with 3 separate sources total of 70lb live rock, 30lb dry rock and a Brightwell Brick soaked in Microbacter 7 in the sump; will this tank start a new cycle? If so how long before I add my fish and corals?
I do have a bottle of Fritzyme turbostart 9000 to insta-cycle a tank...Should I use this and then check nitrites/nitrates/ammonia? Or just start adding livestock after Fritzyme?
I'm hoping to set up and add livestock within 24hrs of breaking down the 40B.
Is this possible with my setup described?

hi, i'm going to say yes..

lets get these guys opinions..

@Eagle_Steve @sfin52 ,agree good to go ,no cycle..??

Eagle_Steve · Mar 11, 2021

fishguy242 said:
hi, i'm going to say yes.. lets get these guys opinions.. @Eagle_Steve @sfin52 ,agree good to go ,no cycle..??

I just about did the same thing when I put a 90 and 45 into a 180. No cycle encountered. New rock was diatom city for a bit, but that’s it. With so much live rock it should not be an issue. That is, if it is kept alive. I would suggest using most of the water in the tubs as well. You do not want to start a tank with existing corals and no nutrients.

sfin52 · Mar 11, 2021

Eagle_Steve said:
I just about did the same thing when I put a 90 and 45 into a 180. No cycle encountered. New rock was diatom city for a bit, but that’s it. With so much live rock it should not be an issue. That is, if it is kept alive. I would suggest using most of the water in the tubs as well. You do not want to start a tank with existing corals and no nutrients.

Agree. That's how I did the 55. New rocks diatom but no cycle encountered

Why-Me · Mar 12, 2021

Here's a quick preview of the Live rock from Gulf Live Rock

MERKEY · Mar 13, 2021

Dang it, dropped this....

Why-Me · Mar 13, 2021

Gorgeous!

sfin52 · Mar 13, 2021

MERKEY said:
Dang it, dropped this....

Great Scott's beautiful

sfin52 · Mar 13, 2021

Why-Me · Mar 17, 2021

Alk is 9.8 tonight
Checked with Hanna Alk PPM checker.

fishguy242 · Mar 17, 2021

pushers i tell ya'... ;Facepalm now i really have to test tonight..

only have used the new checkers once since they got here fri,tried last night..accidently shut off cal at last step..;Hilarious
granted it was 3 am...

Why-Me · Mar 17, 2021

fishguy242 said:
pushers i tell ya'... ;Facepalm now i really have to test tonight..
only have used the new checkers once since they got here fri,tried last night..accidently shut off cal at last step..;Hilarious
granted it was 3 am...

I've read the cal checker has very tight timing and if not done quickly enough it can turn off on you.

iMi · Mar 21, 2021

Why-Me said:
Here's a quick preview of the Live rock from Gulf Live Rock

How many pounds of live rock is this? I’m about to buy some.

Why-Me · Mar 21, 2021

iMi said:
How many pounds of live rock is this? I’m about to buy some.

40lb
I ordered 20lb decorative and 20lb coralline
I think I ended up with 10lb coralline only rocks and 30lb of decorative.
They're different.
The coralline is purple/pink/red coralline with orange sponges, possibly a bivalve.
The decorative is covered in Halmeda, sponges, bivalves assorted small nems and other macro algae.
I had a dead crab and bristle worms in the packaging.
I ended up with 2 or 3 curly cue anemones, pretty red and orange sponge on each rock.
I believe first count was 8 bivalves day 1, I've since had 2 die off.
The rock has been in QT 20 tall aquarium for observation for a week now, ready to go in the display.
All rock was wrapped in wet paper towel and bagged in thick mil plastic to keep the moisture.
All in all, I'm happy with my purchase and would buy again.

sfin52 · Mar 21, 2021

Why-Me said:
40lb
I ordered 20lb decorative and 20lb coralline
I think I ended up with 10lb coralline only rocks and 30lb of decorative.
They're different.
The coralline is purple/pink/red coralline with orange sponges, possibly a bivalve.
The decorative is covered in Halmeda, sponges, bivalves assorted small nems and other macro algae.
I had a dead crab and bristle worms in the packaging.
I ended up with 2 or 3 curly cue anemones, pretty red and orange sponge on each rock.
I believe first count was 8 bivalves day 1, I've since had 2 die off.
The rock has been in QT 20 tall aquarium for observation for a week now, ready to go in the display.
All rock was wrapped in wet paper towel and bagged in thick mil plastic to keep the moisture.
All in all, I'm happy with my purchase and would buy again.

Gorgous.

iMi · Mar 21, 2021

Why-Me said:
40lb
I ordered 20lb decorative and 20lb coralline
I think I ended up with 10lb coralline only rocks and 30lb of decorative.
They're different.
The coralline is purple/pink/red coralline with orange sponges, possibly a bivalve.
The decorative is covered in Halmeda, sponges, bivalves assorted small nems and other macro algae.
I had a dead crab and bristle worms in the packaging.
I ended up with 2 or 3 curly cue anemones, pretty red and orange sponge on each rock.
I believe first count was 8 bivalves day 1, I've since had 2 die off.
The rock has been in QT 20 tall aquarium for observation for a week now, ready to go in the display.
All rock was wrapped in wet paper towel and bagged in thick mil plastic to keep the moisture.
All in all, I'm happy with my purchase and would buy again.

Thank you. I was thinking 20 LB for the Red Sea Nano Max that is coming. Now I think 40 LB may be more what I need.