hi guys

[dlove18]

I've been lurking on here for a while now and figured I'd say hello. I've been breeding freshwater angels for the past couple of years and recently switched one of my tanks to salt. I'm hooked. no more freshwater for me. =]

the tank is a standard 55 with 2 HOB 200gph power filters, 2 maxijet 1200, a coralife needlewheel 125 skimmer(it was free), and a coralife PC fixture w/2x 65w 12k and 2x 65w true actinics. I used 60 pounds of sand/crushed coral mix and I have about 40 pounds of LR so far. it's been up for just over 7 weeks. so far I'm using IO salt and RO/DI water that tests at 0 tds.

tank parameters right now (tested with API)

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
phos 0
calcium 420
dKH 12-13
PH 8.3-8.5
SG 1.025
I've been changing 5 gallons of water every week. I run carbon in the HOB filters.

all my live stock so far has been either hitchhickers or given to me. I have a few mushrooms and what look like zoas that were hitchhickers. a small leather(kenya tree maybe?) and 3 birdsnest frags that a friend gave me. I have the birdsnest as high in the tank as I can get them. they are all growing pretty quickly. I did buy some hermits and snails. I have tons of pods. some are as large as half an inch and look like small shrimp.

I have 2 questions for you guys:

should I be worried about my PH and alk levels? they seem a bit high compared to others. my water comes out of the tap at a ph of 8.1

also, a friend just gave me a URI VHO ballast, 4 sets of endcaps, and 4 48" 110w bulbs(bulbs are about 6 months old). I think I can fit all 4 into a canopy. would 440w of VHO be a bit much for a 55? I could just use 3 and get 330w.

I also plan to get an overflow box and sump so I can get the HOB filters and the skimmer out of my tank.

you guys have been a huge help and a great source of entertainment.

thanks,

dan

 

[DonW]

Your numbers are fine. Maybe alk is a little high but if your not dosing anything I wouldnt worry about it. May just be noise in the test itself. 440w of vho is also fine and not to much.

Don

 

[Reeferdude]

Dan, sounds like your on the right track. I'd use all the VHO's you've got. I would also slow down on the water changes a bit. It's been my experience it takes longer to cycle when fresh water is added too frequently. Seven weeks is not enough time in my opinion to completely cycle and your your test results may be yielding zero readings because of the frequency of changes. Not necessarily a bad thing though. If nothing else you'll at least know that your rock and you filters are handling the load under your current conditions. Water parameters seem fine and hopefully they'll remain that way. Oh and by the way welcome to reefing if you get any pics post'm. It's always nice to see new systems...

 

[NaH2O]

I just wanted to welcome you to Reef Frontiers!!!

 

[thumperss]

welcome first of all and looks like every thang is going good if you plan to do sps at all put on all the lights you can i have 8 65w pc on my 55 and i could use more light. and go for the sump asap it will help alot and take it slow don't rush that is where alot of us found out and had a crash but we made it so good luck
Brandon

 

[dlove18]

thanks guys

I picked up a few more pieces of cured rock today from my LFS. this should be close to 50 pounds. my dKH has dropped to 10. that is the lowest it's been since the tank has been full. I took a few pics. I'm not sure how they'll look.
one of my neighbors has a really nice cannon. I'll have to borrow it again soon. my 6 yr old olympus just aint gettin it done anymore.


I bought this little purple rock because it was sooo purple. it turned out to be what I think are star polyps. they somehow lived through the curing process at the LFS. they are red or pink with white centers. any ideas?

 

[Krish]

I like the rockwork! Looks great!! About the polyps, I couldn't say for sure, but looking at the picture, it wants to look like you have possibly a mojano or aptasia on the single rock. Can't say for sure though because it is hard to see in the pic. Anyway to get a closer shot to get a positive id? Here's the arrow pointing to what I'm talking about

 

[dlove18]

thanks krish

its an aptasia. I haven't decided how to nuke him without taking out some coral with him. he goes under the purple mat of the polyps. I've considered just harrassing him to see if he would move.

 

[Krish]

Ahh...Best of luck ridding the rock of him. I'd look around closely to make sure there aren't anymore around

 

[lizardarm]

Welcome aboard!
Start saving for a bigger tank, sounds like you've got the itch!