Fat Al's 93 Gallon Reef Cube

Discussion in 'New Tank Builds' started by fattytwobyfour, Oct 30, 2015.

  1. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    I believe the shrimp has been in there about 3 weeks. I'll use your post for reference over the next several weeks. I'll make it part of my routine to start testing everyday in the morning. If I need to add another shrimp to get the ammonia level up to a 2-3, I will. I've got to add one to the biocube.
     
  2. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    I added a cube of brine shrimp last night. I decided to test again real fast. My ammonia is 2.0 & Nitrites 0.25. Nitrates are still 0. I'll test in the morning to see if that changes

    [​IMG]


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  3. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    I'm going to say that's between 2 and 4. I would take the shrimp and any other organic material out. 2 is plenty and much more could slow down your cycle. Did you seed with any live rock?
     
  4. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    Some of the rock was from my 28 cube that crashed. It sat in the tank for probably a month with no filtration and then in a bucket for a week before I put it in the tank. But there were some snails that survived all that, so it might still have some life in it.


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  5. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    If you get all the decaying stuff out I bet your ammonia will be back to zero within a week. As soon as your nitrites peak and go back to zero you'll be cautiously able to put your first live stock in!
     
  6. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    Ok that's good! Hopefully in time for our Christmas party, so I can pick up some stuff. So it would probably be alright to go ahead and order a cleanup crew from ReefCleaners?


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  7. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    Or maybe I should wait until the end of the week first before I order. Just to make sure everything is coming down. It's still 2 weeks before the party.


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  8. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    [​IMG]
    It looks like my ammonia is coming down. Somewhere between 0 & 0.25. Nitrites are 0. And it's hard to tell, but looks like the nitrates are around 5.0.(it looks yellow in the photo, but there is orange in it in person).

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  9. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    Ammonia and Nitrites are at 0ppm. Nitrates look to be less than 5 ppm. My cleanup crew should be here tomorrow or Saturday. I'm going to see how they do for a week. And then hopefully stop at a fish store after the next meeting and try a fish. I had an extra frag of this green leather. I think it might be a Kenya tree. Going to see how it does. If I lose it, I still have another one.
    [​IMG]


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    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 10, 2015
  10. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    Did your nitrite not go up ever? I'm surprised the nitrates are only 5. I would go really cautious with the clean up crew....like one turbo and a couple of ceriths to see how they do before putting a bunch in and see them succumb.
     
  11. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    Yeah the nitrites went up. And came back down. And I remember reading that the nitrates don't always test right with API. But I'll be cautious.


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  12. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    Added the clean up crew a couple of days ago. Had a small ammonia spike, but everything has returned to normal. I also performed a 10% water change last night, so I'll see what the readings are this morning. I'm hoping that if my levels stay stable, I can add one fish before Christmas. I'd like to have one in the tank for when my nieces visit.

    [​IMG]


    This hermit crab is way large. He's doing a great job at cleanup, but I will remove him from this tank when I start to add corals. I can see him stepping on everything and knocking everything over.
    [​IMG]


    I have also decided to go with the Echotech Radions. I'm hoping to purchase them around the 1st of the year. Kessil emailed me back, but it sounded like they just wanted to sell me a light, compared to what I truly needed for my tank. I also will buy a mesh lid from BRS for the tank. It currently has a glass lid. I've also been stocking up on things like filter socks.
     
  13. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    Looking good Al! I think you made a good call on the hermit. I've banished all but my two Haloween hermits to the sump. They were murdering snails right and left.
     
  14. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    I swear that I'm not trying to rush things, but when you're a coral junkie, it's hard to just look at rocks. I had an extra frag of a Duncan coral that I added this morning.

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    [​IMG]
     
  15. xystic

    xystic Wrasse

    I feel the same way. I just filled my IM 20 fusion with water and live sand today. I already feel like I want to throw in corals but I probably won't be able to do so anytime soon. Hopefully, I'll be ready by the time that fort smith frag swap occurs in January and if not I look forward to the swap in march.
     
  16. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    It's hard not to. I've gotta add fish before anymore corals though. I'm hoping sps will do better in this tank. My other tank uses a canister filter, & it's too hard to keep it clean.


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  17. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    LOL, it looks pretty happy! Looking forward to watching this tank mature!
     
  18. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    I figured that if it started closing up, I'd put it back in my other tank. But if it's going to stay open, I'll leave it. I also got both my mp10s running tonight. It looks like they are going to give a good random flow pattern.


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  19. fattytwobyfour

    fattytwobyfour Grouper

    Merry Christmas to me! Picked up a Magnificent Foxface & Elegance coral today. It may have been too early to add the elegance coral. I'm not sure. I know that I want a large elegance coral in this tank, so I'm going to attempt it. I've never kept one before. The only other fish that I can think of for this build is maybe a starry blenny.

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  20. Deton8it

    Deton8it President Staff Member

    That is a pretty Elegance. My clowns host in mine. Their BTA is a few inches away but they spend more time in the Elegance than they do in the BTA.


    John
     

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