Setting up a 100 gallon FOWLR, first aquarium

[ganglia]

Hello,

100gal for a first timer? Why!!
Well, I was going for a 30 gallon... my friend recommended go at least 55 gallon. The next day I found a great deal on a 100 gal, and decided to go for it!

Since this is my first time with any aquarium, I'm planning to go FOWLR, and maybe corals in 6mos+

I've been reading the following books:
The Simple Guide To Mini-reef Aquariums by Jeffrey Kurtz
The New Marine Aquarium: Step-By-Step Setup & Stocking Guide by Michael S. Paletta

Weight:
- I live in a condo on the 2nd floor, so need to figure out if the weight will be ok.
- For 100 gal, ~220lbs (water) + 100lbs (LR) + 20lbs (fish?) + ~200lbs (canopy/tank/stand) = ~450lbs.
- I figure that's 3 guys 150lbs each, standing in a 5'5" x 2" area... should b OK right?

Here's all the stuff it came with:

Tank:
- Acrylic, with some scratches on inside & outside[TODO]: buffing. Thinking of the Novus Kit.
- Integrated overflow at the back middle, with space for a lot of biofilter, as well a return pump.[/INDENT]

Canopy - lots of room for lighting & misc equipment.

Stand
- two doors in the front, one door on the side for sliding the sump in.
- Exterior dimensions: 5'5" x 23"
- Internal dimensions: will update (need to know if a G3 skimmer will fit)

Sump:
- Size: not sure how many gallons. Will measure to calculate
- A partition on one side, and a sliding plate with a hole on top. See attached pic.

Skimmer - ViaAqua SK-388 in-sump. Has a broken connection in a joint. TODO Fix the joint, or sell this & buy new one. Thinking of the G-3. Overkill ?

Lighting:
- Dual 250W metal halide ballast.
- 2 x sockets for metal halide bulbs
- IceCap 430-008 ballast. 220V input, 330W output - 3 lamps @ 110W each
- 4 x sockets for CFLs.
- Niche Electronics Solar 500 dimmer
- Aerator - will update with specific model #

Heating:
- Ebo Jager 150W.

The following are not included. I need to investigate these further, and get them:
- RO/DI unit - 110gal/day ok? Thinking of the WaterGeneral 6-stage 110gpd unit?
- Auto top-off mechanism - Lots of planning needed on this. Plan to put RO/DI under kitchen sink, and run a line to tank under the carpet. Will search here for tips.
- Return pump - gph/specific model ?
- Powerheads - how many/gph/specific model/placement ?
- Pump to mix the salt
- Bucket to mix salt for water changes - how big does it need to be? Can I simply mix in the tank, the first time around?
- Chiller - my living room currently stays at 55, but that will change soon. Need to get one before summer creeps in
- Lights: 10,000K- for FOWLR, get T5 compacts? How many watts?
- Lights: Actinic - how many watts?
-BioFilter - should I get bioballs, or algae? The overflow area does have an eggcrate partition... hmm. I'll search on here.
- Live Rock - Planning to get 50lbs EcoRox, 50lbs LR (maybe from Saltwater City, so its as Live as u can get)
- Live Sand - maybe 50 lbs. To little?
- Salt - Oceanic.
- Refractometer/Hydrometer - anyone selling a used refractometer or hydrometer?
- Test kits - ph/ammonia/nitrates/nitrites Would you recommend any kit? (will search on here).

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'll probably have answered some of this as I finish reading the two books, and read more here.
My 1st priority is getting the tank buffed, and purchasing an RO/DI filter so I can at least set it up under my kitchen sink.
2nd: Fix the plumbing, as we had to cut the 2 pipes from the tank to the sump in order to move it. I'll post more pics on what I need to join.

 

[ganglia]

Skimmer, All electrical stuff, and closeups of Ballast & Transformers

Skimmer, All electrical stuff, and closeups of Ballast & Transformers

 

[ganglia]

Halide sockets & Solar 500 dimmer.

 

[rainydave]

I thought water weighed more like 7 pounds per gallon.

 

[Krish]

Welcome to RF!!! Looks like a pretty nice start you have here! Good luck with the project

I thought water weighed more like 7 pounds per gallon.

Close...I think it is more like 8 1/3 lbs per gal.

 

[ganglia]

8 1/3 lbs per gallon!!! OMG!

OHH, I was doing 2lbs/liter... so thats like 8lbs/gallon. Ouch.

So water weight would be 800 lbs! omg.... is anyone running a 100gal setup on the 2nd floor ?

 

[Holygral]

I would check out The Filters Guys for your RODI, best customer service of any one, and readily answer all questions that you might have,

 

[azgard1]

Welcome to RF. Wow what a way to start off. Books your looking at are good, also check out the RF library here, it's very well organised by one of our great members Curt.

 

[Mugg1977]

Is your condo stick frame or concrete?

 

[jeffnewt]

Looks like quite the gear you have started out with. Jumping right into a 100 gallon with halides... you should be ok after you do your research. I don't know about the weight, but you should be able to figure out the structural integrity after a few phone calls.

All live rock is not created equall. About Saltwater city- personally, I find it overpriced for just about everything coral related, but I do believe they will cut you a deal on a large purchase of live rock. Its medium quality- don't expect much coraline algea, but they do stock some large pieces that you can reserve or special order..i think. But before I reccomend them, I would ask around the forum first, the people on here are always breaking down tanks and or work at shops that have quality live rock as well. For a while, thats going to be about the only thing in your tank while it cycles. Which, is going to take a while as you shall find out.

Lighting- for a FOWLR- the halides are probably not ideal, at least not nessecary if you arn't planning on having SPS. Some people just love the way the water "shimmers", but it's going to cost you $$. You mentiond some T5's, that would be my reccomondation. Mix 10,000k 50/50 with actinic, wattage depends on size and number of bulbs, fish don't really care, if you are using the halides then you may just want the actinic.

Salt- I recomend instant ocean. Mixing it first time in tank is fine. after that, you will need a 38 gallon garbage bucket to mix salt, with an extra pump and hose to pump the mixed water in.

The built in overflow- i suppose bioballs in that(if anything), but the sump you will most likely want to get some cheato from someone at some point down the line.

hope this helps out- remember saltwater city does not rate highly with me, I like "the fish store" here in the U-district in seattle, but there are people here in the forum that work at great places all over the eastside, and up and down the I5 corridor so shop around for fish, liverock, ect.

 

[ganglia]

Is your condo stick frame or concrete?

My condo is stick frame.

I have a friend who's a civil engineer, and he recommended using a stud-finder to find the gap between studs in the area I want it.

Then we'll figure out how much load I can have in the area.

I'm also trying to figure out where my 'load bearing walls' are, and see how close the setup will be to them.

1 cubic cm (cc) of water weighs 1g
1 cc of saltwater (1.024 sg) = 1.024 grams
1 US gallon = 3785.4118 cc (source)
So, weight of 1 US gallon of saltwater (1.024sg) = 3785.4118 * 1.024g
= 3 876.26168 grams = 8.54569419 lbs (source)

Rounding that up to 8.5 lbs per gallon of saltwater, at a specific gravity of 1.024 (at sea level )

Total setup weight, I'm now calculating at:
850 lbs for 100gallons in tank
213 lbs for 25 gallons in sump
100 lbs live rock
50 lbs live sand (is so much needed?)
200 lbs stand & cover
20 lbs elec equipment
100 lbs livestock (is this too low, when I do corals in the future?)
---------------------
= 1533 lbs.

Does this seem like a good estimate?

 

[ganglia]

Thanks a *lot* everyone for your comments. When the reeffrontiers website had gone down *one day after* I posted my setup here, I took that as an 'omen'
I was thinking of parting out, and going for a 55gal setup.
Now I'm pushing forward with the 100g.

I did a 'dry run' of saltwater city yesterday, and man their corals *are* expensive. Thanks Jeff for letting me know that there are other options.

Ok, here's what I've decided on a few things:

• Salt: Instant Ocean salt (recommended by Jeff)
• Skimmer: Stick to the ViaAqua SK-388 for now, after reading this. Seems like it should be fine for my 100g. If I do upgrade, I'll save up and get one that's of much better build quality rather than an ASM.
• Chiller: since I'm in Bellevue, WA don't get it until the summer months creep in, or until I get corals & start using metal halides.

Stuff I'm pondering about right now:

• Return pump (Gen-X PCX 30 985gph ok?)
• Heater: get another Ebo Jager 150W (300W = 3w/gal) OR two 250W for 5w/gal ?
• Sump: is 25 gallons with in-sump skimmer good enough? Will I need to upgrade if I keep corals?

Waiting for my Novus buffing stuff to arrive, and I've gotta go to Home Depot to get a buffing attachment for my 1/4" driver.

 

[Mugg1977]

The 1500lbs seems like a very reasonable estimate, and with the stand and livestock weight, a touch on the conservative side, which is good.

Do you have your floor joist spacing yet? What size timber?

 

[csdoyle]

Just something to add about Saltwater City. They are a bit pricey for both corals and fish, however, regarding fish - I have not had any problems with the fish I have purchased there.

They do QT the fish before they sell them and I believe that makes a big difference. Some stores sell you things the day they get them and of course reimburse you if they die, but that's never fun even if you QT yourself.

For what it's worth, I have had a 100% positive fish buying experience with them without a loss. Perhaps the pre sale QT is worth paying for, it seems worthwhile to me! They are not the only place I purchase from though! Just sharing my experience.

Good luck with the tank, it sounds like a fun project!

Cheers,

Chris

 

[ganglia]

Update:

Got an RO/DI unit & a dual TDS meter:

1. WaterGeneral 6-stage RO/DI unit, w/ an RO bypass & a pressure tank for 3 gal drinking water always available
2. HM Digital DM-1 Inline Dual TDS Monitor, Meter/Tester.

Given the hardness of water here, does anyone use a water softener before their RO/DI units, in order to increase filter life?

 

[jeffnewt]

Just out of curiousity, whats the TDS reading there in bellevue?

I will also give Saltwater city credit for thier fish- they have good stock.