Zigman's RSM C250

zigman

Member
New proud owner of C250 tank. Started 8-24-14 and have a few questions.
Tank is set up with chiller so temp is steady at 77-78 deg. Salinity with refractometer 1.024 to 1.025, just ordered Tunze ATO 3155 to automate RO/DI water replenishing. Planned on putting water container inside cabinet but my unit only has a cut out on one side, which is currently used by my chiller. Damn. Anyone else have this problem? May just drill and cut the back on the other side but likely messy!
Used Redsea reef maturation kit, live rock from LFS, Live sand from LFS, and they supplied initial salt water fill.
Added 10 cortez red tip hermits, 8 astrea snails, and 2 Mexican turbo grazers at about 7 days in, but really never had a big algae bloom. Tank room is pretty dark so most light is from tank hood set to run 8 hrs per day.
Most recent tests on 9-9-2014 ( Day 16) show ph 8.1, ammonia 0, Nitrate 15, Alkalinity 8 after a 5% water change.
On day 19, found lots of tiny little dots stuck on walls on tank (?copepods) with a very few strands of hair algae on tank walls. Mexican turbo grazer snails, although large, hide in live rock and are really never out and about, although I can occasionally find one hidden and it moves from day to day so must be alive. Astrea and hermits move around from place to place and I guess are doing there thing.
Redsea guide book seems to say Nitrate should be 5 or less when you add an herbivorous fish, which they say is ok at day 14.
Well, should I keep waiting it out for nitrates to drop before adding something or just do a water change and go for it?
I take it those little dots on the aquarium glass are fine, and something will eventually eat them?
At what point can I add an invertebrate or coral or feather duster or like?
I will add some photos as soon as I figure out how!
Thanks
 

goma

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
Welcome to RS! The dots are most likely copepods or something similar. You'll want to do some water changes to drop your Nitrates down.
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
welcomefish.gif

to ReefSanctuary and the RSM Club, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members
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Start a new tank thread & share your tank with us so we can follow along - we love pics :)

+1 on the copepods - they are great !

make sure your tank has "cycled" before adding anything alive...

a good read

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...something-cycling-breaking-new-reef-tank.html

after 5 post, you can add pics on RS - look forward to seeing your tank & watching it come to life :)
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
On auto topper, that's a common problem. Some of us have two holes in the back, but those that don't have been drilling holes (on the right side) for their ATO.
 

zigman

Member
So, keep with 5% water changes weekly until Nitrate drops down or do a bigger or more frequent change? I guess I thought the bacteria growing in live rock were supposed to convert the nitrate to Nitrogen gas and Oxygen, so was thinking I needed to let the nitrate level stay high for a while to kick start the bacteria growth....
Also, adjusting skimmer seems to be a pain. It either bubbles deep in the well and doesn't collect anything. or I raise the skimmer adjuster and it over skims filling the collection container in one day. This skimmer is not supposed to be affected by sump water level changes due to evaporation, so it seems to me I should be able to fix this thru the skimmer adjuster levels. I have left the air valve off for now and I seem to have nice large bubbles in the skimmer body, but don't really understand when to adjust air flow as opposed to when to adjust the water level with the skim adjuster. Any suggestions?
 

zigman

Member
Guess I will be breaking out the drill (and maybe a saw too!). I look forward to dealing with the dust and debris.
 

goma

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
If you cycle is complete, then I would do bigger water changes to get Nitrates down lower.
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
I hear ya on debris. I was lucky enough to have a big hole already.

I think Neil and Adrienne (?) had to drill. Might want to check their tank thread to see how they did it.

It does sound like a pain!
 

Mark9

Has been struck by the ban stick
Welcome,
Couple more posts then we get to see the juicy pictures!

As for drilling, to can buy bits that do 3" or more holes very cheaply at Lowes.
 

neildradford

Member
PREMIUM
You're right Pat, I got a hole cutter to mine. Actually came out clean and wasn't hard to do. It did smell of burning wood a bit lol. We're not all as lucky as Pat in getting two holes (no pun intended!)
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
On whether to add corals or fish, I think we all want something moving around in there at first. So, I think, after the tank has cycled, it is very common to add one or two hardy fish. (I added a clown pair).

After that, it's probably best to work on coral for a while as coral don't add to your bio load.

To my very big surprise, I'm more into my coral than my fish. I never expected that starting out. Although, clearly both are a big part of the tank.
 

zigman

Member
Thanks Goma (or Greg?) for the advice on posting pics. Kept struggling to do it with tools on the forum but your way worked great!
 

Adrienne

Well-Known Member
I had my son-in-law to be do the drilling as he is a sparky and had the tools. My hole is clean on the inside of the cabinet but has a chip at the back where the drill pushed out too fast in the final milli-second. My hole is just below the cabinet shelf and I am running both the tubing and the power cord through it. I believe Neil has two holes, one below the cabinet shelf for the tubing and one above for the power cable.

Your tank is looking good :) Mine is further on and has had copepods appear in the last few days.
 

zigman

Member
Lots of Copepods in mine already but need to get nitrates under control. I add Red Sea nitrate and phosp reducer daily per instructions but will increase water changes as someone recommended. Hole drill should arrive same day as ATO, thanks for heads up bout chipping. May try taping surface before drilling to see if that helps
 
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