Just getting a new tank going, Advice Please?

[FraggleWhat]

Hi all, I have been a member of reef central for a number of years. I was getting ready to set a tank up a few years ago and then lost my son to SIDS. I went off the deep end and sold everything off. I am now getting ready to set a tank up again and I am seriously excited about it.

Now onto my questions. I am going to set up a 90 gallon reef tank, I plan on setting my tank up with a 2-3 inch live sand bed along with 100 pounds of live rock. I plan on letting the rock and tank acclimate for about three months before I put any coral or anything else alive in it. Is that a good idea?

If I remember correctly, I will need a light source, I prefer led's, a wave maker, heater, refugium, plumbing of course and just let it run and get all my parameters correct.

Am I forgetting anything seriously important? Any suggestions? I will take all the help I can get. Eventually I will run everything on an Apex gold.

Thanks in advance. Mike

 

[lllesley]

Dont forget the Skimmer ??

 

[gone fishin]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074

This should help get you where you want to be, the link is towards the top of this forum by the way. Good luck

 

[Bpb]

Tests! What types of coral do you intend to keep?

 

[whiteshark]

In addition to the skimmer and test kits mentioned (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, calcium, alkalinity and magnesium) I would add a refractometer with calibration solution, an RO/DI unit and an auto top off unit.

 

[usingthejohn]

Wavemaker: the gyre is the hot new item. You can find vortech fairly cheap on the classifieds here.

Skimmer: I have an aquamaxx coneS co3, I would assume a co2 would be good for your system.

LEDS. There's so many options, research and find what suits your needs.

For heater, get titanium. I've read horror stories on glass ones breaking.

These were ideas passed to me, so don't take my words as gold, as I'm also learning.

 

[Azedenkae]

Hi all, I have been a member of reef central for a number of years. I was getting ready to set a tank up a few years ago and then lost my son to SIDS. I went off the deep end and sold everything off. I am now getting ready to set a tank up again and I am seriously excited about it.

Now onto my questions. I am going to set up a 90 gallon reef tank, I plan on setting my tank up with a 2-3 inch live sand bed along with 100 pounds of live rock. I plan on letting the rock and tank acclimate for about three months before I put any coral or anything else alive in it. Is that a good idea?

If I remember correctly, I will need a light source, I prefer led's, a wave maker, heater, refugium, plumbing of course and just let it run and get all my parameters correct.

Am I forgetting anything seriously important? Any suggestions? I will take all the help I can get. Eventually I will run everything on an Apex gold.

Thanks in advance. Mike

Hey mate, sorry to hear about your son firstly. That is terrible. Even though I don't know you at all, it always make me sad to hear such story.

Welcome back though. This hobby is amazing.

On to your setup.

Your initial setup is fine, though just make sure you simply wait until your cycle finishes, rather than a specific time (three months). Cycling time varies greatly, and if it is not done after three months, you don't want to toss stuff in then. Conversely if it finishes after one month, you don't want to let it sit idle for two months. Kinda pointless.

Your equipment/stuff looks good. However, if I understand correctly, you plan to run them during cycling? In that case the light is not necessary, and you may want to get the fuge up and running later on, depending on what your plan is for the fuge.

100 pound of live rock should be enough to kickstart the cycle, depending on the die-off. Just keep testing your parameters constantly and see where you're at. If you don't really have any macro-organism you especially want to keep on your live rock, you can set your heater to a higher temperature (above 30 degrees C) to promote bacterial growth. Just don't go pass 37 degrees.

 

[scubaprashant]

I had a 90 mixed reef with medium bio load and the reef octopus nwb150 was awesome for it. For LEDs, look into evergrow/reef breeders/ocean revive. They work great. The jebao wave makers are a great bang for your buck.

Good luck!

 

[scubaprashant]

Bean Animal style overflow coast to coast is highly recommended as well.

 

[FraggleWhat]

Thanks for all of the great advice. I have decided on a different tank. I found a Deep Blue RR rimless 60 gallon cube locally for pennies on the dollar. I am going to go with the reef breeders led's.

What size sump should I use for a 60 gallon tank?

I am going to build my stand myself. I am going to use square steel tubing, then I will stain cherry panels and counter sink strong magnets into the wood to hold the panels to the stand.

 

[Sk8r]

I'd still go with a 30 gallon sump if you can swing it. Eshopps makes one with a big center you can use for a fuge. Or DIY-it. 30 g means NO worries about fuge space.