Episode 58, pt5, LIve Rock and Live Sand in the Reef Tank, L

[1087goku]

come to my house and this.plz

[astchiefy]

Lucky for you not mixing water is convenient. Where do you get your Ocean Water. I have 125 and been mixing for years. Whats you equipment list?

[lafishguy]

hey A, it is delivered by a company here in LA called catalina Water Co. they collect, filter and then deliver to tropical fish shops and aquarium maintenance companies.

[cesar333]

You always have that much RO water handy?

[lafishguy]

hey C, i usually have 20 to 50 gallons of RO water and up to 600 gallons of real ocean water on hand.

[carfree123]

@lafishguy What are the benefits of real ocean water?

[lafishguy]

hey C, for me the benifit is I dont have to purify water, inventory saltmix or spend the time standing around making SW.

[sworddemon152]

Hey, what are the dimensions of the tank?

[lafishguy]

hey S, its a 125 gallons, 60x18x24.

[drychalice]

Great videos, but your music sucks.

[greenlime100]

nice work...which tank controller system is that ?

[lafishguy]

hey G, it was a AquaDyne Octopus.

[dwdusmc]

How about turn off the dang music so we can actually hear wtf you are saying

[MrCoral86]

I know that this was done in 2009 but cant u remeber a mini cycle after the water change do to the first cycle not being complete?

[lafishguy]

hey M, I never tested afterwards, and who said the original cycle never finished itself? I think you have misinterpreted the reason the water change was done, simply to rid the tank of its initial nutrients as a result of the LR cycling itself.

[TWhite2345]

I personally think if you break down a saltwater aquarium you should take the corals and rock and other things back to the ocean where they came from. Because I don't like the idea of taking a sea creatures home. BUT I do want a saltwater aquarium your just recycling the rock back where it came from u no wat I mean??

[2b3the1]

I was wondering if there is a reason for the valley in the sand bed where it is less than half the depth of else where. Is this for easier detritus collection, or is it just incidental?

[lafishguy]

hey 2, you mean the scalloped look of the sand bed after its vacuumed? no reason, just the way the sand falls as a result of vacuuming. its also obvious as to where I've already vacummed, so its helps me be more effective with my ten gallons of replacement water.

[cahernand1]

Cool thanks man, and well I live on the harbor street, that's why I asked, but I don't have a way to clean it though, thanks anyways

[cahernand1]

So can I go to the beach down the street, and get sea water and use it for my aquarium?

[lafishguy]

hey C, i get this question all the time and wonder where you folks get that idea? if you have the means of cleansing newly collected seawater then yes you could.... but chances are you dont so stick with your synthetic seawater.

[yostar69]

VERY NICE BUT WHAT AN UGLY TANK ITSELF GREAT SETUP but TANK LOOKS CHEAP

[XxSCRAPIRONxX]

Hey Jim, would it be safe to get sand from a public beach (with good fine sand) and add it to my aquarium? or does live sand come from secluded places.

[lafishguy]

hey X, it depends on your beach. first, you want 'calcerous' sand not quarts, second you want clean sand not oil and polluted dirty beach sand. liver sand is collected from 'reef' areas not public beaches.

[allSaLTwater]

this is spectacular how much would a system like this cost with the equipment

[lafishguy]

hey A, $5000 to $8000 depending on how many bells and whistles you want to add.

[sexybeast24000]

hey,

I was wondering if there are any sequels to this video...I would really like to see it with life inside...if so what are the following episodes to this tank?

[lafishguy]

hey S, that tank was broke down over a year ago when he moved back to Hawaii.

[monsterman1122]

hey lafishguy, I'm setting up a 50 gallon fowlr aquarium. To have a fowlr aquarium do you need to have "live" sand? Or can you get sand from a local fish store and use that and live rock together? Thanks.

[lafishguy]

hey M, no you do not need live sand, your fish shop sand will at some point become live as a result of the live rock.

[TheeMuffinMan69]

Hey Jim, im getting ready to start a 55 gallon reef tank,but im stuck on filtration. what would you recommend?

[lafishguy]

hey T, you said "reef" tank, that generally means you will be using a 'sump' or 'euro' style filter or sump. this filter has no bio-balls, may have a micron sock and usually just holds a protein skimmer.

[xogrimox1]

That actually wouldn't be ironic at all ... it would be you doing something stupid that resulted in the fish getting ich or dying. Please, look up definitions of words before you use them.

Irony = an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.

[lafishguy]

hey X, thanks for your negative comments. good bye.

[bilbobag111]

How do you feel about deep sand beds?

[lafishguy]

hey B, only if you are knowledgeable in DSB would I suggest pursuing them. it is its own envioronment and require specific design and attention.

[devilhimself1974]

Great vids Jim. What is the make and head pressure of pump you use to pump the water from the van in and out?

[lafishguy]

hey D, its a Little Giant sump pump, dont recall the model.

[Hasans01]

Hi Jim, any update on this aquarium and how corals are doing in NSW? I live in Karachi and planning to collect sea water nearby for reef cube, what's your opinion?

[lafishguy]

hey H, that tank was broke down over six months ago and the customer moved away. I hate nano tanks, no volume and no stability!

[dominoman94]

@lafishguy but its only what somepeopel can afford to enjoy this great hobby

[lafishguy]

hey D, doing it smaller creates a lesser stable environment. being new at SW is hard enough and complicating it with an unstable size tank is just going to cost you more money as you learn what works and what doesnt. being thrifty does not make you sucsessful.

[force52xxxx]

ok thank you

[force52xxxx]

hey jim i just got a 100 gallon acrylic truvu fish tank that i got off of craiglist fot trade and the tank is really nice but i dont have the drille holes like this one do i need to drill holes or what else can i do for the over flow and sump thank you for the help and also how much would you charge to come set up my 100 gallon tank i live in nevada thats not to far from la . so ya if you coul give me an estimate of how much to set the tank up as saltwater reef tank i would greatly appricate it

[lafishguy]

hey F, consider an 'external overflow'. it siphons water from a skimmer box to a prefilter hanging on the backside of the tank, from there the water goes down to the W/D filter. thanks for the set-up inquiry but you could find someone in your area a lot less expensive than I, and lately business has picked up here so I dont have time to travel now.

[bwyte1]

how do i know my water is ok for the initial fill up i have a whole house filter is that ok

[lafishguy]

hey B, look further into your 'house filter' it could also include a water softner and thats not a good thing.

[jmurr8484]

hey I've just seen pt 4 and I'm confused. Why would you cycle the tank, then take out the water and put in the "real" water? It seems pointless to me if you have the luxury to get real sea water to cycle it with tap water. Is there a rel benefit to this, or was the customer having another one of his "episodes" like in the earlier videos and want things to be done a certain way?

[lafishguy]

Jey J, its simple, the 'cycle' produced some nutrients. the 100% water change allowed us to eliminate those nutrients and start from true zero.

[chingly88]

i have 1 year old biocube 29 gallon reef tank

should i remove all the bioballs or just leave them alone?

[lafishguy]

hey C, how is the tank doing? if its fine then leave it alone. if its not broken then dont fix it.

[40Cal100]

@lafishguy hey jim my friend can you please tell me the name of the live rocks in the video and another question can i miss 2 defferent kinda of live sand in my 29 gallon tank

[lafishguy]

hey 40, its the lesser expensive Fiji live rock ( called premium ), and yes you can mix LR and LS together.

[papoose356]

lafishguy i have so thing for you i have 55 gallon saltwater tank i just set it up but i need some help ok tell me your number ok thank you

[lafishguy]

hey P, contact your local tropical fish shop.

[ruthlessbjur]

Won't the 100% water change affect the live sand and live rocks? As in the organism there.

[lafishguy]

hey R, its still wet, and only out of water for a few minutes.

[ruthlessbjur]

Hi. What I meant was the change in water conditions, like salinity, temperature, pH perhaps. Would it do harm to the organism.

[lafishguy]

hey R, if you are good the new water should be very similar to the old water. i think you have read too much into it.

[ruthlessbjur]

Haha. New to this. Still learning. Just want to know as much as possible before I set one up. Thanks. Your videos are interesting.

[keothucthay]

if possible, will you keep us updated on this tank?

[lafishguy]

hey K, sure, it has been taken down. he moved back to Hawaii.

[mishac23]

@lafishguy well that sucks!!!!

[dylandabomb230]

all that work......gone

[Benno828282]

That control panel should be on the inside, can image little kids and what not pressing all sorts of buttons lol

[MAMW93]

I have always wanted to know what is the best substrate to use in a reef tank. Aragonite is a popular choice but I live in Alabama near the ocean. I can easily access white sandy beaches with about a 2 hour drive. I don't know however if sand from the surf would be adequate to use or if i would need to buy sand that is found in ocean reefs. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

[lafishguy]

hey M, the issue4s are cleanliness and chemistry. the substrate generally helps support the pH of the water, if its not calcerous then it doesnt help much. depending on whats actually in the sand it could cause algae problems.

[pink19828805]

where did he get his whole aquarium package espesically his computer system

[lafishguy]

hey P, he had the computer and filter on hand, he bought the tank, stand and canopy along with the reactor and skimmer from various on-line suppliers. that tank is now emptied and most items have been resold as he is moving away.

[monstercolenutt]

hey jim, have you added fish to this tank so far and can you dow a video on all the fish going to be in the tank and can you dow a video on the fish in the cylinder tank.

[markknight85]

how much would a setup like this one cost? i like the computer system.

[viper1001001]

hey, when is the next episode of this tank setup coming or is it already posted? I can't seem to find it. I am trying to set up an in sump protein skimmer and this is my first time so some of these videos are actually beneficial to me.

[lafishguy]

hey V, look for Episodes 54, 56 and 58. no newer updates on that tank yet.

[TheOneAndOnlyProdigy]

2:56 That laugh....lol Is that your regular laugh? haha You could def scare some trick or treaters! hehe

[lafishguy]

hey T, its actually a poke-in-the-eye at live rock.

[ray671984]

very nice tank :)

[VitalApparatuz]

So you cannot use carbon filtered tap water for your REAL water only for cycling the tank?Would you have done 100% water change if you had started with sea water?

Thanks Jim!

[lafishguy]

hey V, real ocean water or facet water was not the reason for changing 100% of the water. the customer simply wanted to eliminate the results of the cycle, and then start over with new water.

[TheOneAndOnlyProdigy]

Waste of time in my eyes. He just wanted to see the tank filled up?!?! Please....tell the anticipated little chinese dude to chill the hell out. lol

[jdmb20eg6]

hey jim, i was wondering how much would a set up like this run?

[lafishguy]

hey J, with all the toys, bells and whistles he has added to this system its mostlikely over $5000.00

[darkart777]

are you using catalina water for this change ?

[lafishguy]

hey D, yup.

[mussedeq]

sometimes the best part about an aquarium is buying all the supplies

[monstercolenutt]

hi ,jim i like to no wan you adding the fish to the tank, is his haveing a yellow targ in the tank,

[lafishguy]

hey M, the tank owner is working through these tough economic times. no updates at this time.

[crabsyman]

This guy likes gadgets more than aquariums. Good luck, Jim.

[TheOneAndOnlyProdigy]

Seriously, you needed to mount that switch on the wall. It looks awful right in the center of the action, but he may have liked it there...who knows lol

[surfdude217]

hey jim when are you coming back to this fish tank on an episode im curious to see some clowns and the development of the coral in there

[lafishguy]

hey S, the Economy has affected this tank and nothing has been added in a while now.

[havoc2092]

hi. should i siphon my live sna din my 80 gallon with live rock and, regal tangs and 2 false perculas? the system is 11 months old. thanks

[lafishguy]

hey H, the problem with disrupting a sand bed, especially if its 2" or more, that has not been disrupted in 11 months is you will release or stir up something that could create a problem for you.

[havoc2092]

thats fine i will leave it alone. thanks very much. sorry for asking so many questions but is it okay if i add an anemone as the first coral to avoid it moving around and stinging other corals?

[lafishguy]

hey H, actually it is a good idea to allow the anemone to find his home first, then put in the corals.

[monstercolenutt]

hi, jim wan are you going to add the fish to the tank.

[justchata]

hey i hav a question how can i make my clowns to stop fighting because i hav a false perc pair and added a black percula and it tried pairing up with the feamle perc already in a pair but she was beating him up do you think i should get another black perc to pair up the male black prec so that they will so they stop fighting

[lafishguy]

hey J, you should remove the Black Percula clown. two's a company, three's a crowd. if you are determined to have a second pair then you need to set up a second tank.

[justchata]

Alright thanks for the advice Jim

[patroo43]

whens the fish and coral video going to be added?

im dying to see!

[whalenracekid]

I was just wondering your opinion on lava rock in tanks? I have had a 30 gal salt water tank with the eclipse hood for around 5 years with lava rock and crushed coral no prob but I would like to have a skimmer and upgrade so I purchased a 75 gallon tank doing everything my way with no hood to limit me. I would like to add crushed coral and lava rock for the deco but I have heard so many terrible things. Your opinion would be wonderful.

[lafishguy]

hey W, lava rock is a very generic term for rock that has a lava look to it. there are many types of lava produced rock. the key is that it not introduce any metals or cause the pH to drop. consider placing a piece in some SW and allow it to soak then test the water.

[Geezyrider]

Seeing the set up of this tank got me into your vids and is tempting me to make the leap from freshwater. Cant wait to see the finished set up...

[7milewest]

you did perfect aquascaping

[jamil316]

if i ever hit the lotto in nyc i will hire his company to put a large salt water tank in my house .... for now ill stick to fresh water since its alot cheaper and easy to clean

[Suspectcobra]

i was waiting for this to be re-posted and sure enough while watching part 4 it was :P, glad to have some of the videos back!