Kendra1111's tank

[kendra1111]

Hi, my name is Kendra and I am probably the youngest reefer on here.  I am 6 years old and my mommy (jenghes) is helping me with my tank.

The following is my tank specifications:
Tank: 40 gallon Long
Filter: Emperor 400.  Mommy wants to use this so she always has a filter pad ready for the hospital tank.
Lights: 48" Orbit Lighting system with moonlights. 2x96W Daylight with 2x96W Actinic Blue




We started the tank by adding the sand.  We heard a lot of good things about the sand from home Depot - Durascape.  It is a crused limestone based sand.  Mommy showed me how it bubbles in vinegar.  It is nice and white.







We compared it to another limestone based sand.  We liked the white color of this better but liked the grain size of the other better.  We went with the Home Depot sand on the left.



Here it is in the tank

[kendra1111]

Here it is as we started filling it up with water.  Mommy said to use a garbage bag so the sand does not mix up with the water.

[kendra1111]

On Tuesday July 13, we got the rocks.  Mommy ordered 40 lbs of uncured Marshall Island live rock from Premium Aquatics.

[kendra1111]

On July 16th.  We tested the water.  Ammonia was zero and the Nitrates and Nitrites were very pink.  Mommy says that means that they were high.

[kendra1111]

July 22 the tank became very green.  Mommy says that it looks like a phytoplankton bloom happen.  She said that she did not see this before.  She called Win at the fish Doctors to see what to do.  Water tests:  Ammonia = 0  Phosphate = 0  Nitrite = 0.05  Nitrate = 0.025. 



He said to turn the lights off for a few days to clear it up then do a 15 gallon water change.

[kendra1111]

July 31.  My tank is not green anymore.  I hope soon to put some fishies in it.  I will take a picture later.

[kendra1111]

August 7: We turned the lights back on.  It has been 4 days so far and it is starting to turn green again   My mommy made some more saltwater last night to do another big water change.

[kendra1111]

August 8:
I just did another 15 gallon water change to mellow the pea soup color   I will probably do another one Thursday.

[kendra1111]

August 11
The green is going away, a little.  We did another 15 gallon water change today

[kendra1111]

Picture yesterday:



It is still cloudy and having a HA bloom.  I may add some macro to it tonight.

[rmstevensiii]

Very cool!  Thx for sharing.

[micki]

That's cool Kendra!  Keep us posted on how it goes. 

[REDPYRO]

Is that a sump to take the place of the biowheel at some point?

[kendra1111]

The Bio-wheel filter is there to keep running at all times to always have a biological filter ready for a quarantine tank.

[kendra1111]

I forgot to answer - a sump may be incorporated into the system later.  Mommy has not decided yet.  She says it should be a simple tank.

[REDPYRO]

Oh i thought i saw something under the tank, thought maybe it was a sump

[kendra1111]

There is the quarantine tank under there.

[REDPYRO]

i see

[ohioreef]

Looking good Kendra!!

Welcome to Ohio Reef!!

[verper]

Hi Kendra,
Your tank is coming along nicely.      Is mommy going to let you have a skimmer to get rid of all of the uncured rock's nutrients or is she going to make you do it the hard way - Lots of  Water Changes?     Tell her to pony up a new Deltec or EuroReef for an early Birthday present.  :laughing7: :laughing7:

[verper]

How is your tank coming along Kendra?  We need updates and pictures!