240 Tank Build in Abilene

M

michad

Since my liverock is being delivered tomorrow; I thought I might start this thread so I can document the exerience.

I have a 240 gallon reef setup that I purchase from a friend that I work with; here's a couple of pics:
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So when my rock gets here and I place it in the tank....how long before I can expect the skimmer to start skimming?
 
Nice tank.... should look good when its up and running.

As far as the skimmer.... probably within a day or so. As your LR cures and the cycle occurs, you'll pull a lot of junk out.

How are you planning on jump-starting your cycle? Are you going to go with seeder fish or just drop a big frozen prawn in there?
 
@michad wrote:
I thought the act of dropping the rock in would start the cycle? said:
Depends on the amount of die-off you get on the LR. Sometimes you get very little, or not enough to get it going. If you add a piece of two of shrimp to decay, it usually works every time.
Click to expand...
 
If you need any help with anything let me know. I'm in town till the 16th, then I will be going to Ohio for 3 weeks or so. I also have a Aqua C EV 240 skimmer if you think you need to borrow during the cycle.

Good looking tank. 8)
 
The sand is CaribSea Aragamax sugarfine.

The absolute coolest thing is that there isnt a 45 gallon mess on the floor this morning :) I learned the most simple of lessons yesterday; thou shalt keep cannister filter input at the same height as the output.

I'm calling tunze today to see if I have an equipment problem or a new user setup problem.

The rock left Memphis at 4:47am :)
 
OK I've unpacked and submerged the kaelini...Box #2 was GREAT, Fedex killed Box #1 completely smashed the side, no piece large than a medium sized melon.

I was able to get the tunze to work mounted in the tank...and we're skimming.

Is there any reason to run the refuge/sump if I'm circulating in the tank and skimming within the tank?

Next step is to wait a couple of weeks and test the water? Water changes every friday...about 25%?

<img src="http://www.michad.org/images/DSC_1818.jpg[/img]
 
The sump is a 75.

I'm going to build an arcylic stand for the tunze this weekend and see if I cant get the skimmer mounted in the sump.

Maybe I dont get it yet but the sump and refugium just seem incredibly 'dirty'
 
Man I'm going to be jealous once you have it all up and running.




Wait, what am I talking about, I AM JEALOUS :twisted:
 
Okay so I've done my first water change. Just 25 gallons. Everything went well except for two things:


1) What the hell do I do with the water I drain? I shot it out the front door down the driveway but that's not going to work out long term. My RO/DI drain is near the tank but there's no way to measure how much I'm draining and there's no p-trap.

2) Turned the skimmer back on and it's not foaming at all. Surely its go enough left in the tank to skim. I'll wait till morning and see if its still nada. The Tunze was recommended but I gotta say it really does skim like I was thinking it would.
 
A friend here at work is placing an order for a ray and the shipping is set, so I'm thinking about getting plantlife for my refugium.

They sell:
Aquacultured Mangrove Shoot
Brush / med
Caulerpa Plants
Codium Fragile Plant
Mermaids Fan
ORA- Aquacultured Red Gracilaria
ORA-Aquacultured Agar Seaweed
ORA-Aquacultured Green Gracilaria
ORA-Aquacultured Sea Lettuce

I'm just thinking with cheap overnight shipping I could start building. They offer free hermit crabs with an order but at 8 days cycling I'm guessing it's way too early for hermitcrabs?
 
Ah makes some sense. I doubt whether you'll get all the above to thrive in the same environment since some of them need different flows/tumbling, etc. but many are quite compatible and should be great. I would highly recommend seperating the calurpa from the others as it is super fast growing and will overtake many of the ones you listed that are slower growing. I would consider the bottom 5 and try them if it were me.

Mangroves are cool but very slow growing and some people have issues with them.
 
I've added the beginnings of my cleanup crew and I'd like to get input on the rest; compatibility and where to buy would be great;

Currently I have
10) Mexican Turbos
12) Hermit Crabs (tiny)
2) Scarlet Hermits (lil larger than the 1/4"-3/8's guys)
1) Blue Leg Hermit (small)
2) Red Fiddler Crabs (small - one male and one female)

This weekend I want to (carefully) restack my live rock and create two zones of rock, later I'll find a shelf piece to span them.

Once the rock is done I'm looking at saltwaterfish.com's in the mix reef package: http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/product_info.php?products_id=387&parent_category=4&category_search=5&root_parent_id=4
Scarlet Hermit Crab: 20
Blueleg Hermit Crab: 25
Nasssarius Snail: 20
Turbo/Astrea Snail: 25
Emerald Crab: 5
Coral Banded Shrimp: 1
Cleaner Clam: 2

Adding:

2 Brittle Starfish or Serpent Starfish
1 Tiger Cowrie
1 Watchman Goby
1 Lawnmower Blenny

And I'm open to suggestions for inhabitants that will keep the sand clean and get along with everyone in the tank.

How bad an idea is all this?
 
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