BlkWolfe

I started out fine with them, but over some time i went from mild eye irritation to severe itching/redness to having severely limited breathing. The last time i touched frozen blood worms was about 3 years ago and i was very close to making an emergency call.

No harm to the fish. Just dechlor it before using for topoff or mixing new saltwater. No worry about ph either I like at least one powerhead at the surface for gas exchange. The rest can go anywhere you want.

The design has to be credited to AndyL. As for stacking rock, all depends on how picky and patient you are. I didnt want to build a PVC support structure or glue everything together, so the two of us ended up spending about 8 hours finding each rocks sweet spot. We were both picky about the aquascaping. Barring any problems with existing fish and their compatibility with corals, all you really gotta do to go reef from fowler is upgrade the lighting. Two powerheads will be fine. If your thinking of possibly going reef, look into a couple seio 1100's instead of the smaller ones. You can always throttle them back if they're too much flow, but the more the better and they'd be good for a first time reef. Can also use them if you upgraded later on. Not really any downsides to a skimmer. Remoras can be hit or miss (i have one thats good and ones thats poop), aside from those i can really recommend anything. I never ran a skimmer aside from one of the remora pros on a predator tank (my folks have the other), and ended up going to a custom built one for the big tank. I have my own RO unit, but theres lots of people that just dechlorinate Edmonton tap water and use that. Just dont switch back and forth.

And even more good news...theres probably two more blooms to come. Hair algea will likely follow, and then a cyanobacteria plague. Your tang is also making the diatom bloom worse since your feeding the fish and fueling the bloom. Give it time, keep up a good maintenance schedule, and it'll pass.

You have no idea :P You really dont need any kind of HOB or filter on sw tanks. You can if you'd like, but the powerheads are really all you need. Just get a nice flow going through the tank, which you should have plenty of with a couple seio's. a heater in the mixing barrel would be ideal, but if your going to do something like 10% (even a full 5g bucket in a 33g) then there wont be much of a temp swing even if the buckets at room temp. Your doing a fowler tank, so you dont have to worry about corals, and unless you get some really temperamental fish that small swing wont hurt them. Not necessary, but i'd recommend it. Skimmers are always nice, but not really necessary. There are tradeoffs. If you run skimmerless, you'll need to compensate by either keeping a lower fish load, limiting feedings (which can limit some fish choices, wrasses especially), or upping your water changes. Ill post a pic of my 140g SPS reef. It had about a dozen fish ranging from clowns to wrasses to an angel and tang. No skimmer, and not even a calc reactor until 6 months before i ended up tearing it down. I did have to do 100g water changes every 2 weeks because of the amount i was feeding, but i just kept coming home with fish. You can plan to make yours more manageable. For me the extra salt i was going through was offset by not having to buy a skimmer. and before i forget, you'll almost certainly want at least a light dusting of sand, at least for aesthetics (thanks for bringing that up Murray). Anything aragonite based, look for either sugar sand, reef select, or reef floor special. Anything bigger is a PITA. Water changes on the rock while its curing, again, is up to you. When i started out i threw all the rock in and just left it for the 6 weeks. Still had plenty of life on it. Now i like to at least do a couple 100% water changes to try and save some of the critters from huge amounts of ammonia while it cycles. Honestly i dont know how much good it actually did for my last batch. You might want to do the changes solely to help with the smell The biggest thing to avoiding a tank "crash" or having it turn into an algea bowl is really patience. Let the tank adjust to every new addition, dont overfeed (or at least have the export to manage it if you do), and keep up your maintenance. Starting with a fowler is better as well since they arent as touchy as reef setups. hth

If your pullin the rock out, just run the corner its on under hot tap water. It'll kill everything on that corner of the rock, and melt/detach the anemone. Just a suggestion instead of breaking your rocks apart

I'd be most worried about possible chemicals leaching out of the rock into the tank. If it was from the side of the road, theres fuel, oil, coolant... Aragonite based sand would probably contribute more if your just looking for extra buffer. Although i think even the contribution from that is somewhat marginal.

Yep

Keep the tank, heaters, and fluorescent hood. You should be able to find "marine" bulbs if you like the blue look most people do on their salty tanks, just replace the bulb. You can run the penguin if you like, although it will be solely for adding flow to the tank. Ceramic beads, bioballs etc usually just lead to headaches down the road. You'll be relying on the live rock as your biofilter. The magnum also wont be any use for this, it'll clog way too often. Things youll need... Marine Salt - Instant ocean is an old standby, Kent as well. Both are cheap, although they've both had problems with "bad mixes" over the years, this can be monitored however. I've interchanged between the two in my 140g reef and now in the 400g Hydrometer - I'd recommend just going straight to a Refractometer, either way they'll allow you to accurately mix your new saltwater Mixing Barrel - Depending on your water change habit, this can either be a 5g pail with a powerhead borrowed from the 30g to mix it for 24 hours, or a rubbermaid with its own to keep water on standby. Again, depends of you Power Heads - I'd recommend a couple seio 620's, maybe 820's. I've got at least 2 of them from 1100's to 2600's. They're easy to clean, put out alot more flow than maxijets and you'll only need two. Maxijets are cheaper but youll need more Live Rock - I cant really vouch for anyone in Edmonton, but i havent had a chance to see Brian at Little Oceans since his move. 90% of my rock has come from J&L aquatics in Vancouver. Depending on the "look" you like, 30lbs should do for a more sparse look, 50+lbs for the rock wall look. Expect to pay between $4.50 and $7 per pound, depending on the rocks origin and where you buy it. Calgary is also good, if your ever there. Test Kits - This is kind of subjective, as i havent used test kits aside from testing my newly mixed saltwater in a few years. Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate kits to monitor your cycle. Calcium and KH kits to test new batches of saltwater to make sure theres nothing wrong with the mix. As for livestock, that will depend on what you want. For startup, get the tank setup, lights, powerheads, and the tank about 3/4 full of saltwater mixed to about 1.024. Buy your rock (all at once would be ideal, but you can add small amounts later) and throw it in. You may need to do one or possible two big water changes while the rock cycles. It WILL stink. You dont need to add any shrimp, and NEVER add any fish or inverts at this point. There's plenty of dead stuff in the rock that will fuel the cycle. Give it at least 4 weeks, 6-8 being better. Once the cycle is over you'll get a diatom bloom (everything turns brown), then a hair algea bloom (everything turns green), and a cyanobacteria bloom (kind of a brown/green mix). You can start adding snails and hermits at the beginning if youd like. Try to hold off on fish as feeding them will just make the blooms worse and prolonged. You might not get all the blooms either. hth, and goodluck

a month ago it would have been my Regal Angel, affectionately named Regis by the wife, unfortunately he's a RIP Now, my red coris wrasse would have to be the favorite

Got the tusk at about 2" and the red coris when he was just under 1". Finally pulled them out of the tank on the floor in the corner to enjoy them again. The coris now 3" and just starting his change into adult colors. Both have great personalities. Almost lost the coris when he spend a week in the 1/2" sandbed of a shut down tank with 1" of water in it (thought he was in a rock not the sand). Only found him when we went to rinse the tank out in the back yard and saw a little orange blur shooting around in the rather cold water from the garden hose. Enjoy

Your doing fine so far. Hydrometers can be finicky, try immersing them in the saltwater and shaking them around a bit to remove the bubbles. Readings should be a little more consistent. Dont worry about your biofilter or adding anything for it. Give the rock time and it will establish itself on its own. I would look into maybe getting a couple small powerheads for extra water movement, like maxijet 900's the rock will be fine at 1.018, although personally i run my tanks between 1.025 and 1.027 (about 34-35ppt)

We used both types while moving J's 270. It was much more comfortable with the ones Tortois linked to for the heavy lifting. We had the little yellow ones for extra hand holds, but i wouldnt do anywhere near a full strength lift with them I do think they'd be fine if you had 4 for a more awkward tank like a 120g or something you couldnt make it through doorways with your arms around

Give everybody xenia plague :P Seriously, nice move Murray

extra pieces of rock if you have any leftoever, otherwise just use it for flow

Quick catchup from the last couple weeks... Sump and frag tank are in. First pic is the 90g frag tank. Sump is thin but with some extra baffles it'll work. Anybody have extra 3/8" glass around? Second pic is the Reef Ceramics pillars. Not much to look at out of water. Was hoping to go taller but wasnt sure i could get them inside with the clearance on top of the tank. Really wanted one of the pillars to break the waters surface. oh well. Got a Red Dragon 8.2 because of space and electrical constraints. Its nice, but gotta say im a little disappointed with it. Moves just as much water as the 380w iwaki 100rlt for only 70w though. And finally, got tired of waiting for ATI T5 hoods, so stopped into golds and picked up a 6x54w Tek light for the frag tank. Need to work on the bulb combination though. Next stop is Axe for some DJ power strips...

This ones for you J It's got water in it

Grab a bucket of salt, a hydrometer (refractometer would be better), 100w heater will do fine. Carbon is just fine for marine animals, just keep up your maintenance and change it out before it leaches nasty poop back into the water. Most people go 4-8 weeks before changing, however you really dont need it. Aquaclears are great for extra water volume on small tanks, and throwing extra live rock and perhaps macroalgea with a light in it to serve as a refugium, but personally i'd never run them with foams in a marine tank You didnt mention what kind of tank you had in mind. SPS reef, LPS/softie reef, fish only, predator? That will determine what kind of flow/powerheads and lighting youll need. IMO halides are overkill even for a 20g sps tank. dont worry about adding anything food wise to the water while the rock cycles, theres plenty of dieoff to fuel the cycle, and the only thing that'll eat what your adding probably arent wanted anyway. Just buy the rock (your in the perfect city for it) throw it in the tank and wait 6-8 weeks.

Tested your WC water for PO4? Nitrates arent high in the tank? If not the incoming water or food, perhaps leaching out of the rock (wouldnt just be growing out of the older rock would it?), or more likely the sand into the water column. Although so many things can contribute. Maybe try some rowaphos or other media as a last resort, just start VERY slowly with the rowa.

hmm...400g stingray tank... nice rays Chris

Big mexican turbos as well, if you dont mind minor redecoration Where'd your rock/sand come from? Feed less as finaddict said, and flake foods are usually horrible for defiling clean water

So I've heard (your the 4th to inform me :P ). Ill be adding my own baffles, didnt know what i was doing pump/return wise when i ordered. Wasnt planning on baffling the middle of the tank and let it serve as one big fuge/cheato ball area, but i may have to for strength now. Alberts taking care of it. may come down saturday to have a look, and pummel him as required. Its all good and since im here, nother teaser on the skimmer slightly farther along

nice tank the euro bracing is a nice touch

Equipment fairy arrived today with a Medusa dual stage controller, and a Jetstream 1 calcium reactor. Gotta say the medusa is a bit of a dissappointment, but the Schuran looks absolutely beautiful. Aside from looking damn goofy from online pics, in person its actually very nicely put together.

Yeah me too. Need more time, and to get my sump. Might just find some glass and build it myself, havent been able to find the builder, and dont know when its gonna be done now. Little good news little bad news. Bad news is i had a little problem with oxygen depletion in the 140g reef on thursday (only had the lights on for 2 hours, and my cheato ball is bigger than a 5g bucket now), lost a 5" Pink Margin Wrasse, and my favorite fish, the Regal Angel ive had for a year and a half. Good news is the basic plumbing is almost done, and i got teasers of the skimmer. btw, mine is small one