new 100g plexi

[marc42fe]

Hi I'm sort of new to the salt side of fish but have ample experience in fresh water. I just bought a tank big enough to tempt me to do a salt, a 100 gallon plexi and now have it set up and running and I just wanted to see if anyone had any advise. (the ultimate goal of this is banded sharks)
heres the setup
1 powerhead 202? negative flow on the undergravel filter.
1 powerhead 402, runs a wet/dry setup that I had to modify as the previous owner busted the original setup out of the tank basically its a pond master now just taller and narrower.
1 90 cfm air pump, supplies two small charcoal under gravel filters a wand and a diffuser in the bioball chamber with 2 gallons of bio balls.
2 inches of cc,
150 watt heater
all's cool so far 12 hrs and counting,. I'm goingto wait like 96 hours or so before I try animals or plants.
love any comments
marc

 

[jasper180]

Marc,
I am getting back into salt water after ten years off, so I am learning all the new equipment. To start with 100 gals is going to be to small for sharks. Second I have not heard anyone using undergravel filters anymore. Third Crushed Coral is not good for sharks, need deep sand bed. You should be looking into a large Wet/Dry (sump) filter and a protein skimmer if you want to keep aggresive fish. There are alot of people on here with more knowledge then me. Hopefully they will help you out.
Erik

 

[jasper180]

Marc,
also it is going to take longer then 96 hours to cycle.
Erik

 

[zero]

I am no where close to being an expert by any regards, so my next comment is completely my opinion. But banded shark are very unactive sharks, and really just sit on the bottom all day. They get about 3 feet long, but it takes about 7-10 years for them to reach this length. So 1 banded shark in a 100 gallon should probably work out fine.
Good luck

 

[silkks11]

I agree with zero, A banded shark in a 100 is fine for many years, by that time I'm sure you will have a larger tank to accomidate him, b/c you will eventually become addicted like I have and own three tanks and putting in a shark pond. So I think you'll be fine, also try a larger canister filter from ehiem or fluval if you don't want to go with a wet/dry work just as good

 

[dirtybilge]

Ehiem Canisters are very good but you pay for them!

 

[marc42fe]

hi again and thanks for the advise. I have found almost nothing but opinions and almost no hard facts, even the books i've read so far vary wildly in thier advise.
Im going to do this the same way I do everything else, Holistic trial and error, that is to say I may not do what Im supposed too, but I usually do what needs to be done.
Thanks all
Marc

 

[treble]

Marc, you will want to get a full test kit, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, Alkalinity, and calcium. Then you want to wait for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to reach zero before your going to have any luck adding anything. The trial and error method would probably not be the best thing right here, that will cost you sooo freakin much cash. Get sand, take that undergravel filter out, it will clog up and cause harmful decay. Take out that freshwater air pump out, and get a 3-4 Maxi-jet 1200. Then in one corner of your 100 gallon tank you will want to add about 10 pounds of live rock, but dont spread it out, cause sharks prefer a large are to swim. I wish you luck, Evan