Salt Water Tank

I have 11lbs of live rock in there now. I'm monitoring the cycle, don't worry. Its nearing the end of its cycle. Nitrites were at .25 and nitrates were at 20. I will have a total of 20-25lbs of live rock by the time I'm done adding rock. I'm going to stick with the filter I have for now and eventually construct a 10g sump.

They said I wouldn't need a light at first since there was nothing in the tank that really required it. I now have a Nova Extreme 36" T5 High Output 78w light. Now I've got algae blooming everywhere. I'll have pics up sometime tonight hopefully. The tank is now 2 weeks and 3 days old.

Flow is definitely a good thing for a tank, eliminate dead spots and you'll likely eliminate any possible algae, powerheads can do this, H.O.B filters, protein skimmers, basically anything that moves water through it.

You won't fail with "no current"...you very well may just be fine with a HOB filter, but likely have a few algae issues if water quality isn't kept top notch. However, if you notice algae popping up, add a few powerheads.

Live rock is in fact a biological filter, but by NO means would I go without mechanical and chemical filtration! That is just asking for trouble, and generally it is good to add any sort of volume of water to a system with a HOB filter will do. You can run chemical media in the filter aswell, regular ol' activated carbon, phosphate removers, etc.

With the Nova Extreme HOT5 light that you have you should be well set to keep most all soft corals (mushrooms, zoanthids, leathers, etc.) and most LPS (Large Polyp Stony) corals, you likely may have problems if you try to keep SPS (Small Polyped Stony) corals as they generally require more intense lighting (via metal halides or a higher number of HOT5 bulbs).

I would definitely recommend running a sump in the future if you can, fill it with chaetomorpha and different caulerpa algaes (great denitrafier). You can simply use a clamp lamp from HD or Lowes with a spiral compact fluro bulb.

Hope this helps!

Jason

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Originally Posted by jknudson

With the Nova Extreme HOT5 light that you have you should be well set to keep most all soft corals (mushrooms, zoanthids, leathers, etc.) and most LPS (Large Polyp Stony) corals, you likely may have problems if you try to keep SPS (Small Polyped Stony) corals as they generally require more intense lighting (via metal halides or a higher number of HOT5 bulbs).

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I disagree. I think he will be able to keep anything he wants under these lights. Mind you this is a shallow tank, so the HO T5 will penetrate well. Water quality is the deciding factor.

I have always had a 15x-20x turnover rate on my tanks. And i would suggest that you go out and get some powerheads. Check out Hydor they have some great products. And get 20lbs of rock in there asap! They longer you wait on rock, they longer it will be before you can stock it.

Check out www.nano-reef.com its a great forum with a ton of info.

HTH

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Originally Posted by sk8dood

I disagree. I think he will be able to keep anything he wants under these lights. Mind you this is a shallow tank, so the HO T5 will penetrate well. Water quality is the deciding factor.

I have always had a 15x-20x turnover rate on my tanks. And i would suggest that you go out and get some powerheads. Check out Hydor they have some great products. And get 20lbs of rock in there asap! They longer you wait on rock, they longer it will be before you can stock it.

Check out www.nano-reef.com its a great forum with a ton of info.

HTH

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I wouldn't recommend SPS to a beginning salt keeper in the first place, and honestly...I've never seen the growth and color of SPS be as nice as in a halide lit tank with a quality bulb and ballast. HOT5 work well with SPS as supplemental actinic lighting.

You do what you do, I'll do what I do.:gj:

Good Online References
www.reefcentral.com
www.reefsanctuary.com
www.reefs.org
www.nano-reef.com
www.thereeftank.com
www.reefkeeping.com
www.advancedaquarist.com
www.wetwebmedia.com
www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/
www.cnidarianreef.com/

Hope this helps.;)

I hate to break it to you, but you aren't going to be able to do water changes on a tank thats placed on the floor. Unless you are using something to give you a constant siphon, its just not going to happen. You want about 20Lbs of LR (at least 1 lb/gallon) also ditch the carbon pads in the filter and just fill it up with live rock rubble. Other than that you seem to be ok, a diatom bloom is a normal part of cycling a tank, just keep at it and keep checking your water.

good luck keeping those nirate/nits proper.

Oh and when you do your weekly water changes be sure to use R/O D/I water. most saltwater stores sell it cheap.

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Originally Posted by jknudson

I wouldn't recommend SPS to a beginning salt keeper in the first place, and honestly...I've never seen the growth and color of SPS be as nice as in a halide lit tank with a quality bulb and ballast.

You do what you do, I'll do what I do.:gj:

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I couldn't agree more. The 20L Im building is going to have a 14k Hamilton 150w over it:bow:

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Originally Posted by sk8dood

I couldn't agree more. The 20L Im building is going to have a 14k Hamilton 150w over it:bow:

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I like your choice of bulb! You'll really like it aswell I'm sure, should give you a real nice crisp blue without supplementing actinics.:gj:

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Originally Posted by jknudson

I like your choice of bulb! You'll really like it aswell I'm sure, should give you a real nice crisp blue without supplementing actinics.:gj:

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Oh yeah it is really nice! It makes the colors pop like crazy!:banana:

Sorry for the thread jack!