Advice Welcome :-)

[LeslieS]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to aquariums and to posting so any advise on either would be really welcome!!

Most publications said to buy the best you can afford the first time around in order to save headache later. So here goes. It is all still on order so if you have input, there is still time to make changes.

My tank is a 120 gallon roomdivider with a 30 gallon sump/refugium underneath.

1/4 HP chiller and 1 300W heater

2 30" T5 light units (the tank is tall)

125 Coralife skimmer

wave maker and 3 power heads

50lb live rock (It was suggested that I buy 100, but I like the idea of cultured live rock and wanted to order that later. Any thoughts?)

live sand

check valve

water pump

reef sea test, salt water master test, reef solution, purple up, KDU marine buffer

I also see an algae pad on my receipt. The LFGuy who was very knowledgable and informative went over it with me, but I cannot remember exactly what this is?

Also, my LFguy suggested that when he helps me set up the tank, he will add a chemical (sorry, forgot the name) and that I should cylcle my tank with only the blue light. This would make the coraline algae cover the rocks faster. Any thoughts on that?

Sorry for so much in my first posting! There is so much to learn. Everybook I read seems to say something different...

:flower:

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Sounds good, most people use salifert test kits here just an FYI oh and the more live rock the better. Where are you located so we can see it when it's done with it's cycle and has some livestock in it?

What are your plans for the tank Mixed reef Fish only or are you going with SPS only?

 

[Reefer420]

well as a general rule i would get at least 2lbs of LR per gallon...and unless you are going for a deep sand bed about 1lb sand per gallon (should make about a 1-2" layer of sand on the tank bottom).

by cultured do you mean like Tampa Bay Saltwater LR? Its shipped in water and so you have a ton (and I mean a TON) of life on it- and it looks great. I have it in my tank and love it- but I also have had my share of bad hitch hikers... so be prepared to get Po'd at your rock when a mantis starts eating everything in your tank!

 

[masterswimmer]

Welcome to MR. Nice to see some new members.

You say your tank is a 120 tall. How tall are you talking about? T5's are excellent lights. I use them also. However, they need to be used appropriately. A deep tank might not be the best application for them.

I use a Coralife Super Skimmer 65 on my 16 gallon tank. I would absolutely consider upgrading your selection of skimmer. I would normally refrain from saying that, but seeing that you haven't received your skimmer yet, and can make changes, you should really consider putting that skimmer off.

Good luck, post questions and join in on our discussions. There is a lot to learn about this hobby and you've found some very experienced and helpful people by joining MR.

swimmer

 

[nyguardian21]

welcome, i wish i could've started with such a nice sized tank.

the CSS skimmer, great for small tanks, like others have said gonna need to look at a bigger skimmer if your gonna be stocking alot of fish IMHO. As for the best brand to buy, i'll leave that to the veteran reefers.
as for cycling the tank, i never heard of additive+blue light cycling a tank, maybe he is using purple up to start coralline growth. I say go slow and let the tank mature naturally and stock slowly and dont listen to everything a LFS guy says, read and ask questions on the forums, saves headaches and money.
research, research, and more research

Post pics when its up.

 

[DevIouS]

Welcome aboard!

Props to you for inquiring, before setting up.

Sounds like a great start.
I would also upgrade the skimmer.
Here'a a good thread to see different models:

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/8625-skimmer-thread.html

What is your planned live stock?

I see you plan on using a wavemaker & 3 powerheads.
I would get some advise here on a better flow option, for that size tank.

More Live Rock will be better.

Go with Salifert test kits. More expensive but they are accurate.


What will be your return pump (sump to main display)?




This doesn't sound right:

Also, my LFguy suggested that when he helps me set up the tank, he will add a chemical (sorry, forgot the name) and that I should cylcle my tank with only the blue light. This would make the coraline algae cover the rocks faster. Any thoughts on that?

 

[GQ22]

for sump/fuge, i would recommend chaeto as the source of algae, resist the urge to over populate with fish, dont over feed, clean your skimmer cup regularly and def more rock. www.reeferrocks.com

PS. prob one of the more damaging things you can do, but if you live rock from someone or somewhere, treat it with flatworm exit. once you get flatworms they will multiple extremely fast and nothing really eats them fast enough to get rid of them.

 

[jhale]

hey there and welcome to Manhattan Reefs

I'll take your questions step, by step, some good advise has been posted already.

My tank is a 120 gallon roomdivider with a 30 gallon sump/refugium underneath.

that's a great start for a tank.

1/4 HP chiller and 1 300W heater

Is the chiller in line, or a drop in model?
Be aware the chiller puts out a lot of heat when on and can heat up the room it's in. Do not place this under the tank no matter what. As for the heater, what type? they almost all fail and the temp either goes to high, or does not come on. most people invest in a separate controller for the heater. It sounds like a luxury item, but when your tank overheats to 95 degree's you won't think so

2 30" T5 light units (the tank is tall)

This light is fine for keeping just fish, but for coral other than some softies
it won't get you far.

125 Coralife skimmer

you need a better skimmer. I would suggest something that is easy to use,
do some research into needle wheel skimmers, they are energy efficient and almost plug and play.

wave maker and 3 power heads

again before you get equipment for your flow decide what you want in your tank. for a 120 I would not recommend standard power heads.
Look into the tunze stream pumps, they are pricey but worth every penny.
these are the pumps you will be getting anyway once you get more into the hobby, so you might as well get it over now. there are some new pumps out by a company called vortech, but they are having design problems.

50lb live rock (It was suggested that I buy 100, but I like the idea of cultured live rock and wanted to order that later. Any thoughts?)

this is fine, the high rocks that was mentioned is a good choice to mix in with live rock.

live sand

sand requires many inverts to keep it healthy, you will be investing in new critters once in a while to maintain it.

check valve

Do not use a check valve, they all fail. drill a siphon break hole in your return plumbing at the water line, if the pump shuts off this hole will prevent the water from continuing to siphon and flood your sump and floor.

water pump

yep, definitely need a good one. the type and size depends on a bunch of things. is it going to be running through the chiller also ?
you will pay more for a well made energy efficient pump, but it will be worth it.

reef sea test, salt water master test, reef solution, purple up, KDU marine buffer

I would say skip the red sea kits, go with salifert or seachem, purple up is a waste of money, coraline will grow by itself. I'm not sure what the KDU marine buffer is. As for supplements if you get any kind of coral you will have to start dosing something, we'll deal with that when you know what you want to keep.

I also see an algae pad on my receipt. The LFGuy who was very knowledgable and informative went over it with me, but I cannot remember exactly what this is?

this could be a phosphate remover, not a bad thing to have.

Also, my LFguy suggested that when he helps me set up the tank, he will add a chemical (sorry, forgot the name) and that I should cylcle my tank with only the blue light. This would make the coraline algae cover the rocks faster. Any thoughts on that?

the chemical is probably a live bacterial culture to jump start the cycle.
with live rock this is not necessary, it might work depending on the brand used. coraline likes low light and high flow in my experience. but the life on your live rock might appreciate more light. it's a toss up. i would leave all the lights on at least a few hours a day.

one big thing missing is an reverse osmosis de-ionizing filter to filter your tap water. for a fish only tank some people here do not use one, but for any kind of coral I would highly recommend one. the initial cost is about $100 off ebay. all the filters are pretty much the same. again once we know what you want to keep then we can recommend specific pieces of equipment.

so do some research and give us more info

- jonathan

 

[Quang]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to aquariums and to posting so any advise on either would be really welcome!!

Sorry for so much in my first posting! There is so much to learn. Everybook I read seems to say something different...

:flower:

Welcome Leslie, I would just like to say Hi and glad you joined the site. Btw...you can never post too much info! We like details. These guys will give you good advice....:wink1: Good luck and enjoy.

 

[HAVIC]

Hello, I would agree with everyone on getting a better skimmer. Skimmers are, I think, the biggest debate as far as equipment goes. Needle wheel skimmers like jhale recommended are general very good and easy to operate. Also the RO/DI water filter is very important.

The only thing I would add is a closed loop water circulation system to replace the powerheads. This will remove the sight of the powerheads in the tank. You can also hook it up to many different types of "wave making devices, like the SCWD, oceans motions, and others. I forgot to have my tank drilled for a closed loop when I upgraded to a 90 gallon, because i was moving. I really regret not doing it.

A closed loop is when you drill 1 exit hole and 1 return hole at the bare minimum ( would recommend 2 exits and 2 returns) and plumb it to a pump that runs behind the tank. It will pull the water out of the tank run through the pump and then the pump returns it to the tank. This creates the extra flow, so you will not need powerheads.

HTH
Greg

 

[Sean]

Welcome

Lets see to start off I think a larger sump and better skimmer.

chillers good and heaters good but you didn't mention a controller. You should have a controller for both of these pieces of equipment to function properly.

30" t-5 light a good for fish only systems If your thinking about keeping corals I would rethink your lighting.

wavemaker and powerheads could work out to be fine.

50lbs of live rock may not be enough depending on what your planning on keeping

water pump is to general. Is it submersible or external? What brand and model number?

An algae pad is just a pad used to clean algae off the glass of the aquarium nothing special but a useful tool.

Personally I would use Salifert kits and ESV additive forget about that purple up stuff.

Also, my LFguy suggested that when he helps me set up the tank, he will add a chemical (sorry, forgot the name) and that I should cylcle my tank with only the blue light. This would make the coraline algae cover the rocks faster. Any thoughts on that?
:flower:

This will work but if you add Metal halide lights to your system your rocks could "bleach out" from the intense lighting.

my .02

 

[jhale]

Just a note about closed loops, they are great for moving water, the one big downside is the cost to run them. When I first set up my 120 I had a closed loop on the right and left side of the tank, I was using a 140watt quiet one 6000, and a 140 watt blue line 40x, the flow was crazy. But that was 280 watts just for flow!

I swapped them out for two tunzes which use a total of 38 watts. that's a huge savings when you consider these are running 24/7 !!!

Just something to think about, and another plus for the tunze. by the way I have hidden mine in the rocks so you can't see them anymore

 

[LeslieS]

That was great advise. Thanks to everyone!

Here is more info about my tank and goals:

dimensions 32" high x 18" wide x 48" long
I would like to keep soft corals, invertibrates, and someday a seahorse

my chiller is inline and will not be under the tank - Noted on the separate controller for the heater. I will definitely add that to my order.

The LFS guy assures me that the T5 units will be adequate. He also reminded me that I asked to keep my tank entirely enclosed as I have 7 cats. If the T5's are no good, is there another option besides metal halides?

Thanks for the overwhelming advise r.e. the skimmer. LFS guy said the 125 was the only one that would fit in my cabinet. I agreed to consider a skimmer that sits outside the cabinet, and he suggested a 6500S from Marine Technical Concepts.

I really want the TBS live rock so I am still going to add my rock in 2 parts. I have heard great things about the life on the rocks, and I like the idea that it is not scavenged from a reef.

The live sand I have on order is not really from an aquarium or holding tank. It comes in bags and has bacteria in it. Any thoughts on that?

Noted on the test kit info. I have made the appropriate changes to my order. Thanks!

Also, I have the water purifier and am busy "making" water. Sorry that I forgot to mention it.

Thanks again for all of the advise!!!

 

[LeslieS]

Sorry, forgot to mention that LFS guy says my tank already has a siphon break.

Also, forgot to ask him about the Tunze vs. the power heads. Will do tomorrow.

Your newbie friend,
LeslieS

 

[Tonyscoots84]

if he dont carry tunzes he will prob. rec. to buy the powerheads.. :banghead: just the name of the game.... def. go with the tunzes.. u wont regret it...

 

[jhale]

Do not use the live sand in a bag!
it's a waste of money and can also completely mess up your tank.
if the sand is old the life in it will be dead and you will just be dumping in a ton of garbage that will just sit there.

if you want sand just get a high quality dry sand like southdown, and then borrow a cup of sand from someone's established tank. take the sand from just the top 1".

fyi, you can order tunze equipment from many of our sponsors.

tony at http://www.reefexotics.com/ gives members a 10% discount.

how much room do you have under you cabinet for the skimmer?
give us the max height you have to work with and we will give you a few other choices.

I still say no way with just 2 T-5 bulbs on a 32" high tank.
You can go with t-5's but your going to have to add more bulbs.

 

[DevIouS]

I would like to keep soft corals, invertibrates, and someday a seahorse

He also reminded me that I asked to keep my tank entirely enclosed as I have 7 cats. If the T5's are no good, is there another option besides metal halides?

I agreed to consider a skimmer that sits outside the cabinet,


The live sand I have on order is not really from an aquarium or holding tank. It comes in bags and has bacteria in it. Any thoughts on that?

You'll have to do alot of research on Seahorses....

A custom canopy would be nice to cover your tank.
It is not adviced to use the the glass covers that come with aquariums.

You can get a skimmer that is made for "in-sump" use.

Well....
jhale commented on the "bagged" live sand.

 

[masterswimmer]

dimensions 32" high x 18" wide x 48" long
I would like to keep soft corals, invertibrates, and someday a seahorse

Great size starter tank. The 32" might become an issue with maintenance though. My recommendation is to take a tape measure and measure the distance from your armpit to your fingertips. I'm 6' tall and my armpit to fingertip measurement is only 25". If you go with a 2"-4" (or even 6") sandbed, the top of the sand will still be a minimum of 1" beyond your reach. When (not if) you drop a coral, frag, rock, shell.....anything, it will be ultra difficult to retrieve. Aquascaping a tank that tall is very difficult too. You might want to reconsider the height.

The LFS guy assures me that the T5 units will be adequate. He also reminded me that I asked to keep my tank entirely enclosed as I have 7 cats. If the T5's are no good, is there another option besides metal halides?

T5's will work fine for you. Lower light corals can be placed on the sand and the lower 1/2 of your rockwork. The issue is not enough bulbs. 2-30" T5's is grossly insufficient for a reef. It will suffice for a fish only (FO) setup, but definitely not a reef. I would recommend a 6 bulb 54w 48" quality fixture. With this lighting you'd be able to keep any type of coral or invert your heart desired. It would also produce less heat than a MH.

Thanks for the overwhelming advise r.e. the skimmer. LFS guy said the 125 was the only one that would fit in my cabinet. I agreed to consider a skimmer that sits outside the cabinet, and he suggested a 6500S from Marine Technical Concepts.

I'm not familiar with the Marine Technical Concepts skimmer, so I won't comment on it. However, the CSS 125 has the following dimensions:

Dimensions:8 7/8" x 8 1/4" x 31 1/4"


With a height of 31-1/4", you can find probably no less than a dozen skimmers that would be excellent for your system. I'd be willing to bet, like Tonyscoots said before me, that's the one your LFS carries. You can do A LOT better than that one.

I really want the TBS live rock so I am still going to add my rock in 2 parts. I have heard great things about the life on the rocks, and I like the idea that it is not scavenged from a reef.

Be aware that TBS LR is much more dense than South Pacific LR (Fiji, Tonga, Marshall Islands, Kaelini, etc). More dense means two things, first, you'll need even more lbs/gallon ratio (closer to two lbs/gallon, whereas Fiji you'd need closer to 1.25-1.5 lbs/gallon). And second, more dense means less surface area for your biological colonies to grow (IMO this is the most important reason). I know you mentioned about more life on TBS than Pacific LR. You're absolutely right. However, be very aware of numerous unwanted hitchhikers that are more prone to come aboard TBS than Pacific LR. For instance, mantis shrimp and cephalopods (octopus).

The live sand I have on order is not really from an aquarium or holding tank. It comes in bags and has bacteria in it. Any thoughts on that?

I agree with JHale. Adding bagged LS is asking for huge algae outbreaks (moreso than what you'll be getting from a new tank). Too many unkowns in bagged LS. Just use a silicate free, sugar size grain sand such as Southdown, Old Castle, Yardright, etc. and seed it with a cup of LS from a few fellow reefer's tanks. You'll get more diversity and none of the bad, dead, decomposing organisms the LFS dude is touting as live.

Noted on the test kit info. I have made the appropriate changes to my order. Thanks!

Cool. You'll be happy you changed. Although, without ever using the others, you might not even know you're happier :hug:

Also, I have the water purifier and am busy "making" water. Sorry that I forgot to mention it.

The Tap Water Purifier is not going perform anything like a quality 4, 5 or 6 stage RO/DI system. These systems can be purchased on ebay for under $80. They are far supperior to the Tap Water Purifier.

I know there is a lot of conflicting opinions between LFS's and online bulletin boards such as MR. However, the masses can be heard more unified and substantiated here as opposed to a single opinion of one guy. I hope this info was helpful. It wasn't meant to discourage you at all.

Russ

 

[DevIouS]

Russ.....
You didn't mention the T5 reflectors!

 

[masterswimmer]

Russ.....
You didn't mention the T5 reflectors!

Russ :fishhit: Phil

What reflectors? :lol: :bigeyes2:

swimmer

BTW - I did say quality fixture!