New Tank Problems

Wait til you start stocking it! Divers got ! do your shopping on line and places like Ebay you get the best deals

 

I'm new as well, I've had my tank going for about 4 weeks now. I also had the experience of measuring sg for water, having it check out okay, and then when I put it in my tank, having the sg go up. I think the salt continues to dissolve. As for the $$, I stopped keeping track after I hit about 3500. I'm sure this is an investment in my overall mental health or something. I haven't even had to run my heater. My lights keep my tank between 75 and 78. Well, you have come to the right place, everyone is very helpful to us newbies and so far no hazing. Good luck.

 

Temps around 80 now, it's getting down. I bought a digital temp, seems for accurate.

I just added 40 pounds of live sand, 20 pounds of fine white sand, and some crushed coral.

It's very cloudy now, I'll have to give it a day to go down before I add anything else.

My LFS has almost no live rock and it dosn't look very nice. I want to buy online but I am not sure where the best place would be, any suggestions?

Is the shipping exspensive?


Thanks everyone for all the help so far.

 

Now the temps up to 81, maybe I should open a window : )

 

Just ordered my ebay refractometer. 50 total with shipping. Just did buy it now, I don't like waiting for auctions.

What's everyones recomendation on UV sterilizers for reef tanks, yes or no?

 

Now my temp is 80.8 and has been for hours, the heater does not appear to be running. It's not that hot in my apartment, I don't even have the lights yet.

????????????

 

You have time There isn't anything in the tank that you're going to hurt right now. The lights will add heat to your tank, when you get them. If you're worried about your heater you can buy a titanium one on ebay for about $30.00
They have the digital control outside the tank and a sensing line for fairly good acacuracy. I believe the sterilizer is a personal choice. Let me point you towards a discussion.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/filters-etc/uv-not-uv-question-29636.html?highlight=sterilizer
http://www.3reef.com/forums/filters-etc/uv-good-bad-34386.html?highlight=sterilizer

Jim

 

make sure you have roughly 1lb. of live rock per gal. of water. 3-4 inches of live sand is beneficial as well. As far as light is concerned, you need to decide what you plan on putting in your tank! Corals(what kind)different kinds have different light requirements(ie.metal halides, power compacts or t5)to survive and thrive. You are also going to have to have powerheads to create turbulence(replicate wave motion)to offer oxygen,nutrients and remove detritus from the corals. Do some reading and research-Alot of things people try to sell you, you don't necessarily need or could do better price wise. Best of luck-any questions please ask-alot of knowledgeable people here at 3reef!

 

I forget what types of lights I'll be getting, my LFS suggested certain ones, I just remember 4 bulbs. 2 of them are 10,000 K, I don't remember the other two. My wife did most of the research on everything.

The power heads are built in to the tank, I bought a tank with a built in overflow and return, the return is a double ball pivot. When hooked up to my pump it seems to create good circulation, the sand is rippled from the flow. I have each head pointed at different sides of the tank.

I just ordered 25 pounds of caribbean live rock, from intmarinefish.com, only 25 because I want to see the quality.

I'm looking at buying some Tonga Branch and some figi from some other sites.

I also see that some sites sell cured and uncured, which is better? I bought cured.

 

Well I'm getting a new heater. I have it set to 76 and the water is 80.6, it was 80.4 a few hours ago.
The heater is also on right now for some reason even though the tempature is of course higher than the setting.

All Glass is a pretty good company, all other products I've bought from them are great, but I guess there heaters aren't.