Ur really green.
No offense. We all were.
+1 u won't need ozone, or dosing, or even auto top.off imo right now.
All these things will come in time. U will be researching things as they come and before hand research and reading is great! Congrats there.
All I did was watch some utube videos of a guy mixing sw in a bucket with his hand.
Uve got a good tank! Your stand height depends on if ur sitting down or standing well viewing the tank.
U can easily draw a line on ur sump. Like in the return section.than u just pour the rodi water in up to the line.
Lights...should b led imo. 120w maybe two smaller ones.
Simple timers from hellmart can help too.
Fuge can b setup in diff ways. I really like my deep sand bed fuge. With rock and no light. Sponges and feathers and such will grow here.
+1 the salt stays in the tank. Water evaps so just replace water no salt.
Also water change water change waterchange. I can not stress it enough. I didn't learn this till.later... try and set up ur wc easily too.
Buckets
Powerhead for mixing salt
Heater so its same temp.
Your tank will need these water changes.
Bean animal is not needed imo. I've had both. I prefer the full siphon with a strainer and gate valve. Also another driller a lil higher with an up turned 90deg pvc for emergency.
When it drains to the sump...make the emergency pipe above water so u can hear it splashing. Letting u know.
I envy u for having the help from the lady. Do u have her support? Not a cheap hobby.
O and I like glass tanks as a personal prefrence.
D
U are.correct. buying good equipment that u need and can use down the road for upgrading now is the way to go. I've bought so much junk its.not funny. Or bigger powerheads after bigger powerheads. Bigger skimmer after bigger skimmer. More light. The list goes on.
Real green! Had some fw in the past and a 35g fw going now, but that's it. There is SO much more to doing a proper reef that I figured now was the time to start learning and planning for doing a build next winter. It will also help spread out the cost over the next 8-9 months.
I do understand that I could get rolling without things like the ATO and doser, but I figured I would rather get it all from the start to allow for better planning and a cleaner looking build. I am very mechanically inclined, and build complicated things regularly. I am kind of a perfectionist when I take on a project, so having it all present and accounted for from the start is just my usual MO. You should have seen how much stuff I originally had on my list that I've already been talked out of! I am diligent with water changes in my fw tank. 50% every Sunday. I realize 50% is a bit much for a sw tank, but whatever I find to be the optimal amount will be done weekly.
Fortunately I have a great girl. She supports anything I do, and is excited about this project. She does have a knack for finding the most expensive and highest maintenance fish and coral and clams on the page though. (We've been looking at this stuff for a while)
My main reasoning for building LED lights is the building it myself part. I just like making things. If longevity is better on a manufactured light, that could change my mind.
I had a bit of a suspicious feeling when I was told that crabs in the cuc were trouble, that's why I mentioned it.
Does using live sand and dry live rock make the tank cycle much faster? I have read some contradicting methods of cycling a sw tank, but I was leaning towards live sand and dry live rock.
I'm real glad tike invited me over here. All the advice is awesome. The other forum has some real good people there, but it seems to get a lot less traffic and comments. It's good to get opinions and experiences from a bunch of people.
Thanks again to everybody. I'm psyched to start ordering some equipment!
