Lots of questions about a new setup.

[andrewwhisenhun]

Ok here goes...
1. A friend had mentioned that anytime you move a large aquarium, you should reseal it to be safe. My tank is 125 gallons and i just moved it yesterday. It was moved with the sand left in the bottom. Any advice on whether to reseal it or test it?
2. I found a bulk supply of rock, which is now dried.( dead rock???) i was going to use this for the bulk of the material in the tank and mix in several pieces of live rock from my LFS. Will the old rock become colonized from the bacteria spreading from the live rock pieces? Advice on this?
3.Once i get the rock and water and begin cycling, how long should i run the lights? ive got 2 MH and some T5's. Its my understanding that the MH arent needed until I begin corals.
Any other advice or knowledge for a newbie is greatly appreciated!

 

[andrewwhisenhun]

ALSO.... I have a 125 gallon tank and I found a killer deal on a protein skimmer but the protein skimmer is only good for a 100 gallon tank. Is having too small of a skimmer better than having no skimmer at all? I want a really nice one eventually but will this smaller one do the trick untill I have saved up enough$$$ ???

 

[snakeblitz33]

1. No, I have successfully moved plenty of tanks, however, I have never moved it with sand still in the bottom. So... good luck, but I am 95% sure that you won't need to reseal it just because you moved it.

2. Yes, over time the base rock will be colonized by the bacteria from the live rock... also will start growing coralline algae, sponges, provide a habitat for copepods and other small crustaceans and all manner of sea life. It just takes a little time... Be patient. This hobby is all about patients, monitoring, and respect of the natural ecosystems that we are trying to recreate in our living rooms.

3. You don't have to run the lights for the first couple of weeks while the tank is cycling. In fact, if you do, it may cause a bit of algae to grow. After the initial cycle, run your T5 lights for about 10 hours per day (10 hrs blues, 8 hours whites). Metal halides should be reserved for "peak" times during the day cycle and should be ran anywhere from 2-4 hours somewhere in the middle of your T5 lighting cycle. I highly recommend you switch to LEDs for efficiency, unless you don't like the color temps.

4. You don't really need a protein skimmer for the first six months that your tank is going. Regular 30% monthly water changes while your tank is going through it's initial fish and clean up crew stocking stages is all that is necessary for now. At the end of six months if you feel like a protein skimmer is needed, I recommend getting a Reef Octopus brand protein skimmer that is a "plus one" size,... meaning it's just for the next tank size up.

5. And I know you didn't ask this... but ask yourself what type of corals you are going to keep. If it's a soft coral only tank, you may want to consider just sticking to water changes. LPS and soft corals can be done easily with just a refugium with macroalgae in your sump and regular water changes. For SPS dominated systems, you will want to keep pristine water conditions... most of which people are oversizing their skimmers and utilizing nitrate and phosphate removal medias (like GFO) and other equipment like skimmers coupled with biopellet reactors. So... look at some tanks in person and online and figure out what you like before jumping off the deep end.



Also, now is a good time to invest in a RO/DI system that is designed to fit the needs of your local water supply. The TDS coming off of your unit should be as close to 0ppm at all times... and in some areas, that's pretty difficult. Consider researching more into RO/DI units if you haven't already - and put off filling your tank until you can secure a good source of water.

 

[saxman]

FWIW, when I'm going to set them back up fairly quickly, I move tanks with substrate in them all the time...never had an issue. In fact, about 3 years ago, I moved 14 setups (glass and acrylic both), all with substrate. What you DON'T want to do is disturb the substrate if you can help it...you don't want the compounds in the lower layers of the substrate in your water column.

 

[pstanley]

Quote:Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/396547/lots-of-questions-about-a-new-setup#post_3533449
1. No, I have successfully moved plenty of tanks, however, I have never moved it with sand still in the bottom. So... good luck, but I am 95% sure that you won't need to reseal it just because you moved it.

2. Yes, over time the base rock will be colonized by the bacteria from the live rock... also will start growing coralline algae, sponges, provide a habitat for copepods and other small crustaceans and all manner of sea life. It just takes a little time... Be patient. This hobby is all about patients, monitoring, and respect of the natural ecosystems that we are trying to recreate in our living rooms.

3. You don't have to run the lights for the first couple of weeks while the tank is cycling. In fact, if you do, it may cause a bit of algae to grow. After the initial cycle, run your T5 lights for about 10 hours per day (10 hrs blues, 8 hours whites). Metal halides should be reserved for "peak" times during the day cycle and should be ran anywhere from 2-4 hours somewhere in the middle of your T5 lighting cycle. I highly recommend you switch to LEDs for efficiency, unless you don't like the color temps.

4. You don't really need a protein skimmer for the first six months that your tank is going. Regular 30% monthly water changes while your tank is going through it's initial fish and clean up crew stocking stages is all that is necessary for now. At the end of six months if you feel like a protein skimmer is needed, I recommend getting a Reef Octopus brand protein skimmer that is a "plus one" size,... meaning it's just for the next tank size up.

5. And I know you didn't ask this... but ask yourself what type of corals you are going to keep. If it's a soft coral only tank, you may want to consider just sticking to water changes. LPS and soft corals can be done easily with just a refugium with macroalgae in your sump and regular water changes. For SPS dominated systems, you will want to keep pristine water conditions... most of which people are oversizing their skimmers and utilizing nitrate and phosphate removal medias (like GFO) and other equipment like skimmers coupled with biopellet reactors. So... look at some tanks in person and online and figure out what you like before jumping off the deep end.

Also, now is a good time to invest in a RO/DI system that is designed to fit the needs of your local water supply. The TDS coming off of your unit should be as close to 0ppm at all times... and in some areas, that's pretty difficult. Consider researching more into RO/DI units if you haven't already - and put off filling your tank until you can secure a good source of water.

Hey Snake......just to clarify for my own tank building plans ......I know you don't NEED the skimmer at first, but would it hurt? I would hate to see my new equipment sitting idle for 6 months. Secondly, I have read that you do need to supply light during the cycle if you have live rock to keep whatever macro algaes that are on there, growing. Is that correct or can the tank sit in complete darkness during the cycle? I definately do not want any nuisance algaes growing if I can help it.

 

[deejeff442]

way too much reading for me lol. you can run the skimmer anytime you want . on new tanks it dont skim much but it wont hurt by any means.to say you need light during cycle is bs... if its a fowlr you never even need light. .the light is for you to see the fish. .i have a 90 gallon going with no light while i build my house .full of lr all i have is 2 pumps . the rock has pink and purple coraline everywhere.the more advanced this hobby gets the more complicated. imo simple is better

 

[flower]

Hi,

The entire tank is held together with a little strip of silicone, and a thin little plastic piece that runs along the top and bottom ridge. Scoop a bucket of wet sand and to get an idea on how heavy it really is. Yes, folks have done it...some with success, and others without. I just will never understand why in the world somebody would risk it..... So, water test the tank to be sure it doesn't leak...we all should water test even brand new tanks, as well as check the tank each day it's up and running, to make sure there is no water on the floor...Just like you absent mindedly notice if the car tire is flat.

+1 on not needing lights...UNLESS you do happen to have macroalgae, most live rock doesn't.

The skimmer won't hurt to use it, but why bother????

 

[geridoc]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/396547/lots-of-questions-about-a-new-setup#post_3533470
Hi,

The entire tank is held together with a little strip of silicone, and a thin little plastic piece that runs along the top and bottom ridge. Scoop a bucket of wet sand and to get an idea on how heavy it really is. Yes, folks have done it...some with success, and others without. I just will never understand why in the world somebody would risk it..... So, water test the tank to be sure it doesn't leak...we all should water test even brand new tanks, as well as check the tank each day it's up and running, to make sure there is no water on the floor...Just like you absent mindedly notice if the car tire is flat.

+1 on not needing lights...UNLESS you do happen to have macroalgae, most live rock doesn't.

The skimmer won't hurt to use it, but why bother????
Maybe one of the best investments I have made in this hobby was a flood sensor connected to out home security system. I call it a good investment because it has on three occasions, saved my marriage as well as my participation in the hobby. My wife doesn't even know that we have had 3 water incidents

 

[deejeff442]

i hear that.one time on my 150 gallon i stuck my hand in the tank and turned the durso a bit.i didnt have overflows.i take them out.they take up too much space.well the wife was at work and when i turned it the seal broke. i couldnt stop it.by the time a neighbor came over and helped i lost half the water. so i cleaned up as fast as i could and thought it was good.yea the wife for some reason looked behind the curio cabinet and found a ton of water on the tile.but the tank got a good water change luckily i always keep a 45 tank mixing water and i just needed to mix another 30 fast.