soul4surfin
New member
FYI I reached out to Sk8tr and he suggest lining the whole bottom, not just the areas with Rock.
HOW TO SET UP A TANK, condensed verions (retitled)
- Thread starter Sk8r
- Start date
FYI I reached out to Sk8tr and he suggest lining the whole bottom, not just the areas with Rock.
BretCreager
New member
Hi, great information, this, for the most part, will be my first tank, my better half has had many fw tanks and bought a 75 gallon tall tank, we have a 42 gallon that I'm going to make into a sump/fuge, my current question is about water changes.
You mentioned that a weekly 10% change is optimal. What does that 10% account for? I think I remember rating the sump is included so Would it be 75+42 (117) so I would take 12 gallons out, or would I consider the sump only half full, (21), some in the pipes, (2) the tank is at least a 25% not water (58) total adding up to roughly 81 gallons so I would do an 8 gallon change.
Again I have never ventured into this, I'm planning on buying much of what is needed that we dont have as a suprise for her, so she might know I'm just trying to learn for my self to be prepared.
Thanks and this forum and this thread especially has helped a ton, I'm planning on printing it out to keep in the cabinet for an easy to grab guide
Bret
You mentioned that a weekly 10% change is optimal. What does that 10% account for? I think I remember rating the sump is included so Would it be 75+42 (117) so I would take 12 gallons out, or would I consider the sump only half full, (21), some in the pipes, (2) the tank is at least a 25% not water (58) total adding up to roughly 81 gallons so I would do an 8 gallon change.
Again I have never ventured into this, I'm planning on buying much of what is needed that we dont have as a suprise for her, so she might know I'm just trying to learn for my self to be prepared.
Thanks and this forum and this thread especially has helped a ton, I'm planning on printing it out to keep in the cabinet for an easy to grab guide
Bret
Last edited:
saltwater101
New member
Thanks for a great summary!
Coral Reefer TX
New member
Thanks sk8r!
Any additional thoughts about what type of live rock is best?
Post #57 helps. I'm considering getting dry Pukani rock from Bulk Reef Supply. Then maybe adding some wet rock from LFS as well. Any thoughts regarding Pukani vs Fiji? Also curious about wet rock vs dry rock - I believe dry cycling can take up to 12 weeks, which is a disadvantage. Should going with 100% dry rock be considered in order to avoid possible bubble algae etc? I used to like the surprise crawly critters but not the bad stuff. I'm getting back into the hobby and I'll start cycling rock in a few days for a small tank - 40 gallons or so.
Thanks
Any additional thoughts about what type of live rock is best?
Post #57 helps. I'm considering getting dry Pukani rock from Bulk Reef Supply. Then maybe adding some wet rock from LFS as well. Any thoughts regarding Pukani vs Fiji? Also curious about wet rock vs dry rock - I believe dry cycling can take up to 12 weeks, which is a disadvantage. Should going with 100% dry rock be considered in order to avoid possible bubble algae etc? I used to like the surprise crawly critters but not the bad stuff. I'm getting back into the hobby and I'll start cycling rock in a few days for a small tank - 40 gallons or so.
Thanks
BretCreager
New member
Add on question.... When talking about things like how much rock to get the rule of thumb is somewhere between one and two pounds per gallon, is that total display tank volume, in my case 75 gallons or would I take away the amount lost due to over flow, sand etc? furthur more, do I add any of the sump to that calculation.
And coral refer tx brings another point, would it be a good mix to go half dry, 40% wet, and 10% live our is the savings from wet to dry not worth the headache?
Sorry to be so wrapped up in what might be a minuscule detail of how to look at things but with all my scowering on the internet to learn as much as possible in the next couple weeks it is one of few things I haven't seen in plain text
And coral refer tx brings another point, would it be a good mix to go half dry, 40% wet, and 10% live our is the savings from wet to dry not worth the headache?
Sorry to be so wrapped up in what might be a minuscule detail of how to look at things but with all my scowering on the internet to learn as much as possible in the next couple weeks it is one of few things I haven't seen in plain text
carnophage
New member
if you use live rock and live sand how long do you have to wait for the tank to mature, for example to get a nem?
Hey Sk8r!
Great info! I am a newbie and just purchased a 150gl tank that it matured with coral, fish and mostly everything I need. I'm just concerned about when I go to pick it up? Hoping I don't loose anything after tearing it down, transporting and setting back up. Going to get as many buckets that I can along with some trash cans and try and take as much water from tank before I tear down as I can. Any other do's and don'ts? Also, with this tank comes a Solaris LED light that the guy I'm buying off of says goes for $2500 new? Is this accurate? I think the manufacture went out of business, but still seems like a nice light... Thank for any suggestions and anyone else that want to chime in here.
Great info! I am a newbie and just purchased a 150gl tank that it matured with coral, fish and mostly everything I need. I'm just concerned about when I go to pick it up? Hoping I don't loose anything after tearing it down, transporting and setting back up. Going to get as many buckets that I can along with some trash cans and try and take as much water from tank before I tear down as I can. Any other do's and don'ts? Also, with this tank comes a Solaris LED light that the guy I'm buying off of says goes for $2500 new? Is this accurate? I think the manufacture went out of business, but still seems like a nice light... Thank for any suggestions and anyone else that want to chime in here.
Wash the sand ---get all the hazy crud out. I assure you the bacteria on that sand will cling and survive in the billions. If you bring too much crud with the sand it will take longer to cycle---and it will---a short cycle in about 5 days if you set up well. Have a qt or other rig to hold the specimens while you wait for that little cycle. Softies MAY be able to tough it out in the tank: I had bubble coral (a stony) survive a fullblown 4 week cycle, along wth xenia and various mushrooms and sponges. So you might try just to run all your equipment including the skimmer full bore and see if it'll cycle quick and 'shallow', ie, not much ammonia. But fish are more sensitive to ammonia than are some corals,---it's lethal to fish in very small amounts--- and they should be in quarantine tank for safety until you're sure that tank has thrown its little snit and is running well.
I've never heard of a light that expensive---I was thinking around 800, new, but I'm NOT an expert in LED. WHen you get into complex controllers and lighting programs it could go up. You might ask in the Lighting Equipment forum.
I've never heard of a light that expensive---I was thinking around 800, new, but I'm NOT an expert in LED. WHen you get into complex controllers and lighting programs it could go up. You might ask in the Lighting Equipment forum.
takes a year to have a nem settle well. I've done it (being a newbie and not knowing) but I had 30 years of freshwater tanks behind me, so at least I didn't make water mistakes. If you want clowns, get a nice tough toadstool (soft coral) or hammer (stony) and they will happily settle in. Once you get the nem they will transfer their affections---maybe. They are hardy, adaptive, stubborn fish, and cope well.
Merrell056
New member
Excellent information. Thank you!
Toxic Slurpee
New member
This thread continues to deliver excellent info, thanks Sk8r!
bretcummings
New member
I have been working slowly on my reef build(since Sept), and I must have read this thread once a month. I pick up something useful every time. Thanks for the easy to understand terminology, and guidance.
So I have been cycling for about 3 weeks with roughly 50lbs of live rock and 30-40lbs of "dead" rock, the tank is a 75g with a SCA-150 skimmer and coralife quad bulb PC fixture.
I know you said to not have fish, but it was such a great deal so now I have two true perculas in the tank with a cleaner shrimp and they're perfectly fine, swimming, eating, and do whatever they want. The issue I ran into was that corals aren't surviving yet...I tried a zoa and it seems to just slowly die. What should I test for which can be the problem?
I know you said to not have fish, but it was such a great deal so now I have two true perculas in the tank with a cleaner shrimp and they're perfectly fine, swimming, eating, and do whatever they want. The issue I ran into was that corals aren't surviving yet...I tried a zoa and it seems to just slowly die. What should I test for which can be the problem?
great info...i'm tranfering my last 50 gallon of mixed water from storage tank to system (220 total)....
a couple of questions :
During the cycle process...do i've to do a water change?
how long into the cycle can i add a clean crew?
if i dont have live rock or sand at all, the minimun/average to wait is 4 weeks?
a couple of questions :
During the cycle process...do i've to do a water change?
how long into the cycle can i add a clean crew?
if i dont have live rock or sand at all, the minimun/average to wait is 4 weeks?
