My 1st Reef Tank Ever!!! Advice Please

[aggiebear]

Hey all,
I am setting up my 1st ever reef tank. Here are the specs.
90 gal (29x48x16)
Here is what I need advice on.
1. How many pounds of live rock?
2. Should all the live rock be from the same place (i.e. Fiji, Gulf, Carribean)
3. How many pounds of Live Sand? I keep being told between 2 and 4 inches....but the store sells it by the pound.
4. Should I use all live sand, or should I mix it w/ aragonite?
5. Should I buy premixed salt water or should I make my own?

 

[ebeckels]

Originally posted by AggieBear:
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1. How many pounds of live rock?
1 - 1.5 lbs/gallon..so about 120 lbs would be nice eventually...of course you don't have to buy it all at once...Online stores are usually cheaper than LFS...---- is pretty cheap too although its a risk.
2. Should all the live rock be from the same place (i.e. Fiji, Gulf, Carribean)
you can mix and match if u'd like.
3. How many pounds of Live Sand? I keep being told between 2 and 4 inches....but the store sells it by the pound.
at least 4 inches if u want a Deep Sand Bed as ur filtration.
4. Should I use all live sand, or should I mix it w/ aragonite?
you can get cheap sand called southdown sand at home depot...then seed it with LS from a LFS or someone elses established tank.
5. Should I buy premixed salt water or should I make my own?</strong><hr></blockquote>
you should use RO water... it doesn't matter if it's premixed or not. I'd rather do it myself.

 

[ebeckels]

sorry..it's hard to tell but i tried to answer each question...it's under ur question...then i answer it's all in bold because of the quotes.