Im scared

J

Jay Mollet

New member
I have had fishtanks my whole life. Im 46 now so there is alot of experience. My dad had saltwater tanks back in the day so i learned some there. I started my own freshwater tanks in my 20s and got pretty good. Then I got stationed in Hawaii in my 30's. I started getting back to saltwater. At my height 10 years ago I had 4 tanks going the biggest being a 110. They were all fish only as reef tanks are frowned upon in Hawaii. I was doing pretty good but my wife (now ex-wife) was not fond of taking care of them when i would deploy for months at a time so I had to give them up. Since I got out of the military I have been floating around have now settled down in VA. Just bought a new house and decided to do what I always wanted. A reef tank. Im an avid diver and reef scapes are what i like. Can stare at the little critters for as long as my air will last. I thought I would start with a 75 or something to get started and build from there. Problem is I had a few beers one night. A 250 gallon tank was delivered today. Along with a Triton 44 sump; an apropriate sized protein skimmer, 2 return pumps and heaters. On top of that I found on craigslist (litteraly the first time I have ever gone there) an established 160 tank filled with live rock and live sand. I bought that too. I picked it up this weekend with alot of help from some young guys who can carry trash cans filled with water. I'm planning on using this as a donor tank. I am not keeping both. The 250 is pretty intimidating. When they dropped it off this morning the truck driver thought it was a hot tub. Anyway, I've been doing this long enough to know whatever question i ask I will have 10 different answers but im going to do it anyway. At this point in my life i have more money than sense so I want to do this right.

1) Do I need a UV filter. I have had ICH in the past but im not sure this is the answer.

2) Do I need a calcuim reactor or should i dose.

I have an 6 stage RO filter that came with the donor tank and I bought a pretty good LED light (apparently Im mister rich guy when I drink.)

Bottom line is every tank I set i did things a little better each time. This is my first reef tank and I want some advice. For example one of the things I am doing with this tank is putting into the wall facing the living room. Basically taking my office and making it a fish room. In the fish room will be the sump, isolation tank and top off tank. I'm having the contractor run a hose bib and drain to my office (fish room) with the RO filter in line. I think I am doing this right but I'm looking for people to tell me "If I could do this again I would do this"

Thanks for any advice.
 
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Just opened the return pump box and I may have gotten carried away. I think I bought one for an olympic sized pool on accident.
 
1. No you do not need a UV filter. Unless you regularly clean and change the bulb they don't have much of a benefit.
2. Initially you probably will not need to do anything, but down the road with that big ofa tank it will be less expensive to use a calcium reactor.
 
First thing is buy some test kits ,Hannah test kits ,calcium,alkalinity ,phosphorus and a good refractometer .Second buy a tds meter for your ro system to see that your water is coming out pure .3rd your main pump should be rated 2500 gph minimum up to 7500 gph is what your looking for .4th leave the plumbing install to a pro to hard plumb it .Finally add sand rocks and ro water with reef mix salt and your half way there .Your first question uv filter is optional but reccomended .Second question .a calcium reactor I would not reccomend for a beginner reefer ,stick with a doser for cal,alk and coral food,Red Sea has a nice 2 part that I use .2 vortech MP 60 will do the job for flow and you should be set ,throw some bacteria in a bottle in there and start testing coral .start with zoas and once your levels are in sync you can start trying lps and sps


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Noted on the test kits. and already on order. agree with you both on the calcium reactor. Would rather understand the chemistry before I turn it over to a machine. This is gonna be a fun ride. Thanks for the input.
 
Sk8r's stickies in the new to the hobby tab, and this tab are some of the best written and easiest to follow directions on how to not screw up. In addition there are several active posting members including sk8r, slief, tkeracer619, and bertoni that are fantastic contributors to the forum. Set up a tank build forum in the large tank or new tank build forums and there will be plenty of help. The big things are water flow, lighting, water quality, and above all don't rush things. Ignoring these will lead to frustration, failure, and unnecessary death.
 
Thanks man. Is there a way to move this thread to another forum? Would like to move it to new to the hobby wihout having to retype everything. Any i understand the take it slow. I have killed more fish than i ever wanted to.
 
A utility sink in the fish room would be nice if possible. You could make all of your water there, easy access for water changes, easy place to clean equipment. My wife is not real pleased when I spill my skimmer collection cup walking to the kitchen. Before you start adding fish do some research on quarantine and the tank transfer method. This will keep you from exposing ich to your main display. What kind of lights did you get (brand, size, how many)? I'd also recommend testing the water from your live rock purchase for phosphates. The rock will hold the phosphates and leach them into your new display and you will start off with algae issues.
 
Hey man, welcome to the journey.

I have a somewhat similar background in that I had lots of previous experience with freshwater (planted) tanks. My largest tank was a heavily planted 200Gal, and at times had up to 5 tanks running........ that was too much work, which was fun, but life gets busy so for the past few years I've been self-contained to a single nice display tank and recently decided to turn it into a saltwater reef.

Based on my experience.... I think you will be absolutely fine. There will be some new things/concepts to learn; but overall I think my tank is going great and I was able to move at a much faster pace than if I had just gotten into the hobby.

Big tanks are awesome. If I had the space, time and disposition.... that's the route I would go. But a smaller tank keeps everything (including the money-pit aspect of it) at bay and it's still enjoyable.

So yeah.... don't be scared. Just don't be over-confident :D

#1 absolutely MUST thing to do is sort out your plumbing. Overflows, sumps, etc and all the arrangement leaves room for risk. So sort that out before you spend any $ on anything else.

#2 UV filter is not a necessity. To me... ich is a reflection of heavily stressed fish more than something punctual to treat/target. Instead.... Protein Skimmer. Get a good one. I'm also running a canister filter. I find it super convenient.

#3 Lights. Expensive and tricky. This will determine most of what you can do with the tank. So plan this one well according to your plan/expectations.

Good luck!
 
1) Do I need a UV filter. I have had ICH in the past but im not sure this is the answer.
Click to expand...

No, UV sterilizers do NOT work on ich. Use a 20 or 30 gallon as your QT. Is that live rock cured? If not it needs to be cured. Dry rock and dry sand are the best for your main DT, since there's no issue of introducing any little unwanted hitch hikers. With the live sand and rock your main 250 needs to run fallow for eight weeks.

2) Do I need a calcuim reactor or should i dose.
Click to expand...

Get some dosing pumps with bottles. Trust me on this one: if you're going mega reef, this is an absolute necessity.

#3 Lights. Expensive and tricky. This will determine most of what you can do with the tank. So plan this one well according to your plan/expectations.
Click to expand...

^+100!
I'm with F1EA on this one. Get the best damn lighting you can afford for a reef tank your size - READ: RADION ECOTECHS!! Either pendant drop multi light RMS mount or 3 bowed over single RMS mounts.

Damn - if I had the room I'd keep both tanks and clean out your 160, and make it a freshwater Cichlid minimalist tank! :lol2:

Thank you for your service. :thumbsup:
 
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I went with the photon 50 v2 for my lighting. i just got one strip though. I'm wondering if I need another given the tank is 60L 36W 27T. I love the width of it so i can build a nice reef scape. I have a cloud 9 protein skimmer and a triton 44 sump. I will have an isolation tank in the room along with auto top off tank. i am putting a sink in the room plumbed with a 6 stage RO/DI filter in line. I am getting mixed signals on the calcium reactor versus dosing so I think i need to understand that aspect a little better before decididing. Duly noter on the phosphates crawlerman.

Im looking at Tampa Bay Saltwater "the package" to supply my rock. Any one have any experience with these guys
 
thegrun said:
1. No you do not need a UV filter. Unless you regularly clean and change the bulb they don't have much of a benefit.
Click to expand...
I've got an Emperor Aquatics UV, and the bulb is rated for 12,000 hours. That's 500 days. I just replaced a bulb and the quartz sleeve was spotless after never being cleaned for a year and a half. Just sayin.
 
I have the Photon v2 48, same fixture, on my 48. The length is not a problem, Ron Reefman has a 60" and is also running that fixture. The problem may be the depth, my tank and Ron's tank are 24". You may want to get the add-on fixture that Reefbreeders sells. It is all blues but is made to bolt right on to the Photon. You would just need to up your whites to compensate if you don't like a lot of blue. Corals love blue btw. Lot less money than another fixture. Email Logan at Reefbreeders and ask him or post in the Reefbreeders sponsors forum. He will be able to give the info you need. Super guy.
 
Jay Mollet said:
I went with the photon 50 v2 for my lighting. i just got one strip though. I'm wondering if I need another given the tank is 60L 36W 27T. I love the width of it so i can build a nice reef scape. I have a cloud 9 protein skimmer and a triton 44 sump. I will have an isolation tank in the room along with auto top off tank. i am putting a sink in the room plumbed with a 6 stage RO/DI filter in line. I am getting mixed signals on the calcium reactor versus dosing so I think i need to understand that aspect a little better before decididing. Duly noter on the phosphates crawlerman.

Im looking at Tampa Bay Saltwater "the package" to supply my rock. Any one have any experience with these guys
Click to expand...

http://tbsaltwater.com/testimonials/index.html
 
Be excited not scared. This forum is a great place to learn and ask questions.

F1EA said:
#2 UV filter is not a necessity. To me... ich is a reflection of heavily stressed fish more than something punctual to treat/target. Instead.... Protein Skimmer. Get a good one. I'm also running a canister filter. I find it super convenient.
Click to expand...

I agree, UV 100% not needed. But completely wrong about ich. Its a parasite, its not some reflection of stress. Sure stressed fish are more susceptible to it, but you can absolutely treat your fish and be sure they are ich free, and have a completely ich free tank as well.

Betaktical said:
When did he cuss or use symbols?
Click to expand...

Why does it matter?
 
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