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Author Topic: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey  (Read 3995 times)

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Offline lvlikey

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Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« on: June 16, 2019, 10:42:45 »
Hey reefers...

My name is mike and I’m from Middletown. I’m wanting to be more active in the reefing community, check out some frag swaps, and meetings etc...

I’m not “new” exactly at this but have minimal experience. Let me explain...2008-09 is when I setup my first salt box. I’ve been forever hooked but was never able to keep a tank running long enough to really get into it. That first tank was running a year and when things were finally getting stabilized I had to tear down. It wasn’t until 2013 that I was able to try again. 4 months into it and I wasn’t happy. I completely re-done the entire system. Drilled, DIY overflow, new sump, new rock...fresh start. That tank made it 6 months until I moved from that apartment. Sold it all. Told myself I wouldn’t set up a tank unless I was absolutely sure I would have at least a few years with it. Well I bought a house last year.

I picked up a 90 gallon RR because it was a great deal back in 2014, but held true to the promise I made myself. Here I am and I’m ready to have some fun!

I do a lot of reading and take in as much information as possible and there’s so much thats changed, even in the last 5 years. I feel comfortable saying I have a fair bit of knowledge about reef keeping but missing the most important part.....experience.

I’m 13 days wet so far. Using dry rock and dry aragonite sand. I ran up to Gerbers last Sunday and picked up a small piece of live rock to seed my tank and hopefully kick start a cycle. Grabbing my test kit I realized it doesn’t have an ammonia test(I can’t explain not paying attention to that one lol) I ordered a test and it should be here tomorrow. A little worried that the small piece of LR wasn’t enough to start my cycle, I have been ghost feeding 1/2 cube of mysis the past 3 days. Rocks are as white as they were the day I got them. I’ll be able to test Monday and see where I am.

I know that’s long but I thought a back story would better help you guys understand where I am in the hobby.

I am on all the big name forums but I’m really looking forward to get to know my local reefers and get some advice along the way. Thanks for reading (if you made it this far) and happy reefing.

(Where’s some pictures already..) Right?




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Offline lvlikey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #1 on: June 16, 2019, 10:46:12 »



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Offline VikingCoral

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2019, 13:21:04 »
Looks like your on the right path! Nice gear!! I would add a bit more LR to seed your dry rock and get your cycle sped up a bit. What kind of coral and livestock are you aiming for?

Offline CoralBeauties

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #3 on: June 16, 2019, 14:07:57 »
Welcome to our little world.  There are a lot of great people with a lot of knowledge on here.  You can pick up several products by DR. Tims.  you can get bottled ammonia for the cycle along with bacteria starts that will speed things up.  Biggest mistake I see people do is rush things too much.  In this hobby everyone will agree that things are slow happening unless it is something bad!!!
Nice set up,  you are off to a good start.
Jeff

Offline SweetReefOH

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Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2019, 17:51:51 »
Welcome Mike. You obviously did some research, your equipment is nice. As Jjoos99 said, I would purchase ammonium chloride from Marine Depot along with Dr Tim’s live nitrifying bacteria. The bacteria will seed and populate your tank and the ammonium chloride is a cleaner way to add ammonia. Rotten food in the tank is not my preferred method anymore. Happy Reefing!

Offline Steve

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2019, 18:57:55 »
Nice start Mike, good to see you back at it. Being in Middletown as well, give me a ring or send me a message if you need any help with anything. I use the Viperspectra lights over my frag tank and they do a great job. I have been using the Fritz bacteria product with my quarantine system and it seems to work pretty well. Hope to see you soon.

Offline lvlikey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #6 on: June 16, 2019, 22:17:12 »
Looks like your on the right path! Nice gear!! I would add a bit more LR to seed your dry rock and get your cycle sped up a bit. What kind of coral and livestock are you aiming for?

Thanks man! I may run back up to Gerbers and get some more of this man made rock they have cured. It’s really clean. One of my favorite parts of having an aquarium in the past was using rock from established tanks and being excited seeing almost something new each day growing on it or coming from it. I found clams, mushrooms, sponges. All kinds of cool things. I was lucky and didn’t get much unwanted other than a few fire worms. Really don’t want to chance adding unwanted hitchhikers this time, even though with long enough time I think it’s inevitable. Still will miss that aspect in the beginning.

As for corals, I get really excited about colorful zoas and monti caps. Maybe some GSP on an isolated rock to get my feet wet.

I’ve always wanted a pistol/goby pair. I think they are cool to watch so may start there after my CUC. Admittedly, I haven’t gotten that far yet.

Mike


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Offline lvlikey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2019, 22:28:40 »
Welcome to our little world.  There are a lot of great people with a lot of knowledge on here.  You can pick up several products by DR. Tims.  you can get bottled ammonia for the cycle along with bacteria starts that will speed things up.  Biggest mistake I see people do is rush things too much.  In this hobby everyone will agree that things are slow happening unless it is something bad!!!
Nice set up,  you are off to a good start.
Jeff


Thanks man. If I have learned anything with my prior dabbles in reefing it is moving fast only results in regret. Of course I want my tank stocked full of fish and corals quick, but I understand if I take my time here the end result will be much more satisfying. I really have no reason to rush it. I’m enjoying sitting back and making sure it’s how I want it and enjoying the ride.

@jjoos99 and @Reeferntraining Is there a way to pick up the dr Tim’s locally? I don’t mind taking a ride and like browsing local shops too. I’m right in the middle of Dayton and Cincinnati.


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Offline lvlikey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2019, 22:37:21 »
@Steve !! Good to hear from you. I got your messages this morning, I wasn’t sure if you were still into it. I noticed CincyReef is a bit of a ghost town. It’s great running into you here! Honestly a lot of the forums don’t seem as populated as they used to be back when I had a tank years back. I stumbled onto your 180 thread earlier today and noticed things were kicking your butt a little bit. How are things doing now? I can’t wait until I’m in a position to grab a frag or 2 from you. You always had some great looking pieces. I will definitely keep in touch with you. I still have many questions but we’ll take it one step at a time. Always a pleasure to talk with you.

Mike


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Offline lvlikey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2019, 22:39:09 »
Should I be changing out my filter socks this early? I haven’t changed them. My thought process was let nasty break down in them and help with the cycle but I’m not sure if I should be changing them out or not yet. They’re getting a bit brownish.


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Offline Steve

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #10 on: June 16, 2019, 23:03:15 »
I haven't posted on my build thread for a while. Actually my tank is doing really well right now, stop by some time.

Offline lvlikey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #11 on: June 18, 2019, 06:49:45 »
I haven't posted on my build thread for a while. Actually my tank is doing really well right now, stop by some time.

Glad to hear the tank is doing good! I would love to come look at it. I’ll shoot you a call sometime. Been really busy here lately.


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Offline lvlikey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #12 on: June 18, 2019, 06:53:15 »
Tested Ammo and nitite last night

Ammo- 1 ppm
Nitrite- 1 ppm

Not sure what’s going up or down right now I’ll continue to test the next couple weeks.


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Offline lvlikey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #13 on: June 18, 2019, 16:42:14 »
Starting to get some color. Do you guys clean the diatoms off or let it ride?




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Offline lvlikey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #14 on: June 22, 2019, 17:11:03 »
Ammonia is undetectable today but nitrite is still high. It’s getting there.

Nitrates are really high around 40ppm and phosphate reads zero. API test for phosphate is a bit tricky to match the color up but it’s less than 0.25. Looks closest to zero.

Once my nitrite hits zero I’m going to do between 50%-80% water change and see where that puts my nitrates then see what I need to do to get it <10ppm.

Tank looks good. I’m surprised the uglies aren’t full blast at this point yet. Some green spots are showing up on sand and rocks. No new diatom growth and what was there is slowly fading.





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Offline ghurlag

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #15 on: June 24, 2019, 14:24:21 »
Welcome!  I'm in Middletown, too.  It looks like you've started this build off amazingly well.  Looking forward to tagging along.

Offline lvlikey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #16 on: June 24, 2019, 17:39:50 »
Welcome!  I'm in Middletown, too.  It looks like you've started this build off amazingly well.  Looking forward to tagging along.

Thanks. I put a lot of time into planning and trying to visualize how I wanted things. So far I’m pretty happy with how it has come together. Filter sock placement in the sump is frustrating to deal with. Something I should have considered more. Thinking about doing away with the socks because changing them is a real chore. Wish I had more room under my stand.

Have you got any pics of your tank?

Here’s a pic to try and illustrate what I mean by filter sock frustration. The lid has to come off the top...fine, but then the filter pad and there’s also a plastic covering over the socks needs to come through the cutout in the side acrylic. Can’t be lifted from the top because of the rim around the sump. To top it off the rings on the socks are slightly larger than the top to get them through so they have to be squeezed some to fit. I like the clarity the socks give in the water but such a pain. Sorry I don’t know where that came from lol. Got to thinking about it ...I could rant about it forever, it’s extremely annoying to me. Anyway....



 


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Offline lvlikey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #17 on: June 24, 2019, 17:46:54 »
Tank is looking pretty ugly today. There’s a brown algae that came back full force today and some green mixed in with it. The brown has what looks like a slimy texture at the points closest to lights. I turned whites only on and it’s REALLY noticeable. Thankfully with the blues on it really doesn’t look all that bad. I’m running whites at 1% and blues 15%.

Some visual pleasure...




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Offline ghurlag

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #18 on: June 24, 2019, 19:13:22 »
Not sure if the Tapatalk link will get you there, but this is my build thread for my 10g nano that’s maturing pretty well so far.  I haven’t posted lately due to work and outdoor activities.

Ghurlag’s NUVO 10g
 https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=14883&share_tid=22862&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eohioreef%2Ecom%2Findex%2Ephp%3Ftopic%3D22862&share_type=t


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Offline Humphrey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #19 on: June 24, 2019, 20:10:38 »
Your system is really nice.

Have you ever consider filter pads instead of socks?  I’ve started using them some and it’s a lot more convenient for me.

Offline lvlikey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #20 on: June 27, 2019, 20:40:10 »
Your system is really nice.

Have you ever consider filter pads instead of socks?  I’ve started using them some and it’s a lot more convenient for me.

This is a great idea. Would be so much easier to replace. May be able to cut it to fit down in the top area where the socks go.

I’m thinking something like this........I could make 4-5 replacement pads from one of these for relatively cheap.  I wonder how long they will last compared to a sock...do you have any experience using the pads over socks?...




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Offline Humphrey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #21 on: June 28, 2019, 00:10:11 »
Lots of options on how frequently to change socks/pads but I think the general consensus is 2-3 times per week. I think that’s why many quit using socks as that’s a lot of socks to go through.  If you’ve got 10 socks that’s only washing them once a month, but spouses don’t always like the washing machine being used for socks.

2-3 times is a relatively new finding as Bulk Reef Supply did some extensive testing with nutrient management as the goal.  I used to run socks until they over-flowed:). Similarly, If your nutrients aren’t a problem (Phosphate and Nitrate) you can run sock/pads for much longer. 

Now I use the disposable rolls, cut to size and change 2x/week in one of my frag system.  The other system is much more mature and I only occasionally use mechanical media.  I’ve used quilt batting, blue bonded, and the white bonded “premium” pads.  Quilt batting seems a little flimsy but it does work. Since you’ve got to reach way in there the blue bonded pads might be best as they’re less flimsy (blue side up)

About $20 to make 16 pads for me. 

If you google bonded blue filter pad you’ll get a bunch of options.


Offline dbjonesjr

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #22 on: June 28, 2019, 13:40:04 »
If you decide to go the filter floss route, https://www.pinkyfilters.com/ is where I have always bought mine. It is a great deal.

Offline lvlikey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #23 on: October 24, 2019, 18:52:41 »
Hey guys.

It has been a while since I've posted. I ran into some life situations that set me back some time. We have a newborn in the house now! ^-^.

My aquarium took the back burner while we were settling things out and preparing for a new child in the house. I'm going to run you guys through the events of the tank because at the moment I'm a bit confused and not sure where to pick back up with it. I'll start with were I left off....

At the end of July my tank finished cycling and I was sitting with a very high amount of Nitrates. About 60ppm. Just as my tank finished cycling and I was ready to change water, things got really busy for me and I never changed it :-\. The tank has been on auto pilot honestly, for about the last 3 months now. Surprisingly it has treated me really well within this time and never got ugly. Last weekend I finally got a chance to sit down and do some testing with it and see where I was at. This is where I became confused. My Nitrates disappeared. There's zero. I done a little reading and came across an article that mentioned if there's not an ammonia source after cycle that the beneficial bacteria would very quickly die off. So, what I did on the 18th of this month was started to ghost feed frozen mysis to see what would happen. My ammonia jumped up after a couple days to around 1.25 then fell back to nothing. This was with a half cube of frozen mysis per day. No Nitrite spike, no nitrates still. Monday night on the 21st I felt a little crazy and picked up a small yellow tail damsel to see how the tank would react with him and how he would react with the tank. He seems to be doing really well. Still today, No ammonia jump and no nitrates.

I'm stuck on what I should do at this point..

Should I do a water change? What happened to my nitrates? Should I expect a second cycle? This is the same water that I initially filled the tank with back close to 5 months ago. Again. It's still crystal clean and no algae minus the brown fuzzy substance on the rocks that showed up during my initial cycle. It's only in spots the light hits directly. Parts of my rock is still white in areas. Thanks for any help in advance, and I'm excited to be settled in and able to put fourth the time and effort required.


Mike

Offline lvlikey

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Re: Mike’s New-ish 90 Gallon Journey
« Reply #24 on: October 24, 2019, 18:57:19 »
Here's a pic of the tank tonight.....




 

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