my down sizing to a 40g saltwater build.

I'm down sizing do to some medical bills, and a big car repair bill.
going from the 60g to a 40? 36x12x22.. will I need a sump because the way the stand was made I measured and only a 10g will fit from front to back.. and is there a company that makes a small enough over flow for a 40g to 10g sump? what about protein skimmer will still need one right... will my hob red sea prizm work, or will I need my corallife-65 on this one... I got 24kilos (52? pounds 2.2 kilos = 1 pound) straight from fiji... and a bucket of live sand from a friend. so good to go there... light I have a hagen glo - 36 inch t5 ho light with a ati super blue and a hagen power glo 18,000k bulb (should I switch the power glo for a 6,700k or 10,000k? ) is that enough light. I don't plan for any sps or lps just xenia,kenya,leathers,mush-rooms,and zoa's.

water I plan to just siphon in to a tub, then pump it in to this tank...

would just the live sand, and live rock, and the hob skimmer, with water from the 60g work. am I good to go? yes go build it or no you are missing something... so am I good to setup?

bills, medical bills, a big car bill, and some personal reason are the reason I'm down sizing.

here is the 40g on the stand with the light. sand is who knows what but real wood, tank is oceanic, light is a hagen glo 36 inch t5 ho 2 bulb fixture. rock 52 pounds of live rock straight from fiji, live sand, from a friend... fish I'm thinking a pair of clowns, or a school of purple dart fish.... any way I will shut my mouth and show photos now...

aha and only 30 seconds to up load 18mb to imageshack.us :) new computers are great.

light tank, and stand.



live sand.


rock, I know I'm a tease they are in a tub with water from the 60g and a power head.


canopy - going to have to make some minor ajustments for it to set on the tank right with the light fixture inside.


Turtle turtle turtle turtle turtle...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTafZRecy2k&feature=related

/\--- how I feel busting my butt to finish this, I didn't want to get lady. I been scooping out the water with a pitcher, I let a friend borrow my trash bin(water changes where i store my ro/di water for making saltwater.).

I took a break, it's filled 3/4 with water..

plantedtankdude wrote:

fish I'm thinking a pair of clowns,

I <3 the


Idea....

yeah but which ones, I know where i can get some perculas for a good price that are 3-4 inches long.

the live sand was free so I took it, and I got extra live rock just to be safe. can't be getting it straight from fiji for $3.00 a pound. it's finished i will post photos when I'm back from a friends house..

seems to me that you switch tank sizes every cpl weeks.....?
i would suggest you decide on a tank and stick with it.
if you end up changing tanks again after you actually get stock in one your going to tress everything out and kill it
for the safty of whatever your going to stock in this 40g, just chill with it for a GOOD WHILE. even after everything is good and stable with $$

alkomist wrote:

seems to me that you switch tank sizes every cpl weeks.....?
i would suggest you decide on a tank and stick with it.
if you end up changing tanks again after you actually get stock in one your going to tress everything out and kill it
for the safty of whatever your going to stock in this 40g, just chill with it for a GOOD WHILE. even after everything is good and stable with $$

I used seeded water, and I can actually get my arms to the ground in this one.. this one looks really awesome and I'm happy with it.

only one question.. I think cwhip might of answered it... do i need a 10k or will two blue bulbs work.. I only have other blue antics, 6,700k and colormax(pink) bulbs. i could go buy a 10k if i need to though. oh and would 4 bulbs be better, i don't want to plan for sps or lps just mushrooms,kenya,xenia,and zoos,and polyps. the canopy that was made for it, will only let me get 3 refelctors in it.

so I thought I have a 10k, and I didn't so i put in what I had laying around 6,700k coralife.. so lighting is now a corlife 6,700k and a wave point -blue. take looks like this with lights on.


now different photos of my corals.

zoa mini colony.


the chalice?


green candy cane coral


frog spawn


leather just got it tonight, and still ajusting.


green maze brain coral


xenia, and zoa's.

okay some one told me I need to do a soft water cycle, is this true or will it depend on what my levels are... and if I need to do a soft water cycle how much do i change every other day?

soft cycle is a method which involves large/ frequent water changes during the tank cycle. this is usually done by advanced reef keepers to maintain coralline and live rock fauna alive during the cycling process. There's a lot of people throwing around the term soft cycle when referring to how they plan to start their tank or how they are cycling their tank. Unfortunately most don't grasp the true meaning of a soft cycle and just jump right in, as with so many other things in reefing.The concept of soft cycling is simple, to keep as many sessile inverts and macro's already on the rock alive during the cycling process by keeping the ammonia at a minimum. Do you have accurate test kits for NH3,NH4, NO3, NO2? Do you have plenty of salt and water on hand for water changes? Do you have enough storage space to store premixed salt water for water changes (sometimes as large as a 100% this most of the time is doing more harm than good because you are not only taking out ammonia,nitrites,nitrates you are also taking out beneficial bacteria. Do you have enough time to do daily water changes, test the water 3 times a day, monitor the tank, empty skimmer cup daily for up to 3 weeks? If you answered "No" to any of these a soft cycle is probably not right for you. The key to a good soft cycle is high quality, fresh live rock, good lighting on a regular cycle, strong filtration "skimmer" and running carbon is sometimes necessary.Once you get the live rock it is important to go over it thoroughly before you add it to your tank. Remove any dead crabs, worms, sponges, etc. from the rock. Remember to tune your skimmer to maximize the amount of skimmate that its pulling, keeping a constant watch to ensure the skimmer is running as efficiently as possible. also skimmers have a break in period of sometime up to 3 weeks before they start producing a good skimmate.
Finally, keep in mind that you are controlling the amount of ammonia/nitrites that are produced therefore reducing the rate at which nitrifying bacteria grows and multiplies, a soft cycle will take a lot longer than a normal cycle and can crash before it completes its cycle. so to answer your question do you need to soft cycle NO! I use the K.I.S.S. method it stands for "keep it simple stupid" from the looks of it you already have everything in place, if you want to help the cycle along get a bottle of good bacteria such as Bio spira, Stability or Micro bacter7 and follow the direction for your water volume..
Remember it's not Rocket Science, if you try to do what every person tells you to do you will get very confused so keep it simple.
Good Luck.

you will want the par a 10k will give you for growing even soft coral.

^

thanks i switch to a 6,700k what i had laying around will get a 10k .. take is okay, just a little high on nitrate. so i did a 5 gallon water change, oh and saltilinity is a little high.

saltilinity - 1.026
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate 10-20
p-h 7.8 with light on.

I have seachem 8.4 buffer.

did a 5 gallon water change will see what it reads out.

thanks..

I think my problem is it might of just been precured and not fully cured rock.

If you got it out of a box, that came off an airplane from fiji, it's dying. It's normal. You need to be patient.

^^

popebosephus wrote:

If you got it out of a box, that came off an airplane from fiji, it's dying. It's normal. You need to be patient.

yep that's what happened......

so this tank won't die.. i got a sump(20L x 8W by 12X so i will have around an extra 5 gallons for water movement. picked up a with a coralife skimmer with a rio 1700(yeah i know rio but it works and i can up grade down the road.) picked up a mag 3 or i think it may even be a 5 for the return... i just have to go to a guys house today and pick up the over flow box... got sand, water and rock.... just got to figure how to make 4 reflectors fit in the canopy I have...

and i just got home a little while go, from getting the over flow box, was on my way to get it and had a blow out, and to call my brother, drop off wait till my dad got home ate, then called the person told them what happen etc... but finely have everything... just got to set up... any one know how to wire up a work horse 7 ballast for 4 t5 ho bulbs...

and now i'm digging around for tubing, so i can hook up the pump to the skimmer, and the return to the spray bar and set this tank up....

might have to big of pumps. a rio 1700 for the skimmer, which is a coralife 65
and a mag 5 for a return pump... head height is going to be 3-1/2 to 5 feet tall.

am i going to be okay, or should I get a slow down valve?

for the return on my 40 gallon B I'm using a quietone 3000 780 gph 10.5 max head
and its wide open. you should post pics of how your tank is setup."under the tank"

I will, i have a big live rock i need to break in to smaller pieces so it fits in the tank... and the rio is burned out... time to look for a skimmer pump... i'll post tonight about to go to my sisters to cell-a-brate daddy's day.