From FOWLR to Reef tank... almost there. Any advice?

[JeffersonReef]

Hello all. With a lot of help and advice from RC members, I am nearly done converting my 125g FOWLR to a reef tank. There are still some things that I am not clear on. Here are my questions (Any advice is greatly appreciated!):

1) I just upgrated to a 60" hamilton lighting fixture (2 250w MH and 2 96w PC). My tank is 60" long and either 24" or 18" deep (cant recall which). Is this enough lighting, or should I supplement with additional PCs or VHO? I initially will keep clams, anemones, and LPS coral. Eventually, however, i want to keep SPS.

2) I now have about 150-160lbs of LR in my display. My sandbed is about 5" deep (3" or so of grade 3 and small crushed coral, 2" of sugar sized). What can I do (if anything) to ensure that denitrifying bacteria will accumulate? I have had an ongoing problem with nitrates that I am controlling with frequent water changes. I also added 2 fuges. I have a berlin skimmer, and am using a sump. I am not using any filters or pads... though I am using 2 filter socks that I clean weekly. What else can I do to ensure that Nitrates are under control? I would LOVE to do fewer or smaller water changes!

3) ADDITIVES!!!! What do I NEED to add, and how often? There are a billion products out there... but what are REALLY beneficial and worthwhile for a reef ecosystem?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide!

 

[Charles99]

start reading RC!! which you have been doing.

Was your sand bed used in your FOWLR? If so, your bacteria count should be up there. As far as nitrates go, it could be in your sand bed. Try cleaning the sand bed w/ a siphon tube.

I far a slighting goes, you should be OK. Even @ 24" deep, a 250W MH should be enough light @ the bottom. Watch your LPS and softies. The intensity of the light may "burn" them, so place them low at first.

I am sure other will pitch in soon enough.

 

[HenryTran]

your lighting should be more than enough. water changes will help with the nitrate, i would also wet skim. with the sand for a fish only setup, make sure copper was not used.

as far as additives; calcium,magnesium and water changes will replenish whatever else. take a look in the reef chemistry forum, lots of great info.

 

[®eefer]

Make sure you get a bunch of cheato growing in your fuges, start with a couple of softball sized clumps and let it grow out...you really cant have enough of the stuff and it will help with nitrates a TON, not to mention a lot of other benefits. If you have nitrate problems, maybe you are possibly overfeeding?
As far as additives go, dont buy anything other than calcium, iodine, stronium & magnesium, lots of snake oil out there that is a total waste of money. A CA reactor is really your best bet if trying to go reef, everything says much more stable (PH, CA, MG & ALK levels).
Another thing you might want to get is a refractometer. Salinity in a FOWLR can be kept pretty low, for reef you want it a little higher (about 1.024). Of course an automated topoff switch comes in handy when stablizing salinity.

Sounds like you're on a pretty good path so far, your lighting sounds excellent.

 

[EmDy]

I agree on the lighting, it should me more than fine. check your water often and make sure it's stable. now work on the flow.

 

[JeffersonReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7958569#post7958569 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hitekfreak
I agree on the lighting, it should me more than fine. check your water often and make sure it's stable. now work on the flow.

Hitek, its funny you said to keep an eye on flow... remember I almost bought that mag 24 from you? LOL. That would have blown the fish right out of my tank! I ended up buying a mag 12. I may add another mag 7 for a closed loop.... im gonna wait and see how the 12 does, and see if I need to step it up a bit. I really dont know why more people dont use the closed loop... it seems to be a lot easier to set up that people have made it sound!

 

[JeffersonReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7958422#post7958422 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cooltank
Make sure you get a bunch of cheato growing in your fuges, start with a couple of softball sized clumps and let it grow out...you really cant have enough of the stuff and it will help with nitrates a TON, not to mention a lot of other benefits. If you have nitrate problems, maybe you are possibly overfeeding?
As far as additives go, dont buy anything other than calcium, iodine, stronium & magnesium, lots of snake oil out there that is a total waste of money. A CA reactor is really your best bet if trying to go reef, everything says much more stable (PH, CA, MG & ALK levels).
Another thing you might want to get is a refractometer. Salinity in a FOWLR can be kept pretty low, for reef you want it a little higher (about 1.024). Of course an automated topoff switch comes in handy when stablizing salinity.

Sounds like you're on a pretty good path so far, your lighting sounds excellent.

Cooltank, do you think that Kalkwasser is worth all the hype? Is that the best way to keep calcium levels stable (other than a calcium reactor)?

 

[EmDy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7959347#post7959347 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by antjefferson
Hitek, its funny you said to keep an eye on flow... remember I almost bought that mag 24 from you? LOL. That would have blown the fish right out of my tank! I ended up buying a mag 12. I may add another mag 7 for a closed loop.... im gonna wait and see how the 12 does, and see if I need to step it up a bit. I really dont know why more people dont use the closed loop... it seems to be a lot easier to set up that people have made it sound!

oh, I remember you now. if you are using the mag7 and scwd then I would spend the money on 2 Seios 1100. I have 115 with 1K return, wavebox, Seios 1100 and Sequence 4200 closeloop and still feel not enough in my tank.

 

[®eefer]

I've had both a kalk reactor and now just a CA reactor. Kalk is great if you have both the time & patience to drip daily or you have a reactor. For me, it was less of a headache to set the CA reactor to my controller and let it drip based on PH. Kalk got my PH and Alk too high and seemed harder to dose in proper increments & consistently.

Overall they both do about the same thing, provide calcium & alk, but I think most people here will agree that a CA reactor is much easier in the long run. I personally try to automate everything on my tank so I have minimal daily/weekly work to do on it.

 

[chem-e]

I'd suggest easing in with lighting. When I upgraded my lights I had a big algae bloom. I'm guessing that it was the lights because that's the only thing I had changed. I don't know what kind of lighting you used to have, but maybe start with just PC and slowly add the MH into the mix.

Also, start buying more test kits so you can find out what your levels are currently so you can make the nessesary adjustments before adding corals.

 

[Frankysreef]

another vote for calc reactor. It also adds other minerals other than calcium... So you really never need to dose anything.... Get a big one though....

Min 24 inch tall 8 inch tube.

Your lights should be fine, set it up with two reef outcroppings right under the lights then you can set it up with high light sps, and place other corals down the hills....

Tables grow great on the edges...also.

I've always hated the big rockpile look.

 

[JeffersonReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7966527#post7966527 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Frankysreef
another vote for calc reactor. It also adds other minerals other than calcium... So you really never need to dose anything.... Get a big one though....

Min 24 inch tall 8 inch tube.

Your lights should be fine, set it up with two reef outcroppings right under the lights then you can set it up with high light sps, and place other corals down the hills....

Tables grow great on the edges...also.

I've always hated the big rockpile look.

Franky... that is a great idea! (reef outcroppings right under the lights).... I just redid my rock-scape (added like 90lbs of LR).... I will make that change tonight! Also, I think I am gonna get a calc reactor. There doesnt seem to be a downside to having one... other than $$$. But in the long run, it will save me $$$. Thanks for the info, guys!

 

[Frankysreef]

 

[JeffersonReef]

Wow. That looks GREAT! I really wish I had gone BIGGER now! 125 just doesnt seem like enough! And I want an in wall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(im jealous....)

 

[PsychoKnight]

I think CA reactor is the optimum solution, and many people use it in conjunction w/ a kalk reactor. The CA reactor tends to push pH low, Kalk pushes it up, people set it up for an equilibrium.

I didn't want to spend the money and am not prepared to accomodate the space for such a tall support device.

I made a wastebasket kalk reactor out of my freshwater auto topoff and its works great. Maintenance free other than scooping in some pickling lime every other month and scraping the kalk outlet tube for a minute each time I reload. The solution stays saturated so the output is very consistent when I check w/ a pH meter. I only get variations of dosage based on evaporation rates, and that only changes when I turn on my sump fan for cooling on super hot days.
Its been running about eight months and I don't see any need to clean it out for at least a couple of years. The wastebasket cost me $2.79, Rio90 $16, clear vinyl tubing $4, digital timer $10, pickling lime for a year $3.95, plus an old 10g tank that all aquarists have in storage.
There is a minor drawback. If I don't keep up with the weekly or biweekly water changes, the pH will tend to push upwards to 8.35-8.40. My adjustment for that is to simply move the ro supply tube from the wastebasket two inches over to the settling tank which it sits in, no big deal. This will dilute the solution until I resume water changes.

Just last night, I upgraded the wastebasket "reactor chamber" to a 2gal fishbowl, for nothing else but to look less tacky, and give a clear view of the chamber.

The setup works really well for me. Here's a pic. Let me know if you want further info.

 

[JeffersonReef]

That looks pretty good. Is there any way you could give me more details. I notice you are in Monterey Park. I work in Monterey park... good to know there are reefers in the area!

-Tony

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7975575#post7975575 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PsychoKnight
I think CA reactor is the optimum solution, and many people use it in conjunction w/ a kalk reactor. The CA reactor tends to push pH low, Kalk pushes it up, people set it up for an equilibrium.

I didn't want to spend the money and am not prepared to accomodate the space for such a tall support device.

I made a wastebasket kalk reactor out of my freshwater auto topoff and its works great. Maintenance free other than scooping in some pickling lime every other month and scraping the kalk outlet tube for a minute each time I reload. The solution stays saturated so the output is very consistent when I check w/ a pH meter. I only get variations of dosage based on evaporation rates, and that only changes when I turn on my sump fan for cooling on super hot days.
Its been running about eight months and I don't see any need to clean it out for at least a couple of years. The wastebasket cost me $2.79, Rio90 $16, clear vinyl tubing $4, digital timer $10, pickling lime for a year $3.95, plus an old 10g tank that all aquarists have in storage.
There is a minor drawback. If I don't keep up with the weekly or biweekly water changes, the pH will tend to push upwards to 8.35-8.40. My adjustment for that is to simply move the ro supply tube from the wastebasket two inches over to the settling tank which it sits in, no big deal. This will dilute the solution until I resume water changes.

Just last night, I upgraded the wastebasket "reactor chamber" to a 2gal fishbowl, for nothing else but to look less tacky, and give a clear view of the chamber.

The setup works really well for me. Here's a pic. Let me know if you want further info.

 

[PsychoKnight]

pm sent - discussion continued thru pm