Coming back after a 20 year break, looking for advice.

[Harry_Y]

Hello,

I’m considering getting back into Salt Water tanks after about a 20 year break so I’d like a bit of advice to get myself off on the right foot.

I plan to setup a 90 Gallon tank (48”L x 18”W x 24”H) as a reef tank.

I would like to keep the plumbing and hardware (heaters, etc) to a minimum since three sides of the tank are exposed to viewing.

Here is whet I’m looking at so far:

. 90 Gallon Glass Tank

. Stand

. Clear cover (glass, Lexan, etc)

. Compact Florescent lights (about 360 Watts)

. 1000 GPH Canister filter to provide Water Flow and to filter out the big crud

. Protein skimmer (but it must go under the tank)


As for filtration things have changed a bit since I was into this.

It seems that many have gone to using Live Rock for filtration now.
(I read they you can make your own rock using crushed oyster shells and Portland cement, which is appealing in both cost and aesthetic.)

Am I on the right track?

What should I change?

Thank you

 

[Brian5000]

Welcome back,

Canister filters have gone out of style due to high maintanence requirements.

You're right, most folks seem to like the live rock/skimmer combo (including myself) and let critters break down the big junk so the skimmer can get to it.

You should look into a refugium. Those are quite popular too.

For water flow, power heads are much cheaper and fairly low profile.

For lighting, go for the metal halide lighting. You'll appreciate it.

I think a couple people on this forum have tried making live rock, but I'm not sure how it turned out for them. I think the only problem will be that what you make will be sterile rock. You'll still need to seed it with a little of the real stuff or some other way.
_________________
Ferrari 212 Inter

 

[shavo]

yes you mention you want the skimmer under the tank with a canister filter, why don't you scratch the canister and do a cheap home made fuge so you can store your skimmer and even your heater in there as well. I have my skimmer and heater in the fuge but also have one heater in the tank just incase. but all sounds good, you may be a little light in the light as well. depends on what you want to accomplish. hit me up if you want an option for light fixtures that are cheaper than the LFS alot cheaper they house compacts and MH's pretty cheap.

good luck

 

[Harry_Y]

Looks like I have a lot more reading ahead of me.

I was thinking CF lights due to less heat and a bit lower profile.

Am I correct that a Fuge and a Refugium are the same thing?

 

[mr_X]

yep...what he means is a sump with refugium. a sump with partitions for your skimmer, return area, and a place to put macroalgae to help with filtration.

a 90 gallon tank is alittle deep for CF lighting if you want a nice variety of corals.
i have seen a tank with nothing but VHO lighting(still low profile), and all sorts of corals were doing fabulous. something like this if you have a canopy:
http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?Pa ... ProdID=364

 

[Harry_Y]

I'm in the buying the pieces stage (well actually the research before buying stage) so I'm fairly flexible in what I get.

It is going to be in my living room and the first thing you will see as you enter my house so I want it as clean looking as possible.

I also cannot attach any hanging lamps from the ceiling since the ceiling is textured (not easy to patch).

Thank you.

 

[Brian5000]

Is this thing going to be in the middle of the room or up against a wall?

I think the "cleanest" tank layout would involve a drilled aquarium with an internal overflow.

If you don't like the idea of building a custom hood, Corallife and Current USA both make nice fixtures that can stand on the aquarium (I have the corallife with 150w MH).
_________________
inflation definition

 

[mr_X]

i agree. a drilled tank is the best option, and if you purchase the right sump, you should be able to fit it under your tank in your stand, and no one will see anything.

i would purchase a tank that comes with a matching canopy, and then put my lighting under there. you won't see anything but tank that way.

 

[cindre2000]

I have made rock before. While it is cheaper, it can take a long time to fully cure, and it takes a good bit of time to colonize and eventually be encrusted. Its mostly a matter of how badly you want to save money and how long you are willing to wait. One month for the cement to cure (unless you are adventurous), and another 3 months to be fully colonized, probably six months to a year fully encrusted and indistinguishable; depending on tank conditions.

 

[Harry_Y]

It will be up against a wall.

It is looking like:

90 Gal drilled tank (glass or acrilic?)

Internal overflow

Sump tank (30 gal?)

Proteen skimmer (size and brand?)

I may wind up building my stand and hood.

I'll proabaly go with purchaced rock (any good sources?)

Thank you

 

[shavo]

check out craigslist in your area for live rock alot of people are always breaking down tanks and selling live sand and rock. I would check there first to see if there is anybody selling rock cheap.

 

[Brian5000]

Aquarium: Acrylic is really easy to fashion the way you want it; glass is durable and you don't have to be as careful with it (a must for me).

Sump tank: as big as you can comfortably fit under your tank, whatever size that may be after you plan it out.

Protein Skimmer: Lots of good choices. You're going to have to shop around. Lots of people use an ASM, AquaC EV and I've seen some stuff with Euroreef too. Again, get as big as you can (rule of thumb is to get a skimmer rated for a tank twice as big as the one you have).
_________________
Inner Ear Disorders Forum

 

[Harry_Y]

Thank you

Lots of reading and planning ahead

 

[snapper1]

wecome back after 20 years,buy the live rock the best investment for your Fish :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

If you were successful at keeping SW tanks 20 years ago you shouldn't have much trouble catching up.

Lots of light, lots of flow... try to avoid mechanical filtration.

Think about how you are going to remove nutrients from the tank. There are many ways to do this, but you need to do it somehow.

Initially you will want to monitor your ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite. Once your tank gets established, you will stop testing those so frequently and will focus mainly on calcium, alkalinity, and phosphate. Lots of people also monitor magnesium levels.

And most importantly, go slooooowwwww. Nothing good happens quickly in this hobby.
:welcome:

 

[shabash]

Welcome back! I too am back after a 15+ year hiatus. You have your work (research) cut out for you, that much is certain. I decided to come back small and work my way up. I have a 12g nanocube which I am extremely delighted with. As far as live rock is concerned I bought mine online from toofishy.com and it was GREAT! The rock was cured and was absolutely LOADED with critters and coraline algae. they are one of the few stores that sell minimum amounts and dont make you buy a whole lot of rock or min 20-40pound minimums.I bought eva rock and rubble rock for my FUGE (refugium) and have had no problems at all. THey had great customer service and will cusftomize your order whenever possible. I asked for small pieces and thats what they sent along with one nice big show piece that I use as an overhang. IMO you should use as much live rock AND SAND as you can. It cut my cycle time in weeks. MY tank cycled in about 4 weeks. I used live oolite 20#s and arag 8#s in addition to the rock in total about 15#'s. Ofcourse you will need much more for a 90. This gave me a 2-2.5 in bed and a nice reef in the shape of an atoll. I chose to mix my substrates because i want to keep gobies and most of them like to burrow. But I think that the combination of substrate added to th surface area for the nitrfying bacteria. GEt macroalgae for your fuge. This will help remove nitrAtes from your water without worry that you do not have enough mechanical filtration. Us old schoolers seem to have a problem accepting this. But I am totally convinced that this is a much better way to go. I have a combination of two types of caulerpa but if I had to do over I would ditch the caulerpa and go with cheato. although I havent had it go sexual yet I hear that it will and Iwill have problems as this is when the plants releases the nitrates that it has stored. so I will probably do this is the near future when I run across some. would be willing to trade if someone were offering though. Anyway good luck and welcome back again!

 

[mr_X]

if you keep trimming the bubble caulerpa back, it won't hurt you.

 

[snapper1]

You have 20 Years of experience as a Reefer wow and you are asking for advice.That is like God asking me for some advice :wink: we should be asking you for advice .