Hi all.

[ntime60]

For the better part of my life I've had an aquarium. I've been away for some years due to various life reasons. So you could say I'm a returning addict.

I found a really good deal on a 3 month old Perfecto 90g full sw setup, 60lbs rock and 70lbs of fine crushed coral base, 40gal sump with skimmer/refrugium, carbon/gfo reactor and AquaticLife T5 lighting.

The current residents are 12 turbo snails, 1 Russell's Lionfish and 1 Dragon Wrasse, of which the latter two are going to the lfs tomorrow. They just won't fit into my overall plan for a reef tank.

Anyway, just stopping by to say hi.

 

[user 26995]

Glad you stopped by. Welcome to Reef Frontiers and welcome back to the addiction..ehem...hobby!
Wow nice set up. What are your plans for the tank? Going reef?

 

[ntime60]

Thanks for the welcome. I am going to run a reef and am going to try to make as complete an ecosystem as possible. I know that is slow going but better in the long run. I've had the tank for about a week now and my research has uncovered a few undesirable aspects from the previous owner. The fish and the substrate.

I might've made a small mistake, but I have to live with my decision. I brought the aquarium home and set it up immediately. My line of thinking was keep everything as it was, because coraline algae has started forming and then there was the fish. But after reading numerous posts on crushed coral it made me realize I needed to change it.

So, I'm trading the fish today at the lfs, I am removing the crushed coral substrate and will be replacing it with 3-4" of aragonite sand and I'm currently thinking I'll seed it with 20# of live sand. It sounds good to me. ;-)

The big plan is to raise corals and keeping reef friendly creatures.

 

[user 26995]

Sounds like you have been doing the right thing and researching things. Are you familiar with a deep sand bed? I might suggest looking into the pros & cons of a deep sand bed verses shallow or bare bottom.
Looking forward to following along with your progress.

 

[vlangel]

Hi and welcome to RF! I have always had deep sand beds in my displays and if you do not overfeed they work well in naturally controlling nitrates.

 

[ntime60]

Well the fish are gone, but I've yet to buy the sand...

I've been reading endlessly. I initially was thinking 4" DSB, but then I got to wondering about the sump with a 14x12 refuge area. What I'm curious about is, if I put 4" of miracle mud in the the fuge with some smaller coral rock and plants, if I still would need a 4" DSB in the main tank. The tank will be mainly coral with some reef friendly fishes and a varied cleanup crew for the bottom.

The new thing for me is trying to figure out how to account for the sump without knowing how much it contributes to the overall health of the main tank.

Now I'm thinking of about 90lbs of 30 LBS Live Sand Pure White Aragonite - Crystal Reef Brand or 90lbs of CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand

I am wide open to suggestion at this point because my 20 year old reef knowledge doesn't account for this type of design...I come from the days of UGF with crushed coral. ;-)

 

[vlangel]

A lot of folks do put DSB in their sump and I think the miracle mud would work the same way with anaerobic bacteria breaking down nitrates. You are not suppose to disturb the anaerobic bacteria though and miracle mud is basically used up in 2 yrs. and is supposed to be replaced.

Yes, I remember the days of UGF with crushed coral too! We are dating ourselves. LOL

 

[user 26995]

I like that pure white aragonite. Havent seen it before now. I am using the special grade reef sand. I have some of the fine stuff in one of my tanks. I wont do that again. Powerheads and sandsifting fish will create a dust storm. Oh, a nesting damsel will too.

 

[ntime60]

Well I gave some more thought to the substrate and ended up getting 120lbs of Caribsea Aragamax Select .5-1.5mm for the main tank and Caribsea Arag-Alive for both tanks. The Aragamax Select is a little larger than the sugar sized and I figure it if blows a little I can always put a little of my crushed coral on top to hold it down.

Thanks for the help all.