New to marine aquariums

[TTSkipper]

After years of having fresh water tanks I have finally decided to try my hand at a marine tank since we moved into a new house a little over a year ago that already had a koi pond in the back yard.

I am using a 37g tank I used to use for fresh water. No copper was ever used in the tank.
Since this is a starter and I assume I will want to upgrade to a larger tank I am planning on going without a sump so that I can avoid drilling the tank, there is also not much room for one under the stand.

The equipment as it stands now is:
37g glass tank (30.5" wide x 12.5" deep x 22.5" tall)
Marineland Emperor 280 Biowheel filter
Hydor Koralia Evolution 750 power head
Unidentified heater that was used for fresh water originally
Fluorescent 2 bulb light fixture

I currently only have the heater running and the power head to mix the salt and get the temp stable. I so far have added 30 gallons of Walmart distilled water and I am using Reef Crystals. The salt is dissolved and the temp is coming up, last I checked it was 75*. The SD is .025. I have an API marine test kit and will test the other levels tomorrow. I plan on adding 40# of Carib Sea Oolite sand as well as 35#-40# of live rock. From some of the reading I have been doing on here and other forums it sounds like it is good to have the rock elevated above the sand bed. I plan to use pieces of 1" diameter acrylic rod somehow fastened to the rocks at the bottom of the tank. I had a 48" piece of the rod already from another project.

At some point I am sure I will get the coral bug at which point I will upgrade the lighting and add a hob skimmer. For now I plan on getting new bulbs for the light, one white and one blue probably.

I am not sure how I will use the Bio wheel at this point, I may just use it as more flow with no media or wheel or maybe just with the carbon.

Any advice or suggestions are welcomed. If they sound good I may even follow them . I will put up some pictures of the tank once I have the rock and sand in.

Ben

 

[wschang812]

welcome to MR. Wish you luck on the tank. I am sure you will find many helpful and experienced reefers on this forum.

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Welcome to the saltwater side.

You're rock should be placed on the glass bottom of your tank, then the sandbed. If you buy any burrowers(gobies) and your rockwork isn't on stable ground and is on the sandbed as the burrowers dig tunnels under your rocks it will eventually fall and potentially crack your glass.

Don't waste your time and energy doing all sorts of crazy stuff with pvc and acrylic to have your rocks elevated- especially if you plan on going reef eventually. You're going to want your rocks to where you can eventually move them around and get some of them out for fragging. Don't make your tank like a solid sculpture, too much headaches later on, also if they're suspended and anything gives there goes everything.

Get yourself a nice RODI unit and make your own water. If you have to keep buying water and lugging them home fromt he store it will become a pain in the a$$.

 

[TTSkipper]

Welcome to the saltwater side.

You're rock should be placed on the glass bottom of your tank, then the sandbed. If you buy any burrowers(gobies) and your rockwork isn't on stable ground and is on the sandbed as the burrowers dig tunnels under your rocks it will eventually fall and potentially crack your glass.

Don't waste your time and energy doing all sorts of crazy stuff with pvc and acrylic to have your rocks elevated- especially if you plan on going reef eventually. You're going to want your rocks to where you can eventually move them around and get some of them out for fragging. Don't make your tank like a solid sculpture, too much headaches later on, also if they're suspended and anything gives there goes everything.

Get yourself a nice RODI unit and make your own water. If you have to keep buying water and lugging them home fromt he store it will become a pain in the a$$.

Thanks for the advice. I was not planning on glueing all the rock together, maybe just part of the base depending on what size pieces I could get to add some stability. I plan on a RODI unit at some point. I thought I was going to be able to grab one for free but found out it was given away. For now the hard part is over, lugging 48 gallons home sucked. Water changes will be easier. With the cash played out to get setup, the RODI is on the back burner.

 

[skene]

RODI shouldnt be on the back burner... it should be one of the staples like getting proper lighting.
Don't be so hasty with trying to get everything else and forget one of the most important items. You can't have saltwater... without the water. :p

 

[shmibly]

Listen to skene, I put the rodi on the back burner for months and I had all sorts of ugly algae and other issues until I got one.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Biowheel filter should be let go. It will create a lot salt spray.

 

[peteyboyny]

RODI shouldnt be on the back burner... it should be one of the staples like getting proper lighting.
Don't be so hasty with trying to get everything else and forget one of the most important items. You can't have saltwater... without the water. :p

+1
I put it on the back burner when I started and had nothing but problems, cyano, hair algae etc.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

 

[TTSkipper]

For those of you who had issues with not having an RO/DI system, were you using tap water with conditioners or did you buy ro/di or distilled water?

 

[wschang812]

RO water from walmart is like 80 cents a gallon. My friend uses that and had no problems.

 

[TTSkipper]

RO water from walmart is like 80 cents a gallon. My friend uses that and had no problems.

I have read mixed reviews on the RO water from Walmart depending on when they maintain their system while I have not been able to find any complaints on the distilled water. The distilled water was $1 a gallon I think, going forward I will only need a 4 gallons a week to do a 10% water change and I bought a bunch more than I needed so I am good for about a months worth of changes. As I mentioned a RODI system is in the plans.

 

[shmibly]

I was using tap water with conditioner at first, but it really doesn't do the job. Buying ro by the gal is an option, the the ro unit will save you money in the long run.

 

[felix tesler]

hey tt welcome i actually think you should not go all out crazy with this tank if you eventually wana up grade. an RO unit will save you alot of time, money, and problems in the future because you make the water you test the water and you change the filters so you know how good the quality of the water also consider auto top off. iam not crazy about you not having a sump it is a much better filtration system and is really good for a reef system i would highly consider starting from scratch with a new tank system.

 

[TTSkipper]

I am about to buy an RO/DI unit. Does anyone know if there are chloramines in the water in Bellmore it is the East Meadow water district?

 

[albano]

From some of the reading I have been doing on here and other forums it sounds like it is good to have the rock elevated above the sand bed. I plan to use pieces of 1" diameter acrylic rod somehow fastened to the rocks at the bottom of the tank.

IMO...it is a good idea to have the rocks elevated above the sand bed...easy to drill into rocks and glue in acrylic 'legs'...I have used this method for over 20 years without problems...gives more sand bed and more hiding places (starfish love it)... 'legs' quickly get covered with coraline and 'disappear'