25 gallon Reef tank

[RcManChild]

Hi there,

I tried salt water once before and I will admit I failed. No one told me to use RO/DI water....

So after a ton of research and reading through old forums I have plenty of questions.

I am looking at getting a 25 gallon NUVO lagoon. I do not want too many fish, maybe 2 Clown fish a gamma and maybe a goby.

I wish to start the tank as a tank with fish and live rock such that I will eventually be able to add coral(in a year or so). While on the topic, LED or florescent? I have heard that corals do not "thrive" under LED but rather "survive." If I can get a deal on some sort of system I will probably
try to purchase one or the other.

Since I do not have corals right away I do not find a need for specialty lighting until that time. I will just need some sort of light for 10 hours a day. While on the topic, LED or florescent? I have heard that corals do not "thrive" under LED but rather "survive." If I can get a deal on some sort of system I will probably try to purchase one or the other.

Next is a sump. I have read that you need one that that you don't. I would not mind having one as it turns your 25 gallon tank into 35 gallons or so and helps just stabilize everything. I want a sump to be able to add volume to the system. I have heard some say to add live rock and live sand in the sump to help, I have heard others say not too so which do you do?


Heater/Chiller... I live in Canada, winters get cold, summers get hot. We do not have ac in the house but have heat. We keep the house at 68 in the winter and whatever it is outside in the summer. Get both to be safe?

Protein skimmer, a absolute must. Get one that hangs on to side of the tank? or put it in the sump and hide it a little better?

power heads or wave maker... Seem to be attached on the tank already.

Lastly, what do people do when the power goes out for power back up?

Thanks
everyone!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Hi there,

I tried salt water once before and I will admit I failed. No one told me to use RO/DI water.... Do you have one now, or plan on getting one soon?

So after a ton of research and reading through old forums I have plenty of questions. That's a good thing. always ask questions, it's the easiest way to learn. Experience is a way to learn as well, but experience isn't always a happy thing!

I am looking at getting a 25 gallon NUVO lagoon. I do not want too many fish, maybe 2 Clown fish a gamma and maybe a goby. OK.

I wish to start the tank as a tank with fish and live rock such that I will eventually be able to add coral(in a year or so). While on the topic, LED or florescent? Either one works just fine. I have heard that corals do not "thrive" under LED but rather "survive." Maybe 4 or 5 years ago, but today's leds can grow healthy coral as well as t5 or MH. Just make sure whatever you buy is for a reef. There are fixtures for sale that are really for fish only tanks and very shallow tanks. When you find something you like, post a question here about it and you'll see what people think of it. If I can get a deal on some sort of system I will probably try to purchase one or the other.

Next is a sump. I have read that you need one that that you don't. I would not mind having one as it turns your 25 gallon tank into 35 gallons or so and helps just stabilize everything. I want a sump to be able to add volume to the system. I have heard some say to add live rock and live sand in the sump to help, I have heard others say not too so which do you do? Again, either way works, but with a small 10g or even 20g sump, you really don't have much room to do anything exotic. Is your skimmer going in the sump? Live rock can be helpful. Sand in the sump... no way! If you have a refugium and do macro algae, maybe some sand there, but it's not very useful and even less so in a small refugium. I just set up a new tank system from CadLight that came with a stand and a sump. But it's too small for a refugium, so I made a 50g (2'x2'x20") tank and set it up next to the display tank as a display refugium.


Heater/Chiller... I live in Canada, winters get cold, summers get hot. We do not have ac in the house but have heat. We keep the house at 68 in the winter and whatever it is outside in the summer. Get both to be safe? Heaters for your tank in the winter at 68 will be an absolute necessity. With no A/C just how hot does it get (you didn't say what part of Canada you are in). It's hard to say if you'll need a chiller or not. Pumps and lights can add anywhere from just a little heat into the water (DC pump, external pump, led lights) to too much heat (older style pumps, MH lights). But with a smaller amount of water (25g or 35g) it will heat up faster than a big tank would (125g or 200g).

Protein skimmer, a absolute must. Get one that hangs on to side of the tank? or put it in the sump and hide it a little better? On a small system it's not an absolute must. You can keep water parameters in line with REGULAR water changes every week. But if you can get a skimmer, it would be better for the system. HOB is OK if you get a good one. In the sump is probably better, but will you have enough room?

power heads or wave maker... Seem to be attached on the tank already. Water movement (flow) is a must. And the more random you can make it (i.e. wavemakers) the better IMHO.

Lastly, what do people do when the power goes out for power back up? There are battery operated air pumps that don't run until they sense that the power has gone off (they do plug into an outlet). That's an OK short term fix, say a few hours. If you have potential long term power outages like I have here in Florida due to hurricanes, get a small generator. For less than $600 I can keep my tanks, refrigerator, TV and a couple of fans running.

Thanks
everyone!

 

[NS Mike D]

reputable LED manufacturers now publish PAR mappings to take the guesswork out of LEDs. I can't stress enough the importance of knowing how much PAR is reaching the different areas of your tank when it comes to corals. Spectrums/temp (wavelengths) will play a huge role in the colors you will see. Most aquarists will prefer a blend of spectrums resulting in a temp of 10k-15K to balance color and growth. 6500k will result in very healthy corals but brownish hues from the zooxenthalae, so we tend to up the actinic spectrums (blues up to 25k) to limit browning and make the corals pop.

Some basic less expensive LEDs come with presets that let you control on/off/dim of day (white) and night (blue) while high end models let you control every spectrum and let you dial in very specific settings. Both are fine, it's a matter of your personal budget and preference.

 

[Sly1461]

I'm running a 30g currently without a sump and wish I had started with one, it enables you to keep your display tank looking less cluttered which is a big plus. Also from what I can see the HoB skimmers are good but not nearly as effective as one you can install in a sump.

 

[RcManChild]

Hi there,

I tried salt water once before and I will admit I failed. No one told me to use RO/DI water.... Do you have one now, or plan on getting one soon?Not going to go out and buy everything tomorrow, this is more of a "winter" project.

So after a ton of research and reading through old forums I have plenty of questions. That's a good thing. always ask questions, it's the easiest way to learn. Experience is a way to learn as well, but experience isn't always a happy thing!

I am looking at getting a 25 gallon NUVO lagoon. I do not want too many fish, maybe 2 Clown fish a gamma and maybe a goby. OK.

I wish to start the tank as a tank with fish and live rock such that I will eventually be able to add coral(in a year or so). While on the topic, LED or florescent? Either one works just fine. I have heard that corals do not "thrive" under LED but rather "survive." Maybe 4 or 5 years ago, but today's leds can grow healthy coral as well as t5 or MH. Just make sure whatever you buy is for a reef. There are fixtures for sale that are really for fish only tanks and very shallow tanks. When you find something you like, post a question here about it and you'll see what people think of it. If I can get a deal on some sort of system I will probably try to purchase one or the other.

Next is a sump. I have read that you need one that that you don't. I would not mind having one as it turns your 25 gallon tank into 35 gallons or so and helps just stabilize everything. I want a sump to be able to add volume to the system. I have heard some say to add live rock and live sand in the sump to help, I have heard others say not too so which do you do? Again, either way works, but with a small 10g or even 20g sump, you really don't have much room to do anything exotic. Is your skimmer going in the sump? Live rock can be helpful. Sand in the sump... no way! If you have a refugium and do macro algae, maybe some sand there, but it's not very useful and even less so in a small refugium. I just set up a new tank system from CadLight that came with a stand and a sump. But it's too small for a refugium, so I made a 50g (2'x2'x20") tank and set it up next to the display tank as a display refugium. If I get a sump I would put the skimmer in the sump. I would start with the basic sump and if there was room eventually add some live rock.


Heater/Chiller... I live in Canada, winters get cold, summers get hot. We do not have ac in the house but have heat. We keep the house at 68 in the winter and whatever it is outside in the summer. Get both to be safe? Heaters for your tank in the winter at 68 will be an absolute necessity. With no A/C just how hot does it get (you didn't say what part of Canada you are in). It's hard to say if you'll need a chiller or not. Pumps and lights can add anywhere from just a little heat into the water (DC pump, external pump, led lights) to too much heat (older style pumps, MH lights). But with a smaller amount of water (25g or 35g) it will heat up faster than a big tank would (125g or 200g). For the cost I would probably get both. Can this go in the sump or because og the volume of water it would not be as effective. Trying to make this as clean as possible.

Protein skimmer, a absolute must. Get one that hangs on to side of the tank? or put it in the sump and hide it a little better? On a small system it's not an absolute must. You can keep water parameters in line with REGULAR water changes every week. But if you can get a skimmer, it would be better for the system. HOB is OK if you get a good one. In the sump is probably better, but will you have enough room? I will have to plan everything out from the local hobby shop this weekend. I will try to make sure there is room in the cabinet. If not I can make one out of plexiglass.

power heads or wave maker... Seem to be attached on the tank already. Water movement (flow) is a must. And the more random you can make it (i.e. wavemakers) the better IMHO.

Lastly, what do people do when the power goes out for power back up? There are battery operated air pumps that don't run until they sense that the power has gone off (they do plug into an outlet). That's an OK short term fix, say a few hours. If you have potential long term power outages like I have here in Florida due to hurricanes, get a small generator. For less than $600 I can keep my tanks, refrigerator, TV and a couple of fans running.Problem with where I am who knows. Living at my parents house last 20 years we really only have power outages for 12 hours or so. This is not to say that one could be out longer.

Thanks
everyone!

 

[RcManChild]

So after I went to the LFS they had a Nuvo 20 gallon as a starter kit...

So came with:
Lights
Tank
2 sock filters
protein skimmer
1 power head
heater
salt for a 20 gallon tank
20 lb of sand
Salinity gauge - Upgraded to refractometer for another $40 CAD based off of what I read here and from what the guy told me.
Temperature
Salt water test kit (ammonia, Nirite, Nitrate and PH) - should I be worried about testing for anything else here?
A whole whack of chemicals (tap water treatment, Aquarium set-up and maintenance, Tank buster, Reef-Fx) and some purple tech. Anything else that I should have on hand? I did get extra salt.

I setup the tank yesterday, so used tap water with the conditioner and let cycle for 1 hour. Added all the salt and let cycle for 24 hours.

That brings us to today we added 15 lbs of live rock, 10 cured, 5 uncured. then the bag of sand.

Levels after 6 hours of adding the sand and live rock are at:
1.03 for salt - Little high will take care of next tank water change.
0 Nitrite
0 nitrate
and 0.25 ammonia

temp is at 80 degrees ferenheit

so ammonia seems to be high which is good in a way aka for cycling the tank?

At the LFS they had a tank with corals, the light on the tank was so blue it looked AMAZING. However the light they were using was about $1000 CAD, more than the setup is worth. Any advice out there on some different lights maybe a bit cheaper to get that same effect? I think the one in the store was a Eurotech AR 30 watt pro... Is this "Overkill" for a tank like this or would it truly help?

Anything you want to suggest please do so, I want this tank to succeed and thrive!

Needless to say I have a tank it is cycling as we speak and hope to add fish in 2 - 3 weeks...

 

[zsuman101]

using tapwater is a no no, it will cause trouble pretty quick, if it were me i would drain the tank and start over now before you start adding animals ,live rock,etc. get an r/o unit otherwise your reefing expierience will be troublesome. and with cost of quality live rock and corals, it will be expensive as well. also your sg should be 1.024 - 1.026 zsu

 

[rtparty]

While tap water isn't the best, you don't need to freak out and do anything drastic right now. Your tank needs a few weeks to cycle and allow die off to decay from the live rock. Just don't continue using tap water, even with the conditioner. Find a source of good RO/DI and do a 50% water change. Then another in a week and so on. The solution to pollution is dilution.

I obviously don't know your LFS but in my experience almost none of them are worth a lick. They are there to sell you stuff and make money. They usually don't care about your tank or how successful you are. Again, I don't know your store and maybe they're one of the good stores out there. I've just learned I don't ever trust a LFS's advice.

Go on YouTube and find BulkReefSupply's channel. They have a 52 week series that follows the setup of their 160g tank. At a minimum watch weeks 1-13 but I'd watch almost all of them. Is a lot of effort and time to watch that many? You bet ya! However, if you want to be successful in this hobby, you HAVE TO understand those concepts in the videos

 

[RcManChild]

I am unsure on this one. They would have made more money off of me buying a RO/DI unit then selling me the chemicals that come with the starter kit.

Alright so, What RO/DI unit should I buy? they seem to be about $300 dollars here.
If i go get RO/DI water once a week it's about $15 in gas plus about an hour of my time depending on traffic and if there's no line in the store.

So after twenty trips I could have paid for a RO/DI filtration system.

 

[RcManChild]

I am trying to decide which route I should go here with this.

The LFS I talked to said they use the tap water conditioner for their entire system and have not had any issues.

Now keep in mind I do live in Canada close to the mountains, So the tap water here is pretty "natural," the city does not add fluoride or anything weird like that.

The LFS was not opposed to me purchasing a RO/DI unit but said I would need to buy more chemicals for making water suitable for the fish.


So my question is what chemicals would I ultimately need?
What other testing equipment should I get? right now all I am testing for is Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, and PH...

 

[rtparty]

I am trying to decide which route I should go here with this.

The LFS I talked to said they use the tap water conditioner for their entire system and have not had any issues.

Now keep in mind I do live in Canada close to the mountains, So the tap water here is pretty "natural," the city does not add fluoride or anything weird like that.

The LFS was not opposed to me purchasing a RO/DI unit but said I would need to buy more chemicals for making water suitable for the fish.


So my question is what chemicals would I ultimately need?
What other testing equipment should I get? right now all I am testing for is Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, and PH...

I don't know what chemicals you would need. RO/DI is pure water and you get all the stuff you need from some good salt. No matter which way you go, you will have to dose alkalinity, calcium and usually some magnesium. You will need to test those three at some point but not for a while.

If you feel your tap water is clean enough, use it. I would try to find some type of data sheet that shows what exactly is in your tap water.

 

[Betaktical]

Don't do anything except for RO/DI water. If you are putting the money into growing a good tank u can spend an extra $10 a week to get 5gal bottles of RO or 300 to get ur own system. Tap water is a never never ever ever unless extreme emergency. Do u drink tap water? I know your up the mountains but what about the runoff and chemicals from the ground? Any farms for gardens around you?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Corona007]

I use the ro buddy for the last 1.5 years and invested in a Tds meter.
Had to replace the di resin once when I noticed 0005 on my Tds, back to 0000
its worked for me anyway

 

[RcManChild]

By no means am i worried about the cost, it is more which is convienent.

Here is a link to our water report:
http://www.calgary.ca/UEP/Water/Pag...-quality-report/Water-Quality-Parameters.aspx - I Have little no understanding of what this means for the fish.

Any recommendations for a RO/DI unit based on those in the chart that you see?

I would like something like this if i get one(http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-6-stage-universal-water-saver-plus-ro-di-system-150gpd.html) , but do I need a 5 stage? or will 3 be okay?

I am using FLUVAL SEA... Is this a yay, nay or meh?