Brand new, looking for advice!

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kphilly25

Guest
I'm brand new to saltwater tanks! I'm about to get my hands on a 210G tank with already built in overflows. The LFS seems very helpful and helps you financial needs. I'm going to invest the money upfront because I want to grow live coral. Any suggestions on getting started? He is going to help me plan my tank step by step but getting any other information would be great. You can never learn to much! I want my tank to be a peaceful community tank. Any information on what water to use? Where to get it? How to cycle the tank? What about introducing salt? I know this is a big tank, but that gives me more room for mistakes! Plus I have the determination to do it right!
 

bang guy

Moderator
Step 1 - purchase a good saltwater reference book. {Suggestions people!!} Back in the day The Conscientious Marine Aquarist was pretty good, not perfect, but pretty good.
2 - be patient. Only bad things happen quickly. Allow things to develop in their own time and don't look for ways to do things faster.
3 - Look at tank pictures. Find someone who has a system that resembles what you want. Ask them how they did it.
 

deejeff442

Active Member
seriously dont listen to the lfs. next to never they have a clue except to take your cash. i cant figure out how these places stay in business giving bad advise. do your own research .
 

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,
First...WELCOME to the site!
Listen to Bang Guy, and Deejeff. I also used the "Saltwater Aquariums for dummies" book, along with "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist"
My #1 rule...NEVER, EVER ask any fish store for any advice on anything. Go to the LFS knowing what you want or need. This site is a gold mine of information. You need the books mentioned above to give you an idea of how to get started, and help you know what questions to ask.
I have to date, never seen any fish store carry a good skimmer. Stay away from cyclone (the brand they usually carry). Cycle your tank with a chunk of raw shrimp, pure ammonia or ghost feed, not a live fish, and certainly not a damsel. Building your own sump system is very easy, and the guys here can and will guide you, step by step.
For corals, you first need to figure out what type of coral you want. Some need the dark, and regular fish lighting is fine (non-photosynthetic), some such as soft coral, need a little more kick, so get a T5HO lighting system... and then the big boys...LED or Metal Halide if you want certain hard Stoney corals, or want an anemone.
So plan your tank knowing what you want. It's costly to upgrade, so you want the best lighting for your needs.
Other Equipment:

  • An Hydrometer is fine to use for setting up the tank, but later you will need a refractometer (again you must purchase on-line, no fish store I ever visited carries them, and most don't even know what they are. UV lights are a waste of money, and actually kills off the good night emerging critters that live in the live rock (most LFS try to sell you these).

  • IMO A titanium heater is the best type to buy hands down.

  • As already mentioned...Choose your lighting system according to personal choice.

  • Skimmer, I like the TUNZE brand and the Octopus in sump skimmers best.

  • Also get a good Reef
  • salt mix since you want coral. It has a bit more of the elements in it then regular saltwater mix...they cost the same.
    [*]
    Use ONLY RO (reverse Osmosis) water, to fill the tank, do water changes and do top offs. Some say get RO/DI but it isn't drinkable for people, and is very dangerous to do so.
  • If you purchase your own RO water system (with a 210g tank it's sort of a must), you have good clean water not only for your fish tank, but for cooking and drinking too. The more you use your water filter, the purer the water (something to do with pressure and pushing the yucky stuff through the filter, forcing it into the water)
    Get your own
  • Master test kit. The master kits are cheaper then purchasing all the tests separately. Stay clear of API or Red Sea (not reliable) Salifert and Seachem are good brands.
    Needed tests:

  • PH
    Alkalinity or KH
    Ammonia
    Nitrate (NO3)
    Nitrite (NO2)
    Phosphate (PO4)
    Calcium
The best substrate (IMO) is the live reef sand. Live rock is another must have. Make certain you put the rock on the bottom
, you can't build on shifting sand. A rock slide could crush a critter, or break the tank. If you want to save money, you can purchase base rock for the bottom and add a few pieces of live rock. Fake plants does nothing but accumulate algae, it will only look good for a very short time. I personally use a mixture of fake resin décor and live rock. Most use only live rock.
That's all I can think of for now.
 
S

saxman

Guest
Welcome to the obsession!
Bang Guy's book suggestion is a good one. You might also consider Advanced Marine Aquarium Techniques by Jay Hemdal. Don't let the title fool you, it's a good book to have.
 

geridoc

Well-Known Member
You are planning a reef tank, where there is little room for mistakes in design or execution since corals are not tolerant. Therefore, take your time. I know it is frustrating to see your magnificent tank sitting there, and nothing happening, but it will be great, eventually, if you take your time. Give lots of consideration to your lighting. A 210 gallon tank is pretty deep, so you are going to need intense lighting (LED banks, or metal halide) to deliver sufficient light to the bottom of the water column. As pointed out above, an effective skimmer is also important (but you won't actually need it until you are a couple of months into having stock in your tank). Also, you might want to consider exporting nutrient through macroalgae, either free floating in a sump, or by using a algae scrubber. These are either diy, or you can buy them online (not cheap, but very effective). In your plans, be sure to include a sump, and if possible, have the return pump bulkheaded rather than submerged. This will avoid heat transfer and save you the cost of buying and running a chiller. JBJ makes a good-enough auto topoff system which will save you infinite daily work making up for evaporation. You will also need 2-4 powerheads in the tank to circulate water and produce necessary wave action. Think about these items, ask questions, read and follow the threads on this site. After you decide on your hardware choices, bring them up for discussion here, and then assemble the system. Then we'll talk about sand, rock, water, salt, cycling, and eventually, stock choice. Just remember, nothing good happens quickly in saltwater tanks, so take your time to get each step right before moving on.
 

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
Agree with the previous posts. One think I hope you do is research refugiums with macro algaes and algae truf scrubbers. I think you will find the system much easier to maintain if you balance it out with plant life like various algaes right from the start. Then do the rest. but still that's just my .02
 
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saxman

Guest
Quote:
Originally Posted by beaslbob http:///t/396019/brand-new-looking-for-advice#post_3527705
Agree with the previous posts. One think I hope you do is research refugiums with macto algaes and algae truf scrubbers. I think you will find the system much easier to maintain if you balance it out with plant life like various algaes right from the start. Then do the rest. but still that's just my .02
Absolutely! Live macro is awesome stuff.
 

flower

Well-Known Member
One word of caution if you go with macroalgae...if you want coral, put the macros in a refugium chamber in your sump, or stay with caulerpa (I like the prolifera, it looks like sea grass). Macros are indeed awesome for keeping the tank parameters pristine, but they like to cover things, and overgrow, keeping them off of coral would turn into a real job if you get the pretty red stuff.
 
S

saxman

Guest
Flower,
Most red macros are SLOWER growing than the green species, altho there are a couple of exceptions. The macro most peeps have trouble with are the faster growing Caulerpa species, namely C. taxifolia (feather Caulerpa), C. racemosa (green grape), and their variants.
The faster-growing Caulerpa
species are the ones that give rise to the stories that "all Caulerpa
is bad, and will go sexual and nuke your tank". I have to say in all the years we've been running live macro, that the ONLY time a tank has "gone south" is one that we intentionally let "blow" just to see what really happens. Fixing it entailed removing the dead macro and running some carbon in a temporary canister filter. We had no livestock losses.
Preventing this from happening is easily done...keep the stuff pruned so it doesn't smother itself and remove any strands that show the telltale white coloration with green speckles (the gametes). This white look shouldn't be confused with the white active growth on the ends of the macro.
 
K

kphilly25

Guest
Right off the bat! Here are some questions I have!
1) Should I just build my own Sump or would it be easier and more financial wise to just buy it?
2) What size skimmer?
3) What kind of lighting do I need to be able to grow most everything? I want to invest now so I can grow later.
4) How do I plumb to sump?
 

bang guy

Moderator
1 - It is usually cheaper to build your own sump. It can also give you more insight into the plumbing needs of your system and also make it easier to customize to your specific needs. Commercial sumps are very nice though.
2 - Big. I have always built my own skimmers so I'm hoping someone with a similar sized system will give a better recommendation.
3 - The LEDs are popular but I am out of date on them. My standby was always Double Ended MH HQI 250 watt fixtures.
4 - I would recommend a tank that is predrilled with internal overflows (as you specified in your first post!). The tank should come with some instructions. I'll answer more on this when I get more time.
 
K

kphilly25

Guest
1 - It is usually cheaper to build your own sump.  It can also give you more insight into the plumbing needs of your system and also make it easier to customize to your specific needs.  Commercial sumps are very nice though.
2 - Big.  I have always built my own skimmers so I'm hoping someone with a similar sized system will give a better recommendation.
3 - The LEDs are popular but I am out of date on them.  My standby was always Double Ended MH HQI 250 watt fixtures.
4 - I would recommend a tank that is predrilled with internal overflows (as you specified in your first post!).  The tank should come with some instructions.  I'll answer more on this when I get more time.
What's a good brand and how big should I get of a pre-made sump?
 
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