[bguile]

Cool. Thanks a lot guys. I'll keep you updated on the progress and post some pics soon.

[Justler]

bguile,

Check the "Southern States" store in your area. They carry YardRight... The one in Brunswick, MD has almost an entire pallet full, and I have two bags left.

[bguile]

Originally Posted by Justler

bguile,

Check the "Southern States" store in your area. They carry YardRight... The one in Brunswick, MD has almost an entire pallet full, and I have two bags left.

Thanks Justler. I'll check there tomorrow. I think the closest one to me is on Beaver Dam Rd in Timonium. Is there a difference between a "private dealer" or "petroleum" store? I found that when looking up stores on the net. Also, are you offering to sell your two if I cant find some?

[Justler]

Absolutely, you could buy the two bags for $3... Or, depending on where you are in Baltimore, and when you'd come up, you could bring my girlfriend up here from UMBC. I'm probably about 1 hour 20 minutes from you. Any Southern States should have it... Probably best to call ahead. The one here definetly has it, and you could stop by and pick up more bags after you get mine.

Greg

[bguile]

Thanks, but I've found some here. Although riding with your girlfriend does sound interesting? Is she cute?? Just kidding. I'm in Perry Hall/Whitemarsh but had to go to Ellicott City to get it. Passed UMBC on the way. I was able to pick up 4 bags of the Yardright tropical sand. Many of the bags had some mold to it, but I had no choice so I picked up ones with the least. Thanks for the offer though.

[bguile]

Ok. The tropical playsand is in the tank, and the live sand has been poured on top of it. For the most part, I have been able to add water to the tank without creating a aquatic cloud. I'm filling it as the saltwater has been mixed, settled, and warmed up in my BRUTE container. 2/3 of it is full now and water has been added to the refugium area of my sump. Now all I need to do is fill up the rest of the water to the measured capacity and turn on the pumps.

Now...on to the next phase. Lighting. I believe I'm going to go with these:

http://www.innovativelights.com/?l=1003&log=yes
http://www.innovativelights.com/ball...llasts_18.html
http://www.innovativelights.com/ball...llasts_12.html

Anyone have thoughts or experience with these? Suggestions for better ones? Better price? Any recommendations on bulbs? I want DE 10K.

[bguile]

Ok. So the "keep the sandstorm down" method didn't work as soon as I turned on the pumps. After 24hours I was at least able to see through to the other side of the aquarium but its not clear yet. The tank has been up and running for 4 days now. I am running only a Mag 9.5 return pump and a Mag 12 for my MR-1 skimmer in the sump. My temperatures have risen from the low 70's (day one) to 82 on yesterday. I have no heaters running and the room (my family room in the basement) is normal room temperature. I don't even have my lights yet. What do I do?

[Justler]

I hope you washed the Yard Right sand very well... As soon as you get critters in there that stir the sand, your tank will cloud like crazy!

Originally Posted by bguile

Ok. So the "keep the sandstorm down" method didn't work as soon as I turned on the pumps. After 24hours I was at least able to see through to the other side of the aquarium but its not clear yet. The tank has been up and running for 4 days now. I am running only a Mag 9.5 return pump and a Mag 12 for my MR-1 skimmer in the sump. My temperatures have risen from the low 70's (day one) to 82 on yesterday. I have no heaters running and the room (my family room in the basement) is normal room temperature. I don't even have my lights yet. What do I do?

[bguile]

No...no washing. I just put it in the tank and poured water on top of it. I figured as they get in there they will cloud it up but b/c I had such a hard time trying to wash less than 10lbs of sand for my 12g, there was no way I was going to be washing 160lbs of sand. Unless there's some easy method to do it that I don't know about, it would've just been too much of a hassle.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by bguile

After 24hours I was at least able to see through to the other side of the aquarium but its not clear yet.

If you were able to see through to the other side of the aquarium after only 24 hours, you are doing great! It took me much longer than that to reach that point.

Good things come to those who wait. It may take as long as a week for your tank's water to clear but using unrinsed aragonite sand allows you to keep the beneficial range of particle sizes that you would not have if you rinsed it. Rinsing it would get rid of the smaller size particles that you want to keep.

Here is a breakdown of the particle sizes in Southdown sand as measured by Dr. Rob Toonen: http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen23.html

Here is a comparison of Carib-Sea Aragamax (sugar sized) and Southdown under 40x magnification: http://www.inlandreef.com/Testing/SandPhotos.html

I used Southdown and Carib-Sea Aragamax in my tank (I ran out of Southdown) and I was unable to see any difference whatsoever between the two.

The tank has been up and running for 4 days now. I am running only a Mag 9.5 return pump and a Mag 12 for my MR-1 skimmer in the sump. My temperatures have risen from the low 70's (day one) to 82 on yesterday. I have no heaters running and the room (my family room in the basement) is normal room temperature. I don't even have my lights yet. What do I do?

The first thing you need to do is try to figure out where the heat is coming from. What is the ambient room temperature range? What is the highest it gets during the day and the coolest it gets at night?

If the heat is not coming from the environment (room temperature), then it has to be coming from your pumps. I have no experience with those pumps but I do have experience with Little Giant pumps and I am not at all pleased with them for that very reason -- too much heat!

[bguile]

Well, I'm pretty sure all the heat is coming from the pumps. I dont have a thermometer in the room but the temperature is usually an even keel. I haven't had to use A/C or heat for the past month or two even though the temperatures outside have fluctuated a few degrees. Running one pump did the same thing when running in the 20g just to check water motion in my sump. I thought that in a system of 110g it wouldnt make much of a difference. Guess I was wrong. Well, as far as the cycle goes its going well I guess. Ammonia is up ...so is the "peeyuw" factor. It didn't even cross my mind that I would be dealing with the smell of decaying shrimp and the heat of the water isn't helping it at all. My wife has already commented that it's stinking up the house and I've told her it's only for a short time to get things started. I'm hoping so as I dont think my house is going to be as happy if this continues at this level.

Well, what to do about the heat? Anyone using pumps outside their tank that are as quiet as the Mag's? I've gotta come up with something. The obstacles are stacking up against me fast, and I need to find resolutions.

[Reefland]

That is surprising. I run a MAG return and a MAG skimmer pump with no heat problems. Your not running any glass tops on the tank? What about the sump, is it completely enclosed in teh stand or does the stand have plenty of room for venting?

[bguile]

The sump is in a stand although I have not finished building the doors on yet so that part was open. I did purchase two sheets of acrylic to cover the tank so that I wouldn't have saltwater all over the stand. Could that've been it? The temperature of the tank has dropped to almost 80 since I've taken them off a few hours ago. If so, how will this work once I've built my hood and purchase my MH's?

[Reefland]

Yes that could definitely be a problem as it prevents evaporative cooling as well as gas exchange. You should not cover your aquarium totally.

Salt spray is something that all aquarist are challenged with. Your MH should be far enough away from the surface so no large amount of water will splash on the bulbs but every week or so, you should make it a point to wipe the salt spray from the bulbs. Salt spray on bulbs or pendents reduce the light intensity therefore cleaning these frequently should be a part of all maintenance routines.

[bguile]

I will keep that in mind as I haven't gotten my lights yet so the top of the tank is open.

[bguile]

Ok. It's been about 5 days now since I've added the 4 dead shrimp to my tank to start the cycle. Due to the bad smell arising again, I was wondering if I was supposed to take the shrimp out after a few days. I began a search on the site dealing with ammonia and shrimp and have come across many posts. Some were even saying that your ammonia levels shouldn't be too high or you'd kill everything in the live sand but none of the posts says what "too high" is. Can anyone answer that? I have just tested my water and it's reading a little more than 3ppm!

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by bguile

Ok. It's been about 5 days now since I've added the 4 dead shrimp to my tank to start the cycle. Due to the bad smell arising again, I was wondering if I was supposed to take the shrimp out after a few days.

Yes, it's OK to take the shrimp out now if you want to. You have already accomplished your goal and that was to give the bacteria a boost by supplying plenty of ammonia as fuel. The only difference that adding a couple of raw shrimp makes is that it speeds up the growth of beneficial bacteria. It is not something that is absolutely necessary. In fact, it is usually reserved for use in situations where there is no live rock involved in the cycle. If you use live rock, you really don't need the raw shrimp. The raw shrimp are helpful if all you have in the tank when you begin the cycle is nothing more than dead sand and nothing else. I started my tank with dead sand and a piece of raw fish. I didn't add any live rock until the tenth day of the cycle. I didn't really need to piece of raw fish, I just decided I wanted to do it that way. The bacteria will establish themselves anyway no matter what you put in the tank. I just wanted to boost things a bit because I knew that I would be using fully cured live rock.

The advantage of getting a measurable ammonia spike is that you get a stronger initial cycle. That's a good thing. It isn't absolutely necessary but it's still a good thing.

I began a search on the site dealing with ammonia and shrimp and have come across many posts. Some were even saying that your ammonia levels shouldn't be too high or you'd kill everything in the live sand but none of the posts says what "too high" is. Can anyone answer that? I have just tested my water and it's reading a little more than 3ppm!

You're OK with ammonia of 3 ppm or less but you don't need it any higher than that, so take out the shrimp.

[bguile]

Thanks Ninong. Once again you've been a great source of not only guidance, but understanding. I will go ahead and remove the shrimp now. I'm sure that'll make the wife happy. I bought jumbo ones so I have no idea how long it would take for them to totally dissolve! Would you recommend a water change soon? Or wait till my normal schedule 2 week change?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by bguile

Thanks Ninong. Once again you've been a great source of not only guidance, but understanding. I will go ahead and remove the shrimp now. I'm sure that'll make the wife happy. I bought jumbo ones so I have no idea how long it would take for them to totally dissolve! Would you recommend a water change soon? Or wait till my normal schedule 2 week change?

Most people wouldn't do a water change during the early stages of a cycle unless they had extremely high ammonia and wanted to bring it down. In your case, your ammonia is high but not extremely high. I think you overdid it with four jumbo shrimp. Two or three small shrimp or maybe one jumbo shrimp would have been adequate to accomplish what you were trying to do.

If your ammonia was only 1 ppm or less, I would say that you should not consider a water change for another two or three weeks. However, since your ammonia is as high as it is, you could do a partial water change (maybe 20%-25%) if you feel like it.

[bguile]

ok. thanks