new tank, lights, and old substrate and base rock

[Burrower]

Hello all! I'm new to these forums and would appreciate any and all advice! I'm setting up a reef tank (65 gallon Oceanic tank). I'm still a long way from introducing livestock, so in the meantime I'm reading everything I can and planning.

I just received my MH/PC light hood (made by hamilton), and I'm concerned about overheating. The tank is in an ideal location (cool basement with no sunlight and a solid level floor). The light hood is made to fit on the top, but I'm still concerned about it heating the water up too much. So, last night I filled up the tank with freshwater and will run the light system like i would if I had animals in it to see how much the tank temperature fluctuates. I'm expecting I will need to hang it, so I've positioned the tank in a spot where I can hang from studs in the ceiling. So...with this in mind I have two initial questions:

1) How much temperature fluctuation is deemed acceptable? I know this depends on what is in the tank, so let's assume it will be a reef tank with SPS corals

2) If I have to hang (and I expect I will..I really don't want to get a chiller), how is the best way? I'm not too handy...for example., I was REALLY proud when I installed a GFCI unit in the wall . Is it ok to drill holes for hooks in the hood and attach to hooks in the cieling with a chain? Are two hooks enough if they are centered, or would 4 from the hood (in a rectangular fashion) be more stable?

In addition to the lighting/heating concerns, I also have some old coral gravel and base rock from a fish only tank I had 5+ years ago. I plan on using the "Berlin" method, with a good skimmer (I'm sumpless, so I'll be using an AquaC Remora) and live rock. Given that the LR will be my biological filter:

3) Would it be ok (to reduce intial costs) to use some old base rock that has been stored in a tub for five years? I'm hoping it will just be seeded with the new LR I purchase. If it's ok to use, how best should i clean it beforehand?

and in a similar vein...

4) I will be using live sand...can I also use sme of my old crushed coral gravel and just seed it with some live sand? And if ok, how would you recommend cleaning this old gravel?

Thanks in advance for any advice and suggestions. I look forward to sharing and contributing in this forum as my knowledge grows (hopefully!)

 

[clayswim]

I guess I should welcome you, but I'm rather new to this forum myself

Temperature fluctuations shouldn't be too severe for most of the coral we keep. Most of them are from areas that don't see much variance in temps. Try to keep it within 3 or 4 degrees. Some natural reefs only see daily shifts of barely a degree, but most will fluctuate at least a couple near the surface during the summer. Using a fan to blow air between the lights and the water surface can cut the temps by quite a bit. If the air in the room is on the cool side you shouldn't need a chiller.

You'll find that four hooks work better than two. I've never found a light system that's balanced all that well, so with two hooks it would tend to tilt to one side.

In the past when I've cleaned old rock I've scrubbed it down first, then soaked it in pure freshwater to get rid of the dried salt inside the rock. After the soak wash it off again and place it in the tank. Eventually the other rocks will seed them with algae and other critters.

Old sand is sometimes so full of dried detritus it's usually better to buy new sand. Either southdown from Home Depot (not available in all areas) or CaribSea sand work good. Then add your live sand to that to seed it.

Clayton

 

[Kensn]

For what it's worth, I used a couple of old pieces of rock from a previous setup when I setup my new tank. I rinsed well, and put with the new live rock to cycle. Don't know if this smart or not, but I don't think I had any adverse effects from it.

Ken

 

[Burrower]

Thanks for the responses!