new setup - please help

[drej424]

My husband gave me a new tank for Christmas. The stand is being delivered today. Right now I have a 55 gal saltwater tank that has been up since the beginning of Oct. This is my first experience with saltwater and even with doing a lot of reading and asking questions at variuos LFS, I made a lot of mistakes with the 55 setup and I lost some beautiful fish. I've had better luck with my corals - go figure.

I would really love some help and advice so I avoid some of these mistakes with the new tank. It is a 150 gal reef ready tank. I would appreciate any advice you guys may have. Right now, I'm trying to decide about the sand bed, the protein skimmer and the lights. Any opinions? Thanks!
Denise

 

[DgenR8]

Hi Denise,
The best piece of advice anyone can offer at this stage of the game, is do not be in a hurry. Only bad things happen fast in a reef.
I predict great happiness for you with your new tank. 150 gallons is a most excellent size to build a reef in
Next piece of advice, is don't take any one person's word as the law. There are many different ways to go about this, and still do it "right"
Listen to all suggestions, decide which ones make more sense, and then research to make sure it makes sense for a reason.
I was once a big advocate of the DSB. The argument coming from the BB crew made me rethink that. That's why I now say "don't put all your eggs in one basket" I. as well as all the other well meaning members here will do my best to give you only good advice. That doesn't mean I'll always be right, or even have an answer to offer. Take it all in, decide who makes sense, and double check what they tell you
I have currently in my 220, about a 1" sand bed. It's only there for looks, and to make my bottom dwelling critters happy. I don't depend on it for filtration at all. I do keep a DSB in my refugium, which is something worth looking into.
While I am happy with my Lifereef skimmer, there are some really interesting models and designs. This guy builds (by hand) some of the best quality skimmers/reactors I have ever seen. I'll be ordering a Ca. reactor from him in the near future. I know Geo well, and feel very comfortable recommending him. There are lots of other guys also building this equipment, by hand. Many of them are also building very high quality stuff.
Lights are even harder to advise you on, as what you want to keep, and what pleases your eye are the criteria. I can easily recommend a skimmer builder, because he'll ask you what you want to keep, and design a skimmer to meet your needs. I can't decide what looks good to you, so all I can really say on this matter, is that you need to make some big decisions. Will it be a full reef? Are you interested in leathers and Kenya tree, or Acros and clams? Once you are sure of the answers to those questions, I have a few more for you

 

[Spracklcat]

Hi Denise, welcome aboard!

There are a lot of good places to get info, and this is a good start. Do you have any reefkeeping books? When i started out my favorite was Julian Sprung's Reef Aquarium--good overall basics. Since then I picked up Anthony Calfo's Book of Coral Propagation which has basics of equipment as well as coral family overviews.

Also, this month's LIRA meeting is Saturday 1/20 at 3PM, andEric is giving a presentation on the setup of his 180g in-wall tank, which would be a good way for you to get ideas, and also to meet people and ask lots of questions! www.lireef.org

How was your 55g set up? You may be able to scavenge some of that equipment for the new setup too.

Larry's right too--try to think about what animals you'd like to keep in the long term, and then we all will be able to tell you what has worked for us for those animals.

Christine

 

[emelton]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8973883#post8973883 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Spracklcat
Hi Denise, welcome aboard!

Since then I picked up Anthony Calfo

Christine

 

[Spracklcat]

LOL nice Eric

 

[eboonaman]

now back to the thread.......

Denise, you should stop by our meeting Eric (pyro) did some really interesting stuff with electrical hook up and tank setup that could save you some $$$$ . Like looking on the propertyroom .com for lighting and timers etc.
http://www.propertyroom.com
under garden/commerical

 

[drej424]

Thanks, Larry, Christine, Eric & Chuck. I think the best thing for me to do right now is nothing. I hope to attend next week's meeting - first one!! Hopefully, this will help me get on the right track in the beginning.

More info and questions to follow.......

 

[Spracklcat]

See you then--and please introduce yourself--

 

[drej424]

We have a standard Oceanic stand. I plan on a 30 gal sump and a 15 gal refugium. The smallest Geo skimmer is 24", which is okay with this stand. Is this a good choice? Any thoughts?

BTW, the meeting was great! Rich and I learned a lot, had some fun, and got to meet some of you in person! Thanks for all the great info. For any other newbies out there, it's a great opportunity for us...

 

[billsreef]

Hi Denise,

It was good meeting you and Rich at the meeting. Glad to hear you both enjoyed it

As for the Geo skimmer, discounting that Geo is a friend, his build quality is excellent and something that you just can't go wrong with. In fact I think they are better quality than most, if not all, of the high end overpriced units that are imported from England and Germany with much hype.