Hello - New to Saltwater and WAMAS

[DarylD]

Hello everyone!

 

I’ve kept FW for many, many years - but always marveled at these beautiful reef tanks.  I’m finally going to take the plunge and try my hand at a reef.  This is still much in the planning stages, so I’ve been reading everything I can, and trying to get a list of questions put together to ask more experienced folk.

 

My original plan was to get a 40 gal breeder or a 75 gal as I like the “width” these tanks provide.  Looking at the specs, a 90 might not be out of the question if I can find a good deal on one in the classifieds.  Anyway, let’s just say I’m doing a 75 atm.  I’ve been looking at getting 2 Evergrow it2040s (saw I just missed the group buy, but maybe get in on the next one).  I believe 2 of these would be sufficient for a 75.  I’ve read these are programmable with sunrise/sunset and moon lighting settings correct?   Also a 20 gal sump should be sufficient for this setup correct? Would love to do a fuge as part of the sump, but that’s also in the planning stage.

 

I guess I should back up and say that my ultimate goal for this tank is for some lps (always loved the look of hammer corals), zoanthids (started reading about these and seeing unbelievable colors, so will definitely need to include some), with the potential for a few soft corals.  Would the it2040s be ok for these corals?

 

For livestock – I’m not completely decided.  I promised my kids I’d get a clownfish.  After reading about lots of aquarists being successful in breeding clownfish, I’d like to get a pair and try my hand at it.  I’m looking at either percula or ocellaris.  I’m also not sure about other tankmates at this point.  Of course livestock is way down the road for me.

 

Re: salt mixes - It seems that most people are using IO (or similar) and then supplementing with additives.  Anyone using or prefer reef crystals to the aforementioned method?

 

Planning on getting 60-70 lbs of dry rock, and then 15 lbs or so of life rock to seed the dry rock.  Not sure about my sand bed tho.  I know there are different schools of thought on whether to go bb or DSB, or somewhere in between.  I’m leaning toward a 3 in (or so) sand bed – again mostly aragonite substrate with a little “live” sand to seed it.  What are you currently doing for a sand bed? 

 

I’m sure I’ll have tons of questions in the future, but just wanted to say hello, and provide some basics of my plan.  Thanks for any input you can provide!

 

Daryl

[smallreef]

Sounds like some good ideas so far....

As far as the tank...75 good..90 always better,lol

Also try to get the largest sump that will fit underneath...

And then salt is a preference...I use RC but there are many types out there ..

IO and RC seem to be the most prevelant

 

And then we get to lights...I have the old versions of the evergrows...and love them...and yes 2 should be sufficient...

 

And I prefer about 2 inches of sand personally...but I also like having fish like jawfish...

[Coral Hind]

Welcome to the club! Your plans sound good and I think the two 2040's would be fine. For corals my preference is BB unless you have fish that need sand to live in.

[JR-Tanked150]

1+ to all smallreef said. We have a sand in our tank because of sand loving gobies and pistol shrimps, and our daughter's favorite conch snails.

Oh and Welcome to WAMAS!!!

[lnevo]

Sounds like your doing your research which is great. The lights will be perfect and would even be fine for SPS which many people seem to evolve towards. I like sand. I use RC but thinking about switching to IO as I'm now dosing 2 part now and don't need the elevated levels.

 

The one advice I'd give is to keep reading. Look at tank threads, see different tank setups and plumbing options. There's a lot of choices so ask questions. Once your tank is full of water it's not so easy to backtrack...

[YHSublime]

Welcome! The evergrows will be fine for all your needs. Also, go with a 90 if you can, you will upgrade sooner if you don't go as big as you think you can go, IMO!

 

There are a lot if great vendors, sponsors, and deals to be had on WAMAS, so you have found the right spot! Don't forget fragfest next month!

 

I prefer just enough sand to cover the glass, but it's all preference!

 

Start a build thread up once you are rolling, looking forward to watching you grow! Also, kudos for doing some research before jumping in!

[Crob5965]

Welcome to the club,

 

I have a 90 gal reef right now and I loved it to date, I am about to set up a 6' 125, I use 2 x D2040's on my tank and I have a tank filled with LPS.

 

if you have the room I would look into getting a 6' tank rather than a 4' which opens up a lot more doors for livestock options and the price is pretty much the same for an used 125/150 as a 90.

 

Just my 2c however I know a really cool dude that will be selling a 90 gal with stand canopy and sump in about 3 weeks 

[gwweber]

I have a 150 gallon deep dimension, and love it.  I am renovating my frag tank and have purchased a 4 foot by 2 foot deep by 16 inch tall deep blue rimless frag tank (reef ready).  Saw one in the process of set up and itt looks great.  I like the 2 feet front to back dimension as I am going to set up two small reef areas and have my frags in the back and on the sides on eggcrate hidden by rockwork on the edges.  It will be easy to light and pumps and sum;ps will be real reasonable.  Guess the point is that it may make a very nice first reef tank.

Edited June 12, 2014 by gwweber

[DarylD]

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome.  I appreciate all your comments and thoughts!  Definitely want to get out and see other people's set ups.  I know that would help tremendously for my build.  

 

 

Inevo - why do feel you have to dose if you are using RC?  

 

Crob5965 - I guess Fredrick isn't too far if the price is right!

 

gwweber - the next time I'm up that way, I'll have to see if I can stop by to see your 80 gal rimless frag tank.  That footprint sounds good.  Maybe too shallow for a regular reef set up tho????  Would like to check our your 150.

[smallreef]

Ill answer the dosing question....might not be Inevo's reason but,

 

It shouldn't be a 'feel the need' to dosing...it's because as you test and depending on the corals you choose to keep,and how many in such a space... no amount of water changes can keep up with certain consumptions...

 

Anytime you add anything to your system it should be for a specific purpose...especially with dosing it should be to keep your calcium, alkalinity and magnesium in alignment...not necessarily chasing a specific number but keeping each at their respective levels in association with each other...test test and test some more before adding things...

[Origami]

Great research, thus far. As said earlier, go with the largest sump that your plan can accommodate. It will give you a lot of utility space. Don't forget to save some space for future dry components, like two-part containers, kalk stirrers, fluidized reactors, etc. Maybe a 40 breeder would make a good sump for your setup, but a 20 would work well, too.

 

The lighting that you're considering will work well. It will give you a lot of flexibility and that's good.

 

One thing that you might consider is to let you tank lie fallow for a long time - like 90 days. This ensures that you not only get through full nitrogen cycling, but also let's the lower part to the food chain (pods and other planktonic life) grow out and stabilize in the absence of fish and other apex predators. This adds diversity that is beneficial.

 

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[Sharkey18]

Welcome to WAMAS! 

[lnevo]

To answer the question on dosing... For me it's a two part answer. First I never see the elevated numbers you are supposed to get from RC. Maybe because I mix my water right after a WC and go 2 weeks between WC. Second my consumption exceeds what I get from WC alone. There's good article with graphs on reefkeeping.com that shows how WC alone can not keep up with consumption without supplementation.

 

Last August my alk started dropping and it was time for me to start supplementing. My last WC my alk went down! so what value is there for RC for me? I think I'd be fine with IO but reluctant to change for now.

 

And for the record I keep my alk around 7.8

[DarylD]

Origami - great idea on letting the pods grow out. I.evo, thanks for your answer.

 

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[DarylD]

Any members in the silver spring / burtonsville area this afternoon willing to let me take a look at your setup? Will be in burtonsville today picking up some fw cichlids this afternoon before heading back to nova.

 

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[DuffyGeos]

DarylD,

 

Welcome to WAMAS! And by the way we are probably very close, I am just of West Ox. Looks like you did some good research, the more you can look through builds and read the better your set up will be. I probably read for 4 months before I got going on my new project. Let me know if you need help.

 

Ken

[Grav]

Welcome to WAMAS and the hobby. 

 

Come visit our aquarium showroom and design center during our walk in hours and we will be happy to show you lots of different ways you can plan your new reef tank.  

 

Visit the website for address and hours. 

 

www.reefescape.net

 

Phil

[DBL]

Welcome to WAMAS.

Go for the 90gl if possible.

[zygote2k]

If you can do a 90g, then you could do a 120g. Same length, better width.

You won't need to dose anything until regular water changes wont replenish the Ca,Alk, Mg levels. In most tanks, this happens after 6 mos to a year later.

What someone said about leaving the tank fallow is like the european method- Add rock and sand with system running normal with lights, let them cycle for 3-6 months and all sorts of things will grow out of the rock provided you got fresh rock from the ocean. Fish and other critters would normally consume much of these things, but this method yields the best results and establishes natural food populations of 'pods and other organisms. This method also tends to have the least amount of issues from nuisance algae and/or cyano bacteria.

Keep reading!