New SW tank

[habsfan]

Hello all. For Chritmas my wife got me a 55 gal SW tank. I've had FW for a few years but not SW. I plan on doing a FOWLR tank. I put 30 lbs of partially-cured Fiji in last Sat. Here is what came w/ the tank.

AquaClear 300 HOT filter.
Aqua C 70 power head
40 watt 48 " fluorescent light(don't think this will be enough for FOWLR)
300 watt heater
crushed coral/argonite substrate
I ordered a Aqua C remora HOT skimmer

Please tell me what you think? What else do I need at this point. Thanks!

 

[trido]

:welcome:



Your lighting should be fine for a FOWLR. Fish arent photosynsetic. A brighter light will make their colors more vibrant though.
It may not be necessary but I would recommend getting another power head. Even whe I was doing FW I liked alot of flow. Keeps the fish from getting lazy. :lol:
Possibly a wave maker to keep detritous suspended longer. Some might disagree that it is necessary for a FOWLR but IMO anything to help filter water and keep nitrates down is a plus. Here is a very inexpensive wave maker new to the market. http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant ... Wavemaking

That all I can say for your equipment. Looks like your almost there.

I will say, Read alot and then read some more. Be somewhat selective of your fish and do research before you buy spontaniously. Some fish just dont coexist very well. You may also want to consider what could potentially happen in the future from all of your trips to the LFS. You may get bit by the reef bug. If that happens you will open a whole new can of worms and some of your fish may have to go.

Congrats on your upgrade in the aquarium hobby! Dont be afraid to ask questions

 

[The Chefin' man]

Welcome to the under water wonder world of fun! That is my abrev. of the www.

 

[EEric]

I would scrap the crushed coral and go with an argonite based sand.
IMHO

 

[habsfan]

I'm still cycling but want to be prepared when I am done. I want to do a 25%-35% water change. I know Ineed to make my saltwater ahead of time. But am not sure all of the hardware I'll need.

30 gal. plastic garbage can to mix in
powerhead for aeration(or would air stone be bettert?)
heater
salt

As far as my water we have a well w/ a softener on it. Can I get by w/ using this to make my saltwater?

If there is anything else I need please let me know!

 

[Vasces]

Go with the powerhead, airstones and salt water just cause salt creep.

Where I also prefer sand to crushed coral, (I think it just looks better), if you are stincking to fish only, crushed coral is easier to clean. If you do put anything like a triger in there, they like to throw chuncks of food around.

 

[trido]

If you can afford it. Another powerhead hooked to a hose and plastic "U" shaped hook is a great way to refill the tank after water changes. You dont have to lift buckets Simply put bucket (or 30 gallon can) near tank, put the power head in, put the hook onto the rim of the tank, plug in the powerhead and sit back and relax for a few minutes.

I also use this set up for my mixing container. I drape the hose over the side and hook it back to the rim of the garbage can. It pulls water from the bottom where the salt is and if the water level is right it adds a little air when it pours back in.

 

[habsfan]

Thanks guys so much for your input. I mentioned above about my water situation(well water w/ softener). Any thoughts about using that for water changes. Also what is the consensus on WC's? For my FW tanks I do 50% weekly but I'd rather not do that with SW because of all the mixing. BTW My buddy from work has a 75 FOWLR setup with sump filtration and hasn't done a water change in 4 months? He said if you set up the filtration correctly you don't need to do WC'S? Any thoughts??

 

[cindre2000]

Well, you can (if you have a really good filtration system), but it is not a great habit to get into.

The single most efficient way of filtering water is with a water change. A 25% water change every 2 weeks should do you fine. Besides that, an extra powerhead will be a good addition (especially with a wavemaker) to help you get the most out of the skimmer.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys so much for your input. I mentioned above about my water situation(well water w/ softener). Any thoughts about using that for water changes. Also what is the consensus on WC's? For my FW tanks I do 50% weekly but I'd rather not do that with SW because of all the mixing. BTW My buddy from work has a 75 FOWLR setup with sump filtration and hasn't done a water change in 4 months? He said if you set up the filtration correctly you don't need to do WC'S? Any thoughts??

Not doing a water change is storing up problems for later. Without knowing the details of your buddy's filtration and stocking, it difficult to say how reckless he's being, but I'd say it's very risky to have no water changes.

For the question of what is the best water use, the answer is without doubt water that's gone through a RODI filter. Without knowing the parameters of your well water, it's hard to say whether it's suitable. As well as nitrates etc, it'd be best to find out what the level of total dissolved solids are.

 

[habsfan]

So I'm getting the impression I should buy a RO unit?
First of all let me say when I initialliy filled my tank I used our tap water but bypassed the softener. I hope this wasn't too big of a mistake.
My tap water parms are PH 7.6, AM 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, GH 7dH, KH 5 dH.
I plan on doing 25% WC every other week.

1. Any reccomandations on a RO unit?
2. Do they install to existing plumbing of do I have to get a plumber in to do some wizz-wazz?