# 175g Saltwater predator tank -Update Aug 10th/10- FISH ADDED



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

Well here is my long a waited saltwater tank. 
Just thought I would give a bit of a story behind this tank:
This tank is only 175 but it is very heavy and hard to move. The reason being is that this tank is 31" wide and 26" tall, it's like a cube or square or whatever you want to call it shape. This tank will not fit through your regular doorway. At the sellers house we tried to go out the back and that did not work.....soooo we just took her front door off. The used a dolly to move it. I was just me, my dad and my grandfarther. It was SO hard to move this tank! and the heat did not help. 
So anyways we got the tank home moved it back onto the stand. 
As for now the tank is sitting empty, the live rock will be fine in a rubbermaid container with heaters and powerheads. I decided to leave the tank dirty and not clean it b/c it has a lot of good bacteria in it that will help me start it back up again. I will tidy it up a bit but it will look great once it's all filled up.

NOW what done:
As of right now the tanks sump is all hooked up and the plumbing is done, which I did myself....pretty pround. There is no water in it right now but I did put some water through just to make sure nothing leaked. We rested the canopy on top and the lights. Tomorrow I will finish the sump and set the lights up,heaters etc....
I WILL post the specs tomorrow but I'm to tired right now. 
The tank came with everything right down to the glass magnet scrubber and 12 books on salt stuff. I went out and bought a 160g thing of IO but the tank already came with a bucket and more bags of salt. Came with a big container of prime too. There were also two small hermit crabs in there but not sure what happened to them, they might turn up one day. 
Anyways here are some pics!

Here is what the tank looked like at the sellers house, BTW I was thinking is this live rock really alive, it has lots of coraline algae on it, it also has some type of moving plants this dissapears into the rock if you get close to it. It doesn't seem so live to me. Anyways I should note that I will be getting another 80LBS of live rock in the next week. ALSO I will be looking for some used live sand b/c there is not enough substrate in the tank, but that will be in a few days.








In the middle of taking down the sump at sellers house:
















At my house:
Lights: Three fixtures that hold 4 bulbs each, came with extra bulb.


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

Cont....

Pics of the plumbing:
























Overflows:
Right side:








Left side:








The tank at it's new place:








With canopy on top:









Thanks all for looking and more updates to come. My dad told me since this is your first time at salt why didn't you go with a bio cube? I told him go big or go home.


----------



## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

WOW! That is one good looking tank!


----------



## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

Very nice looking tank. It will make a very nice show piece once its all setup and cleaned 

I am sure you know this, but "live" rocks are called that way because beneficial bacteria tend to settle down into the tiny pores of these rocks over a long period of time (6months to 1year or more?). Once the bacteria are established, they are known as live rocks.

The reason there is a calculation of X lbs of rocks per gallon is most probably related to the amount of bacteria thats required to keep the tank cycled. I could be wrong in this point, but I am sure that it is at least one of the reasons.


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

Yes there seems to be bacteria on the rock but the problem is that this rock doesn't seem like live rock that I have seen in the past?


----------



## scherzo (Apr 24, 2010)

You can't actually see the bacteria on the rock so you can't really tell if it is live or not. Having coraline algae on the rocks (the purple stuff) usually is an indication that it is ok BUT if you leave the rock DRY for more than a few hours it starts to die and you have to make it "live" again by running your tank for at least 4-6 months (there are many other factors enabling the tank to help it along.. you'll learn more about this as you move along)

I would suggest that you keep the rock wet with salt water if you want to reduce your "cycling" time.

Making the rock live again is like cycling a fresh water tank.. you just have to be patient.


----------



## scherzo (Apr 24, 2010)

Oh. And the plant like think that moves into the rock when you move close to it is probably Aiptasia which is a pest anemone. 

Reefers work hard to get rid of them.


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

Yes I also have this all posted on canreef and someone pointed out to me that it might be Aiptasia and after looking at google it is, I will get rid of it tomorrow. Like I stated above the rock is in good care.
I just measured the salt in the bins useing my refractometer and it's at 1025. I would like it to be 1027 b/c this is going to be a fish and live rock tank not a reef.
I think this will be a good learning experience with trial and error.


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

Update July 12th/2010

So here is an update of what the tank is at now. The tested the big three yesterday and things seem to be under control. The skimmer on the tank I found out is to small, I knew this in the back of my mind b/c comparing it to other skimmers for 200g this one seemed small. It's the skimmer Vertex IN-80 In-Sump Protein Skimmer. I'll be getting a bigger one by the end of the month, it will be okay for now since its just cycleing and no fish will be going in it for awhile. The live rock will be going in a few days, it's still doing well in the buckets outside, they are heated and have powerheads in them. I will put it in after I get some live sand for the tank from a member hopefully in the next few days or so. The substrate that came with the tank is okay but there is not enough...that is still in the bucket also. Anyways here is the video of the tank and sump area, if you see anything out of place let me know b/c this is kinda going by trial or error.


----------



## jay_leask (Apr 22, 2010)

the only thing i see out of place is the tank....it should be at my place  looks good


----------



## tang daddy (Apr 21, 2010)

Hey Bud it looks good so far, is there enough room in the sump for a bigger skimmer?


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

tang daddy said:


> Hey Bud it looks good so far, is there enough room in the sump for a bigger skimmer?


Yes there is, there is quite a bit of room at the back and there is enough hight for a bigger one.


----------



## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

congrats on your new tank man, its gonna be awesome


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

July 21,2010 update:

The rocks, sand etc... has now been in the tank for 6 days. Things seem to be going okay. The only problem with the water I'm having right now is the ph, it's at 7.5 and I need it to be 8-8.02. I'm seeing some brown algae that is forming on the live sand, not sure what is causing that. Does anyone have any ideas? I'm planning to get more live rock when I get back aug 5th, I'm going back home for 10 days so I'm hoping to check some fish stores while I'm
there, see if anything has changed. I have changed the structure of the rock three times now, this seems to be working for now, once I get more live rock I'll see if I leave it or move it around, I'd like some really nice big pieces as a base rock for the bottom and I have found someone that has nice pieces.

Here is a video:





pic:


----------



## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

WOW! Nicely done!


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

eternity302 said:


> WOW! Nicely done!


Thanks! I just bought another heater for the tank yesterday so now I have it at 82F.


----------



## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

any chance your going to have a cephalopod in there?


----------



## scherzo (Apr 24, 2010)

Lookin good so far. As others have mentioned.. the brown algae means that your tank is cycling. Some people try and lower their photo period to try and keep it low.

You'll also find that you may get a red algae after the brown is gone. It is just part of the cycle (the die off) that we were talking about with your live rock. Some of the bacteria and tiny organisms died in the transfer and is feeding the algae. It will just take time.

Sounds like you're doing the right thing and being patient and going slow!


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

scherzo said:


> Lookin good so far. As others have mentioned.. the brown algae means that your tank is cycling. Some people try and lower their photo period to try and keep it low.
> 
> You'll also find that you may get a red algae after the brown is gone. It is just part of the cycle (the die off) that we were talking about with your live rock. Some of the bacteria and tiny organisms died in the transfer and is feeding the algae. It will just take time.
> 
> Sounds like you're doing the right thing and being patient and going slow!


Thanks for mentioning it.
Yes I want to take this nice and slow. I already have $210 saved up for a new skimmer so maybe by the end of the summer I'll have around $800 for a good quality skimmer. I have limited space in my sump so the pump will have to be underneath the skimmer in order for it to fit.


----------



## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

=) CAN'T WAIT TO SEE MROE!!!!

Good job! Glad you found the heater you wanted! =)


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

Mferko said:


> any chance your going to have a cephalopod in there?


nah, those are not for me...


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

A small update:
I tested the water once again and it's now perfect and ready for fish. I was having a problem with my ph being to low. Also I'm saving up for a new skimmer so hopefully in the next while I'll purchase a new and bigger one. I should also note that in the last few weeks I've seen more hermit crabs around the tank and rock. I knew there was some but never knew there to be this many. I think there is 24+ in the tank plus some small clams and one crab. I had a problem with one of the overflows in the tank. It was not working. So I checked it out and found something clogging the intake pipe. I put a barrier so that won't happen again.

Now, as for the fish I'm going out on monday to get a cheap $10 or less fish. I saw a few cheap ones like damsels etc.... I don't want to go out and get any large or expensive fish at first only to have them die on me. I'll keep this fish for 2 weeks or so and see how it goes. If no problems then it will be time to move onto the main course. BTW I have seen some people give away free saltwater fish from time to time so if you have any saltwater fish you have to give away shoot me a pm and I'll come get it on monday or whenever.


----------



## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

For damsels, I would go with the yellow tail blue damsels or green chromis. They are small, inexpensive, school & not too aggressive. Many of the other damsels act like sw cichlids (Dominos & Blue velvets in particular).


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

SeaHorse_Fanatic said:


> For damsels, I would go with the yellow tail blue damsels or green chromis. They are small, inexpensive, school & not too aggressive. Many of the other damsels act like sw cichlids (Dominos & Blue velvets in particular).


What about a black damsel? I saw one the other day and it was cute.


----------



## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Black with white spots? That's a domino damsel. Or was it pure black?


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

It was a domino damsel.


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

UPDATE:
So today I went out and bought two "tester" fish for the tank. They are both damsels...very cute fish. I wanted to get some small cheap yet hardy fish before I go out my main fish. It would suck if I spent $200 dollars on a fish only to have it die on me. I'm going to keep these fish a week or so and see how they do. After that I'll sell them for cheap or give them away....depending if I can catch them or not...
I bought these two at IPU, together the fish were around $10 so the price was right. I put them in this afternoon and both are doing fine. They don't hide like I thought they would. I also stopped off at JL but no fish caught me eye there. Although I did get more salt and $55 worth of saltwater fish food including NLS,frozen, and freeze dried foods...I kind of foods we do not sell were I work. Anyways these fish seem to like red shrimp...they eat lots already. Here is a video of my first saltwater fish:


----------



## Algae Beater (Apr 21, 2010)

What skimmer were you considering? 


Have you considered using solid vodka dosing (probiotic) pellets in your system? Its a relatively cheap way of controlling algae in high nutrient systems.


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

Algae Beater said:


> What skimmer were you considering?
> 
> Have you considered using solid vodka dosing (probiotic) pellets in your system? Its a relatively cheap way of controlling algae in high nutrient systems.


well its a bit of a toss up right now. If you look on canreef you would be the thread. I'll do an update when I have the new skimmer.


----------



## richbcca (Apr 21, 2010)

Great job. Would love to get salt water tank going sometime in the future.


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

richbcca said:


> Great job. Would love to get salt water tank going sometime in the future.


Thanks! SW are pretty cool.


----------



## King-eL (Apr 21, 2010)

You went on the dark side of fish keeping. Nicely done! If you want preds why not add a japanese dragon moray eel. they look cool one of my favorite when I use to keep salt water. Used to keep a lot of moray eel and grouper species before. I catch lionfish for free as well too. I just go to the beach and when its low tide the baby lionfish are stranded in an exposed coral reef. There are other fish that I caught outthere too such us some pufferfsih, bamboo shark, triggerfish and more. I miss catching free fish back then. Then I move here in Canada and I saw the price on how expensive those lionfish are.


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

King-eL said:


> You went on the dark side of fish keeping. Nicely done! If you want preds why not add a japanese dragon moray eel. they look cool one of my favorite when I use to keep salt water. Used to keep a lot of moray eel and grouper species before. I catch lionfish for free as well too. I just go to the beach and when its low tide the baby lionfish are stranded in an exposed coral reef. There are other fish that I caught outthere too such us some pufferfsih, bamboo shark, triggerfish and more. I miss catching free fish back then. Then I move here in Canada and I saw the price on how expensive those lionfish are.


They are cool but dragons are to much money right now....


----------

