My First Setup

[dgonci]

Well having finally gotten to a point in my military carreer where retirement is getting close, and I have fallen into an assignment where I should not be relocating any time soon, I decided to go ahead and dive into setting up an aquarium. After several books and countless posts read I deceided to set up a 40 Gal Breeder tank with the long term goal to make it a reef tank. I also spoke to a couple of diiferent LFS, one of which ended up refusing to sell anything to me because I wouldnt buy the whole package from him. I was looking to get the 40 Gal tank drilled so that I wouldnt have anything hanging on the back. He told me I wouldnt find prices cheaper anywhere else, so of course the first place I went when I got home was google. Anyhow, the bottom line was that all I wanted from him was the tank, stand, and top, with the tank drilled, and bulkheads installed. He refused to do it, so I learned of another place on the net, ordered the equipment and drilled it myself. BTW, drilling a tank for the 1st time is just a tad stressfull as you listen to the bit grind through the glass. I ended up going with the following setup:
40 Gal Breeder Tank
2 Hydor Koralia 1's 800 gph total flow
Coralife Lunar Aqualight Deluxe Series-36" (2X96W) with 2- 3/4W Blue-Moon-Glow LED Lamps
Proflex 100 Refugium
2 100w Jager Heaters located in the sump
1 Gal Carib Sea Mineral Mud
40 Lbs of Carib Sea Reef Sand 1 - 1.7mm grain size
Supreme Mag 3 Return Pump 350gph
50 Lbs Walt Smith Prem Fiji Pre Cured Live Rock
Everything came in good order and allowed me to plumb it all together with PVC pipe and get it all up and running. Even the rock came exceptionally well with only a tiny amount of rubble in the box (I ended up making a small pile of it in the tank for some depth).

 

[jacrmill]

sounds like you are on the right track.....best of luck

 

[dgonci]

The actual setup of the tank in the house went well, unitl I got it leveled and filled with water, and then my wife decided that the tank would be better off in another place. This of course was after I cemented the PVC pipe into place. More fun draining the tank, and then moving it on the stand with the sand still in it, some of the rock and a little bit of water. Anyhow here is the tank in its final resting place, filled and aquascaped...

At this point I am letting it start to cycle. Probably in about a week or so I will add some macroalgea, however I am not sure what kind to put in there. As I add more stuff I will throw in some other pictures. Any comments or input would be greatly welcome and appreciated.

 

[prime311]

Chaeto seems to be the popular choice, but theres not much point to adding until your cycle is nearly over.

 

[dgonci]

I read that you are best waiting until the nitrites come down anyhow, and the nitrates are on the rise. Is there any real benefit of using cheato over calurpa or any of the other ones?

 

[prime311]

Chaeto won't go a s e x ual all over your tank.

 

[smokingreefer]

Originally Posted by prime311
http:///forum/post/2641176
Chaeto seems to be the popular choice, but theres not much point to adding until your cycle is nearly over.

yah there is no point of adding anything for AT LEAST a couple weeks. after that I would add some cheap snails or crabs to help remove some of the ammonia. you can also add a piece of raw uncooked shrimp as it will also absorb ammonia.

 

[prime311]

Raw Shrimp will break down and add ammonia to the tank, not remove it. I don't think live Invertebrates will take away ammonia from the tank either, they can only break down food and other items that may contribute to ammonia. Also the waste from the invertebrates will add to ammonia. Theres no need to add any livestock to the tank until after your cycle is done, the bacteria forming will take care of ammonia and nitrite.

 

[dgonci]

Well I have no intention of adding any livestock for a few weeks yet until the cycle is good and over. I was just looking at adding some cheato or other algea near the end of the cycle. I currently have a raw shrimp in there now adding to amonia build up.

 

[dplantz]

Looks good man. What are you going to breed? And not to be nosy but what did you pay for all of this (raw)? Im still deciding on my setup and its not easy.

 

[kellyh_01]

I really like your aquascaping. It looks great!

 

[dgonci]

Originally Posted by dplantz
http:///forum/post/2641983
And not to be nosy but what did you pay for all of this (raw)? Im still deciding on my setup and its not easy.
Well lets see, I did a bunch of shopping online which cut my prices down almost 300 dollars from the LFS.
I ended up buying the Tank, stand, and glass top from a different LFS than the one that gave me all the grief for $250
The live rock I got for 155 including shipping for 50 lbs.
The other stuff I got off of a couple of online sites for 725. That also includes a hydrometer, test kits, and a 5 Gal bucket of reef crystals.
Misc plumbing stuff from lowes was probably around 30.
I am using RO water from walmart, 25 cents a gallon out of the culligan machine. So about 10 Dollars for the tank and sump to get filled. (They look at you funny though when you go to pay for it in a 5 Gal bucket)
Lastly was the 700gph overflow box, locline for return pump, and the drill bits to drill it myself for 75.
So grand total was about $1235. If you want some info about where I got some of the stuff online, send me a message and I will send you a link.

 

[metweezer]

Test your water and remove the shrimp when your ammonia gets to .5. Sounds like you are going about this the right way but I would replace the hydrometer with a refractometer. They are much more accurate and for the $50.00 or so you will pay for it, it will give you very accurate salinity readings. My .02.

 

[dgonci]

I plan on picking up a refractometer down the road.I have been looking arouond trying to find one at a decent price. Speaking of checking the levels... Currently I have a SG reading of 1.023. In a bunch of books I read It seems to say between 1.021 and 1.024. Here on the site alot of folks seem to keep it at 1.025. Is there a reason why 1.025 is better?

 

[mkzimms]

love the glass-holes overflow kits... i just picked up the same thing for my 40G breeder. im amazed at the quality work they put into those!
is it really as quiet as they say they are? i haven't filled the tank yet.
are you going to drop your overflow pipe into those filter bags or just gonna leave them hanging there doing nothing?

 

[morval]

nice set up! good to see someone that did there research and has a good plan rather than impulse buying and finding this site already with a problem.

looks like u know to take ur time and dont rush anything

 

[dgonci]

Yeah the overflow is not that loud, however I do not have anything good to compare it to. The only thing I wish I would have done was maybe angled my return pipe a bit more, or mabe even put an elbow on it. I think I get more noise from it dropping into that, but it is not bad since I did put it on somewhat of an angle.
Also, I remember the guys at glass holes said that mine shouldnt be to loud since I was only running a 350gph return pup. They said the closer you get to the apacity of the overflow, the louder it would be.

 

[dgonci]

Can anyone help me on my Specific Gravity question...
My current readings are at 1.023. However I have read in books that 1.021 -1.024 is good. It seems like quite a few folks here keep it at 1.025. I am planning on stocking fish/inverts/ and probably some soft corals.
What would you reccomend I get my SG to?

 

[jacrmill]

typically inverts are going to like higher salinity.....i keep mine between 1.025 and 29. but this is kind of like temperature in my experience. the number isnt as important as how constant it is. pick a number in your range and concentrate on that and youll be fine.

 

[aquaguy24]

nice setup..very clean looking..great that u have a drilled tank..i have a hob overflow box and that thing can make some noise....