SW Macro Newbie looking for guidance

[oblongshrimp]

I have done high tech planted fw tanks for the last 2 years and I have been interested in trying a sw planted tank. I was thinking of a 40 gallon breeder. I have a lot of questions I was hoping someone here could help me with....

Livestock
No idea in this area but I will probably will keep this pretty light on the livestock though

Macros/corals/ect
I think I will just stick with macroalgaes for now may or may not add a couple corals in the future

Lighting
I have a 2x92w 36" PC with 10k bulbs I was hoping to use. Do I need any actinic for macroalgaes?

Substrate and liverock
How deep should my sand bed be? Do i need to add anything to it (I read stuff that Tom was saying about adding soil to it)? How much liverock should I have in the tank? Is there a big difference between all the different kinds of live rock that are out there?

Filter/water circulation
I assume I don't need a real filter since I have the liverock but know I need a good turnover rate. How much turnover do I need and whats the best way to get it (powerheads?)

Dosing
Does adding CO2 do anything in a macro tank? Any suggestions on a dosing schedule? I use dry ferts for my fw tanks so I have them all available.

I appreciate the help and I will make sure to post some photos when I get it up and running.

 

[skeeter-doc]

I have a question to add on to this also, ...

what, if any, critters do you need to add to clean up any unslightly algae that may grow in the tank, ...

 

[ClamIAm]

Livestock can be anything that doesn't eat the types of algae/plants you want to keep. For clean-up, I use snails without any problems. I've found that hermit crabs enjoy picking on some macros so I'm not sure I'd reccomend them.

The depth of your sand bed only matters if you plan on keeping seagrass. If so, I'd make it at least 6 inches. For algae alone, it can be whatever you'd like. The supposed rule for saltwater is 1 lb of live rock per gallon, but I am using much less than this in my planted tank. I do however keep live rock in my sump and run a protein skimmer on the tank. So far I haven't had any water quality problems. The difference between types of live rock is where it comes from. Generally it doesn't matter, except in special cases like TBS rock.

Powerheads are the way to go for turnover. You are generally looking for a good flow in the tank.

I personally have never been sure if dosing CO2 or any other nutrients has helped. I think there are some other posts on this forum that go into this issue further.

 

[oblongshrimp]

How much turnover should I aim for? Any particular powerheads that you would recommend?

 

[yrema]

welcome, oblongshrimp! I'm sure you won't be having much problems setting up your SW planted tank, since you're very much familiar with FW planteds already.

in case you haven't seen this yet,
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-01/sl/index.php

I agree with clam, unless you're going to have seagrasses, you need not add a C02 reactor. Try hydor for powerheads. I wish we had 220 60hz version of those here.

 

[oblongshrimp]

I hadn't seen that link yet. Thanks it was an interesting read.

 

[yrema]

:thumbsup:

 

[skeeter-doc]

thanks, that is a great and informative article

another question, is there a light spectrum difference preferred by red macro's vs. green macro's vs. brown macro's?

 

[lancer99]

Skeeter-doc,

Fascinating topic. I've been trying to make to make sense of what I've been reading on the web. As far as I can make out, both green & brown algaes prefer light in the indigo and orange range (counter-intuitive, you'd expect them to prefer green), whereas most Rhodophyta prefer something in the middle.

I'm glad anyone likes macros....


-R

 

[oblongshrimp]

what do you guys think of this live rock?

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=876

30lbs for a 40gal algae tank should be good....sure beats the $10/lb at the LFS.

 

[skeeter-doc]

well any rock would be good, but is that price WITH shipping, or WITHOUT?

and you are right, $10/lb is way too high for the crappy dead stuff you get at a LFS

 

[oblongshrimp]

that is the price before shipping....about 160 after shipping.

 

[skeeter-doc]

well still half price what you would pay at a LFS,

 

[ClamIAm]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11198912#post11198912 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lancer99
Skeeter-doc,

Fascinating topic. I've been trying to make to make sense of what I've been reading on the web. As far as I can make out, both green & brown algaes prefer light in the indigo and orange range (counter-intuitive, you'd expect them to prefer green), whereas most Rhodophyta prefer something in the middle.

I'm glad anyone likes macros....


-R

Just thought I'd add to this. It actually does make sense that green algae prefer red and blue light. The reason they appear green is because chlorophyll reflects green light and absorbs red and blue...but on a non-nerdy note, I definitely encourage any more algae tank development we can get. The more people keeping it, the more we will learn about it.