Merdels RSM 250
- Thread starter merdel
- Start date
Day 1
first pics a few hours after i added 15kg of live rock and 2 pieces of dry rock
planning to add more rock and probobly rearrange a little of it
ive already spotted about 3 small crabs
whats the yellow thing thats growing? and theres a couple of other things
i also would like to know should i add nitro bac now, in a few days or never?
thanks
first pics a few hours after i added 15kg of live rock and 2 pieces of dry rock
planning to add more rock and probobly rearrange a little of it
ive already spotted about 3 small crabs
whats the yellow thing thats growing? and theres a couple of other things
i also would like to know should i add nitro bac now, in a few days or never?
thanks
Thanks for starting a 250 thread Merdel! Looks great so far, adding more rock can be a BIG CHORE & I thought my arms were going to be pickled in SW before I got halfway satisfied with mine :updown:
Here is a link that was recommended to me & has been very helpful as I watched my live rock for hitchhikers:
LionfishLair.com - Hitchhiker Guide to your Aquarium
Love the pictures! I think the yellow might be some sort of sponge (Sponge Bob Square Pants?) it's pretty anyway!
Keep up with your posts, I'm excited to read along.
BEST WISHES :biker
Did you add a deli-shrimp to rot & get your cycle going? I tied it in a piece of pantyhose & it was easy to "fish out" when I put my 1st fish in.
Here is a link that was recommended to me & has been very helpful as I watched my live rock for hitchhikers:
LionfishLair.com - Hitchhiker Guide to your Aquarium
Love the pictures! I think the yellow might be some sort of sponge (Sponge Bob Square Pants?) it's pretty anyway!
Keep up with your posts, I'm excited to read along.
BEST WISHES :biker
Did you add a deli-shrimp to rot & get your cycle going? I tied it in a piece of pantyhose & it was easy to "fish out" when I put my 1st fish in.
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to ReefSanctuary and the RSM Club, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members
Cheers for starting a new tank thread & sharing your tank with us so we can follow along - we love pics
Great start & pretty scape ! +1 ^ on the yellow sponge guess...
Did you add a deli-shrimp to rot & get your cycle going? I tied it in a piece of pantyhose & it was easy to "fish out" when I put my 1st fish in.
hi Diana i didnt add shrimp as i had a fair bit of live rock which had a few places which looked to be dead
my ammonia has already risen to 0.5-1
Day 4 not a lot of change really, noticed theres a little bit of green growing around the place
also some of the dead bleached coral or what ever it is that came on the live rock seems to be turning more brown in colour?
is this dieing and turning brown or the opposite, colour is coming back into it? not sure what colour its ment to be (check pic below)
this morning i spotted a tiny fish swimming around the rocks, couldnt get a pic as he dissappeared, looked like a little gobbie or somthing also just found a muscle which appeared from somewhere
whats this coral (gone from white to brown colour) is that good??
things starting to grow
new chiller doing a good job
ammonia is still just sitting on 0.5/1
is it worth adding a dead prawn now?
then again its only been a few days
also some of the dead bleached coral or what ever it is that came on the live rock seems to be turning more brown in colour?
is this dieing and turning brown or the opposite, colour is coming back into it? not sure what colour its ment to be (check pic below)
this morning i spotted a tiny fish swimming around the rocks, couldnt get a pic as he dissappeared, looked like a little gobbie or somthing also just found a muscle which appeared from somewhere
whats this coral (gone from white to brown colour) is that good??
things starting to grow
new chiller doing a good job
ammonia is still just sitting on 0.5/1
is it worth adding a dead prawn now?
then again its only been a few days
Your rock really looks alive & fresh, adding a prawn won't hurt at all, thought you may not need it with the die off. The brown algae is diatoms and all a normal part of a new tank. Rock watching is fun, you will see new things appear daily
Here a good :read: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/red-sea-max-owners-club/66048-brown-green-algae-new-tanks.html
Here a good :read: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/red-sea-max-owners-club/66048-brown-green-algae-new-tanks.html
Great pictures, thanks for sharing! Looks like you have some nice live rock. I enjoyed watching my live rock, but I did worry a bit about the little hitchhikers. My favorite (4 little zoa polyps) hitchhikers survived the cycling & are cute as can be now. I'm in hopes that they start to spread soon. Get ready for a roller coaster ride with that algae cause it will have to run it's course. Just keep posting & sharing your fears here....that's what helps me, STILL.
changed my scape a little last night
also woke up this morning to find my glass with patches of algea all over it aswell as heaps of copepods which is cool
just picked up 2 nice new sicce powerheads...you can even hear them when the come on
i cleaned the algea off the glass, is that ok? ;p
lots of holes for fish and platforms for corals now
also woke up this morning to find my glass with patches of algea all over it aswell as heaps of copepods which is cool
just picked up 2 nice new sicce powerheads...you can even hear them when the come on
i cleaned the algea off the glass, is that ok? ;p
lots of holes for fish and platforms for corals now
Looks great !
won't hurt at all to clean the glass algae
won't hurt at all to clean the glass algae
I'm not sure why that would be. I barely had any ammonia or nitrites (only went up after I added MORE deli shrimp) & my nitrates didn't sky rocket either.
It could have to do with the live rock & the fact that you added the bacteria. I'd still WAIT a couple of weeks from day one to add live stock. You should start seeing algae blooms. I had a major crop of green hair algae when I added my snails & it was fun to watch them mow it down. I bet others will have more suggestions. I'm just thinking it's worth the wait not to have to worry that you might be adding trouble in a few weeks for your livestock. You should have something for your CUC to clean up before you add them.
At least that's what usually happens. Are you seeing any brown & green algae yet?
It could have to do with the live rock & the fact that you added the bacteria. I'd still WAIT a couple of weeks from day one to add live stock. You should start seeing algae blooms. I had a major crop of green hair algae when I added my snails & it was fun to watch them mow it down. I bet others will have more suggestions. I'm just thinking it's worth the wait not to have to worry that you might be adding trouble in a few weeks for your livestock. You should have something for your CUC to clean up before you add them.
At least that's what usually happens. Are you seeing any brown & green algae yet?
hi
brown and green algae is starting to set in
the glass has lots of green stringy bits hang off it and the back of the tank is starting to get brown algea all over it
its really hard to tell if the rocks have new algae on them or its the algae that just came on them
but as i said algae is setting in fast now as in 1 day the back wall is getting a fair bit on brown on it
todays tests are still the same as day 5s
ive also had a bit of evaporation so my salinity his risen a little, can i add distilled water during the cycle?
ill be buying a ro unit eventually
brown and green algae is starting to set in
the glass has lots of green stringy bits hang off it and the back of the tank is starting to get brown algea all over it
its really hard to tell if the rocks have new algae on them or its the algae that just came on them
but as i said algae is setting in fast now as in 1 day the back wall is getting a fair bit on brown on it
todays tests are still the same as day 5s
ive also had a bit of evaporation so my salinity his risen a little, can i add distilled water during the cycle?
ill be buying a ro unit eventually
Did you ever put a deli shrimp in to rot & feed your cycle?
You will go through many stages & colors of algae...my tank was an ugly mess for a long time & still not done with it. That's part of the patience it takes in this hobby. Clean the glass if you want but your clean up crew will take out the algae everywhere else in a very short time. I left the back for them to eat also.
Top off with distiller water & save a few of the jugs to use with you get your RO-Di water system. I'm so glad I got a RO-Di 5stage water maker. It was money well spent.
I'm still thinking how AWESOME it is that you caught the Mantis Shrimp already. You should post the Mantis picture here on your thread along with your new rock scape when you get it re-built. Look forward to watching your progress here
this is the little bugger that caused me to dig through my live rock, he was hiding in the largest rock in the lank which also happened to be under a heap of smaller rocks
i took the shrimp into the lfs today and they took it off me...I watched it walk out the door less than 3 minutes later in a customers hand who bought him for $5.......hes off to a good home now, a dedicated tank
I also am wondering if anyone knows what this is? i noticed a wierd white stingy thing that looks like hair with filters on it....they extend and get pulled back in and i have no idea what they are, theres about 3 seperate strings altogether
in the middle ontop of rock you can see it
in the last few days ive noticed my ammonia has dropped off to 0 and also my nitrite
a couple days ago i took my water into the lfs (i know them well) and got the water tested....it came up good
yesterday i bought a few trochus snails for the tank as theres so much algae its unbelievable
checked water today aswell at lfs and when i took back the mantis and i saw the test tubes showing no ammonia or nitrite
my algea basically doubled in thickness aswell today ;0
i wont even think about putting fish in there for ATLEAST another week just to be 100% sure
im going to have to get rid of nitrates by doing water changes but should i just wait a week before changing some water to be 100% its all good?
i lowered the ammount of lighting now 9am-5pm to keep algae under control.......might even have to half that who knows
i took the shrimp into the lfs today and they took it off me...I watched it walk out the door less than 3 minutes later in a customers hand who bought him for $5.......hes off to a good home now, a dedicated tank
I also am wondering if anyone knows what this is? i noticed a wierd white stingy thing that looks like hair with filters on it....they extend and get pulled back in and i have no idea what they are, theres about 3 seperate strings altogether
in the middle ontop of rock you can see it
in the last few days ive noticed my ammonia has dropped off to 0 and also my nitrite
a couple days ago i took my water into the lfs (i know them well) and got the water tested....it came up good
yesterday i bought a few trochus snails for the tank as theres so much algae its unbelievable
checked water today aswell at lfs and when i took back the mantis and i saw the test tubes showing no ammonia or nitrite
my algea basically doubled in thickness aswell today ;0
i wont even think about putting fish in there for ATLEAST another week just to be 100% sure
im going to have to get rid of nitrates by doing water changes but should i just wait a week before changing some water to be 100% its all good?
i lowered the ammount of lighting now 9am-5pm to keep algae under control.......might even have to half that who knows
So glad you got to say goodbye to the Mantis & that he didn't have to die. WIN-WIN situation!
Being it's near the end of your tank's initial cycle....LOTS of algae is to be expected. Mine looked more like a GREEN FOREST than a SW reefscape. The next FEW MONTHS you will more than likely experience UGLY TANK SYNDROME, it will pass so try to keep that in mind. (I'm still having to remind myself, LOL)
You have some lively looking rock...you may start seeing lots of strange new things
What nitrate ppm are you getting when you test? Test, water change & re-test before adding a fish. Have you decided what you want to get as your 1st fish? My 1st was actually TWO...I added a pair of clowns
Being it's near the end of your tank's initial cycle....LOTS of algae is to be expected. Mine looked more like a GREEN FOREST than a SW reefscape. The next FEW MONTHS you will more than likely experience UGLY TANK SYNDROME, it will pass so try to keep that in mind. (I'm still having to remind myself, LOL)
You have some lively looking rock...you may start seeing lots of strange new things
What nitrate ppm are you getting when you test? Test, water change & re-test before adding a fish. Have you decided what you want to get as your 1st fish? My 1st was actually TWO...I added a pair of clowns
hi diana
Im getting a pretty rich colour on my nitrate test, thinking its around 20ppm (could be a little higher)
i didnt do the water change today as i couldnt get the the shop to get more saltwater, i had 25L of salt water i had spare after setting up tank but apparently it goes bad -alkaline- after a week or 2 so ill have to throw that out (i think the shop gets it out of ocean then filters it)
tomorrow ill grab the water and im going to buy a refractometer as the hydrometer is pretty dodgy and i want to be sure of my salinity
how much water should i take out on the first water change?
also i want to know if i should remove the sponge filters and the carbon bags?
ive just read a few other posts and some people think that sponge filters are nitrate factories??
though i dont understand what would take the particles out of the water if there was no sponges
should i start running my skimmer now?
also i saw u put filter material around your powerheads, looks like a great idea as it would get rid of so much waste ....obviously my powerheads just suck it in and spit it out..what do you use and/or where did you buy it
as for the fish i would love to get a couple of clowns to start with but id like to throw in a single fish to start with incase something was wrong i didnt know about (2 clowns are 60 bucks) if prefer to spend about 30 for the first fish
any suggestions on that? haha
sorry about all the questions!
Im getting a pretty rich colour on my nitrate test, thinking its around 20ppm (could be a little higher)
i didnt do the water change today as i couldnt get the the shop to get more saltwater, i had 25L of salt water i had spare after setting up tank but apparently it goes bad -alkaline- after a week or 2 so ill have to throw that out (i think the shop gets it out of ocean then filters it)
tomorrow ill grab the water and im going to buy a refractometer as the hydrometer is pretty dodgy and i want to be sure of my salinity
how much water should i take out on the first water change?
also i want to know if i should remove the sponge filters and the carbon bags?
ive just read a few other posts and some people think that sponge filters are nitrate factories??
though i dont understand what would take the particles out of the water if there was no sponges
should i start running my skimmer now?
also i saw u put filter material around your powerheads, looks like a great idea as it would get rid of so much waste ....obviously my powerheads just suck it in and spit it out..what do you use and/or where did you buy it
as for the fish i would love to get a couple of clowns to start with but id like to throw in a single fish to start with incase something was wrong i didnt know about (2 clowns are 60 bucks) if prefer to spend about 30 for the first fish
any suggestions on that? haha
sorry about all the questions!
Do start running your skimmer... it will take a few weeks to break in...
Keep running the carbon, after the cycle, some change it out for a carbon & gfo (Granular Ferric Oxide) mix. Like CPE or Rowaphos
Most members in the RSM 250's remove the sponge filters, if you choose to run them & you can, just pull them & take them to the sink & rinse them weekly.
Getting a refractometer is a great investment.
On Cycle... once finished you will be safe adding 1 or 2 clowns
Cycling tank:
Watch for the ammonia to soar then fall to zero, then the nitrites soar & then fall to zero, then the nitrates soar, once this happens, do water changes to get rid of the nitrates - tank cycled
Depending on the state of your LR (how cured it was & how much die off it had), in general it will look something like this...
Keep running the carbon, after the cycle, some change it out for a carbon & gfo (Granular Ferric Oxide) mix. Like CPE or Rowaphos
Most members in the RSM 250's remove the sponge filters, if you choose to run them & you can, just pull them & take them to the sink & rinse them weekly.
Getting a refractometer is a great investment.
On Cycle... once finished you will be safe adding 1 or 2 clowns
Cycling tank:
Watch for the ammonia to soar then fall to zero, then the nitrites soar & then fall to zero, then the nitrates soar, once this happens, do water changes to get rid of the nitrates - tank cycled
Depending on the state of your LR (how cured it was & how much die off it had), in general it will look something like this...
I'd advise buying the refractometer. This hobby is NOT CHEAP, it costs a lot to do it right.
I bought a 5stage RO-Di system as my 1st additional "investment"... to make my own top off water and saltwater. I feel like it keeps my cost down and was a very good investment. As far as the powerhead filter, I bought the Vortech MP10 and it comes with one filter sleeve & there's an option to buy extras. It does catch lots of stuff & needs to be cleaned every couple of days.
Start getting your skimmer "tuned"....it's a chore in the beginning but it gets easier & sure gets out some serious smelly stuff.
Probably you will have a battle with micro-bubbles when trying to get it adjusted. Glenn (nanoreefing4fun) helped me get mine adjusted to the best running levels.
I also bought the media shelf and removed the big thick bubble trap sponges. I use the fine filter (RSM slide in & slide out) with some blue & white filter pad (cut to fit) stretched thin to catch debris. Any more ???'s just blurt them out...We are here to advise you as we have already been where you are. And you are a HERO for catching the Mantis
.
I bought a 5stage RO-Di system as my 1st additional "investment"... to make my own top off water and saltwater. I feel like it keeps my cost down and was a very good investment. As far as the powerhead filter, I bought the Vortech MP10 and it comes with one filter sleeve & there's an option to buy extras. It does catch lots of stuff & needs to be cleaned every couple of days.
Start getting your skimmer "tuned"....it's a chore in the beginning but it gets easier & sure gets out some serious smelly stuff.
Probably you will have a battle with micro-bubbles when trying to get it adjusted. Glenn (nanoreefing4fun) helped me get mine adjusted to the best running levels.
I also bought the media shelf and removed the big thick bubble trap sponges. I use the fine filter (RSM slide in & slide out) with some blue & white filter pad (cut to fit) stretched thin to catch debris. Any more ???'s just blurt them out...We are here to advise you as we have already been where you are. And you are a HERO for catching the Mantis
.