Thrawn's planning/build

[Thrawn]

Well, I'm not quite to the building stage yet but I figured I'd make this thread a little early so I'd have a place for all my questions and not make a million other threads.
Getting my first tank, a 90 gallon, in a few weeks, already set up as a FOWLR with a Green Chromis, Maroon Clown, 1 Hermit, and 2 Turbo snails. Filtration is 2 fluval 305's, no skimmer, and a pretty insufficient amount of live rock. It's also got 2 powerheads running about 270 GPH each.
I wasn't planning on buying a tank for at least a few months due to finances but this lady made me an unbelievable offer. Due to that, the process of setting it up the way I want will be pretty lengthy, but I can at least get it all sorted out now.
Filtration is probably going to be my biggest project as I will get to learn the joys of building a sump. The next few weeks will be spent reading every possible thing on them. Also, I'll need quite a bit more live rock. Anybody have any suggestions where I can find good, decently priced rock?
As of right now my stocklist is
1 Flame angel
1 black Clownfish
1 Longnose Hawkfish
1 Horned blenny
1 Auriga Butterflyfish
1 Chocolate chip starfish
I haven't yet decided if the chromis and the clown that are currently in it will be permanent residents or not.
Well that's it for right now. Any thoughts/suggestions for the stocklist? Also, this seems like it's probably a dumb question but I couldn't find an answer anywhere, do you quarantine the cleaner crew?
Any other input is greatly appreciated as well!

 

[akunochi]

No you do not QT the cleaner crew.

 

[TJL]

Hey Thrawn, looks as though your off to a good start with this new setup. Lots and lots of good ideas/build threads on sumps here on RF as well as how they are plumbed into the main DT ie; Herbie, Durso, drilled or overflow box, inside/outside overflow boxes (for drilled), Loc-Line/static/SeaSwirl/??? returns etc...etc... Have fun learning, keep us posted and ask ask ask questions as the need arises.

Cheers, Todd

 

[eww]

Hello Thrawn. I see you're another Puyallupite into reef keeping. There are lots of us here. We are on South Hill in the general area of the Mall and welcome anyone to come by and see what our setup looks like and how we have done things. As I am sure you will see there are many many different ways you can do things in this hobby and almost none of them are "wrong". Just PM us anytime if you need anything or would like to come by.

Eric & Becca

 

[Thrawn]

Thanks for the replies. Eww, PM sent.
For the quarantine tank, everything says to use a sponge filter, but I have a 14 gallon tank kit that I got a while ago but never set up. It's got a marineland filter built in with a filter pad with carbon in it and biowheel. Would that work? I know I'd have to remove the carbon for any kind of medication.

 

[Thrawn]

Would the stocklist work for a reef tank? I haven't decided yet if I'm going to keep it FOWLR or turn it into a reef. I know I'd have to get rid of the chocolate chip star. And Aurigas are listed as not reef compatible but I've seen pictures of reef tanks with them in it.

 

[Thrawn]

Alright, I finally got the tank this week! A longer wait than I had anticipated but that's okay. The move went smoothly enough, except we lost quite a bit of water and ended up not having enough to fill the tank to turn the filters on. It was a good thing I already had my QT up and running because the fish ended up spending the night in there.

Filling the tank up.

The tank tonight. Aquascape is certainly not done. Going to be ordering a bunch of base rock and killing this stuff.

The Fluvals, only one of which actually works.

Tried to get a good picture of the chromis but he's a fast little bugger.

 

[Thrawn]

The QT

One of my snakes trying to figure out what all the commotion is.

I also picked up a sump a few weeks back. I'll post some pics of that sometime this week.

 

[Thrawn]

Alright. So I've got quite a few plans from here, and I'm not sure if I'm being a little too ambitious. We'll start with the stand. First, I would really prefer that it was black, along with the tanks trim. Also, that one tiny door will make it really hard to access a sump, so I'm thinking of putting a gigantic brace where that door is and putting a door on each side of it. Just not sure if that will compromise the stands strength too much. To get my sump in the stand, the only way I can think of getting it in would be to drain the tank, take it off, and lower the sump into it as there is only a small opening in the back. But I'll have to drain the tank in order to drill it anyway.
So what I'm thinking is I'll get my sump built and get all my supplies, base rock, and substrate. Then I'll transfer the two fish into the QT tank. Drain my DT, drill it, fix the stand to the way I like it, paint the stand and the trim, lower the sump into it(which would require that I cut two braces from the inside of the stand and then put them back in), plumb it, and refill the tank.
I feel like I may be making this harder than it should be. And this is all from a guy who can barely operate a power drill without losing an eye.

Well, that's the plan for now. Sorry for the wall of text. Any and all input is greatly appreciated!

 

[Krish]

Alright. So I've got quite a few plans from here, and I'm not sure if I'm being a little too ambitious. We'll start with the stand. First, I would really prefer that it was black, along with the tanks trim. Also, that one tiny door will make it really hard to access a sump, so I'm thinking of putting a gigantic brace where that door is and putting a door on each side of it. Just not sure if that will compromise the stands strength too much. To get my sump in the stand, the only way I can think of getting it in would be to drain the tank, take it off, and lower the sump into it as there is only a small opening in the back. But I'll have to drain the tank in order to drill it anyway.
So what I'm thinking is I'll get my sump built and get all my supplies, base rock, and substrate. Then I'll transfer the two fish into the QT tank. Drain my DT, drill it, fix the stand to the way I like it, paint the stand and the trim, lower the sump into it(which would require that I cut two braces from the inside of the stand and then put them back in), plumb it, and refill the tank.
I feel like I may be making this harder than it should be. And this is all from a guy who can barely operate a power drill without losing an eye.

Well, that's the plan for now. Sorry for the wall of text. Any and all input is greatly appreciated!

Sounds like fun! On the stand, is that a standard all-glass stand? If so, I think they make them out of particle board not hard wood so be careful with getting it wet or allowing moisture to build up in there. With the sump underneath there it might get moist and I've seen those stands crumble (the particle board ones) so you may want to re-inforce it or possibly build a new stand the way you want it using a better wood without having to modify this one. On that same note, if you do decide to use this one, you can also consider just adding a door to one of the sides. I've seen people do this to their stands to slide their sumps in. That's another option. Also, I noticed you have two fluvals. What do you have in it? Also, are you planning on keeping them once you get the sump? Let us know...Canister filters can be nitrate factories if not used properly which requires a bit of maintenenace so usually people just skip them totally or if they use them, only use them for running something like carbon.

Just a few thoughts! Good luck on the build!

 

[Darthv247]

exactly what krish said. your probably best off getting a decent stand or building one yourself reef tanks create a lot of moisture from evaporation and the evaporation is key to keeping good oxygen levels in the tank. completely open back of the stand and dual hinged doors on the front would be best. if made of quality wood and design theres no need for a center brace between the front doors either so sumps would fit in easily.

 

[Thrawn]

It is made out of particle board =/ I hadn't even thought of that. Well, looks like I'll be building a stand as well. Thanks for suggesting that, I would have never thought of it, so you might have just saved me a tremendous headache in the future.
As far as the Fluvals, they're running floss, carbon, and bio-rings. I don't plan on keeping them, they're just what came with the tank. I suppose I could keep one to run carbon though, but it's just so damn loud.

 

[Krish]

Well better to get rid of it sooner than later. The bio-rings will become totally populated with aerobic bacteria so their end product will be nothing but nitrates. Then you are running filter floss which should be either replaced or changed atleast every 3 days. All the waste it traps isn't doing you any good if it is still in your system. It has to be removed before it breaks down and rots so you'd want to stay on top of keeping it clean. This is why I dint use canisters. Too much of a pita to keep taking apart. Seeing you are running a sump, then you can just toss a media bag of carbon in there. That's what I always did.


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[Thrawn]

Yea, I'm definitely going to be getting rid of those things as soon as possible. I put brand new floss in it 2 days ago and changing everything else today. The lady I got all of this from claimed that she hadn't cleaned the tank or the filters in a year and a half. After cracking those filters open and smelling the stench that came out of it, I believe her.

Do you have any recommendations for good test kits? For now I just need ones for a FOWLR. Nitrate, nitrite, yadda yadda yadda. I was going to pick up an Aqueon kit the other day but I read from someone on another forum that they're not very accurate.

 

[eww]

I have heard the API kits are fine for Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates. We have Elos for everything but that gets expensive really quick. Since you probably would not use the Ammonia or Nitrite kit much at all once you are done with your cycle I would just stay with API for those two. Just my opinion. You will probably find test kit brand preference to be as volatile a subject as religion or politics (neither of which are allowed to be discussed here at RF for obvious reasons ) No matter what the brand they are something that is essential in this hobby so buy them new and get the best ones you can afford. You will be using them and relying on them for all your water information quite often. I agree with the others in ditching the canisters however I would be careful about taking them off line all at once. The bio rings should probably be taken out a little at a time so your bacteria in the tank can adjust accordingly and you limit the spike to the tank. Others will correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that is what I have read many times. I would also keep one of the canisters as it works great for a vacuum for cleaning your sump. I kind of wish we had kept ours just for this purpose. The stand is something that can be built in a weekend or a month depending on how nice you want it. I can help with the basics here but if you are wanting a piece of furniture then I would recommend others here.

 

[Peppie]

Thrawn if you need some advice on your stand shoot me a PM I can point you in the right direction

 

[Krish]

Do you have any recommendations for good test kits? For now I just need ones for a FOWLR. Nitrate, nitrite, yadda yadda yadda. I was going to pick up an Aqueon kit the other day but I read from someone on another forum that they're not very accurate.

I've always used salifert. They are pretty accurate and at one point seemed to be the preferred test kit out there.

 

[Thrawn]

Peppie, pm sent.

Thanks for the advice, Eric and Krish. I've never heard of salifert so I'll look into them. I'll probably take Eric's advice on going with api for now, since it's pretty cheap, and then upgrade to a better test kit when I start the reef.

 

[Krish]

Sounds good. If you check the polls section you will see one or two on test kits.


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[Thrawn]

Alright, after nearly a 2 month hiatus, the stand is finally underway. It's been an interesting couple months, I couldn't find the time or the money to get this tank up and running but hopefully it will be pretty smooth sailing from here on out. I know you guys like your pics so I will try to provide those(not very easy considering I don't have a camera or once of those fancy-pants phones).
Also, for those of you who participated in my octopus thread a while back, I have decided to wait on the octo and do a reef.