Selecting the proper equipment for new SW tank.

[rscott12]

this forum is an amazing wealth of knowledge. I just signed up today, and i'm extremely interested in picking the brains of all you experts.

My questions are:

Is a protein skimmer, a couple of powerheads, a heater, substrate, and the necessary amount of liverock( i.e. 30lbs for a 30 gal. tank) sufficient in maintaing a healthy and safe environment?

Also, is adding 30lbs. of cured liverock to a 30 gal. tank to much for it to handle at first, or does it need to be added little by little until I have 30 lbs present?

I greatly appreciate all your help and wisdom.

 

[TekCat]

IMO, Add all LR at once (assuming that there are no living creatures present), and aquascape.

To your equipment list I'd like to add good lights if you planning to keep corals or other photosynthetic creatures.

Make sure that you get nice skimmer (research needed ).

That should get you started

-- edit --

Dont forget hydrometer/refractometer (later is better) and test kits.

-- one more edit ---

CPR skimmer are getting bad rep. I'd highly recommend using AquaC Remora for protein skimmer.

 

[piranhaking]

little bit of help here on test kits. you will need ammonia, nitrite, nitrate at the minimum. Calcium if you start keeping hard corals (that will be a little while though because the tank needs to run for a while first). I would also either buy kits of after the tank is set up for a week or two have a test done at your lfs for phosphate, and silica. There are other kits that some people suggest, but i think those should be enough to get by on. One important thing you didnt mention is RO water. DO NOT USE TAP WATER. I dont mean to sound harsh, but that is one of the worst mistakes you could make. Trust me, i found out the hard way. Tap water has to many things in it that will cause you problems (mainly serious algae problems) RO/DI is better, but just RO will work. Also, just my personal oppinion here, i would get sugar sized sand and nothing any larger. Crushed coral is a major nitrate factory most of the time because waste gets traped in it, and the larger "sands" like caribsea aragonite seaflor special grade reef sand (about 1-2mm diameter) is larger that ideal for most of the small substrate dwelling creatures in the tank. Good luck with the new tank, im sure you'll love it. (after the inital algae blooms are over anyway)

 

[rjwilson37]

I voted yes for you on the BakPak, but you may want to try the new Coralife CSS or a Remora skimmer. They are rated a little better and if you want something pretty good, you should probably go with one of those. The BakPak's are ok, but I have heard a lot about more don't like them than liked them. It is stated that they are hard to dial in the proper skimming and keep it dialed in.

A lot just pick up a hose and screw cap for the Coralife CSS series to adjust the air ratio and state they can adjust the skimmate it collects easily.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

We started witha 30g FO, have a 125g now, looking bigger

Save $$, buy bigger now & all equipment for a bigger tank

I bought my RO/DI based on a 125g tank or larger
I bought a dual halide setup, only used 1 bulb (on my 2nd tank - 60g) until I bought bigger tank/moved
I bought a small skimmer, had to get rid of it & buy a bigger skimmer
Now I have an even BIGGER skimmer