[michelle's ocean fantasy]

Ok- starting a new thread. This is going to be a step by step - hopefully- of my tank 'coming to life' Wish me luck!!!

[CyberJester]

Good luck Michelle, Know it will turn out GREAT!

[thelastmucci]

Can't wait to see pics Michelle. I'm sure it will give me loads of ideas.

[mtfabel]

YAY new pictures. Im exited. Not that you need any luck with all the research you've done here. But, GL anyways.

[michelle's ocean fantasy]

Thanks everyone! Ok- water/salt are in- pumps are going, churn baby churn! Waiting and watching. Have taken a few readings throughout the day- temp is going up- SG is staying the same: 1.021-1.023.My ballast- still not working- but hey...working around that until LFS can fix it. Daytime:window blinds open. Nighttime: Heavy duty hurricane flashlights aimed at tank. (I am determined to make this come together- so far so good)more to follow....

[Dustin1300]

I'm so jealous! I had an eye on a 180 but I'm gonna have to wait til I'm making some good money, but I'm graduating college in MAY AND CANT WAIT and might have landed an interview for a job I could afford a 600 gallon display, LOL. Anyways, Michelle keep this going and make sure lots of pics are posted...I love pics.......

[michelle's ocean fantasy]

Hey Dustin...CONGRATS TO THE GRAD!!! Good luck with everything until graduation- and best wishes for the job you are eyeing. What field are you going into? I am in my glory with this tank- haha - at about 2am I heard a noise, woke up to a tiny leak. Very tiny. Fixed it but stayed up 'til 4am to make sure "my baby" was alright. My son and husband laugh at me! Did you get a chance to see the thread on the 600 gal tank? It is SO AWESOME. keep your plans going and send me the pics "after you get your dream job and have your massive tank up and running"!

[michelle's ocean fantasy]

QUESTION TO ANYONE WHO IS READING MY THREAD:
Please tell me either how to repair or where to purchase new top for my trickle filter. We thought we fixed it- but still slowly leaking from left elbow joint. Here is picture. I have tried looking everywhere- not finding the cover itself. (remember this is BEFORE I did any cleaning after it arrived)

[e_baer]

well, I am not sure if i am a big fan of trickle filters. They seem to be more of a hassle. I would just take all the bioballs out, and add LR rubble, and not have the trickle filter at all, and just make the bottom part into a fuge or part of the sump.

[Dustin1300]

I'm in the IT field and currently go to Ball State University...hoping to land a job with a network consulting firm out of Indianapolis! But anyways I'm going to start a thread soon of my tank I started in June...As soon as I can catch some extra time I will post, that is as long as you show pics!!!

[Lazy Iguana]

have you considered ditching the trickle filter and turning that thing into a fuge? With a deep mud bed, rock rubble / small pieces (pound or so), and marine algae?

Then you will not need a top

[Lazy Iguana]

By the way, nice setup so far! The groundwork looks good so far. It is going to be sweet when finished.

[michelle's ocean fantasy]

Yes I will be getting away from the bio balls- this picture was taken the night I got the tank. "BUT" all the LFS we have gone to so far have told my husband that they use BOTH the bio balls and the fuge- so hence we got into another debate. He just wants to make sure my setup is the best- and he is going with what he 'sees' working for the stores. Each time we go somewhere- I open up their doors, look behind their tanks- refugium and bioballs. I have put the bio balls in for now, just to get my tank started. (and now what we are looking at is to replace the wet/dry that came with the tank. He has checked out proclear aquatics,in Jacksonville. I eventually want to replace everything with new if it needs to be- so far, just the plumbing and filter for now. Then I am planning on using the wet/dry I originally got with the tank and turning that into a refuigum. Also what I plan on doing is taking out the bio balls here and there and replacing with LR rubble each time I do a water change. Just starting off, and wanting to take it SLOW so as not to jump into this blindly, AND not to wipe my $$$ down the drain.You know?

[michelle's ocean fantasy]

I PROMISE pictures will be posted as soon as my camera gets here- should be anyday now........

[Lazy Iguana]

Good plan. I think stores use the drip filters because they tend to have larger bio loads and bare tanks. The bacteria have to live somewhere.

[michelle's ocean fantasy]

That makes sense

[e_baer]

well, it would take a while for the bacteria to start to thrive on the bioballs, but the hassle with them, is that they tend to become nitrate factories because waste gets built up on them. then you need to rinse it out and so forth. I have LR rubble in my baffles and it is doing great, i have one snail, and one crab in there, and everything is nice and clean.

[michelle's ocean fantasy]

Hey*** check this out: Welcome to International Marine Fish - Premium Live Rock - says big sale on rock- FREE SHIPPING to whoever is out there and ready. Kenneth- check this out!

[michelle's ocean fantasy]

Ok- got camera. Give me a sec to read up on it (it is not a fuji).
Also went back to aquatropics, because was told my blue bulb was in(not) so they gave a white to try the ballast out, and we can exchamge it for the blue when it does come in. Well, ballast does not work, at all. So I emailed ice cap to find out how to exchange it, anyone familiar with how to do that?
Also got my purple barnacle cluster I wanted. And 3 small rocks. (in my tank they are very small-my husband calls them 'pebbles'!). There are 2 fiji and 1 florida rock. The small FL rock has at least 3 feather dusters I counted so far, and all have good color, red and purple.

[Dustin1300]

Were you satisfied with the rocks you got from the site??? I guess most of any rocks are going to look really small in your tank, I ended up buying about 50+ lbs of rock for my 55 gallon and am looking at buying about 10 more pounds to get it to where I want...THEN I GOTTA BUY ANOTHER 20 FOR THE REFUGIUM!!!!! Anyways, post some pics when you get a chance!

[michelle's ocean fantasy]

Actually, I bought the 3 pieces (or pebbles) from aquatropics, a store in gainesville. I just happened to come across the sale while online. I am very happy with the pieces I got- that is another reason I wanted to get just a few to start. A friend of mine had bought a couple from 2 diff stores, 1 good 1 trouble with worms. I went back and checked on the tank a few times at night (with a blue laser lite key chain) and found I have a baby snail,the size of the comma on your keyboard,1 clear brittle star, 1 red/white striped brittle-both tiny! A CRAZY shrimp looking thing that will not sit still for me to get a good look at him-he is all white with 2 small black round eyes. About the size of the backslash. AND 1 tiny worm! I want to get all my rock from them as I am happy with the life and the colors- I will take care of the worm! I also have several small feathers popping out! ALSO didn't get a chance to figure out camera yet- want to make sure my sizing is right for this site before I start shooting. Will be tonight- promise!

[michelle's ocean fantasy]

Hopefully this will work:

[michelle's ocean fantasy]

Remember: the "pebbles" were bought to see if I liked the rock bought at aquatropics. I do, and will be getting more.

[michelle's ocean fantasy]

Still trying to figure out how to post 'here' without attachment or photobucket, not happening, so going back to what you showed me on photobucket!

[e_baer]

will you be getting more LR?

I think you will be needing a few more lbs.