First!

Howdy!
My Name is Shane, and I don't have an addiction to Reef Tanks! (that I will admit)
I will be lurking, and trolling, as I just got turned onto this board by a coworker who used-to, as I learn more and plan my next large setup.

I currently have no up and running tanks. I have a 12 gallon micro-reef in the basement, that crashed when we moved last. It had been setup and stable from 1999 untill 2009, when we moved and it started to crash, I nursed it and babied it untill last spring, when my Royal Gramma disappeared (he was over 4 years, and 4 inches!) and Red slime and Aptasia took over. A 3 inch sandbed and excessive rock  (20# to start, added 12 more over 10 years) made it a very nice starter. The water changes and maintenance were never a issue for me, but salt creep is the bane of my existence. It would seem to get out of hand overnight, especially in the dry Utah winters. I have a nice 60gal/day RO system in my house, so water changes and topoffs are easy. I also learned that acrylic is no way to run a railroad when you have children. I dont know how or with what, but new scratches would turn up almost daily, some even on the inside from something getting caught in the tank cleaner magnets.

I have plans for a 180 or 200 all glass. 6 foot wide, by 24" deep, and 24-29 tall. Overflow, sump and refugeum are a must.
I would like AFOWLR, as I want the activity, beauty, and personality of a handful of triggers and lions.
The wife still wants reef, as she loves the breathtaking beauty of a colorful reefscape and the symbiosis of fish and corals.
You know shes going to win out, so I am stuck finding reef safe fish with high activity, unique beauty and personality =)

If you know anyone with a 180 or 200 all glass sitting in a basement or garage, PM me, I can move it for free! (Move it right to my basement untill I get a stand and hood that is!)

Not to start a pi$$ing match, but at the moment I am leaning towards a 2 inch sandbed, as deep sandbeds are not the latest thing anymore right? Any opinions on deep sand beds for reefs?

I am also leaning towards T5 over MH due to cost, energy consumption and heat production. I can tailor depth of light-loving corals, or avoid those that require strong MH lighting. Any other suggestions?

Thanks for providing the wealth of information already on these boards!

Welcome Shane.
I wouldn't let myself get caught up in the latest fads. The latest things come and go. There are principles of reefkeeping that always remain. For example,
Do you want the tank to help feed itself? Do a sand bed.
Do you want a sandbed that allows more room for reefscaping, coral and fish? Use Oolitic sand.
Do you want to save money and at the same time do your part to help preserve the ocean? Use Utah Oolitic Sand, Utah Rock and buy locally grown coral and captive bred fish.

Stick with us and you will discover the Triggers and Lionfish that do just fine in a reef aquarium.

Were they thinking of SO2/Sulfur Dioxide/rotten egg gas? Don't be silly, that's just a paranoia and I'm one person out of only two hobbyists that I have ever heard of that had the experience where something died because of it and for me it was in my specially set up experimental freshwater tank that I was completely tearing down.

In time you will find that your best research is simply to ask the questions right here on this MB.
Answers to your questions:
1. The smaller size of Oolitic sand offers more surface area for bacteria to grow, so less Oolitic sand is needed to do the same job as larger particle Aragonite sands.
2. Read the thread linked below labeled Reefkeeping Tips. I have Oolitic sand and LBTR here in Murray
3. Niger Triggers are reefsafe, next would be Crosshatch, possibly HumaHuma, others....many beautiful Dwarf Lionfish are available. I had a P. Antennata in my reef years ago. Also read the "How to/Tip" in the linked thread below and ask me more about "fish training". Yep, it works.

The tank was set up this month and you are already doing this

Apocalypso wrote: Added PH buffer on recipe to bring up to about 8.2, turned heater down

If the LFS sold you that stuff they ought to be shot for not finding out that the tank is only a few weeks old.

After Temperature and Salinity, the next most important things to test are Alkalinity and Calcium. The stuff you used to increase pH has probably increased the Alkalinity too far. It is completely unnecessary and actually dangerous to add chemicals to increase pH. It should never be done.

The Alkalinity and Calcium of the water needs to be determined ASAP.


Edited by Mark Peterson - January 20 2011 at 10:40pm

Nice to have you here!

The heater needs to be unplugged right now.

Is there a glass cover or hood over this tank

Most likely the PO4 is not as high as the test kit shows.Take my word for it. It's probably nothing to worry about.
PO4 cannot come in the RO water in a high enough concentration to cause that kind of reading.
What kind of sand and rock did you use In your new tank PO4 can only come from that, but still it is nothing to worry about and rarely does it become an issue in the hobby.

The best thing you could do for that tank right now would be to add some macroalgae. That would be a better thing than a water change. It will reduce the pollution to almost zero in a day. A water change can only reduce the pollution by the percentage of the water change and doing anything more than a 10% water change is a waste.

Feel free to call and come visit to see my tanks, to discuss all of this and to take home some free LS, LR and macroalgae.


Edited by Mark Peterson - January 23 2011 at 3:02pm

And for the record it is a new tank, but not really. It had been setup as a saltwater FOWLR before. But for the past year or so, had been sitting in a cold dark basement with just enough water to cover the sand and half of the rock.

One last  about the whole thing in general: It seems to have alot of.. silt? Very very fine dust settling on the rocks and sand. Thats the main reason I started running the OEM filterpads again, was to clear that up. Should this be "vaccumed" off or filtered out? The water is crystal clear when Im not in there mucking around, or when the fish isnt digging hisself a deeper den.

looks like the heater was fine, it was my thermometer.
new thermometer says 79.3