Just when I thought I was smart

[lovetofly31]

I've read books, I researched the boards here, talked to friends, talked to the LFS guru's and just when I thought I had it all figured out..I realize I don't have a clue what I am doing

..Hopefully the pro's here can help me.
I bought my two beautiful daughters, whom I love, their first 55g tank. Now they are looking at it while it sits in the corner of the living room.
In addition to my tank, this is what I currently have: Coralife 65g protein skimmer, power filter, 20lbs live sand, 30lbs dead sand, 10 gallon tank for a sump, thermometer.
This is what I still need to buy (I think): 20lbs live rock, 30lbs dead rock, heater, 2 power heads at 295gph each, refractometer, lots of distilled water, plumbing.
I was considering running a closed loop system, but it seems as though I would need a pump to push water from the sump to the tank, and a pump to pull water from tank into the sump.
Am I missing anything here?
Also, I am building my stand, I have seen references that say to use 1/2" styrofoam on the top of stand so that when the tank sits, It will allow it to be fully level and will distribute the weight evenly.
Any advice will be extremely appreciated! My daughters are starting to doubt they will ever get to place an order for fish.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by lovetofly31
I've read books, I researched the boards here, talked to friends, talked to the LFS guru's and just when I thought I had it all figured out..I realize I don't have a clue what I am doing

..Hopefully the pro's here can help me.
I bought my two beautiful daughters, whom I love, their first 55g tank. Now they are looking at it while it sits in the corner of the living room.
In addition to my tank, this is what I currently have: Coralife 65g protein skimmer, power filter, 20lbs live sand, 30lbs dead sand, 10 gallon tank for a sump, thermometer.
This is what I still need to buy (I think): 20lbs live rock, 30lbs dead rock, heater, 2 power heads at 295gph each, refractometer, lots of distilled water, plumbing.
I was considering running a closed loop system, but it seems as though I would need a pump to push water from the sump to the tank, and a pump to pull water from tank into the sump.
Am I missing anything here?
Also, I am building my stand, I have seen references that say to use 1/2" styrofoam on the top of stand so that when the tank sits, It will allow it to be fully level and will distribute the weight evenly.
Any advice will be extremely appreciated! My daughters are starting to doubt they will ever get to place an order for fish.
Tell your beautifull girls that they have well over a month or two before fish can be in the tank. SW needs to be taken very slowly. What kind of live sand did you buy? Is it wet in the bag or dry? If it is wet then it needs to go into sw ASAP. Don't buy distilled water. Go to Walmart and buy RO water. It is better and cheaper as well. You haven't mentioned a salt mix. I have used Instant Ocean, but Oceanic is all of a few dollars more for much better quality. You will need a liquid master test kit. You can pick up an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals one for around $25. As far as the sump, it is gravity fed and then a pump to bring the water back into the display. Please ask us any and all questions that you may have

 

[lovetofly31]

The live sand is wet in the bag..I've had it for over a month though..is that going to be an issue? It's called arag alive fiji pink.
I did forget to mention the 50lb bucket of instant ocean salt mix I have.
Thanks for the tip on the RO water from walmart. I will get that instead.
So if I understand you right on the sump, I can hang my power filter, install my protein skimmer, and put in a pump that pushes water up into the tank..right?
What size pump would I need, and how would I create the gravity feed back into the sump?
Also do you have any comments on the ratio of live rock to dead rock? I have read many places where hobbyist talk about the dead rock becoming live rock over time.
Thanks for the quick reply

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by lovetofly31
The live sand is wet in the bag..I've had it for over a month though..is that going to be an issue? It's called arag alive fiji pink.
I did forget to mention the 50lb bucket of instant ocean salt mix I have.
Thanks for the tip on the RO water from walmart. I will get that instead.
So if I understand you right on the sump, I can hang my power filter, install my protein skimmer, and put in a pump that pushes water up into the tank..right?
What size pump would I need, and how would I create the gravity feed back into the sump?
Also do you have any comments on the ratio of live rock to dead rock? I have read many places where hobbyist talk about the dead rock becoming live rock over time.
Thanks for the quick reply

The sand will be an issue. You bought live sand. Live sand will not live for more than a few days in the bag. You may want to either toss that or put it into a tub.You may spend more on curring it than you will on buying more. I would at least try to cure it. Put it into a tub with SW and a powerhead. Mix it around and test the ammonia. It may be salvageable, but probably won't be live anymore. If the ammonia spikes to 8.0 right away then you can either keep stirring the sand and wait for the ammonia and nitrite to hit zero or just toss it and buy more. It won't be live at that point anyway. Your ratio is fine for live vs. base. The base will become live in time. As far as the sump hookup, you will need a hang on the tank overflow box if your tank is not drilled. It is gravity fed into the sump then get a Mag 7 to pump the water back up into the tank.

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by lovetofly31
The live sand is wet in the bag..I've had it for over a month though..is that going to be an issue? It's called arag alive fiji pink.
the sand you bought is only questionably alive, it contains some bacteria and an ingredient to prolong its life in the bag but it has a shelf life of about 12 months according to the manufacturer, supposedly the q-38 (or whatever its called) that they add to the bag supports the bacteria for a while. the reason it falls short of true live sand is that it doesnt contain any of the microfauna that comes in real live sand. you wont have to cure the aragalive (as the only di off will be bacteria), once you fill the tank just add it in and mix it with your dead sand and cycle your tank like normal. despite what the bag claims you will still have to cycle the tank in a normal fashion.
going with half live half dead rock or thereabouts is another reason you will definatly need to ensure your tank goes through a proper ammonia spike nitrite spike then the reduction of both of those to zero and achieve a nitrate reading, all the "dead" sand and "dead" rock will need to establish bacterialogial life to support the complete balanced nitrogen cycle.
patience is a virtue,

 

[reefkprz]

there are a couple overflow box styles, u tube and sureflow (basicly a solid unit) that hang on your tank to create the siphon feed for your sump, in my expirience the solid designs are ususally more reliable and can handle higher flow rates easier, that the u tube style counterparts.
I have heard great things about the mag series pumps that sepulatian mentioned, I myself use Rio 2500 as return pumps and like them quite well (on both my 75g and 65g) make sure you buy a powerhead that pushes slightly less GPH than your overflow box is rated for at the pumping distance its going to be used at, (i.e. if your pumping up 4 feet from sump to tank a 700 gph powerhead may drop to 600 gph {this is just a guess without doing any math} if you have a 900 gph overflow you may have siphon break issues with a return at 500gph as the water wont be flowing through fast enough to force out air)
hope this helps some

 

[toeknee]

Welcome to the hobby! I read your post about buying your first 55g.
They say you should have more then 10x the amount of flow for the size of your tank.
I have an aquaclear 70 that pushes 400gph that I took out of the box to test in the tub so I still consider it brand new. If your still looking for a powerhead and you are interested let me know!
Thanks!

 

[lovetofly31]

Thanks for the advice.
The arag alive live sand does say on the bag that it's good until may 2008. I don't plan on adding any fish until a few months down the road so my tank should be cycled and ready at that point.
All of my questions have been answered so far except the question about using styrofoam on the surface of the tank stand. I have seen that using a half inch piece between the top of the 3/4" plywood (custom built stand) and below the bottom of the tank, will help the tank distribute weight evenly on the stand.
From an engineering standpoint this makes sense, but I wanted to get a "real world" view on it.
Thanks in advance. you guys have been a great help.

 

[burch2006]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
The sand will be an issue. You bought live sand. Live sand will not live for more than a few days in the bag. You may want to either toss that or put it into a tub.You may spend more on curring it than you will on buying more. I would at least try to cure it. Put it into a tub with SW and a powerhead. Mix it around and test the ammonia. It may be salvageable, but probably won't be live anymore. If the ammonia spikes to 8.0 right away then you can either keep stirring the sand and wait for the ammonia and nitrite to hit zero or just toss it and buy more. It won't be live at that point anyway. Your ratio is fine for live vs. base. The base will become live in time. As far as the sump hookup, you will need a hang on the tank overflow box if your tank is not drilled. It is gravity fed into the sump then get a Mag 7 to pump the water back up into the tank.

Why would the ammonia spike to 8.0?