Finally! Gina's (NanoReefer411's) 180+tank upgrade! =)

Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum

Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:

This looks like it is going to be an awesome set up! I will definetely be following along. Can't believe I missed this thread till now. I always like to see what local reefers are building.
 
Thank you MGD and Slate! =)

I started my cycle! YAY! I asked my fiance if we could please put the closed loop pump in the garage, so I could access it. He said it would get too cold in the winter so it is stuck in the stairwell. Here is a pic...
closedloop.jpg


Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time working on some aquascaping. He then worked on some as well. I am going to be changing things around to add some of my other rock to the tank, so this is not the final look.

My side

101_2000.jpg


His side is the right

101_2002.jpg


I was really happy with how close he got the tank to the wall. I have a huge gap on my other tank from the closed loop. This looks much better.

behindtankplumbing.jpg


I am running the cycle, but so far it says my nitrates and nitrites are undetectable. Is that weird?
 
Nitrate and Nitrites are usually only detectable at the end of the cycle. Ammonia would be what you would be seing at the start of a cycle. And you are only going to see that if you have some die off. Really just depends on if you are using dry rock, live rock, and if it pre-cycled, yadda yadda yadda.

The closed loop looks awesome, great job.
 
Thank you. =) I haven't gone through a cycle in such a long time I have forgotten what to expect. =/ I tested ammonia as well and that registered at 0. I have some dry rock mixed in with live rock. The dry rock was supposed to be pre-cycled when I bought it.

How long should I wait to see if the ammonia, nitrite or nitrates creep up?
 
Depends where your live rock came from. If it is right out of an established tank you may not even get a spike. Other wise usually 2-3weeks for an initial spike I believe (but every system is different). Either way it is always a good idea to give it a few weeks for the tank to normal out a bit. Also sometimes you may not even get a nitrate or nitrite spike, most likely you wont see nitrites as they are the middle of the nitrogen cycle. They usually get converted to nitrates right away.
 
Thank you Will and Corina! =)

Jen thank you. It will be a lot of work, but I love my tank I have now. =)

I am getting a high pitched squealing from the durso. Any idea why? It sounds like the air being sucked in. It is bugging me.

Also, I cannot tell where the leak is coming from. The silicone and tightening did not work. =(
 
NanoReefer411 said:
Thank you Will and Corina! =)

Jen thank you. It will be a lot of work, but I love my tank I have now. =)

I am getting a high pitched squealing from the durso. Any idea why? It sounds like the air being sucked in. It is bugging me.

Also, I cannot tell where the leak is coming from. The silicone and tightening did not work. =(
Click to expand...

If its squealing its gotta be constricted somewhere - got a small pipecleaner you can shove down there?? Maybe someone left you a treasure in there!!

Sometimes you can overtighten, which causes leaks as well since the gaskets will squish out. If its a slow leak, I've actually been lucky enough to just put a towel under it, and let it drip for a while, eventually the salt creep builds up and seals it... I know, ghetto, but who cares!!
 
Special tang-Thank you so much for the offer, but I ended up getting them. =)

Estanoche-That is what I thought. That it was over tightened. He went and put silicone on the inside yesterday. =/ Hey, don't worry, I did that with a bulkhead on my frag tank. It eventually just sealed up. =/ I'm ghetto too! LOL! I will check the opening on the durso. There might be something stuck.

I am using the quick dip test strips for my cycle. I wonder if they are not very accurate? It is kind of hard to read the color. It seems like they don't match too well.
 
stand looks sweet... you can cut down sanding time by wipeing the wood with a wet cloth. It raises the loos wood and makes it babby but smooth in half the time. When you poot the stain on it will not rase the soft wood grains. keep up the good work
 
FWIW I used "clean" dry rocks for the cycle on my last tank, and it still went thru the typical ammonia, nitrite, nitrate cycles - took about a week for the first ammonia to show up. My thorough cycle, with adding existing LR from my established tank beginning around week 4, took 4-6 weeks.

To pull it off I added 1 rock at time from my existing tank, and waited until it stabilized before I added the next since I had some corals on the rocks too and didnt want them to cycle "too" hard on me.
 
Looking good so far, I like how it looks like you took your time on your aquascape and your man just made a pile with one highpoint lol. But for your cycle it will take time I would suggest putting in some raw shrimp and let them decay thats what I did. FYI those dip test kits are not accurate at all lol. But just let it ride and go from there and just remember add slowly
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Vandur
40g Breeder, Tank Build(s)
Replies
16
Views
14K
spieszak
spieszak
H
Long Awaited 150g custom Aquarium
Replies
13
Views
4K
Da Kine
D
A
it keeps gittin purdier
Replies
1
Views
1K
Bosco83
Bosco83
S
New build, recap of old build and lessons learned
Replies
13
Views
5K
seattlereef
S
marlinmero
Marlin's 180 gallon aggresive tank
Replies
8
Views
903
marlinmero
marlinmero
Back
Top