75g Starting from Scratch
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Topic: 75g Starting from Scratch
Posted By: SNOWRIDER
Subject: 75g Starting from Scratch
Date Posted: January 27 2014 at 11:17pm
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So I got in to this hobby about two and a half years ago, The tanks that I have had are a Biocube 29g, 46g bowfront, 120G and my new tank 75G. I bought the tank stand and canopy from Dion here on the forum. I bought 60 pounds of Reef saver rock from BRS and cured it for about two weeks, I know that's a little short but after two weeks I had zero ammonia and zero Nitrates and nitrite. So I then drained my tank and put my sand in and added fresh water. It has been up and running for about two days now and I have a couple of questions, First is does adding a peace of live rock to my system really help with the cycle, I am hesitant in adding anything to my tank, I am trying to take precautions this time around not to get any bad pests like my last tank, I bought some rock that had aptasia on it and before I could really do anything it was all over my tank. Same thing with adding a cup of live sand. So any other methods or ideas would be great. Second question is I am getting a lot of micro bubbles from my skimmer, I know its because I don't have chambers in my sump, plus my sump is only a 20G tall tank. So is there anything that I can do besides having to drain my sump and start over? And my third question would be I am evaporating over a gallon every day, wondering what kind of systems people are running for a ATO system, not looking to spend Hundreds of dollars on something so a cheaper method would be great. Thanks for the help in advance I know that I will get lots of helpful info fro the experienced reefers here. My system includes 75G tank, 20G tall sump, 3100 rio return pump, Asm G1 skimmer, 2 200w heaters, 2 hydor 1400 power heads, 2 hydor 850 power heads, my lights are from Brandon here on the forum he used to have a shop in Lindon, The Reef was the name of the shop, I had them on my 120G tank and they worked great, so should be plenty on my 75. I will post pictures as I go through my cycle and when I put my first livestock as well. Any help would be great and advice is welcome.
------------- 75g Just starting out, Stand and canopy From Richins carpentry. |
Replies:
Posted By: LaRue
Date Posted: January 28 2014 at 7:20am
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A glug jug is the cheapest way to do an ato or if you have an ro unit and it is close by you can plumb it with a float valve. As far as getting the bacteria going in your tank my preferred way is starting with all dry and then using Dr Tims starter enzymes And for your sump my personal opinion take the sump out and get it set up right because in the long run you are just going to regret not doing it right in the beginning Good luck |
Posted By: SNOWRIDER
Date Posted: January 28 2014 at 8:57am
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A glug jug? I will have to do some research on that, I figured that's what I would have to do anyways with my sump, just didn't know if someone had a simple idea to get rid of the micro bubbles instead of getting a sump that has the chambers in it, thanks. ------------- 75g Just starting out, Stand and canopy From Richins carpentry. |
Posted By: LaRue
Date Posted: January 28 2014 at 9:12am
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You could add a sponge in between the skimmer and return pump but they plug up and have to be washed constantly I believe Mark Peterson has a thread under the diy section on how to do a glug jug |
Posted By: DMower
Date Posted: January 28 2014 at 9:46am
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Autotopoff.com sells a nice unit cheap. It's what I use along with a small pump, tubing, and a 5 gallon bucket of ro/di. ------------- 150 gal reef with 50 gal sump. Reef Octopus DCS-200 Skimmer. AI Sol Blues. |
Posted By: wickedsnowman
Date Posted: January 28 2014 at 11:20am
| I also have a autotopoff.com unit and love it. Most skimmers put out microbubbles when a tank is first set up. Once you have livestock and live rock and live sand microbubbles should go away because the water becomes a little bit slimy from the bacteria. As far as using live rock it's definitely going to help with the cycle you need to have that bacteria introduced somehow my favorite method for doing a cycle is using a piece of raw shrimp and then some mb7 bacteria. As far as avoiding pests just inspect everything you add really well. If u see something then kill it first or dont add it all. the chances of getting pests from a cup of live sand are really low but it is possible. |
Posted By: SNOWRIDER
Date Posted: January 28 2014 at 11:58am
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I will definately look into those. Yeah i was thinking about using a sponge but i dont want to have to be cleaning it all the time, I used this same setup on my 120 and it didnt have any micro bubbles, but i had a 40g breeder as a sump then as well. Whats everyones opinion on Micro bubbles are they that bad besides they look horrible in the tank. Thanks for all the input so far.
------------- 75g Just starting out, Stand and canopy From Richins carpentry. |
Posted By: SNOWRIDER
Date Posted: January 28 2014 at 9:52pm
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Tested my water tonight, Ph 8 ammonia .25ppm NO2 0ppm NO3 40ppm ------------- 75g Just starting out, Stand and canopy From Richins carpentry. |