Okay guys, this is my first experience with a saltwater aquarium. I've had freshwater aquariums before, but didn't realize how much more is involved in the proper maintenance of a saltwater tank. I haven't read or learned this much since I was in school. Whew!
Here's a rundown of what I've got and what I've done so far. I would love to hear any suggestions or recommendations you guys may have.
So.........here is my setup:
I've had it up and running at my house for about six weeks now. I bought it from a friend who was using it as his quarantine tank for about the last four years.
So for $350, he gave me:
65 gallon tank, 60 pounds of live rock, a hood (two 96 W actinic bulbs, two 96 W 10,000 K bulbs, and a 250 W Metal halide bulb along with the ballast), two 32 gallon brute trash cans, a Rena Filstar XP canister filter, a 150 W heater, two 250 W heaters, about 25 pounds of Instant Ocean, a refractometer, a fish trap, fish food, API master test kit, small pump, powerhead, magnet cleaner, and a tomato clown fish. Plus all the labor transferring the set up from his house to my house.
After some exhaustive research, I ditched the canister filter and added a 10 gallon sump. (which is the biggest one I could squeeze under the stand)
The tank is not drilled so I added a life reef overflow box.
I put an Eheim 1260 return pump in the sump. For now, the plumbing is simple hoses. I plan on building better plumbing with PVC and ball valves.
Got an RO/DI unit and installed it under the kitchen sink.
I got 50 pounds of Marcorocks Key Largo dry rock. I've read that dry rock can leach out phosphates, so I've had them soaking in RO/DI water for the past three days.
I was going to let these soak for awhile, then take a water sample to The Coral Reef and get it checked for phosphates. How long do you guys think I should let these rocks soak to see if they are leaching out phosphates?
Replaced the old crushed coral substrate with 60 lbs half-and-half mix of Tropic Eden reef flakes and mini flakes.
I've also put some failsafes in place. In case of a siphon break in the overflow box, I put an auto top off unit in the tank that will shut the return pump off. And in case of a power outage, there is a hole in the return spray bar about an inch deep to break the return line siphon into the sump.
I am having one problem with the failsafes right now. When I break the siphon on the overflow box, the water level rises in the tank, trips the auto top off mechanism, and turns off the return pump. However, the water then siphons back into the sump via the return line. Of course this lowers the water in the tank, trips the auto top off mechanism the other way, and turns the pump back on.
So it keeps cycling like this and the pump turns off and on over and over and over. I think maybe a check valve on the return line might solve this problem. What do you think?
And lastly, the tank has had extremely high nitrates since the day we moved it to my house. The reading has been off the color chart (darker than 160). I have removed the canister filter, removed the old crushed coral substrate, and have been doing 5 gallon water changes once a week. But the nitrate levels are still through the roof. Ammonia and nitrites are negative.
Do you guys have any suggestions that could help me out?
Sorry for such a long winded post, but I appreciate you reading through it. Thanks.
Went back a couple of summers ago. Some great diving around Desacheo island.
