Brand new to this

[dieden]

My girlfriend and I have recently decided to start a reef tank and I have spent a couple of months reading as many threads and articles as I can find. I have purchased a used 80 gallon glass aquarium with a 15 gallon(ish) sump, overflow box, metal halides, actinics (sp), and a very oversized pump. I don't have a protein skimmer yet and was wanting some advice on brands, prefferably not too pricey. I hope to do mostly sps corals and I have some fish in mind already. (percula pair, orchid dottyback, blue powder tang, a dragonet (after a few months), and a couple of small gobies) Would it be worth my time and money to get the tank drilled or should I just leave it with an overflow box? Also, what is a good timing system for the lights within a poor mans budget? I have read about auto top-off systems and am interested (but not knowledgeable at all on the subject) I can't think of any more immediate questions but am sure that the more answers I get, the more questions I will have.

 

[dieden]

well I could only find one pic on my gf's computer so here it is

 

[Krish]

Welcome to RF!!! Nice looking tank!!! You look a bit young to have such a big tank to take care of though About the skimmers, Euroreef, ASM, and Octopus would probably be my first 3 choices. The prices will vary, but where do you plan on placing the skimmer? In the sump or externally? That will determine which one you should/need to go with as some skimmers can only be used in-sump etc. Also, if you are going with an in-sump skimmer, you will need to check the skimmer's height requirement in order for it to opperate properly incase you may not have enough height in your sump (ie water level) or if the skimmer will need to be raised (then clearance under the stand could be an issue). As for getting the tank drilled or not, it is totally up to you. The overflow box you mentioned will only be good for a certain amount of gph and is basically there for the sump's return pump. On a tank that size, you won't get enough flow for the entire tank from that return pump seeing it's flow will be limited by the overflow's capacity (which is usually anywhere between 600-1200 gph on average). So to add more flow, you'd either have to drill and do a closed loop setup or you can do an over the top closed loop setup which doesn't require any drilling and lastly just throw in a few powerheads if you don't mind the look and make up for your flow there. I've tried all 3 approaches and all in their own right, are worthwild. You'll just have to decide which route appeals to you the most. About a timing system for your lights, the cheapest and safest way IMO to go about it is just buy the light timiers with the round dial you can find in any Target, Home Depot etc and call it a day. That's what I've always used and it did the trick.

Just a few personal thoughts! Good luck with the build

 

[warforged]

Cleaning up my grammar reason for mass edit:

There are very knowledgeable people here..some have so much under there belts they can overwhelm you with info...and totally forget what its like to be a noob.

Since money is tight. You have all you need minus sand, rock, and skimmer. My advise from a newbie. Get a very very good skimmer. Its so important you do that.

The advise I received from Paul at indoor reef. Get CPR brands or Coral Life. Coral Life are fair priced and do work very well. They sit in sumps or hang on the back. If you do look into a Coral Life Needle Wheel. Get the 125 gallon or higher. Reef tanks really need good skimmers. You said you want SPS corals and all that...well. Get a very very good skimmer. That is key for a coral tank.

In reef frontiers the most common Skimmer I see preached is Octopus...Personally I dont know anything about them...but they seem to be the most desired.

You may also consider getting a refugium and top off system later. DonW a member here has been the most helpful person here for me. I want to shamelessly plug his company http://www.reefwerks.com/
You may find his products usefull.


From one newbie to the other:
Don't get overwhelmed or ahead of yourself with all the info in RF. Its a great resource but can overwhelm you to.

Your only priority right now is just starting up your tank...worry about what corals and chemistry etc etc later..... RF has great people here who answer quickly when you have advanced questions later.

So just get the tank up first:
My advise 3 tanks later ... Its best to start off proper and be patient (spelling?).

Get 50% live sand to seed your sand or crushed coral bed.... Get 1lb per gallon of live rock (rule of thumb) but not critical if you don't do that. use RO/DI water. Avoid tap like the plague if you can ok. Instant Ocean Salt is top notch also.

Set up your tank...dont stock it for a month....if you want a small jump start ...add one fish...I call suicide cycle fish...Damsels =).... Just one.

Then watch the algae display as you cycle and wait it out till your tank becomes stable.

 

[dieden]

Well I probably should have mentioned that I was considering an in sump skimmer..... and no, thts my nephew in the pic not me. I was figuring on at least one powerhead, but hadn't considered the flow limitations of the overflow box, so I may just step it up to two or three. The guy I bought the tank from had half of the flow from the pump dumping diretcly back into the sump instead of into the tank because the overflow box wouldn't take more. How exactly would I go about plumbing a closed loop, if I decided to go that route?

 

[warforged]

Well I probably should have mentioned that I was considering an in sump skimmer..... and no, thts my nephew in the pic not me. I was figuring on at least one powerhead, but hadn't considered the flow limitations of the overflow box, so I may just step it up to two or three. The guy I bought the tank from had half of the flow from the pump dumping diretcly back into the sump instead of into the tank because the overflow box wouldn't take more. How exactly would I go about plumbing a closed loop, if I decided to go that route?

For powerheads I like the Korilla brand. for your tank size a Korilla lvl 4 x2 would be sufficient in my opinion.

For the closed system I don't know enough to advise. You will need the advise of the more advanced people in here.

Make a topic specifically about that in advanced section. You will get a ton of info im sure. =)

As for the sump skimmer...CPR and Coral life can sit in the sump.

 

[Krish]

Set up your tank...dont stock it for a month....if you want a small jump start ...add one fish...I call suicide cycle fish...Damsels =).... Just one

LOL!! Be careful with that statement Some will disagree strongly with putting a fish/livestock at risk exposing them to toxic ammonia and nitrite just for cycling purposes. To some, all fish are equal no matter what species and therefore shouldn't be put at risk A better solution is throw in a piece of raw shrimp and allow it to do the work for you. In the meantime, you will have to test your water regularily to see when it has completed the intial cycle (all traces of ammonia and nitrite have dropped off to zero and remain there stable) before adding in any livestock. A month as suggested is not always enough, then in some cases, you don't even need that much time. It all depends on the condition of the rock you are adding in and how much die-off it experiences etc. My first tank took about 6-8 weeks to accomplish this.

How exactly would I go about plumbing a closed loop, if I decided to go that route?

As for the closed loop, here are a few links to give you some ideas.

Here is a simple setup. You can do this without the use of the scwd. http://www.melevsreef.com/closedloop.html

Here's one I did on my old 75gal setup. Kinda overboard a bit trying to hide the plumbing, but you will get a general idea.
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13588&highlight=diy+closed+loop

 

[Allenfamily]

we still have a green chromis we added the day we put rock in our tank so it's not always a suicide mission.(he's been in there about six months)

 

[dieden]

Well, I'm looking at having my live rock shipped to me so I figure there will be some significant die off. I don't want to risk any lives that soon. I'm going to do the table shrimp thing and add a couple damsels a few weeks later once everything stables out. plus I have to learn how to keep all the parameters in check before I put anything pricy in. oh and correction on the sump, its 22 gal.

 

[Krish]

we still have a green chromis we added the day we put rock in our tank so it's not always a suicide mission.(he's been in there about six months)

Yeah, it depends on the water's parameters and the condition of the live rock because if you add in truely cured live rock on start up, then you probably wouldn't see any traces of ammonia or nitrite in there to harm the fish so it wouldn't be a problem seeing they won't be exposed to it. However, if your fish are exposed to ammonia and nitrite during cycling, and live through it, doesn't necessarily mean that all went well. Their could still be damamge done to the fish due to the toxic nature of ammonia and even nitrite. Yeah, a lot of hardy fish can and probably will live through the cycling process where they are exposed to ammonia and nitrite, but it isn't really the "humane" way to go about it.

Well, I'm looking at having my live rock shipped to me so I figure there will be some significant die off. I don't want to risk any lives that soon. I'm going to do the table shrimp thing and add a couple damsels a few weeks later once everything stables out. plus I have to learn how to keep all the parameters in check before I put anything pricy in. oh and correction on the sump, its 22 gal.

Sounds good! Good luck!

 

[dieden]

one more pic. Will be painting back of tank black and I am still thinking of drilling because I just don't like the bulk of the overflow box. (not to mention the flow restrictions)

 

[dieden]

whoops had to resize pic, second try...

 

[Krish]

Looks good! On the overflow, yeah, some get a bit bulky. Guess you'll have to decide if you rather lose space on the outside of the tank or on the inside

 

[dieden]

oh ya, could anyone give any suggetsions on blue powder tangs. My girlfriend wants one once the tank is established but I have heard that they are really finiky eaters and aren't good for beginner ppls.

 

[tdgates10]

I personally wouldn't put any tang in a tank that isn't got some length to it, at least 5 feet. Most others will say they wouldn't do anything less then 6 feet. Just my thought. Powder blues are prone to getting ich. If good QT procedures are done then they will be just fine, but again with a tank of that size any tang is going to feel confined and most likely come down with something. Good luck.

 

[burning2nd]

well i have to say my grammer sucks... but I can help some....

first off welcome...
2nd
sounds like you have a great start...

with the tank empty its not that hard to drill it.... if you would wanna do that... now's the time.
the CRp overflows work great... ive never had a problem with them.
do you have power heads yet?

you could have a over sided overflow and push a lot thur a closed loop

 

[dieden]

New question, I am estimating 100lbs of live rock and 80 lbs of live sand. Is 80 enough sand for an 80 gal tank or do I need more?

 

[Skimmy]

dont bother with cpr or coralife skimmers, they are crap.
for that sized system, a few skimmers would be good

DAS ex-1 $269
msx octopus extreme 160 $300
coralvue octopus pro 200 $500
ATB small cone $800

if your on a budget, the msx 160 with 1,000lph air injection, bubble plate, sicce meshwheel pump is the one with numbers to beat.
but the ATB is hands down the best design if you can afford it.

 

[burning2nd]

New question, I am estimating 100lbs of live rock and 80 lbs of live sand. Is 80 enough sand for an 80 gal tank or do I need more?

the lbs's of Lr are gonna play a bigger roll then the LS....

I have a tank that has no sand... "Bare bottem" is what they call it...

so you dont need the sand if you dont want it (and it will make keeping your tank cleaner ez'r) but if you want to have some sand for what ever reason.. 80lbs is fine..

 

[dieden]

thanks for the input skimmerwhisperer. Unfortunately those levels of skimmers are currently out of my price range. I will see if I can squeeze in the msx but I kinda had the budget working with the coralife.

As for the bare bottom, I have seen them and they do look good, just not my cup of tea.
I am thinking of adding on a 20 gal refugium a few month after I get fish stable. My LFS has a show refugium set up and I really like the idea and look. I'm thinking just a simple low flow overflow and return pump for that.

as for the powerheads, I can't decide on a couple decent size hydors or a closed loop system.