Help with new tank setup? Pleeeeease?

[thedraven]

Im completely dumbfounded... I have two freshie tanks that have been up for a year with no problems, so Ive decided that Im finally ready for the real deal... Ive inherited a 75 gallon tank (formerly fw) and stripped and cleaned it to the bone. I plan to use 2 Magnum 350 Canisters with large Bio Wheels (4 in all), a Seaclone 100 skimmer, and double helix UV sterilizer for most of the filtering. Still I have three questions (and perhaps Im over thinking on this buuuut...):
1)I bought 60lbs of large Fiji dry base rock for my tank, and my local aquarium store sells some really nice live Fiji. In theory, I could setup my base rock and add a few choice pieces of live rock to populate the mass? Would this be impractical, impossible, or simply take an eternity?
2)This one has been reeeeeally bugging me. I also aim for live sand in this setup - Ive read that I should compliment live sand (the moist kind in bags), with aragonite substrate. Now Im confused... is there some formula to this? Do I use the aragonite as a base, and place the live sand over? Do I completely jack up my tank with an enourmous amount of live bagged sand?
3)Also... I read that live sand can become "anaerobic" if left to sit for periods of time. Do I introduce this lastly after the rock has cured in my tank?
Thank you for any replies... Im deathly afraid of screwing up this expensive setup horribly. If this doesnt work out Im quitting and joining the army. :help:

 

[stapler]

First off...welcome to the board!

Make sure you do your homework before you get into anything in this hobby...you wont believe how much I have learned in the past few months, and my tank is flourishing!
Anyhow, on to your questions.
1. Buying base rock is a good thing IMO unless you have tons of money lying around. Base rock will become LR and look just like Figi rock if thats what you put in there with it. I used base rock to put on the bottom and in the back, and covered it up with LR. You couldnt tell the diference!
2. I bought about 25lbs of regular sand that I got for cheap at my LFS. Then I bought that LS in the bag for like $30 for 15lbs, and put that on top.
3. First off put in all the sand, then put in all the rock. Then you can begin your cycle. I dont know exactly what you mean by aneorbic...hopefully someone else can get back to you. I did however add all my sand, LS, base and LR all at once, cycled my tank for 3 weeks until all readings were good, then added my first fish.
I havent had any problems since, and how have a few corals growing impressively fast.
Just make sure you read read read!!
There are a lot of good people on this board who can help you and give you good advice.
HTH
stapler

 

[jlem]

I have been in the hobby for 5 years and after trying many fads and approaches here is what I would advise.
Use only one magnum 350 and don't use the biowheels. Fill it up with only half the charcoal reccomended to keep it from packing. You will have rock and sand for your bio filtration so the biowheels will do nothing for you.
Your approach on your live rock is correct. adding a few pieces of live rock to base rock will seed the base rock and eventually you won't tell the difference.
If you can get southdown ( do a search )then get that for your sandbed. If not then sanitized white play sand will work just fine. A bag or two of the live sand will also work and lots of people like sand from this site. Your live rock will seed your sand bed and If you can get a few pounds of sand from an established system then that would be ideal. Aragonite is nice because that is what the ocean floor around reefs is made of but it really does not matter. You could do a deep sand bed or you could do a shallow sand bed which I prefer because it looks so much nicer.
A deep sand bed can cause problems if it does not contain enough critters to turn it and keep it loose and oxynigated. A DSB utilizes deep areas that are low in oxygen to convert nitrate into nitrogen. If a DSB becomes void of oxygen and stagnent then it can cause water quality problems. Of course if the DSB gets to much oxygen then it will not convert the nitrate into nitgogen and you just have a lot of sand taking up space.
Start with the basics like the Magnum 350, live rock, 1 inch sand bed and a skimmer and take it very slow. Start with one or two small fish and enjoy them for a couple months to let your tank find it's rithym. Start with simple corals like a mushroom rock. Perform biweekly 10% water changes using RO/DI water and don't add any suppliments besides buffer if you PH drops below 8.0 in the evenings. Only feed once a day and all of the food should be gone within a minute or two. Your fish should be slim and not bulging at the gut because of overfeeding. Good luck :cheer:
DARN YOU STAPLER I WANTED TO POST FIRST

 

[jess74]

Just a suggestion that nobody has said yet; Don't use a sea clone skimmer!! They are crap, I have a 150 and it is a worthless piece of junk. Get the best skimmer you can afford now, so that down the road you won't need to replace it.
Just my opinion!

 

[birdy]

I would also like to add: do not use the LS in the bags, you are paying way to much for nothing. But some florida keys live sand, from a place like this site, or find some hobbiest to give you a cup of sand from their tanks. The best way to do it is to put the dry sand in then the LS on top.
Another concern that I have is that if you use mainly baserock at first you will need at least one of those set's of biowheels for about 6month. Because it takes 6mo to a year for all that baserock to become live and be able to mantain the biological filtration in your tank.

 

[jlem]

Originally posted by Birdy
.
Another concern that I have is that if you use mainly baserock at first you will need at least one of those set's of biowheels for about 6month. Because it takes 6mo to a year for all that baserock to become live and be able to mantain the biological filtration in your tank.
Biowheels will not work any quicker than the base rock will. You will have a large surface area with the rock and sand and the majority of the bacteria will colonize the surface of the rock anyways. So even though your rock may look plain you will have the biological bacteria present. Live rock is called live because of all of the colors and critters and not really for the bacteria which will grow everywhere including your glass.
Even though the seaclone is not the best skimmer around it is a great choice for your size of tank and is really inexpensive. I run a Seaclone 150 on my 125 gallon reef and it pulls nice dark stuff out. I am sure that a $300.00 euroreef sitting in sump would pull out more stuff but my tank doesn't need that so why spend hundreds of dollars more:notsure:

 

[thedraven]

Thank you all for the wonderful replies... Im certainly impressed with the knowledge expressed here. I'll keep each and every tip in mind, and hopefully my tank will be a thriving biomass of... bio massive... stuff.:notsure:
Lol... any other suggestions you guys would have? In regards to the single Magnum setup - it kind of makes me nervous, maybe because Im used to overkill. Keep in mind I run my 30 gallon freshwater tank with an UG filter (powerhead), and a Magnum 350. hehe:happyfish: