Back at it

Hello everyone! My name is Ramie and I have just gotten back into SW tanks after being out of it for about 20 years. I've been visiting the local SW stores and trying to get acquainted with all the new technology out there. Wow has it changed! Needless to say Im a bit overwhelmed. However I was sold on the Red Sea tanks, being that its all in one.

My wife bought me a Red Sea C130 that we found on Craigslist, this past weekend. I went and picked it up and the seller still had it running. He mentioned he was going to transfer everything into a Max 250 that he had. As we were draining it, he was on the edge of not wanting to start another one. So he included all the live rock, which had 1 piece of coral (no idea what it is), and some green star polyps, 1 Gobi (that wanted to hide in the rock), substrate, power heads, aftermarket skimmer, wave maker, reactor and some misc. parts and supplies. Lets just say everything for under $350. I'm thinking heck of a score!

I went to the SW store that I used to go to for everything and talked to them about getting the tank up and running. Needless to say the substrate that came with the tank was junk and needed to be cleaned and flushed, so I opted to start over with live sand and I bought SW from them. I still have the old substrate and Im unsure if I should spend the time cleaning it or what I would even use it for... Is it worth cleaning and keeping? I cleaned the tank and all the equipment and I was able to get it online that same day, the cloudiness settled by the next afternoon. Its only been online for about 4 days now.

So I received a phone call from the seller that he found some more equipment and parts for the tank and wanted to meet up with me. Cool! While on the phone with him, talking about the tank. He said he wasnt going to set up the Max 250 and wanted to know if I was interested in it and everything else he had, RO units, skimmer, pumps, ATO, chems, and more for $400. So Im pretty sure Im going to have a larger tank that I'll set up sometime in the future, but no hurry to get that one online.

So onto the questions I have.

-When I was into this before, I mixed my own SW and then waited for the cycles of the tank. The guy I talked to at the fish store said if I buy there water, I dont need to wait for the water cycles because the water they sold already went thru all of that. Is this true?

-He also mentioned not to worry about testing for ammonia, nitrates and nitrites until about 2-4 weeks. Im just used to testing right away, but again not sure since I bought the water..

-Anything else I should know or need to do right away?

P.S. Sorry about the bad pics, I took those with a crappy phone.
 

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cracker

Well-Known Member
Hello straightline ! Things have changed over 20 years . Lot of the old tried and true methods are still valid to day. For instance, You can't add magic water to Your tank and Poof ! it's cycled ! others will drop in soon. get some more opinions before taking what You hear at the LFS as gospel. Another aspect that hasn't changed it's still a challenge and a lot of fun . Good liuck !
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
welcomefish.gif

to ReefSanctuary, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members

Start a tank thread & share your tank with us so we can follow along, we love pics :nessie:

Nice start !

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Thanks for the welcome. I have to say, Im excited to be back into this! My wife, enjoys looking into the tank like its a seek and find puzzle. I have to admit so do I.

One thing I have noticed so far with this tank is the sump area, sure does drop in a day. Last night, it was about a quarter inch below the black bar for the level. Today its about half the distance between that bar and the bottom. I've been checking my Salinity and its been maintaining nicely. Should I start testing for ammonia and other stuff?
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
One of the things your going to quickly find out is that most LFSs are very poorly informed about SW systems and/or are more interested in selling you something.

Case in point is SW. I'm guessing that the LFS wanted about $1 a gallon for it. Perhaps more. Over time this gets very expensive, and more than a few people have found that the LFS SW was not of very good quality.

If you can get a good price on the other system, get it, but don't set it up intill you get up to speed on the original tank you got. You learn a lot the first year, and be able to apply that experience toward setting up the second system.
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
Here is one way you could proceed - add a deli shrimp, let it rot for a week or two...

Start testing and watching... the Ammonia will raise then drop, followed by the Nitrites raising and then dropping, then the Nitrates will soar - once the ammonia & nitrites are gone, then do water changes to reduce nitrates. Cycle Complete :)

Ammonia > Nitrite > Nitrate
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
Here is one way you could proceed - add a deli shrimp, let it rot for a week or two...

Start testing and watching... the Ammonia will raise then drop, followed by the Nitrites raising and then dropping, then the Nitrates will soar - once the ammonia & nitrites are gone, then do water changes to reduce nitrates. Cycle Complete :)

Ammonia > Nitrite > Nitrate

I do not agree with you in this case. The op has a tank with established live rock and a couple of corals. Adding a deli shrimp is fine for a new tank with nothing in it, but it's not a good choice here because a large ammonia spike could kill the existing livestock.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. Im do have to admit, that I am leery to create an ammonia spike and kill some/most of my tank. I totally get it with a new tank. So far the tank has been running for 5 days. I have to say that as each day goes on, the tank looks better and better, (crossing my fingers it continues).

Im going to pick up that other tank tomorrow, and afterwords. Im going to go to the LFS to look at clean up crews. How soon can I introduce them into the tank? I also want to get a couple more pieces of live rock to build the aqua scape better.. How do I introduce new live rock into a tank that has established rock?

I'll get some better pictures of the tank, but the lights are off for the evening here. We installed some new bulbs and only run them for about 6 hours a day right now. As each day passes I see more and more green star polyps popping out. The large coral on top, has shed its outer layer and is getting some very brilliant color. By the way what is that piece called? Oh and what I thought was a Goby, is actually a Starry Blenny. Its very shy, when we come around, but if we watch from afar it will come out of hiding and sit on the rocks.

I figure now is the time to start a tank thread, so I'll be doing that this weekend as well.
 
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