46 Gallon Bow Front Set up. First time to salt!

Got it orderd from reef cleaners this is what the guy recommended

 

Nasty Algae on the Rocks and Sand

 

My Custom CUC from Reef Cleaners has arrived!





Just a question, do the snails, and crabs eventually spread themselfs around the whole aquarium? I dont like them all hanging out right in the front where I dumped them. Alot have moved, but alot some still havent, The instructions say they might be in shock for a day or two.

 

Happy Clown fish pair

 

They should all dispate after awhile. You will loose some, snails die more often then crabs.

DO watch your nitrates as snails die, the can make a mean spike and you got so darn many of them! That is a crazy amount of snails....

Flip those snails over too. Only some snails can right themselves and your crabs will make a meal of them.

 

good to know, if they are not flipped over when i get home i will flip them. The ammonia spike should go away quickly right? I am getting a new sump tomorrow that comes with a protein skimmer built in, so i will get that up and running tomorrow. Hopefully that will help things along

 

The amonia and nitrates will go away, how fast I'm not sure. I do recommend some good water changes, eg RO water and and stay on your testing, it gets easier the more you do it. If they are high, ie above 10 then go ahead and do a few 3-4g water changes, maybe every third day. Just my two cents.

Sump eh? That's always fun and nice for the tank. What size you cramming in that stand? It's tough to get tanks in there, on my buddies we put a 10g under it. I remember being so stoked the day I got my reef sumped.

 

My Birthday Present




this sump is 20 x 10 x 18. Just barely fits in my stand.



I have a 10 gallon aquarium that i am using as a sump, it is a homebuild, but i am really looking forward to the professional system, especially with the Skimmer built in.

 

That looks cool! How many gallons does it run at? Make sure to replace those bio balls with some nice live rock rubble.

 

well I am a month into it and I am still cycling. I went to My LFS tonight and they tested my water, my salinity was .30! Ammonia was 0.50 and Nitritates were 1.0. He didnt know why i still have ammonia, and i dont know either, he sudgested that maybe my live sand sat in the bag for too long. I ended up buying 4 pounds of live rock hoping that it will help with my cycle, the rock was very purple, and even had a few mushrooms and polyps on it, bonus! I added 5 gallons of fresh water, and that seemed to help, i just checked the salinity, and it is back to about 0.22-0.23. I have no idea how the salinity got that high, i mixed the salt like the instructions read. I just want to finish my cycle allready and get some more fish. On the plus side, the green algae seems to be dying down since i reduced my lighting and feedings. It is completely gone off of the rocks and sand, and is just on one side of my glass. Hopefully that will go away soon too.