My Tanks Progress (more pics added) 2/22/11

First topic message reminder :

So i decided to try sw for myself. First let me say i have never done any water tests on my two fw tanks or have i ever done tests in general. So with that in mind this is a whole new ball game for me. To start i purchased a 30 gallon long tank( its about 3 feet wide) I added sand on Dec 13th( about 45 lbs argonite?) and i purchased a whisper ex70 power filter. I have a koralia nano and 1( one on each side of the tank for water movement. The tank has been up and running like that since the 13th. On saturday the 18th i purchased 31 lbs of live rock. It was put in the tank that night. I know everyone says 2 lbs per gallon but the tank would be stuffed if i put 60 lbs of rock in it. It looks good with what is in it. ( I will post pics soon) So tonight leads me to water test number one of a million im sure. Here were my results, I went with the API saltwater master test kit. the scale was a color range so the numbers arent exact. I got my wife to help me determine about what they were.

PH 8.0-8.2
ammonia 0-0.25 ppm
nitrite 0.5 ppm
nitrate 7.0 ppm

I know they need to come down a little but let me know what you think. ALso i picked up some stuff off craigslist the other day. Let me know what i can use these for.

-Kent marine starter kit(comes with essential elements, pro-ammonia detox, and pro buffer dkh)
-Kent super buffer dkh
-kent garlic xtreme
-kordon rid fungus(herbal formula)
I got all of these for 10 bucks. figured i could use them. ALmost all of it is brand new.

So far this sw adventure has been fun. It is different looking at a tank for two weeks with nothing in it really except water. I have been keeping a total so far and with all my purchases i am still under 300 dollars. Thats for everything. And i have a heater on the tank too. Any suggestions please feel free. As i said i will get pics up soon.

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New Pics 12-30-2010..



New pics 1/4/2011




New pics 1/11/11






New Pics 2/22/11 - Making Progress...

ALright took a water sample to a sw shop tonight. They said it looks ok just a hint of ammonia. So there is still a little of that. I did get three small pieces of live rock from there to help my tank along. He said there was just barely enough ammonia to turn the waters color on the test so its coming along. Cindy, if youre out there reading this still. No more impulse buys from here on out. I want to be able to ask everyone questions and them believe im listening. The little blue damel is still doing ok if you are wondering. He is exploring all his new alley ways and caves i made for him. It looks alot better than the pics above. I will try to get new ones up tomorrow. Thanks again everyone for all the advice

bump. The last two pictures are how it is scaped now. The third to the last is just showing the new light. I did water test again just a little bit ago. Results are :

ph. 8.2 ( has been that everytime)
Nitrate around 5 ppm
Nitrite 0 ( has been at or roughly 0 since 12/24)
Ammonia 0!! ( first time getting this reading)

So it looks as tho the advice Ms. Cindy(CWHIP) on dosing with Seachem Stability really helped out alot. I will continue to monitor every other day or so. Any one out there have any advice let me have it. I do believe i am starting to get some brown( im assuming my diatom bloom is about to happen. Its starting to cover areas of my sand. Im not sure how long to wait til i throw some hermits in.

WOW looking great

I think it looks alot better than before

08can-am wrote:

bump. The last two pictures are how it is scaped now. The third to the last is just showing the new light. I did water test again just a little bit ago. Results are :

ph. 8.2 ( has been that everytime)
Nitrate around 5 ppm
Nitrite 0 ( has been at or roughly 0 since 12/24)
Ammonia 0!! ( first time getting this reading)

So it looks as tho the advice Ms. Cindy(CWHIP) on dosing with Seachem Stability really helped out alot. I will continue to monitor every other day or so. Any one out there have any advice let me have it. I do believe i am starting to get some brown( im assuming my diatom bloom is about to happen. Its starting to cover areas of my sand. Im not sure how long to wait til i throw some hermits in.

continue to use the Stability as directed to maintain the good bacteria.
theres not much for a cuc to live on yet but you could put 4-5 snails in at this point
maybe some small Nerite snalls. Dwarf ceriths will eat Diatoms so you could get a couple dozen of those as well.

wow looking good!

Alright i may look into some of those dwarf ceriths this weekend. Thanks again.

Thank you

Lookin good! I like your rocks and that new light made a world of difference!! Keep going slow & steady...it will pay off big in the end!

Alright so i went yesterday and added a few little shelly guys. I got three red legged hermits and one blue legged. And one margarita snail. I let my wife pic the snails out and she likes watching them so maybe its a start on getting her hooked.

oh she will then LOOK OUT!!!!

Once she gets hooked i have to get a part time job. Because everything she likes is expensive. She has a funny way of picking out things that are naturally triple the price of what catches my eye. lol Oh well what ever i have to do to get her involved. I told her last night i was thinkin about getting rid of my 110 g and getting a reef ready tank in place for when i get the hang of this. LOL she wasnt to excited about that.

Baby steps Barry!! You have to let her think it was her idea :)

Oh and why does your 30 gal tank look so much bigger (longer) than my 29? I only have one door in my stand and you've got two.

Iwill measure after church i think its 3 ft wide

08can-am wrote:

Iwill measure after church i think its 3 ft wide

I thought your tank looks the size of my breeder which is 40 gallons 36x18x16

Looks like a 40 breeder IMO.

doesn't look 18" deep tho. 36x12x16 would be a 30.

You're right pope I wasn't looking at the depth like that.

I know why it looks big he used a wide angle lense:)

lol my fancy sony cyber shot you know. lol my 10x optical zoom tricks everyone. And popes measurements are correct. Just a little 30 g.

hey dont knock the lil sony cyber shot thats what I take all my pics with:)

That's a really good size to start with. Cheap and easy to light.

My wife took the pics. I insist she does the little things like that and verify the water color when i do my tests to force her to be involved. lol

Here here for the Sony Cyber Shot!! Me too! You guys are just better at it than I am

You have awesome camera skillz. What you talking about. Hey CIndy how much longer til i can start adding other cool stuff. My hermits have been tearing that brown stuff up