Desertdawg Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 A few weeks ago I finally decided to take the plunge into a salt water tank, I started looking for something in the 50 to 70 gallon range and ended up finding a smoking deal on craigslist. With tape measure in hand I had to prove to Jammye that a bigger tank would fit perfectly along the wall in the living room and look good too! What did I end up bringing home? How's 125 gallons sound? Damn thing is heavy too! Here's the first 15 gallons of water! A bucket of live rock A pale of sand Making RO/DI water with my new setup End of day 1 and still not even half full, rocks and sand tossed in to keep them alive. Rocks arranged before it gets to deep Our one hitchhiker in the sand, a Nassarius Snail All full, time to sit back and let it go through it's cycle for a few weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertdawg Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 Fast forward 3 weeks and the urge to see something besides water and rocks is to great to overcome, besides algae is starting to grow so why not order a clean up crew! order placed: Sally Lightfoot Crab x1 Cleaner Clam x2 Turbo/Astrea Snail x10 Peppermint Shrimp x5 Pencil Urchin x2 Fancy Nassarius Snail x2 Jade Hermit x10 False Percula Clownfish x2 side note here: while you should not try adding fish yet, Jammye suggested we get something with fins to watch too, so with fingers crossed that they survive, I added 2 False Percula Clownfish, better known as Nemo's! Today my overnight box arrived from FedEx, I opened it up and following the directions I started the acclimation process, then I remembered to grab my camera.... Drip acclimating fish, clams, and shrimp Fast forward a couple of hours of dripping water on critters 10 Jade Hermit Crabs Sally Light Foot Crab hitting the beach One of the Peppermint Shrimp The 2 Fancy Nassarius Snails One of them immediately started to bury himself Sally showing off her undercarriage Then it was time to start cleaning One of the Pencil urchins with a pile of Turbo/Astrea Snails One of the Cleaner Clams already digging in A Zooanthid coral donated by Glenn The Peppermint shrimp all found holes to hide in The Clowns, a Clam, a Snail, and one of the Urchins I finally got my Compact PC lights up and running, turn off the 10K white lights, leave on the blue Actinic and get this So there you have it, now we watch all the critters run around, and if everything survives we can start looking at other fish to add!!! 36 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigfoot Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Looks good, glad you like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coconut girl Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Too cool. I am amazed they can ship those little guys overnight like that. Where do they come from? I had fresh water tanks before, but not salt water. A lot more complicated. The bigger the tank the easier it is to keep it clean. Keep the photos coming. I really miss going snorkeling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loud Pedal Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Looking good Dwayne! Just a couple words of caution and some things I learned the hard ( expensive ) way. It is so easy to overload a tank and rush things. As I'm sure you know, salt water tanks must go through 3 stages in order to properly cycle. This is also true anytime you change the balance of organisms in the tank. Slow is the name of the game. I'm sure you know all this, but... First, you will see an ammonia spike from the fish waste. Slowly, bacteria will begin to colonize that consume the ammonia and converts it to nitrates. Both of these are highly toxic to fish. Thirdly, another bacteria will convert the nitrates to nitrites which are not harmful to fish provided they are not too concentrated. Perculas are probably not the best fish for starters as they are pretty sensitive. They might not make the cycle. Damsels are tough as nails and will live in just about anything, although they can be aggressive. I used to joke with my wife that it doesn't pay to be a $3 fish attacking a $60 fish lol. It didn't. I ended up trading my domino damsels in to the local fish store because they were picking on everybody. I found damsels to be the best candidates for cycling a tank because they are so tough and cheap. If your perculas don't make it, try some damsels. I'm not sure how the inverts will deal with the chemical mayhem that's going on in the tank right now. Use some biological stimulants and test the water at least every couple days at first so you can track the progress of the 3 stages. Once it's stabilized, add new fish SLOWLY. Like 1 or 2 at a time max. This gives the bacteria time to develop the right populations to deal with the waste. It's very easy to overfeed them. Decomposing food will also spike ammonia levels. The inverts do a good job of sifting through the substrate looking for morsels of goodness, but resist the urge to feed them too much. Best of luck and keep the pics coming! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertdawg Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 Dave, You got your trates and trites mixed up. Ammonia - Nitrites - Nitrates. I have a new test kit on the way so I'll get a better idea what the numbers are hopefully tomorrow, I'm going to change some water out tonight to help until then. (Big thanks to Dave for the donation of some nice goodies) Pam, I ordered from a place in Florida, they've been doing this for years. Overnight shipping is $19.99 tp $24.99 depending on the size of the order. Everything still looked good this morning except for the one soft coral from ICULUKIN, it blew off it's perch so I will have to reattach it. 35 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Y Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Looks beutiful. Are you going to put a backdrop behind the tank? 7494 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Poppa Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Backdrop... Maybe a picture of me in a speedo with Cahd rubbing the lotion in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertdawg Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 Yeah there is a coral backdrop in the works. (nice countdown Tucker) I can't use your suggestion Chris, but I can probably photochop it and post it all over the internet.... 34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratch Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Looking good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstrutt Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Dwayne, someone told me you had "crabs"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P51tj Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Got Bait??? Looks good Dawg! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loud Pedal Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Dave, You got your trates and trites mixed up. I stand corrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigfoot Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Dave, You got your trates and trites mixed up. I stand corrected. Naw, I'm willing to bet you were sitting down when you wrote that response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wickedfastvette Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Lookin good Dawg. I used to have 10 tanks including a 125 and a 150, now Im down to 2 a 55 and 100. Lots of work but a lot of fun too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie44 Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Lookin good Dawg. I used to have 10 tanks including a 125 and a 150, now Im down to 2 a 55 and 100. Lots of work but a lot of fun too. Wow, 10 tanks!!! I've heard of the Crazy Cat Lady but never the Crazy Fish Lady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertdawg Posted September 11, 2009 Author Share Posted September 11, 2009 Lookin good Dawg. I used to have 10 tanks including a 125 and a 150, now Im down to 2 a 55 and 100. Lots of work but a lot of fun too. Your going to have to post pictures.... I got my test kit today, nothing is dead so I guess I'm on the right track... my numbers are in (parentheses) pH: 7.9-8.6 with 8.1-8.2 being ideal (8.2) Temperature: 74-80 degrees F (76) Specific Gravity: 1.023-1.025 (1.022) Ammonium/Ammonia: 0 ppm (0) Nitrite: 0 ppm (0) Nitrate: below 5.0 ppm for reef tanks and below 20.0 ppm for fish-only systems (5) 31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loud Pedal Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Dave, You got your trates and trites mixed up. I stand corrected. Naw, I'm willing to bet you were sitting down when you wrote that response. Dang, twice in 1 thread. Yes, I sit corrected. Looking good Dwayne! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chameleon Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Wow, this is cool! I used to have freshwater tanks, got tired of all the work after a while. . . Your tank is lookin' good. Thanks for sharing your pics - we can all enjoy the view while you do all the work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loud Pedal Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Where's the tank-cam link on ACE? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstrutt Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Where's the tank-cam link on ACE? Lordie, Lordie, don't give him no ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertdawg Posted September 11, 2009 Author Share Posted September 11, 2009 Where's the tank-cam link on ACE? No cam Dave, but you can come over anytime... I'll put a chair in front of the tank and crank up CNN in the background for you! 30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie44 Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Where's the tank-cam link on ACE? I think that's a great idea! Help us all get our moneys worth outta this site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loud Pedal Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I'll put a chair in front of the tank and crank up CNN in the background for you! Yep, news junkie here. Guilty as charged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wickedfastvette Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Lookin good Dawg. I used to have 10 tanks including a 125 and a 150, now Im down to 2 a 55 and 100. Lots of work but a lot of fun too. Wow, 10 tanks!!! I've heard of the Crazy Cat Lady but never the Crazy Fish Lady lol well I only have 1 cat! I used to have 19 horses though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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