Meredith's 180 In-wall happy place

[justingraham]

I see that ur water station is full of bling

 

[melypr1985]

I see that ur water station is full of bling

Yup. That's my life... it's just full of bling wherever I go! I'm going to have to replace that with a fish picture or something before long. lol I don't go to a lot of vendor events to sell jewelry anymore anyway.

 

[justingraham]

Yup. That's my life... it's just full of bling wherever I go! I'm going to have to replace that with a fish picture or something before long. lol I don't go to a lot of vendor events to sell jewelry anymore anyway.

Or u could combine the to and bling out a fish

 

[dbl]

Looking good Meredith. In my opinion, your mixing station stand will be fine. Throw a top on it, paint it and get some water flowing. Love the simplicity of the light hanger too!

 

[domination2580]

Well..... I tend to let my critters clean the sand bed for me. Conchs, Nassarius Snails, Hermits ect. I rarely vacuum the sandbed. In my 75, I've been having to vacuum the sand bed because of some cyano issues, but I've been pretty distracted with the new build, the flu (hubby and kid) and Christmas to pay much attention to that tank. It looks pretty bad, but I'm hoping they can hold on just a little bit longer to go to the new tank. For the most part though, I usually don't mess with the sand bed. This new one will be deep enough in most parts to be considered a deep sand bed (DSB) so I won't mess with it unless needed.

So what do u consider a dsb? I know conchs can knock a lot of stuff over. Why do u think a dsb doesn't need to be vacuumed? Just curious on your answer lol.[emoji3]

 

[melypr1985]

So what do u consider a dsb? I know conchs can knock a lot of stuff over. Why do u think a dsb doesn't need to be vacuumed? Just curious on your answer lol.[emoji3]

A sand bed of 4 inches or more is usually considered a deep sand bed. A deep sand bed should not be disturbed if possible. If it needs to be vacuumed for whatever reason, only the very top layer (like a 1/4 inch) should be done. There are gasses that build up in a deep sand bed (and even some more shallow beds) that if released into the tank can cause a crash. As a rule, I try not to mess with mine unless i absolutely need to.

I actually like conchs quite a bit. There are some larger varieties that can knock things around if they don't have enough room, but the smaller ones do a great job of keeping the sandbed clean without messing with much else. I will be getting a few for the new tank for sure

Also your flow should be done in a way to keep particles suspended until they are taken down to the sump to be filtered out anyway. If you have to syphon your whole sandbed to get detritus out, then you need to adjust your flow to fix that as best you can.

 

[domination2580]

A sand bed of 4 inches or more is usually considered a deep sand bed. A deep sand bed should not be disturbed if possible. If it needs to be vacuumed for whatever reason, only the very top layer (like a 1/4 inch) should be done. There are gasses that build up in a deep sand bed (and even some more shallow beds) that if released into the tank can cause a crash. As a rule, I try not to mess with mine unless i absolutely need to.

I actually like conchs quite a bit. There are some larger varieties that can knock things around if they don't have enough room, but the smaller ones do a great job of keeping the sandbed clean without messing with much else. I will be getting a few for the new tank for sure

Also your flow should be done in a way to keep particles suspended until they are taken down to the sump to be filtered out anyway. If you have to syphon your whole sandbed to get detritus out, then you need to adjust your flow to fix that as best you can.

What species on conchs are you getting? I'm interested in some to if they are small amd clean well.

 

[melypr1985]

What species on conchs are you getting? I'm interested in some to if they are small amd clean well.

I believe these are tiger conchs. These are my favorite

I also really like abalones. I have a very small one in my frag tank

 

[Ljaus]

I believe these are tiger conchs. These are my favorite

I also really like abalones. I have a very small one in my frag tank

Such cool critters. I had a abalone hitch hiker in one of my previous tanks, I loved it

 

[melypr1985]

Such cool critters. I had a abalone hitch hiker in one of my previous tanks, I loved it

They are pretty awesome. We recommend them for people that want cucumbers or nudibranches but are too new to really take care of those. They are a nifty little compromise between a snail and a sea slug

 

[domination2580]

They are pretty awesome. We recommend them for people that want cucumbers or nudibranches but are too new to really take care of those. They are a nifty little compromise between a snail and a sea slug

They don't knock things over?

 

[melypr1985]

They don't knock things over?

I haven't had a problem with it. I have large ones in the displays at work and they haven't bothered anything. You rarely see them, though they don't really hide. They blend really well. I see my little one at home more often though only when it's on the glass or I'm specifically looking for it.

 

[melypr1985]

My cycle stalled at zero ammonia and 4ppm nitrite. It was dark! It's been like that for more than a week despite adding Seed and Stability (a week apart). So, today I bought some Fritz Turbo Start for saltwater and added it. I checked the nitrite only a couple hours later was down to .5 ppm. By morning, I think it will be ready for the clown fish pair. I should add, that I also added a very, very large rock from my 75 gallon tank's sump to the tank. I did that last night and tested the water this morning at 4ppm nitrite. My plan was for ultimate variety in types of bacteria. I think I achieved that. It will be so cool to get to add fish to the new tank for Christmas!

 

[Bronc]

Very happy for you!!

 

[melypr1985]

Very happy for you!!

Thanks! Me too

 

[USMC 4 LIFE]

I like how your rock looks. What kind is it? Pukani?

 

[melypr1985]

I like how your rock looks. What kind is it? Pukani?

Thanks! My 3 year old designed it. I'm actually tempted to keep it that way, or as best i can when I start adding corals and other rocks from the other tank. It's Marco rock. Their Key Largo rock that is mined from Florida. The large rock from my other system will need to be moved and integrated into the scape.

 

[Brew12]

My cycle stalled at zero ammonia and 4ppm nitrite.

Did you take nitrate readings during this time? Kinda curious about it.

And do you have fish in the tank yet????

 

[melypr1985]

Did you take nitrate readings during this time? Kinda curious about it.

And do you have fish in the tank yet????

Nitrates were pretty darn low considering how much food I put in the tank to rot. Though it's still a pretty big tank so that might have something to do with it. dilution ya know? No fish yet. Still .25 ppm of nitrite. I'm sorely tempted to just put the clowns in there though since there's zero ammonia. I hate being this close and not having the fish in.... it's testing my patience in a big way. Luckily, if I make it through today without adding them, tomorrow I'll be entirely too busy with 3 Christmases to worry about the fishies.

 

[Brew12]

Nitrates were pretty darn low considering how much food I put in the tank to rot. Though it's still a pretty big tank so that might have something to do with it. dilution ya know? No fish yet. Still .25 ppm of nitrite. I'm sorely tempted to just put the clowns in there though since there's zero ammonia. I hate being this close and not having the fish in.... it's testing my patience in a big way. Luckily, if I make it through today without adding them, tomorrow I'll be entirely too busy with 3 Christmases to worry about the fishies.

The reason I ask is that your cycle may not have stalled but you may have a bit of a bacteria unbalance. If you have a large population of Nitrospira bacteria you could be converting enough ammonia directly to nitrate and because of that have an under developed population of bacteria to convert nitrite to nitrate.