almost ready to start...i think?

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ctownmangler

Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2004
Messages
15
Location
Arlington,WA
Hi all...i've recently purchased a 75gal tank and would like some input. After several years of freshwater i'm finally able to go "salt" so of course, i just dove right on in! after some impulse buy's and returns i've setteled on a plan (somewhat)....First of all, since this is my first "salty" i want to keep it somewhat simple so FOWLR (fish and live rock, soft corals, mushroom jobbies and the like....i'm guessing is what that means?) anyway i already bought a light setup ("48in PC w/2 65w 10,000k, 2 ultra actinic and 4 moonlights with the dusk/dawn/moonlight effect....cuz it looked so COOL!) i know i know....here we go! I have ordered my RO/DI unit and it should arrive next week, hence the anticipation. I have some Kent salt and a master test kit and hydrometer, heater and a powerhead that sounds like it's going in my water change bucket (penguin 300gph)Also I really like the way TampaBaySaltwater.com's liverock sounds, so i was going to go for "the package" (if Anyone has any info on this company, please let me know...they are the ones who told me my NO lights weren't enough)) about 2+ inches of live sand and 100lbs of live rock to get started. I have no sump, do i need one now? ? (not too familiar..DIY maybe?)I also bought a prizm skimmer (eeek? 100 gal rated!?)

My questions are
1. the flow (how much? what kind? wavemaker?) sump.....or just a skimmer for now? ( ditch the prizm(Red Sea)...or make it work?)

2. what other chemicals do i need? if any

3. am i totally off course? help

Thanks....sorry so ooo long and rambling, just local so i thought i would check this board out.....GO SEAHAWKS! (next year...for real this time!)

2.
 
Is your tank drilled for an overflow?

Just my opinion but the prisim is too small, especially when you are (re)curing your rock or if you have a good bioload in your tank.

Are you planning to keep hard corals? If you are what about getting a calcium reactor?

Just my personal preference but I think LR from the Pacific looks better. It seems more gnarled and holey to me and interesting in that respect. Less like a solid rock.
 
Hello ctownmangler and welcome to Reef Frontiers, we are open to folks regardless of where their from.
Looking at your tank setup so far you looking pretty good. FOWLR is a great way to start and is a easy convert to a reef if wanted down the line. The soft corals you mentioned are also good hardy species. For right now you dont have to worry so much about dynamic flow, a few well placed PH's keep decent flow in the tank is enough, make sure you have one poining at the surface to keep it rippling (good for oxygen transfer). On your skimmer you may want to upgrade that a bit, it is your main source of exporting fish waste and excess food. Chenically your not go to need much if anything at this moment. Regular water changes should taake care of any elemental replenishment you may need. Your lighting looks good for what your doing also. The only problem I see is possible in yourchoice for a substraight. FO type tanks are usually feed heavy and thus have a lot of waste. This is easly to deal with if you have a schedule of syphoning the sand to get the excess out. With a fine sand it is almost impossible to do this. I would suggest that you set your LR on the bare bottom of the tank and then put a layer of CC on the bottom areas that are exposed. This will give you an easy substraight to syphon the extra waste/food out of your tank and in the future if you decide to change it can be easily removed with out screwing up the tank.

Anyway welcome again and I hope it helps a bit.

Mike
 
I agree with everything said.

If you are able to, I would upgrade that skimmer for sure.

And with FOWLR like Mojo said, you will want Crushed Coral as a substrate so that you can vacuum it out.
 
Welcome to Reef Frontiers!

You're on the right track :) If you do have CC substrate it will be important to syphon/vaccum the substrate on a regular basis because it will trap a lot of detritus, just like FW tanks. Getting the gunk up and out of there is key.

Again, welcome to the board and the addicti...errr, hobby of SW! Hope to see you at a meeting sometime.

Alice
 
Thanks everyone!

I thought so on the skimmer....what about a sump? No my tank is not drilled (is that necessary for a sump?) then i could put my skimmer under the tank...correct? (ok i forgot to mention i also bought a Fluval 404 but was already resigned to taking it back...but should I?) I should have mentioned that but i got a resounding Do Not Use over at RC...maybe because of the reef, and the Nitrates and all...so back it was goin'. On the same plan was the 80lbs of CC i got, but if I understand this correctly I should keep this now... (Do I use all this? Any live sand at all? or a mix?) my tank dimensions are 48"Lx21"Wx18"H

no hard corals RobD...nothin fancy just yet anyway, but whatever i can get to live, I guess.

Thanks for all the great info....I'm sure I might have some more questions (might?...hahaha)
 
A sump is basically a place where you can hide your equipment and not have it in your tank so its up to you but not an absolute. If you decide you can also gowith an hang on overflow to get the water down. On the fluval if you can afford to keep it I would. dont run it fulltime but if you take out the media and put in some filter cloth it can be a great and easy way to syphon the CC. also you could run some carbon with it from time to time if you water colors up.
On the CC look back up to previous posts I would just use it on exposed areas. When you first etup the tank, you can just throw in a chunk of shrimp and that will beging your cycling. the bacteria will begin to inhabit the CC. If you wish to speed it up you can also get some Live CC, it might save you a few days.


take care

Mike
 
For snails, I think most fish will not bother them. Maybe someone has a story of a type of fish that isn't ok with them. With crabs and shrimp, I'd stay away from triggerfish.

One other advantage of a sump is that when the water level fluctuates due to evaporation, it will drop in the sump, not in your main tank.
 
I would like to go the sump route, and I think I found one at reefsupply.com (on sale, of course....heh heh...thats what got me started in the first place!) Anyone ever heard of this:

Sea Dragon skimming sump Max
--28"Lx11"Wx16"H (would fit under my tank)
--1gal bio-ball chamber ( could this be a refugium? is that beneficial in a FOWLR? if so do i need a light?
--other features such as the skimmer? (this is the part that worries me (sea dragon with a catalina 700gph)
--it says Ultra High Flow...thus eliminating the need for PH"s (sound fishy?)
--The one thing it dosent have is a return pump...external or internal? what is the difference?

Thanks (maybe I should start a new thread with this question...oh well)

Daryn
 
ok.....got my RO/DI today so I'm gonna forget about the sump for now, although it sounds nice. It looks as if I may have to leave all my equipment in the tank....I have read about some people painting the back of thier tanks (any special paint? or just a coat or two on the outside?)

Thanks Again
Daryn
 
i watching this thread for the shipment of TampaBaySaltwaterrock so keep us posted i would like to know for my next set up
 
Yea that sump combo doesnt seem like something you want. I would concentrate on getting a good skimmer, it will be a life saver on your tank. Any particular reason on the TBSW LR, just wondering.

MIke
 
Thanks mojo....it sounded like a nice "turn key" soulution to my problems. Actually I really like the sump/refugeium idea and it is verry tempting to drill the back of my 75 and go DIY. I realize that drilling is not necessary but that dremel idea sounds real nice....anyway, that is a different story.

Regarding the TBS....

After deciding I wanted to go with live sand (maybe even DSB) and live rock, I priced the two. Then I ran across some threads regarding TBS and it looks/sounds great. The fast shipping in water is what sells IMO. (of course these decisions came after I bought the CC and the Fluval...) so I thought the few extra $$ was worth it.

Now......I've recently seen some of hirocks baserock at e-bay. A dry Hawaiian calcium-carbonate. Of course I didn't calculate any base rock originally so this sounds alot cheaper. A 60lb box shipped to my door for around $20.....sounds good to me, the auction is at $45. Then I could get a smaller package deal (30-50lbs) and use the live sand in my refugium......that i don't have......anyway, I just liked the life and the look of TBS.

Now...back to square 1..................................................
 
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