just wanted to get some other opinions on wether to wait till i start buying live rock to add the live sand, or throw it in now? I am kinda anxious to see how it looks!! I do have one question too, since it's going to take awhile and some serious cash to get all the live rock i need, can i buy a little today and then get my skimmer next payday? How long can it be in your tank without a skimmer running?
new guy has a set-up question?
- Thread starter wlr4
- Start date
serpentman
part time superhero
You will need to cycle your tank to get it running anyways so I would focus on buying rock now and add the skimmer after. Ideally, its best to put the rock in first and then add the sand.
As far as skimmers go, buy the best you can afford. IME, avoid the coralife superskimmer and the Seaclone models. These are the typical pitfalls a new person falls for and ultimately regrets. For the same or a little more, you can pick up a decent used skimmer.
As far as skimmers go, buy the best you can afford. IME, avoid the coralife superskimmer and the Seaclone models. These are the typical pitfalls a new person falls for and ultimately regrets. For the same or a little more, you can pick up a decent used skimmer.
mike660r
New member
Spending tons of money on "cured" live rock at the store is a big expense. Being that you are setting up a smaller tank you won't want to overfill the tank with rock. You can get some base rock or live rock from fellow reefers that already overbought some 
Then if you want some good coraline covered stuff you can buy a couple nice pieces from the local fish store to seed the tank with. A good thing to do is to do what we call "cook" the rock. The goal here is eliminate pest anemones and remove algea, detritius and other built up nasties off the rock. All you need is a cheap plastic tub, heater and a powerhead. If you are getting rock from someone that already had it in saltwater these are few steps to take:
1. setup a tub with a heater and a power head to agitate the surface of the water.
2. Mix up some saltwater with RO or reverse osmosis filter water to 1.026 SG (you'll need a refractometer) The cheap plastic floation models are junk.
3. Heat the water up to around 75 degrees.
4. Put some mixed saltwater or RO reverse osmosis water in a 5 gallon bucket.
5. Take the new rock you bought and swish it around in the 5 gal bucket and scrub it down. Swish and scrub it some more.
6. Move the rock into your plastic tub and let it sit for a few days.
7. You'll need some test kits for Ammonia and Nitrates. Test the water to see where those levels are.
8. Every week change out 50% of the water with fresh saltwater. Scrub and Swish the rocks some more.
9. Change some more water
10. Once you are at 0 ammonia and no more nasties are washing off. You should be ready to put in your tank.
Get back to us in a month and we can go onto the next step.
Then if you want some good coraline covered stuff you can buy a couple nice pieces from the local fish store to seed the tank with. A good thing to do is to do what we call "cook" the rock. The goal here is eliminate pest anemones and remove algea, detritius and other built up nasties off the rock. All you need is a cheap plastic tub, heater and a powerhead. If you are getting rock from someone that already had it in saltwater these are few steps to take:1. setup a tub with a heater and a power head to agitate the surface of the water.
2. Mix up some saltwater with RO or reverse osmosis filter water to 1.026 SG (you'll need a refractometer) The cheap plastic floation models are junk.
3. Heat the water up to around 75 degrees.
4. Put some mixed saltwater or RO reverse osmosis water in a 5 gallon bucket.
5. Take the new rock you bought and swish it around in the 5 gal bucket and scrub it down. Swish and scrub it some more.
6. Move the rock into your plastic tub and let it sit for a few days.
7. You'll need some test kits for Ammonia and Nitrates. Test the water to see where those levels are.
8. Every week change out 50% of the water with fresh saltwater. Scrub and Swish the rocks some more.
9. Change some more water
10. Once you are at 0 ammonia and no more nasties are washing off. You should be ready to put in your tank.
Get back to us in a month and we can go onto the next step.
mike660r
New member
Here is a good site to go to for beginners. Mark Levenson has spoken at our club meetings. I enjoy going to his site when RC is down just to brush up on the basics and see whats new in his tanks world.
www.melevsreef.com
www.melevsreef.com
serpentman
part time superhero
I 100% agree with Mike's advice. I know there is a HUGE temptation to get things fired up fast in the beginning. However, going slow will pay dividends later and ultimately result in a rewarding hobby.
Not to sound preachy but many people fizzle out in this hobby by rushing things and cutting corners. Ultimately they grow frustrated and bail.
Not to sound preachy but many people fizzle out in this hobby by rushing things and cutting corners. Ultimately they grow frustrated and bail.
i'll be going slow, with the cost of everything, i just want to set it up right from the start! Is it true that with the way they make hang on skimmers now they will do the job on a tank my size? I did not want to drill having never done it before, but should i still consider learning how to run a sump?
puffster
New member
Building a sump\fuge can be pretty simple. It will also give you abetter understanding of how things work. And you can make it custom to suit your needs. You sound like you are in it for the long haul. +1 on the patients and cutting corners, the more you cut, the less you will have. Good luck.
silverking
Member
i got an overflow box with plumbing you can have for 20. you really should have a sump. they are not hard at all. and it will give you alot of options. heaters, auto top off, carbon or gfo, refugium, skimmer options.
sedor
New member
I didn't go the sump route with my first tank, and I actually bought that same Octopus DBH300F skimmer. Although, the skimmer itself was ok, its nothing compared to an in-sump skimmer. I feel that by doing the extra work and adding a sump in the first place I probably could have saved myself around $500, but then again i've probably wasted thousands lol.
Adding a sump it not complicated at all. If the tank is still empty I would suggest talking to your LFS and finding out how to get it drilled. If thats not an option then they make good overflow boxes too. Make sure you get a good one, its not something you want to skimp on, but then again what is in this hobby.
Good luck and welcome to the club!
Adding a sump it not complicated at all. If the tank is still empty I would suggest talking to your LFS and finding out how to get it drilled. If thats not an option then they make good overflow boxes too. Make sure you get a good one, its not something you want to skimp on, but then again what is in this hobby.
Good luck and welcome to the club!
mike660r
New member
It doesn't sound like you have a reef ready tank. You have three options you can go with. Post on here and have someone help you with drilling the tank, buy an external overflow kit or find another tank. If you intend to make a solid attempt at this hobby you will end up with a reef ready tank with built in overflows in the near future. Surface skimming is a very important thing with saltwater tanks. The decision is on you to figure out what your wallet can stand. There are pitfalls with taking the shortcuts and not having a tank with an overflow built in. The back of your tank could probably be drilled and an acrylic overflow box can be fitted to the tank. You can also purchase a hang on the back overflow that has a U tube that siphons the water out of the tank and down to a sump. The down side to these is that they can loose siphon during power outages. The U tubes can easily get plugged also and then you have a flood on your hands. I know you are probably thinking I said HOB skimmers are bad, so why use one for an overflow. The larger volume of water that can travel through an external overflow to skim the surface of the tank is what you want. You need to slow down the water input into a skimmer so that it has time to bubble up all the nasties that are in the water column.
Finding a used reef tank or even a new one for that matter is not a difficult task. Jeff (Serpentman) and I both bought our tanks from another owner that never managed to get far enough to fill the tanks. I want you to know that you can use any method you choose. It is the additional maintenance and headaches that you will have down the road that I am trying to educate you on. To be more specific, if you have a nice hardwood floor and you flood the living room... the cost to fix the floor will out weigh what you have invested in the tank at this point in time. Therefore, the short cut taken to save money on a tank without a good overflow and large enough sump could cost you more in home repairs.
Finding a used reef tank or even a new one for that matter is not a difficult task. Jeff (Serpentman) and I both bought our tanks from another owner that never managed to get far enough to fill the tanks. I want you to know that you can use any method you choose. It is the additional maintenance and headaches that you will have down the road that I am trying to educate you on. To be more specific, if you have a nice hardwood floor and you flood the living room... the cost to fix the floor will out weigh what you have invested in the tank at this point in time. Therefore, the short cut taken to save money on a tank without a good overflow and large enough sump could cost you more in home repairs.
