My First SW tank

Cliff519

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 13, 2010
363
0
0
Canada
After 12 years of fresh water tanks, I’m getting into sale water. Here’s a few details about my set-up so far. The plan is to have a FOWLR setup for a while then slowly start adding corals to make it an outstanding reef tank. Right now I have a 90 gallon tank with a 30 gallon sump. I got the tank, sump, return pump, and skimmer all used for a great deal. The skimmer is a RedSea Berlin 2 skimmer and the pump is a aquaglobe 6000 (900 GPH). I am going to up-grade both in the future but they are really good for now. Right I have 80 Lbs of dry dock soaking in water to leech out any nitrates or phosphates that may be in there. Going to let them soak in the tank for a few weeks just to be safe. Once that is done I will be adding about 30 to 40 lbs of live rock to cycle the tank.


So far here’s what I have:
Three tunzie power heads
Red Sea – Berlin 2 skimmer
Vertex UF-15 reactor with a Marineland utility pump (planning to use bio pellets)
A aquaglobe 600 wet/dry return pump (900 GPH)
Two 300 watt heaters
80 lbs of dry rock


Things I have left to get:
30 to 40 lbs of live uncured rock to cycle the tank
A T5 6 or 8 bulb fixture
A new skimmer, a vertex 180
A new return pump, a quite one 5000 or 6000

For stocking here’s what I’m thinking:
4 emerald crabs
Lots – snails
2 cleaner shrimp
(I will up-date the clean-up crew as my tank matures)
Two clowns
One fox face
One yellow tang
Two lawnmower blennies

I will post more up-dates as I progress.

Cheers.


















 

dgk9723

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 12, 2009
327
0
0
Murylend
thats sick man, i also got into salt water about a week ago and went out and got a 20g and im really into it now. but tank looks awsome im gonna keep an eye on how this turns out
 

Cliff519

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 13, 2010
363
0
0
Canada
Thanks guys. :headbang2

The salt water LFS were I live is getting in a new shipment of live uncured rock sometime this week. I going to get about 30 lbs of it and start cycling the tank next weekend at the latest.

Hopefully it won’t take too long to cycle the tank.
 

FLESHY

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2006
5,542
20
92
Central Wisconsin
Everything sounds in order...I havent heard the best thinks about the RedSea skimmers, but you are planning an upgrade anyways.

I would also recommend MH over t8 bulbs.

Foxface AND a tang might cause issues together.

This being said...when the time comes for corals, I do pretty good deals on frags...even when you bring shipping into account.

Cant wait to see the fresh rock when you get it in, glad to hear that you have chosen a fishless cycle.
 

Cliff519

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 13, 2010
363
0
0
Canada
Thanks for the heads-up on the foxface and tang.

Thanks for the advise on the MH lighting as well. I'm actually looking for a good deal on one. Hopefully I can find something good on E-bay

Thanks again.
 

FLESHY

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2006
5,542
20
92
Central Wisconsin
Cliff519;4575223; said:
Thanks for the heads-up on the foxface and tang.

Thanks for the advise on the MH lighting as well. I'm actually looking for a good deal on one. Hopefully I can find something good on E-bay

Thanks again.
www.aquatraders.com

I have used two different fixtures from this website, both PC...I know of two other guys running their T5 and another running their PC. I also know two people reefing with their metal halides. No complaints so far. Worst part is that they only give 30 days guarantee on their products.
 

Cliff519

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 13, 2010
363
0
0
Canada
FLESHY;4576996; said:
www.aquatraders.com

I have used two different fixtures from this website, both PC...I know of two other guys running their T5 and another running their PC. I also know two people reefing with their metal halides. No complaints so far. Worst part is that they only give 30 days guarantee on their products.
I will check them out.

Thank you very much for your help :headbang2
 

Cliff519

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 13, 2010
363
0
0
Canada
I picked up a reactor this weekend along with a small utility pump for it. I bought a Vertex UF-15. Good for tank up to 200 gallons depending on the media you use. It has a 4” diameter and 15” height container to hold the media. I went with this one just in case I ever want to up grade to a larger tank I won’t have to get a bigger reactor. I didn’t like the fittings that came with the unit so I used some of my own for a little different set-up. I set it up and tested it today, everything seams to work fine, no leaks








I know it may look a little different, but |I want it at the end of my tank with the line running near the edges of the sump for easy removal when I need to add or replace media in the reactor

I’m planning on using biobeeds to help control phosphates. It seems to be a more natural way as compared to other purely chemical based media.

When I was at the SW LFS, I found out they are getting a shipment of live, uncured, rock. So I’ve decided to get some of that rock when it arrives and start cycling the tank. I wasn’t plan to cycle the tank until after X-mass, but I can’t let a opportunity to use uncured rock pass me by. From what I’ve been able to research, uncured live rock is better for cycling ( when you are using at least 20% live rock to cycle) as there will be more die off from uncured rock which will lead to a higher BB colony to start with. I’ve been mixing up RO water all day today. Got most of the tank full now. With any luck I’ll be able to post pics next weekend with the live rock in it.

Labnjab, the whole time I was making up RO water I kept thinking to myself, “I wish I already had a storage tank of ready to go water already set-up like Labnjab suggested”. I’m still going to set one up, just didn’t plan on cycling the tank next week so I put it off .
 

Cliff519

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 13, 2010
363
0
0
Canada
I just realized I forgot to post info on the stand that I built.

I spent quite a lot of time looking at stand designs. I made a removable panel on one end of the stand so I can remove the sump when/if needed. The back and front are close enough to being exactly the same, so if we move and I need the panel on the other side, all I have to do is move the doors to the other side. I have enough room inside the stand to up-grade to a 55 gallon sump, should I feel the need for a bigger sump in the future (who am I kidding, I mean when I up-grade the sump). I also made the stand as high as I felt practical to allow for a bigger skimmer and a light should I need them in the future. My wife and I could not decide on wither we wanted to finish the stand with a medium brown stain (like the rest of our furniture) or paint it black. I ended up using a black stain instead. It’s hard to tell from the photos, but it looks like black paint and you can still see almost all of the grain in the wood. I still have a little work left to complete on the stand. I need a little trim work on the top around the tank to give it a more finished look. We really like the look of it in the room. The black makes it stand out and it looks good.

Sinse this pic was taken, I finished and installed the doors

The first pic really shows the return line for my sump, I covered it in dry rock so it won't stick out as much



 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store