55 Gallon Fowlr

[Justin1989]

Thank you. I might be looking at purchasing a pre-drilled tank. This overflow now has me worried to death lol. I figured the way the lifereef was built it wouldnt lose its siphon. Anyone looked at them? Its more likely just me.

Edit: From what I am reading, the lifereef overflow should not lose a siphon the way it is designed. Anyone back me up on this?

 

[ben1987]

there are some overflow boxes that are ok, i dont know which cos i havent looked into it. Ive always drilled my own tanks as its really easy. You could maybe look into that? i will help you step by step. Just dont buy tempered glass to drill

 

[Justin1989]

Well I understand the concept of drilling the glass. As stated only the bottom piece of glass is tempered. is is a aqueon glass tank which stated on their sites only the bottoms are tempered. I would need a glass drill bit, along with keeping the glass wet in order to keep it cool (such as a water bottle). The tank already have everything in it and settled; so I would need to lower the water to drill the tank. Laying it on its side at this point isn't and option. I would buy another tank and sell the one I have now, but thats simply pitching out another almost $250 I don't have. if I bust the glass then I will have to buy it no option lol.

 

[ben1987]

m holes took half an hour. Low RPM's with the drill, take your time, very little pressure. YOu need a hole guide to get you started too or the bit just spins off the smooth surface

 

[seffieuk]

I will leave the drilling and such like to the boys and concentrate on your comments about the cuc, please don't add any yet - your tank is not cycled. Continue to test, you will get an ammonia spike, then a nitrite spike (which sounds like it is starting) then a nitrate spike - then do a 40/50% water change, wait 24 hours, test again and if your nitrates are below 10 then go ahead and buy your cuc, add nothing else, just snails and hermits

I agree with your mum, that piece of rock looks good standing like it does however it doesn't look like you have 44lbs of lr in there, are you planning on getting any more?

seffie x

 

[Justin1989]

That is 44lb's according to what I ordered. I guess I should of weighed it? It wasn't exactly to light weight. yes I will be adding more. This new LR will be curing in a trash can i have. Not sure when exactly, before I do any major adding of live stock for sure. However soon here I will be pitching out quite a bit of money on a new stand, sump, and plumbing. I have an issue with heat. Lights have been off for a full day along with the heater (for testing) and my current temp is 80 degrees. this is very odd considering the house is at 74 degrees. close circuit pump and skimmer causing this heat? Hmm.

I also understand the cycle; have yet to test it today. well be doing that now.

Ammonia : .25 - .50
Nitrite : .25 - .50
Nitrate : 10-20

Plan on ordering a CUC from liveaquaria.com however I have been thinking. What are some suggestions?

 

[rabbut]

Getting there with the cycle.

As ben says, get a hole guide to avoid skidding, drill slowly, keep the bit wet and cool, keep the pressure off and just take your time with it

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Justin1989]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I do believe I will be purchasing the plumbing pieces here real soon. The new stand will come just not sure when. Have 2 cabinet doors in the front, along with 1 on each side. Can't wait. Im still way lost on how to dose for corals if it is needed. Ive read slightly about them but I'm still lost.

 

[Justin1989]

Well over 2-3 weeks I have made some additions. The first additions were the clean-up crew. 1 coral banded shrimp, 2 peppermint shrimp, 2 emerald crabs, 5 blue legged hermits, 8 nessarius, 4 Mexican snails (forget their name, they are rather large), and 8 cerith snails. The new addition was a sailfin/algae blenny. And the final two additions were a gold headed sleeper goby and a sand sifting star fish. They were not all added at the same time no.

yes the tank is a little dirty i know

sand sifting starfish burying himself.

One of my snails found a new hiding spot

and the lovely goby

 

[ben1987]

nice fish, i like those gobies a lot

 

[rabbut]

Some nice new additions. That Blue Cheek Goby is not an algae eater though, he's a scavenger or detritus muncher, sifting through the sand for left over food. In one of the pick he looks a tad skinny, so may want a little feeding up. nice, easy to keep, fish though all the same

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Justin1989]

I haven't replied recently, but here are some updates.The gold headed sleeper goby committed suicide. I will have to get some egg crate or something to go on the top.

First addition was a firefish

He hid for about 3 days, and now is coming out. He doesn't like mysis but loves brine.

I also had a teacher in the area which was shutting down her tank and asked if I wanted to take a anemone. I was really worried about this because my tank isn't established. Going on three to four months now. But I figured if he doesn't turn out well I can take him to the lfs. SO far the anemone is doing really well. Besides for letting go and getting sucked up into the power head twice. But hes sticking to one spot that he seems to like now. In addition my mom found a maroon clown at the lfs that she adored and asked if it was ok if I bought it. SO I went and looked at it and we we ended up buying the clown. It found the anemone and seems to like it quite well.

Hopefully the anemone moves back to the front of the tank.

I also added this coral to the tank but I'm not sure of the name. Its coming out more in the tank now and looks gorgeous.

In that picture its not out as much as it is now. I will update the pic soon.

The tank is getting some more color. Were heading to Dayton today and looking around at some more items.

 

[TigerIssey]

Looks nice. Taking it slowly I see.

You may want to PM a mod from Marine section and ask them to move this thread into the marine journal section. You seem to be updating it as journal so it would be a shame to have to start everything again.


EDIT Is the coral a Galaxea, otherwise known as crystal. If it is make sure you don't put anything anywhere near it, it is very aggressive, I have one myself.

 

[ben1987]

Nice clown fish, love the colour on those guys.

 

[Justin1989]

Looks nice. Taking it slowly I see.

You may want to PM a mod from Marine section and ask them to move this thread into the marine journal section. You seem to be updating it as journal so it would be a shame to have to start everything again.


EDIT Is the coral a Galaxea, otherwise known as crystal. If it is make sure you don't put anything anywhere near it, it is very aggressive, I have one myself.

Aha good point I will have to do this. That is basically what I have been doing. The coral is actually a metallic green goniopora. I might be taking him back. He is gorgeous, but the chance of living past 12 months is around 10%. Some more bad news though, my anemone let go of where he was at again. I don't know what the cause of this is. Maybe he was week when I first got him from my teacher. Whatever the reason, this is the 3rd to 4th time tonight. I thought he was happy where he was but maybe not. His bottom got sucked into my power jet, and was stuck bad. Unfortunately at this point I am sure he was a gonner, and I feel horrible

This is a better picture of the coral.