I am a newbie
Hi,
I am totally new to this hobby. My sweet hubby is buying me a 120 gallon aquarium for christmas. As I haven't bought anything yet For the filter I was thinking of going with the wet/dry filter. I was going to get one that is for the 200 gallon tank. I am going to start off with 120 pounds of Marshall Island live rock and live sand. I also want to keep hard and soft coral and a few anemones. Now for the stuff I am not sure about. What lights are best? I keep my house temp at about 76 degrees. Do you think i will need a chiller? Thank you |
First off
OK now to answer the questions. I lot of people go with a wet/dry filter for their tanks. So the line of think that you have in that perspective is correct. And the size is good but I prob would like for myself one that could handle a 300 gal tank. Now for the lighting issue: If you want to keep hard corals then I would definately consider Metal Halides (MH) though a little more expensive to set up and run than the other lights out there. I would also run some sort of auxiliary lighting but that's optional. Usually the majority of people running MH bulbs run some sort of actinic color lighting to make the tank more appealling to the eye. For this light I would purchase the new current usa NOVA light it's a T5 that runs extremely cool and put outs more light than a vast majority of lights. As for the chiller you may or may not need it. It depends on how much lighting you and how much heat you have in the tank. The idea water temp would be around 78 degrees. I personally had ran my reef tank in the low 80s where it would reach 84 degrees for a year. I reacently purchased a chilller and have noticed a large difference on the hard corals. So the chiller is really up to you. |
Hello Teeka01. Let me start by saying welcome to Frag Outpost! :)
You should really only run a wet/dry filter if you are keeping a fish only tank. The reason for this is that wet/dry filters do a very good job a promoting the growth of the areobic bacteria that produces nitrates. People often refer to wet/dry filters as "nitrate factories" for this reason. When keeping a hard/soft coral reef you should consider the use of either a sump or a refugium or both, and a powerful oversized protein skimmer instead of a wet/dry filter. When it comes to purchasing equipment, it is best to do as much research as possible so that you do not find yourself needing to upgrade in the future. If you make the right purchases to begin with you can save yourself some headaches later on. Live rock is an important part of your filtration process too. Living deep within the live rock is anaerobic bacteria which has the ability to process nitrates. Hard corals especially will have a difficult time surviving in a high nitrate environment. You can save yourself some $$$ by purchasing dry base rock to use as the foundation of your rockwork and then placing the nice decorator rock on top. Keep in mind that it will all become "live" rock within due time and within a year you probably will no longer be able to tell what was the dry base rock and what wasn't. If you are planning to keep hard corals then you will probably need halides. Not to say that you can not grow sps corals without them because I've seen successful sps tanks lit by vho's and T5's. Metal halides will give you the most bang for your buck and the most lumens per watt. If you do decide to purchase metal halides then your wattage options include:
When choosing halides you will have many options when it comes to kelvin rating or color output of the lamp. Most halides designed for reef keeping are rated between 10,000 and 20,000 on the Kelvin rating scale. A basic rule of thumb is that the lower the kelvin rating the whiter/yellower the light output but the higher the PAR. The opposite is true with higher kelvin rating lamps. As a rule of thumb, the higher the kelvin rating the bluer the light output but the PAR becomes lower. In case you are unfamiliar with PAR, it stands for photosynthetically active radiation. This is a basic measurment of the light output that is usable to the photosynthetic process, the process of turning light into nutrients. If you choose lower kelvin halides then you might want to consider the use of actinics to increase the visual appeal of your tank. Here are some links for comparison purposes - http://metricksystem.com/chris/250wcolour/ http://www.cnidarianreef.com/lamps.cfm http://www.coralreefecosystems.com/ltg_bulb_color.htm http://www.diyreef.com/lcomp.htm Other factors to consider when planning a sps reef tank is calcium and alkalinity supplements. You have a wide array of options here. Are you familiar with the process of cycling a new tank? I would not worry about a chiller right now. Make your decision about your lighting first and then check your temps. There are many ways to lower your temps without the use of a chiller.
I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask any other questions you might have. Or if you need some links to resources of good reading then I'm sure we can point you in the right direction. - FragOutpost |
Oops. Let me restate my comments about wet/dry filters.
What makes a wet/dry produce high nitrate levels are the bioballs that are usually included with them. Remove the bioballs and you will remove the capacity to process nitrates at such a high level. |
Thank You so much. You guys or gals have been very helpful. I posted this and more questions on another forum and their advice was bassically do the research. God only knows I have been. I have not bought anything as of yet. But I am starting to get ready to. how big of a sump or a refugium do I need. I would rather have it on the large side then on the small. I tried to set up a saltwater tank many years ago and flopped miserably. I was too young and had no patience. I want to do this right this time so I am going to be real patient. What is the difference between a sump and a refugium?
Teeka |
When it comes to a sump I would recommend that you get the largest that you can fit under your stand (if that is indeed where you plan to keep it).
A sump is basically another tank or container of water that is plumbed into your display tank that is used for housing things like your return pump, skimmer, and other hardware. Using a sump will also effectively increase your total water volume as well as the square inches of water surface. A sump is a good place to hide all of the hardware so that it is not cluttering up your tank. A sump is also a good place to store extra live rock for improved filtration. A refugium is a place where you can grow macroalgae, pods, and other critters that would normally be eaten by the fish in your display tank. This is why it is called a refugium, because it provides a place of refuge for these critters. |
Also, many people, including myself, use a cheap rubbermaid container for their sump. I found the perfect size container at Target for like seven dollars.
I chose this route because I had tried various glass aquariums before and always had the problems of it being too tall and was a pia to get the skimmer in and out, or not fitting underneath the stand. The rubbermaid container was a lot faster to implement and much cheaper to buy than building a sump from scratch out of glass or acrylic. Plus when the doors to the stand are closed you can't tell anyways. ;) |
Have you decided yet on the types of hard or soft corals you plan to keep?
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LOL thanks for the indepth answer I was running short on time. Had to leave for work. :D
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Are far as what type of corals I am planning on getting. The one I know for sure is the bubble coral, I think those are so nice. Right now I am looking at all the different ones.
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Well, I've never kept a bubble coral so I can't comment on that but I wish you the best of luck with your new tank. Please post some photos of your progress after you get the tank set up. Thanks.
-FragOutpost |
My friend has and had kept bubble coral under PC lighting up high on the tank but I have noticed that it has strived better with metal Halides.
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Hi,
I am looking at this for my skimmer http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_..._ev.asp?CartId= has anybody heard any feed back about this skimmer. I am looking at getting the 240 model. I am ordering my tank today. Yeah. Thank You |
That skimmer should work well for you. It must be used in a sump though, and I do not think that it can be ran externally.
Quote from Marine Depot site Quote:
Just off of the top of my head here are some links to some protein skimmer manufacturers - http://www.myreefcreations.com/ http://www.deltecusa.us/ http://www.euro-reef.com/index.shtml |
Hi,
I got to order my tank, stand and canopy today. I ordered a predrilled 120 gallon tank, 24 H X 48 L. I also got the glass top for it. Finally the equipment buying has started. It will be here in about 2 weeks. Now the wait until the next piece can be bought. |
Great... Getting the ball rolling on this is the toughest... Once you start then it'll all start to move quicker. The wait is always the hardest.
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As I have been doing my research on how to get the tank set up. I do have a question, do you put the live sand in with uncured rock to get it started or do you put the rock in by it self then once it is cured put the sand in? I have read conflicting reports. I don't want to kill the benefits of live sand.
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hmm good question. On my 55 gal reef tank that crashed on me about 2 months ago I added the uncured live rock in with the existing live sand (not the cause of the crash). This was done after the crash. I had moved the live rock that was in it to another tank. Well my tank cycled again and when I had enough money to buy another batch of live rock I had to cycle the tank again. Which is why the setup of my tank is tanking so long.
If you truely have live sand and are going to be purchasing uncured live rock then my suggestion to you is to have the live sand in the tank and get yourself some rubbermaid tubs and use an extra pump and an extra cheapy light and put the uncured live rock into it. As long as you have circulation and light then you will be able to cure the live rock. If you are buying the "live sand" and live rock at the same time then I prob would just place everything in at the same time. As you "live sand" in a bag will also cycle. |
Thank you. After reading the other thread on the new tank, I have another question. What does cooking the hirock means? How long do you cook it? I was planning on adding about 60-90 pounds of this hirock. I have a few months as I only have the tank so far. the rock can be my next purchase so that it has time to cook.
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Also to let you know I was planning on 105 pounds of Marshall Island live rock and about 90 pounds of hirock. the live rock is uncured. Another question, how much live sand do I need? Is the live sand in the bags really "alive"? I don't understand how stuff can survive in a sealed bag.
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