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Bears Salty Return.... The log

11K views 61 replies 10 participants last post by  willow 
#1 ·
12/1/11 the build officially began !!! this will be my log of events as i go and pix will come in time.. for now here is :

The Plan:
30 Breeder
AIO concept (overflow box with filter floss and a return pump built in and be the source of flow)
285PGH pump for return /flow

Lights are
2x 2 bulb T5 fixtures running 10k and true blue actinics (bulbs may change later)

looking at about 20-25 pound of dry rock and 5-8 pounds of live to seed tank
debating on CC or Aragonite for sand .... it will be seeded from rock....

Projected stock ideas

~10 crabs (red and blue hermits)
~10-20 snails

Zoa's
Hammer or frog spawn not sure which yet
Mushrooms

Macros of various types

still debating fish at this time considering onyx clowns...

Lights are
2x 2 bulb T5 fixtures running 10k and true blue actinics (bulbs may change later)

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

as of this post the hard ware is all most all set up (just need the pump hoping this week end)
last night (actually 12/1/11) a gentleman gave me a bucket of saltwater and between 5-8 pounds of live rubble to start me off. it is now in a 5 gallon tank with a power head and heater...
got looking at everything in there and there is quite a bit of life in there already and even a coral i am not sur if the guy knew was on the rock!

since this is the case i am treating the rock tank like i would an actual tank and running my lights over it for 6-8 hours per day.

the rest of this build is pending either the sale of my 55 gallon tank (hopefully today) or a bonus i am anticipating in the next 2 weeks..
 
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#5 ·
brief update all is well lots of copepods, feather dusters and other life in the little tank .. just got a great deal on Crushed coral and more rubble .. going to glue rubble up into larger formations... and will have a lot of CC left over so may take an trade that out for a frag once everything is cycled..
 
#7 ·
yes it is sitting in side.... would the stress be a factor with a support under it? that section of the riser has a board under it.... in theory i could take the bigger tank out of the way i am just trying to keep the lights on for the stuff in side....
 
#8 ·
ok so the 55 wont sell for some reason and that puts me back on the original target plan of starting up the big tank after the first of the year ... however i just got the deal of deals on more rubble and 70 pounds of crushed coral for $20!!!! i am super excited... i know crushed coral can be troublesome but this is what i wanted since the last tank and as the bio load will be light it wont be as big a deal to contend with...

in other news i was reading up on my Tunicate friend and when they are about to grow they get covered with a white film to indicate it.. last night my dude was starting to get a film on him and it looks like it mat have the buds of a few new heads...

man small tank big tank its all very exciting!!
 
#10 ·
55 SOLD!! tomorrow salt and water!! can not wait to get it all mixed up and in the tank... going to pick up and get it mixing while i put in the CC and pump for my return then pump it into the tank and get the little rocks and such moved in .... pix to come as things happen !!! woooohhhooooo
 
#13 ·
good news / bad news... good news got some work done on tank, got my salt, and one nice piece of dry rock..

bad news my man ran out of RO and i can not get it until tomorrow... i know he was not lying because i put 7 gallons in my pal and it went dry on me LOL... oh well whats another day right for now some pix


Crushed coral


modified and rebuild return / filter




top view of it



all ready for water

 
#18 ·
thanks man!!

I can't wait to see it when it's all done. It looks good!
all done? what is that LOL.. this will constantly evolve i think !!!

It's looking good Bear! Can I ask a stupid question? Why do you have the tank on top of the wood box?
not dumb at all its actually a riser i built when you stand next to the desk the 30 breeder was so low that you could only look at the top (the tank is only 12 inches high) .. so i built a riser out of 5.5 x 1.5 wood and now you can look at both the top and the side ore comfortably.. it cost me a grand total with tax of 2.14 which is 15 cheaper than building a whole new stand LOL.. told you i am a cheap man LOL...


update got my salinity to 1.024 added my shrimp and currently running lights 8-10 hours per day
added 2 more pumps since the main one was not strong enough and the flow is great in there now.. when time (money) permits will switch out the pump and see if the design will be supported with one pump and my theory LOL
 
#21 ·
once they are up (and done right) it does not have to be super cost intensive to keep up... i just got carried away the first time and learned a $1500 lesson... this one so far has cost me $75 out of pocket (i had a lot of gear to start with) and anticipate another $100 over a few months if that much ;) always out for a deal..

gotta go g'night!
 
#22 ·
once they are up (and done right) it does not have to be super cost intensive to keep up... i just got carried away the first time and learned a $1500 lesson...
Would you be willing to share that $1500 mistake so we don't make the same mistake if we decide to go salty too?
Scares me to death for that very reason...$$$
 
#25 ·
more than happy too!!!

in all reality once you have a salt tank up (even one that fails) you will have a hard time going back to anything else.. i got out and tried Cichlids for a bit and after the initial set up got bored really fast....
 
#26 ·
ok so here is an update.... full on Diatom bloom and as predicted a little GHA as well (i used an uncooked shrimp to start the cycle). so things are moving along well (hopefully pix tonight)... i have a question though - considering that i have very little rock right now i have set up to pick up more to add to the tank .. the issue being that i can not get to it for a few more weeks (but a deposit on it to hold until i get to it).. since this is dry rock will i be basically starting my cycle over again? or would i be able to add my CUC at the same time i add the rock and just hold off for anything else after the CUC? i dont mind waiting for the CUC and i dont mind waiting for any other stock but i thought i would ask ... thanks in advance..
 
#27 ·
update ...

lots of diatoms and unfortunatly some GHA (all part of the cycle i understand) so i am working on an in tank phosphate reactor to work on the issue .. got my water tested for the 2nd time and my numbers are coming into range (i forget the exact numbers) .. so i started the CUC i got 7 little hermits and the snails are on order (6 coming next week)
here is a pic of one of the crabs...



moving right along..
 
#28 ·
Update

yesterday i pushed up a meeting with a gentleman to get some dry rock he had on hold.. he was nice enough to let me get my rock early and after the $25 for the rock, total 6 hour trip, and a $40 parking ticket (grrrrrr) here is the new look

 
#30 ·
just research a lot before you start and plan to keep things simple until you are comfortable with the next step up... in this case i am starting with crabs and snails (just the cuc) and moving into macros and easy corals.. eventually the plan is to step it up a little at a time once i have been successful where i am at.

now that i have the rock i want i need to mess with the scape so it looks right and finctions as i want it to. i am not 100% on the lay out just now but we will see what i come up with ...

next is waiting for the next wave of diatoms since i added so much more rock i am basically starting over the cycle which is ok by me as it makes the most sense when factoring cost... after that some snails and work on the refugium i have planned out.
 
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