Introduction/need guidance (New to salt water)

[Bmain]

Hello Reef Central! Before I get into my story I want to thank those in advance who actually read and took the time to respond to my post. I am sure there are hundreds of people like me and it can be a bit redundant. Everyone's advice is appreciated even if it's right, wrong or indifferent.

The addiction began for me as a young kid when my dad had introduced me to fish tanks. It started even before I was born when my grandpa had presented my dad with his first fish tank. Needless to say, it has always been a part of my family and will continue on if I am fortunate enough to have kids myself one day. I have always liked the aquatic life and all of its wonderful colors.

About one year ago I was looking for a deal on a fish tank from Craigslist. After searching every day for many months, I ran across the deal I was looking for and couldn't resist. I found a 90 gallon Oceanic bow front tank that included the stand, hood, Odyssea T5 light, sump, pump, protein skimmer, live rock and fish all for $150. I couldn't believe it, I thought something may have been wrong. The tank was located in Sacramento, about 3 hours and 30 mins from where I live. I decided to make a trip out of it and visited my girlfriend who was going to college at UC Davis. When I took the trip to check it out I found out that the tank belonged to the seller's dad. The person getting rid of the tank wasn't living with his dad, but I had a feeling his father probably didn't know he was getting rid of the tank. I felt bad breaking it down for transport, but at the same time I was ecstatic, trying to hide my emotions in fear he would jack up the price.

The tank was in great shape, but it had been neglected by the careless son. Salt creep covered many areas of the hood and the fish were living in poor water condition. The son had no idea how the fish tank worked and couldn't tell me one thing about the plumping. After the tank was secured in my truck I had a feeling the fish weren't going to make the ride home. I immediately took them to a local fish store and traded them in for store credit. I later found out every one of those fish made it and were rehomed:thumbsup:.

Fast forward to today and the tank is set up and working great. I haven't been able to do much to the tank for I have been paying off student loans and all of life's expenses. After looking at all the brilliant tanks here on the forums I've decided I would like to create a SPS tank. I know it's a difficult task and I will have to pay a small fortune, but it is a challenge I accept. I will just have to work at it slowly and chunk it out one piece at a time.

This is where I am requesting some guidance. One of the first things I want to upgrade is my protein skimmer. I am looking for something around $300-350. I was considering a Reef Octopus SRO 1000 and would like some input from those who know a good deal about skimmers. Would you recommend this skimmer or is there something slightly better that's in the price range? The tank is not currently stocked. I managed to add a pair of Jebao WP-40 for better circulation and I eventually want to upgrade my light to a nice L.E.D that can grow SPS without too many issues. Anyone have great luck with Build My L.E.D or is there something better out there? I know some of you will introduce me to the search bar and I am familiar with its function. However, I would like some personal input on some of the newer technology and what is recommended/ideal set up for an SPS tank. What is everyone using nowadays? What works and what do I stay away from? I have done some research but everyone seems to flip flop on what is good and bad and everyone has a different opinion. Any information would be greatly appreciated! Some of the post I read are really dated and would like some current information. Thank you for your time!

-Main

 

[Bmain]

Here is a few pictures of my set up. If you see anything that isn't looking good or needs some changing please let me know!

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Welcome to RC!!!! I would suggest that you go start reading the threads in the SPS forum as there are many and it will give you ideas of what works best for them. Good luck with your journey and most of all have fun with it.

 

[DJasak]

Welcome to RC! Do you have any experience keeping coral? SPS can be some of the most demanding corals to keep and would recommend starting out with some more forgiving corals to learn from before jumping in to something so challenging. But if your up for the challenges, although I personally don't have any experience with SPS dominated tanks, I can offer some advice. I have read and heard from quite a few people that they find an L.E.D/T5 light fixture seems to work best for both color and growth. This way you have the customability/controllability of LEDs as well as the light penetration and spectrum of T5s. Also when u say SPS I assume you're looking to keep acropora which is very sensitive to sudden changes in water chemistry so plan on maintaining pristine water quality all the time as well as having great lights to support them. Because of this I would recommend you set up a fully automated system with a controller to make your life easier. This means ATO, dosing, a timer for your lighting cycle and measuring temp, alk, mag, cal, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, pH daily. I'm not sure if a controller can measure all these things, I'd have to do some reading up on it, but Henna checkers are nice to have because they feature a digital display of your readings so there's no guess work and they are accurate. A refugium is nice for growing pods, and it naturally helps keep nitrates and phosphates down. Also running a reverse light cycle on the fuge helps to prevent pH swings, some people even light their fuge 24/7. I would also recommend getting a big container for mixing and storing saltwater. A lot of people use a new and cleaned brute trash can for this, keep a heater and powerhead in there to mix the salt and to match temperature with the display tank so that when you do water changes you have fresh saltwater with the same salinity and temperature as your display tank ready to go. Also make extra RO so that when your reservoir for the ATO starts to run low you can easily refill it. I'm sure I'm missing some things but its a start, from here I would do what dkuhlman suggested and go over to the SPS forum to get input from those who already have SPS tanks. Good luck! :bounce3:

 

[Greybeard]

Welcome

I've recently re-entered the hobby, after a 10 year hiatus. Set up a 60g cube for primarily SPS corals, and had to do a great deal of research on new products and techniques.

Lighting: I ended up with an Aquaticlife Halo. They're cheaper than some of the better known full spectrum LED's, compact, have an internal controller, and just looked right over my rimless, open top cube. Add them to the list, they're worth looking at. I'm quite happy with mine.

Skimmer: I just purchased a (slightly used) Reef Octopus SRO1000sss. Only been in the tank for a few days, but I had done my research. It's a very good quality skimmer. Many years ago, I was running Precision Marine Bullet skimmers. This one has a much smaller footprint, and is much, much quieter. Started pulling gunk the 1st day. If RO is in your price range, go for it.

Water: You don't talk about an RO/DI unit, but it was one of the first things I bought. An absolute must have. I bought a dual home/reef setup from AirWaterIce. Mounted it behind the kitchen sink, put a 5g pressure tank and a faucet in the kitchen, and ran it to my ice maker/chilled water, as well. Then ran from the DI under the house to my sump area. Simply open a valve to fill my ATO reservoir. Good water makes all the difference.

Best of luck!

 

[Sk8r]

[welcome] We have a sticky up above [top] titled SETTING UP which can give you a lot of answers, stretching into more advanced.

 

[garyinco]

+1 on the controller. It is a large upfront expense that won't seem worth the cost to you. But it will over time, big time. And you can move it to future tanks, something somewhat rare in this hobby. Take the money you saved on the basic components and put it into a savings account; add what you can periodically and tap into that account when you really feel you need something.

+1 on don't even think about getting into SPS at the beginning. You will burn thru lots of $'s with failed results. Focus on the basics. This is a fascinating time consuming hobby. I personally wouldn't even think about any coral for at least 3 to 6 months. As you stated some info is old and everyone has opinions, often conflicting.

And +1 on the RO filter. A must have.

I won't comment on the Reef Octopus skimmers as I have never owned one and I haven't heard of major problems with them. I like the current one I have which is an Aquamaxx Cone S. It's a workhorse.

Maybe more important than the skimmer is the quality of rock you put in your tank. Like everything else it is not black and white, but shades of grey. Really high quality live rock will make things much, much easier. It is harder to come by these days.

One thing that is unavoidable in this hobby is patience. When you forget, and you will, you will spend lots of $'s and start swinging your tank violently and chasing your own tail. Go very slowly.

As Sk8r said memorize the stickys in this forum before you spend any more money.

I really think you have to have an obsessive personality to end up with one of those "brilliant tanks" you mentioned. And if you have one of those personalities you will eventually get there. I love it.

Be cautious with impulse buys recommended by staff at LFS's. If they suggest something come back later if some research (here, friends, a local club, etc) supports it.

Go slow!

 

[Bmain]

Thank you guys for the comments and the warm welcomes! It's much appreciated. I will take more time and thumb through the stickies like many of you advise.

@DJasak

I have 0 experience with keeping coral or even anything salt water related. This is my first one. I have a few planted tanks and I am pretty well rounded with freshwater, but salt water is foreign to me. What are some of the more forgiving corals you have come across? I was thinking about getting rid of my T5, but now that you mention that, I think I will hang onto it and add an L.E.D in addition. Are fuges a must? Or can I get away with just a sump? I looked into the Apex controllers and they are expensive! A while back I purchased an RODI filter and have a trash can ready to go. The RODI unit was my first purchase about a year ago. I will place a heater in the trash can. I never thought about keeping the water the same temperature. Rookie mistake. I will look into an ATO unit as well. Thank you for shedding some knowledge!

@Greybeard

Welcome back!
I am glad you dove into the SPS corals. I have never heard of that light until now. How are the corals growing with that light? I will take a look at them next chance I get! That is good to hear the Reef Octopus SRO10000sss packs a punch and is quiet. Noise is something I have to be mindful of because the tank is located in a common area. Any reason why you went with the SSS rather than the INT or EXT? I actually bought a unit from AirWaterIce a while back. I am very happy with their product! I would like to run the RODI line to my tank but I don't think that will happen. Thanks for the insight!

@garyinco

What are the top 3 controllers that everyone is using? I know Apex is one of them. You are right, they are really expensive. I will take your advice and start with cheaper and easier corals rather than going full out SPS. The more I read about SPS the bigger the beast it becomes. What is considered high quality rock? I will try to do this slowly. There is a lot of information to take in. I will read the stickies and try not to buy on impulse lol. Thanks for the response and the information!

 

[DJasak]

@DJasak

I have 0 experience with keeping coral or even anything salt water related. This is my first one. I have a few planted tanks and I am pretty well rounded with freshwater, but salt water is foreign to me. What are some of the more forgiving corals you have come across? I was thinking about getting rid of my T5, but now that you mention that, I think I will hang onto it and add an L.E.D in addition. Are fuges a must? Or can I get away with just a sump? I looked into the Apex controllers and they are expensive! A while back I purchased an RODI filter and have a trash can ready to go. The RODI unit was my first purchase about a year ago. I will place a heater in the trash can. I never thought about keeping the water the same temperature. Rookie mistake. I will look into an ATO unit as well. Thank you for shedding some knowledge!

Fuge is not a requirement, if you would rather have just a sump you would have to do some additional dosing like carbon or add more equipment like ozone( ozone is not a requirement just an example of many different options). What a refugium does primarily is provide a safe place for microorganisms like amphipods and copipods(sp?) to breed and populate your tank. These pods are beneficial because they help consume fish waste and left over food (detritus). They also serve as a food source for your fish. Another thing a refugium does is help reduce nitrates and phosphates, they're not totally eliminated as in order for a refugium to really have a significant impact on these waste products in our tanks you would need a much larger refugium than what most people can fit under their fish tanks. But they do have a large enough impact to help choke out some of your nuisance algaes. Again it's not a cure all as the true answer to most issues in your tank is proper tank management. If you wish to keep SPS an ATO is a must. Just to clarify topping off your fish tank is done with freshwater. This is because although water from your tank is evaporating, the salt is left behind. ATO helps maintain stable salinity, a must in coral care. Controllers are definitely a big pill to swallow financially but they are more than worth it when it comes to the happiness of your livestock and yourself when you realize how much easier your life becomes when you have a computer doing all the work for you. Some more forgiving corals are pretty much all your softies and some LPS coral. Examples are green star polyps, pulsing xenia, Kenya tree, leather corals, mushrooms and zoanthids. Once you get familiar with those then I would recommend LPS which would be duncan coral, acans, favia, and frogspawn. Since this is your first saltwater tank I would recommend completely avoiding coral and get yourself familiar with saltwater fish. Being your first attempt you're gonna make mistakes, and there is a learning curve that you will go thru even with your experience in freshwater. Your tank will go thru algae swings and different chemical spikes. Give yourself the time to learn to get some experience first before diVing into it nose first. You'll save yourself a lot of headache and money taking it one step at a time. Also a good thing to do is have a quarantine system set up for your live stock and have some of your basic medications on hand, all of your fish should go into quarantine first (at least 2 weeks) before going into your display. This is so you can observe your fish and if they do develop an infection your ready to treat it. Get a good understanding on acclimating your fish too, I personally prefer the drip method. No water from the store tanks should go into your display tank.The most important thing you need in this hobby is patience. Some good starter fish are damsels, clownfish, chromis, dottyback, basslets, some of the wrasses can be pretty hardy, take your time and learn about the creature you find appealing before adding it to your tank because they all come with their own set of requirements and temperaments. Read and learn as much as you can, it's an ever changing hobby, and after all there is a life on the line.

 

[DJasak]

Forgot to mention anemone is a no go for at least a year. I would go without coral for 3-6 months depending on how comfortable you feel with what you are already dealing with before getting your hands on some coral. Anemones are very sensitibe to changes in water chemistry and require a stable tank if they are to do well. That us why you want to wait at least a year before getting one.

 

[aquaman183]

I agree completely with DJ, just don't get a damsel. they're the devil, lol.

Also, look around in the subforums..go to more forums, then find your area, most people have local forums and it helps a lot for multiple reasons.

1.) People are always selling stuff and you can often find good quality equipment for a good deal.

2.) You can meet other people in the hobby and see their tanks. They can show you their setup and tell you what they like/dislike about it, and you can be the judge by personally seeing a real life application instead of just experimenting with your own tank.

3.) Just like on here, their are a lot of cool people out there that enjoy helping people in the hobby. When I started, their were a few guys that actually helped me set up my tank, gave me a lot of valuable advice, and continue to help me when I come across new things.

If you're okay with buying from others, be patient, good deals will come up. Especially on things like rock which is a lottt cheaper than buying from a local fish store.

I know all of this sounds like a lot of work and money, and it is..lol.
But not really, just take your time, accumulate things over time, be patient, and have fun.
It's a lot to take in at first, but once you get the hang of it, having a successful tank is a lot easier than you may think.

Also, In my opinion you can wait a little for a controller..if you got the money go for it, but I would just set up your tank and let it start cycling with your rock, sand, lights, skimmer and what not, and once you get closer to corals you can think about a controller. Even running simple corals without a controller is no big deal. Just my 2 cents.

Best of luck my friend, and welcome to reef central!

 

[DJasak]

^ +1

 

[homer1475]

If you want to get into SPS's with 0 SW experience, you got a lot of reading ahead of you, also very ballsy, and I commend you on that.

I personally don't like sticks(SPS) with no movement. I prefer large LPS corals. I would start out slow with some hardy corals like frogspawn, hammer, torch, or some acans. All pretty hardy and will follow you into the SPS journey. They are a little more forgiving on water quality and dosing then SPS's, and its a great way to get into corals, and don't require a lot of the high dollar lights, dosing pumps, etc.

Have fun, and good luck!

 

[Greybeard]

@Greybeard

Welcome back!
I am glad you dove into the SPS corals. I have never heard of that light until now. How are the corals growing with that light? I will take a look at them next chance I get! That is good to hear the Reef Octopus SRO10000sss packs a punch and is quiet. Noise is something I have to be mindful of because the tank is located in a common area. Any reason why you went with the SSS rather than the INT or EXT? I actually bought a unit from AirWaterIce a while back. I am very happy with their product! I would like to run the RODI line to my tank but I don't think that will happen. Thanks for the insight!

Dove _back_ in with SPS... not exactly my first go round. Honestly, I'm with other commentators on the appropriateness of SPS for someone's 1st reef tank... it's a steep learning curve.

SSS because of the limited amount of space under my 60g cube, even with the custom stand, I have to watch the size of everything I try and put under there.

Enjoy

 

[DJasak]

I agree completely with DJ, just don't get a damsel. they're the devil, lol

Sorry for such a late reply. Lol I agree, a lot of damsels can be quite aggressive, but there are still quite a few that tend to be more peaceful. Examples are: blue reef chromis, blue/green chromis, talbot's damsel, and allen's damsel to name a few.