I picked up 5 lbs. more live rock, 2 more RO containers and my skimmer at Down Under. Looks like an ASM skimmer. It will take up a lot of my sump space. Maybe I won’t make a refugium with macro algae. I put the new rock in and started dosing my Ca/pH buffer. The directions on the buffer are a bit confusing, giving multiple dosages without good explanation on which to use when.
The Foster and Smith order came in! I put in the powerheads, calibrated my refractometer and ran tests with my kits:
SG: 1.024
pH: ~8.3? (the color card is difficult to read)
Ammonia: 0.25 (!)
Nitrates: 20 (!)
Nitrites: 2.0 (!)
Ca: ~360
KH: 9
Overall normal, just not stabilized yet.
Got my regular visit from Egg to see my rock purchase. Both of us felt it was maybe a bit light. I need a couple more pieces of flat rock to use as a base for the neat “character” pieces I have now. I rearranged the rocks multiple times before and after the visit.
I went back to Down Under and picked up 20 lbs. of live rock, plus a couple of pounds of rubble. I also got two 5 gallon jugs of RO water. I’ll need a couple more jugs to do weekly water changes. I figure I’ll visit Down Under every other week as I’ll be in Garner anyway. My skimmer still wasn’t in.
Egg and I (he seems to be there a lot doesn’t he?) added my 20 lbs. of sand. Tomorrow I’ll get live rock.
Egg and I went in on an order to Drs. Foster and Smith for additional gear I need. I ordered two Maxi-Jet 600 powerheads, a second heater for water changes, test kits, various scrapers including a Mag-Float, filter pads and a refractometer. Even more money, and I only have a large tank of water so far! Oh, and Digital Aquatics let me know that they were behind on Reef Keeper 2 orders, hoping another wave would ship by 3/19! Ugh!
Egg, our friend Jeff and I got together to look at everything and set it up. We ended up at a Petco to get something to treat tap water for the initial fill. I got a bottle of Tetra’s AquaSafe. Back at home we set up the tank and filled it, testing the pump and all of the plumbing. We played with the light a bit and added Reef Crystals. I borrowed Egg’s refractometer to check my specific gravity until I could get one (I won’t bother with a hydrometer).
I got paranoid overnight, waking up multiple times thinking I had leaks, but it was fine. Took the following readings the next morning:
SG: ~1.023
Temp: ~78 F
Pictures!
The Down Under folks let me know that the tank and cabinet were ready so I arranged to get help from my friend Chris to pick it up in his truck. We put the tank and accessories in my car (the main tank is heavy) and strapped the cabinet in his truck. Egg said he’d come over Tuesday to see everything. They didn’t have the skimmer in stock yet so that will require a return trip.
