Converting to a reef... Can I do it?

Tswifty

Tswifty

New member
I've been in the saltwater hobby for almost 2 years now. That being said I have only kept a 55g FOWLR tank. I recently was lucky enough to have a 120g tank (BRAND NEW!!!) "fall" into my lap for $50. I will be transferring over my current fish, and adding some larger fish :D into this tank soon, and want to try my hand at reefkeeping with the 55. However, I understand this is going to be a lot more difficult, and want to make sure I have all my bases covered before "diving in."


Here's what my 55gallon currently consists of:


- 48" Finnex Power Compact Lighting 4x65w

- 20 gallon long tank converted into sump/refugium (not hooked up yet)

- Sump will be fed by siphon style overflow box 1" bulkhead (300gph I think... not hooked up yet... it's supposed to arrive next week)

- ViaAqua 2300 submersible return pump

- Seaclone protein skimmer (I know... recommendations please)currently hang-on, but I created a compartment to run it in my sump once it is up and running.

- 2 submersible heaters. Not sure of wattage, but one is enough, the second I was recommended to add as a precaution if the other should somehow fail.

- Around 150lbs of deep purple live rock available (100lbs currently in 55g) The rest is currently in a 20 gallon tank.

- Approx 2-3" Argamax live sand bed

- Various powerheads available for use too.


CAN I DO THIS??? CAN I AT LEAST START WITH WHAT I HAVE??? WHAT DO I NEED TO ADD OR UPGRADE???


As I said before I do not know much about the hardware that is needed fo reefkeeping, and any and all advice will be greatly appreciated. Also, any recommendations for starter coral would also be of great help.

Thanks!
 
Here's a picture of what I'm working with... It's a little cloudy because I just rearranged the rock structure.


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/1/165449Small_File_Tank.jpg


I'm just worried that I don't have the right kind of filtration, or lighting to move to a reef setup

As of now I'm running the commision version... a.k.a. what was sold to me in the store. I've had my fish for 2 years without any loss, so I guess it works.

2 AquaClear 50 Hang-on filters
Seaclone 150 Hang-on protein skimmer
AquaClear 70 powerhead in left corner
AquaClear 20 powerhead in right corner
AquaClear 20 powerhead in center (used to feed my UV Sterilizer, but I need to get a new bulb for it)

Basically I have a lot of junk hanging in my tank, and can't wait to get rid of it.

Please advise
 
Well, Im no pro but I run my 75g softy tank with similar setup to what you have, I dont have a sump though. I don't see why you couldn't start doing corals with that set up. The first thing I see you will need to upgrade is your lighting, not gonna grow much under that.
 
Well, Im no pro but I run my 75g softy tank with similar setup to what you have, I dont have a sump though. I don't see why you couldn't start doing corals with that set up. The first thing I see you will need to upgrade is your lighting, not gonna grow much under that.

As far as filtration goes in a reef tank, all you need is your natural filtration (live rock, and deep sand bed if you want one) and a good skimmer. Also, what height is the 55g? Depending on that, you may be able to get away with 2x 150w MH lights, maby 250w though. Someone more experienced will answer this for you Im sure. You want to figure (for SPS, if your just doing softies they need much less) probably around 2000ish GPH of flow in your tank, this is a ok guide, but in reality you just want to make sure there are absolutely no "dead" spots in your tank. Otherwise, just take your time, start with a few frags, and stick with it. Best of luck!
 
ok first get rid of the seaclone and get a coralife super skimmer for the same price, maybe 15-25 more if u buy it at a lfs! that will be the best investment u will ever make or go all out and buy a high end skimmer!
 
Octopus would do you very well for a skimmer. OCTO NW110 or NW150.

Other than that, the only other concern I see is the lighting. You ought to be able to keep a lot of softies, but anything past even certain zoas will cry for light.
 
Yup lights, I started with pc's and blew alot of money on corals, listening to the lfs. Get a halide light... Of course some people will disagree and say t-5's are good. Could be, I just never had them...
 
The 55g is the same dimensions as the 75 just not as wide... It's 48"x13"x20"

Does anyone know the type of wattage I'm supposed to have to grow corals, isn't there a formula or something like a certain # of watts per gallon?

Also I read on another post, will I need actinic supplementation with MH?
 
Tswifty8; Your lights are fine! I have same light odessy 4 65 watt on 75 gal. I have lps. T. corsea , softys. All doing fine. live lights a lone for now. That protein skimmer most go first. Get best you can aford. NO mh lights, not needed yet. Down road t5`s. NOT the coralife skimmer it sux`s big time! Octopus ok . Korali 4#`s. , for movement. Tswifty8 alot alot of corals can be keepedt with that light!
 
Corals aren't that hard. Your lighting is ok for most softies; if you want to go to lps stony, still probably ok, though T5 might be a better bet: mh if you're going for clams or sps, and frankly I don't recommend sps to a coral beginner, with the exception of montiporas, which will do fine under T5, possibly PCs.

If you have a filter, ditch it in favor of totally live rock/sand/skimmer. The nitrate spikes aren't well-tolerated by corals.

Outside of that, get a logbook: you want to dose "into" the trend, not play catchup after the reading has entered 'bad' territory. IE, if your alk is dropping, do a little dose to get it back to center of 'good', not a dose to try to get it back into 'barely ok' territory. How do you tell? You test often. If Wednesday, alk was 8.3, and Friday it was 8.3 and Sunday it was 8.2, dose a little extra, and you haven't let it hit 8.0.

With corals, you test daily until you establish your tank's 'draw' on doses. You dose calcium, and you dose alkalinity buffer---which can't be added together. You discover your tank a) uses 1/2 tsp buffer daily to keep at 8.3. You discover your tank b)evaporates a gallon a day. You discover your tank c) uses 1 tsp calcium daily. [That's a growing-sps reading]. You CAN put buffer in your topoff water, 1/2 tsp per gallon, and that will handle one half of your dosing. You then only have to add the calcium...which you can't hand-add along with the buffer, because it precips out as a snowstorm. One advantage of buffer in the autotopoff is that there's never enough going on at a time to cause a snowstorm.

OR you can add kalkwasser, which does both together. There are a lot of threads about that.

My advice is, start out hand-dosing and testing often, and once you know how your tank behaves and what its 'draw' is of both elements, then you can make an intelligent decision about automating your dosing process.

The simple truth is---either softies or lps corals are easy IF, IF, IF you test often, keep a log, and learn your tank's 'draw' well enough to keep the chemistry steady within the acceptable range.

You have, additionally, to keep 0 nitrate, 0 ammonia, [softies tolerate a tiny bit, lps a tiny bit, sps none.] And you have to keep your phosphate down: [here's where a refugium is a big help: phosphate is the hidden problem in a lot of tanks, because if there's algae, you have phosphate, and it doesn't show on tests. Refugium is guaranteed to get it out of your display, if you get it growing.]

HTH.
 
Thank you everyone for your posts. I am new to RC and couldn't figure out how to find my way back to the thread. Anyway, I am back. haha.

I've heard some things about Kalk, isn't there a way I can set up and autmatic drip into my sump for this?

Here's pictures (no links this time, another new thing I learned), of what I'm working with.


165449Small_File_Tank.jpg


16544920g_sump.jpg



Also, I'm picking up a Skimmer hopefully before this weekend, and attending my first MACNA over the weekend. My parents live right down the road from where it's being held. Can't think of a better time to visit the folks! haha.
 
Does anyone have any information on the Kalkwasser drip?

Also, why do I see CO2 setups or "Ozone?" (I think that is what it is called) on some reef setups? What does this do? Is this something I should invest in?

Also what kind of test kits do you recommend?
I just have the ones from the LFS.

Thanks!
 
Update as of 9/2/2007

Moved the tank downstairs... $600 of flood damage later... Welcome to HOB Overflows....

Reaquascaped for adding corals

Sold the Passer Angel and donated the Snowflake Moray Eel

Sump/refugium installed

AquaC Ev-90 protein skimmer on the way

2 Aquaclear 70 powerheads and 2 Aquaclear 20 poweheads (hidden) added for flow

165449DSC00189.jpg
 
I'm not so sure that trigger is going to be your favorite fish when he starts ripping into your new tank inhabitants. from fishbase: Feed on algae, detritus, mollusks, crustaceans, worms, sea urchins, fishes, corals, tunicates, forams, and eggs
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=5839

i would strongly reconsider having that fish in a reef tank. everything else has been said already. best of luck to you!
 
yeah he's going as soon as i get my skimmer installed... He's the fish I've had the longest... just saving him for last.

Thanks though.
 
Ok, I think I'm going to leave my lights alone for now, and now that I have my skimmer, focus on flow through the aquarium.

I have my 2 return lines, 2 AquaClear 70's, and 2 AquaClear 20's. Is this enough flow?

Are these good enough, or would corals do better with something else? I read that the concentrated high flow will stress some corals, is this true?

loosecannon recommended Koralia #4's for flow. Are these good, anyone have experience with these? I saw Tunze are pretty expensive. These seam like a decent compromise. If I do go with Koralia #4's, how many would I need, and where should they be placed in the aquarium?

Thanks!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10722795#post10722795 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tswifty8
The 55g is the same dimensions as the 75 just not as wide... It's 48"x13"x20"

Does anyone know the type of wattage I'm supposed to have to grow corals, isn't there a formula or something like a certain # of watts per gallon?

Also I read on another post, will I need actinic supplementation with MH?
Click to expand...
i was told at least 4 watts per gallon for lighting.
 
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