New 30gal setup

Sounds fine to me. I'm interested to see if your timer works for you. Is it one of the Coralife ones?
 
It is one of the Caralife ones. So far the timer is working fine. At first I thought it wasn't, but then it was brought to my attention by my other half that I had the lights turned out on the fixture. Amazing what a difference that makes. LOL

The tank was much clearer this morning and the Lunar LEDs where cutting all the way through the tank. I didn't have time for pictures because I had to work to pay for the new tank.

We are going to do the tests tonight after we get home and see if the ammonia is climbing any. The local LFS suggested that I might not have a huge spike in ammonia because of the large amount of live rock in the tank, but I want to take it slowly and let nature run it course. I also refused his suggestion of an additive to boost the needed bacteria.
 
Thanks Barracuda! I'm liking it so far. Now I can hardly wait to get some movement going on in there.

Speaking of movement, I found our first Hitchhiker tonight while looking over the rocks. Now that the water has cleared, I can see the rock much better. Imagine my surprise when I noticed our first Aiptasia. They were having a problem with them at the LFS, but we searched long and hard to find some rock that was free of the pest. Looks like I failed, but he is the only one I have found so far. Now I need to do some reading on how to best get rid of him, and quick! Here is a pic of our pest. Seems kind of wrong to want to kill the first living thing I see in the tank.

hitchhiker1.jpg


Oh well, I guess it is just a part of the hobby. :-)
 
I'm so happy with our rock choices. I just have to show them off now that the tank has cleared.

You can really see some of the color on the rocks and all the nooks and crannies in the rocks now.

cleartank.jpg


clearlftside.jpg


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Hope you enjoy looking at the pics as much as I enjoy sharing them.
 
Me again. I know I could post this as another topic, but I'm trying to help other newbies who are setting up their first tank.

We did the tests tonight and I was surprised to find out that I have a Nitrate result of 20. Our ammonia has never been above .50 and our Nitrite has never been above .50. I'm confused. I thought we would have an ammonia spike, then an increase in Nitrite before we wouls see a measurable amount of Nitrate.

Have I done something wrong or is this tank cycling faster than I thought it would. I haven't done anything to increase ammonia. I thought before adding a shrimp I would see what happens on its own. This has only been running since Saturday afternoon, so only 2 days.
 
I'm really curious how the Coralife timer will work for you. What kind of lighting do you have again? I've been through 3 and none of them lasted over 2 months- the same with my buddy.

Aiptasia can spread like wildfire so you'll want to combat them as quickly as you can. You can use boiling water, lemon juice or Joe's Juice:
http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_medications_joes_juice_aiptasia_majano_anemomes.asp?CartId=

If you fill up a syringe and directly hit the aptasia it should kill them. Some people buy peppermint shrimp and sometimes they'll eat the aiptasia but it's not guaranteed.

If you do a search on here you'll see a lot of posts on aiptasia.

You're definitely still cycling and your nitrates may even get a lot higher than they already are. What kind of water are you using? I would test it for nitrates just to make sure.
 
I'll keep an eye on the timer and see how it works. It did its job again today so, so far, so good. Thanks for the heads up on it though.

The water in the tank is premixed RO water from a local store. I'll check the nitrates in some of the water I have leftover and see if it registers, but it shouldn't in RO water should it?

When battling the aiptasia, do you need a needle in the syringe or can you just shoot the boiling water right at it without? Is there no adverse effect of shooting Lemon juice in the tank? Also, if no lemon juice, could I use the lime juice that comes in those little plastic limes?
 
Tiki I have much enjoyed reading your thread. I was wondering if you could give me some info on how much you spent on your powerheads and your lighting. I am thinking of converting my 55 FW to SW as soon as I finish up my researching. and basically I am trying to figure out how much $$ I will need for these two things. I will be getting sand from a previously cycled SW 55g.
 
No need for a needle just give it a nice little blast of boiling water. Just use water it works well and will not effect your tank
 
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