Acclimate softies and kenya and etc

[khmerspec]

I personally would not buy LS in the bag regardless of expiration date. Rather spend it on LR. Eventually every dead things in the tank will be bio active.

I think you have awesome LR as it is hard to tell from 3rd pic which is coral and which is rock.

FIrst one is definitely Euphyllia but not sure if it is hammer or frogspawn or torch.

What seems like blue disk in 3rd pic maybe either mushroom head or perhaps baby pagoda (Stony). I had few pagodas pop up out of blue from time to time as well as Euphyllia + others in very matured systems (15+ yrs old system). Round ring next to blue disk perhaps is closed Euphyllia???

Probably easier to id once well settled and opened in the tank.

Cant wait for pics of fully opened corals in the tank!

I did use the live sand in bag, and lots of live sand from old tank.

here's readings:

Salinity ~~ Nitrate ~~ Phosphate ~~ Ph ~~ Ammonia ~~ Nitrite

Sump:
1.025 ~~~ 5 ~~~2.0 ~~~ 7.8 ~~~ 2.0 ~~~ 0

Tote:
1.026 ~~~ 20 ~~~ 0.5 ~~~ 8.4 ~~~ 0 ~~~ 0

I also have tests for water hardness and copper, but I've never seen them in any of the readings I've seen so I skipped it.

The third picture is tannish brown. and it has a bumpy surface (looks bumpy, I'm afraid to touch anything and killing it)
Also, the forth picture there's like a small little "bubble" colony above the kenya tree.

EDIT:
I just realized that I forgot to do the plumbing from maintank to sump!!! How long should I wait for glue to dry before running water through it?

 

[Ace25]

2.0 on phosphates is "through the roof". My meter will only read up to 2.5, my average reading is around .03. I would highly recommend getting some GFO (Phosban) to help that problem area later on once the tank is cycled. 2.0 on ammonia tells me it is just in the beginning stages of a cycle. Your tote is a MUCH better place for living things at the moment.

As far as the glue/PVC.. you really only have to wait a few seconds (1 minute tops).. I have even glued PVC while water was still going though it without issues, although I obviously wouldn't recommend that.. it was more of an emergency repair situation.

 

[khmerspec]

Thanks Ace.

My friend called me about a phosban reactor(?), said he just needs to use the pump til tomorrow then I can go pick it up.

With the phosphates so high, should I be worried about the eel? He seems fine and eat well this morning, but then again I haven't looked at fishes in about a year.

 

[Cerianthus]

As Ace mentioned, I done many repairs on exisitng tanks as well w/o ill effects but w/o use of any primer.

I always flushed the system at least once with fresh water before setting up saltwater.Thus I would not know the consequences of not flushing newly plumbed system, if any.

Let me tried to understand the situation.
You have 55G Sump where eel is and 90 G main tank being set up & corals in original tank water in the Tote.

If so, is the water in sump a fresh batch or mixture of fresh/prev tank water?

If eel is in sump w/2.0 NH3 level, I would stop feeding or feed as it can die from exposure to high NH3. COntrol the NH3 before feeding.

Did you happened to add BioSPira in the sump?

 

[khmerspec]

As Ace mentioned, I done many repairs on exisitng tanks as well w/o ill effects but w/o use of any primer.

I always flushed the system at least once with fresh water before setting up saltwater.Thus I would not know the consequences of not flushing newly plumbed system, if any.

Let me tried to understand the situation.
You have 55G Sump where eel is and 90 G main tank being set up & corals in original tank water in the Tote.

If so, is the water in sump a fresh batch or mixture of fresh/prev tank water?

If eel is in sump w/2.0 NH3 level, I would stop feeding or feed as it can die from exposure to high NH3. COntrol the NH3 before feeding.

Did you happened to add BioSPira in the sump?

Didn't add any biospira to sump, but I do have the 100g filled and water running back and forth.

Most of the sump water was a fresh batch.
the 100g got filled about 35gals from old tank.

I've had the lights on the 100g for about 2-3 hours now, and most of the stuff is "open": kenyas, frogspawn, the "bubble colony", and a cluster of circles with green in them.

I'll test water tomorrow after work. But hopefully everything will be fine.

Can any1 ID the 5th picture? It's purple, and soft. Kinda reminds me of octopus legs.

 

[khmerspec]

Just did a powerouttage simulation, and sumps got plenty of space.

Although, I noticed that a lot of the frag peices have algae growing on them. What should I do for them?

Also, woudl I have to worry about having to do direct feedings to any of them? or are they filter feeders and will pickup the mysis cubs?

 

[khmerspec]

Woke up early this morning and did tests.

Ammonia NH3 @ 1.0

Nitrite NO2 @ 0

phosphate PO^3- _4 @ 0.5

Nitrate NO3 @ 20

PH @ 7.8

I've skipped feeding for today.
If I were to expect some dieoff, how long before I see it start happening? Also, what would I be looking for?

 

[Cerianthus]

Let's hope nothing dies off! I doubt anything will go wrong as long no drastic measures are taken.

pH does seem bit low but no concern at this point as long as it does not go lower. I would be more concerned with presence/increase of NH3. If intend to raise pH now, I will wait until NH3 is controlled.

Believe it or not, and as I mentioned before, no ill effects detected to corals due to slight increase in NH3 when added heavy load of corals to anywhere from 150G - 2000G systems.

What is the intention of using Mysis? Do you have any fish other than an eel?
If no, hold off using mysis. Just more pollutants to water before water is matured/cycled.

I am growing some mysis in 2-1/2G hex since last summer to feed my newly collected seahorses until they adapt to frozen mysis (Usually about in 3 days).
I think I read somewhere about refugium. Once refugium is matures with full growth of macro/micro algae and enough oganic detritus, you should see explosion of mysis and other critters. Hopefully you LR had some to seed the refugium.
For whatever reasons, I could not yield many live mysis from the ocean to seed my breeding/growing tank this year.

btw, 5th Pic seems to be branch star polyps rather than gorgonian/whips!!! If it is branch star polyps, it will grow pretty fast, even onto any surfaces in contact with it, such as other rocks and glassses.

Just go easy and control the amt of food thrown into tank until tank is well matured/cycled and I feel that your tank will settle pretty soon provided no drastic measures are taken.

Only issue I think your system may pose an aggrevation down the road is that you dont have easy access to sump.

Looking good so far and let it do **** thing without any catalysts from YOU, lol! We could correct or make other adjustments (PO4, NO3, Ca, etc, etc) once tank settles.
Just monitor NH3 for now and this can probably be greatly affected by your feeding!
Thus control your feeding as Ive seen more fish losses from other hobbyists due to exposure to high NH3 than starvation

Good Luck!.

 

[khmerspec]

Thx Ceri.

I do have a royal gramma in the main tank, and about 4-6 hermit crabs.
Came home with the royal gramma staring at me and following me as I crossed the room. LOVE IT!
Just saw one of my bigger hermit crabs chowing down on the algae growing on one of the frags, so I have some hope there.

Should I be turning the lights on? or keep everything in the dark until everything balances?

At what point would NH3 be at for me to want to dose with something?
How long can I hold off feeding eel and the royal gramma?

As for the sump, even with the gaps I made in the 2x2s in the front it was a squeeze to get my hand in. Wife wouldn't let me drill hole in wall and put sump in garage!
I had set up the 2 back braces to where the screws go in at an angle so I could take the sump out in emergencies, but then if I take them out there's a 4' gap with no brace.... So ill think of something when the time comes!

 

[Cerianthus]

Royal gramma with an attitude! lol. If already well adjusted, should be able to feed at one particular area (a dining table) as I have done with many fishes including seahorses. You can even shut the circulation when feeding thus less leftover food decaying somewhere in the tank but make sure to turn the pump back on. Of course this is until tank settles. As far as your NH3 number, it may be on the way down. When properly done, you may not see any increase in NH3/NO2, perhaps bit of NO2 but NO2 in saltwater is virtually non toxic to fish.

Eel can eat as much as you offer but just feed sparingly until tank is well settled.

Why on earth do you have an eel if this tank is going to be a reef? Not that you can not but wouldnt you rather have more smaller fishes and shrimps/inverts (yummies for an eel) in the tank?

I know of many who kept triggers, puffers and even bigger eel such as Tessalata in 120 Reef with larger tankmates, Harlequin, Parrot, etc etc. and I was one of those crazies!

I am really concerned with the fact that you dont have easy access to sump. There will come a time when you have to get in there to service or perform maintenance.

What kind of return pump(s) and PS are you running?