New Reef Tank In The Works!! Just Beginning!!

[ohiorn67]

Well, I am excited. Started our new 90 gallon tank. Have about 40 lbs of base rock, 50 lbs of live rock. Have not seen much in terms of little critters yet, is this normal? I do see tiny little things that look like future growths and lots of colored algae. We have 2 good power heads, 77-155 gal cannister filter, live sand base and the lighting is Coralife lunar aqualite deluxe...260 watt that has 4 flourescent, 4 actinic and 4 lunar lights. What do you all think of this lighting setup? I think I am towards the end of the cycle. It has been 12 days. Salinity is great and steady, PH 8.2, ammonia just a trace and nitrite is about .5 but seems to have dropped a little since this morning. Temp is just shy of 80 degrees.

We were told that we should not have an air line of bubbles at the back of the tank ..what is the opinion of many. It does not seem to be causing salt creep or anything and does help with motion of water, but is it just not good to have? Please see pic of tank, we worked hard on that aquascape. Still wanting to get just a couple more pieces of live rock. Then I want to get a few things to help as a cleaning crew so I hear. Going slow and doing it right!

 

[druluv]

Good Luck With your tank! You might want to change your canister to another filter, those things can NO3 factories

 

[ohiorn67]

HI, thanks for the advice. Actually this is an Eheim cannister, supposed to be somewhat new on market, so hoping I don't run into those nitrate issues. I got the larger sized one also. My LSF uses these in many of there 150 gallon tanks, so I figured if they did, I would be ok....now I am worried, but not sure what else I could even change to at this point. Hoping I won't have issues!! I am thinking I might need to stack more rock? did you see the pics, what do you think? first time aquascaping......thanks!!

 

[mrmaroon]

Save yourself the nitrate problems and get a good skimmer. Most people do not use canisters in SW, but some do. There are always exceptions. Almost no one uses the airline with bubbles. It really does not add much water movement and is not good for corals. Most of the 02 you add to the water is by your filtrations, such as a sump or your surface agitation.
As far as the lighting, mand recommend 5 watts per gallan as a good ammount for soft corals. So you would need 450 watts.
Your tank looks nice. Just make sure that when you start adding fish, you go very slowly. Especially with that canister filter.
Good luck!

 

[ohiorn67]

thanks again for more info. I spent 350 bucks on the lighting...what should i get if I take this back? I plan on getting the skimmer, just heard I did not really need it until I start stocking the tank more. I am hoping this filter works ok, just had no clue what to do with a sump on my first shot. I will be taking out the air bubble thing, was really just for looks but might as well put money elsewhere. Might just put it in my 20 gallon fresh tank. we looked at a used tank that had 2 emporer filters on it and gosh what a mess on that tank from salt, did not want to go that route either. Hopefully with proper water changes and that skimmer we will be ok from nitrates. As a pretty new person to this, I was not sure about dealing with a sump setup. they told me that those lights we bought were plenty for our tank, now I am mad about that. any ideas what to get?

 

[mrmaroon]

Those lights would be ok for things like mushrooms, colts, and other soft corals. But probably not enough for things like torches and otehr hard corals and certianly not enoguht for clams and sps corals.
If I were you, I would do some searches on this site about lighting. Most people at the high end reccomend metal halide lighting for lps and sps hard corals. They are pretty expensive. If all you want to do is keep soft and lps hard corals, I would just find a way to get your watts per gallons up and stick with what you have.
Overflows and sumps are not that hard. I used to have a hang on the back overflow on my 55g, but switched to a internally frilled overflow for increased flow rates and better safety. ie- no plumbing leaks.
And just a suggestions, you can do much better on your equipment prices if you do some searching online.

 

[pyro]

Looks good so far :yes:
I have no expirience first hand with canisters, so I can't offer any advice on that end.
I'd avoid the bubble wall. If you get nice lights on it, the bubbles will pop when the hit the surface and cover your lights in salt, making them a frequent pain to clean. Also, air pumps can be stinking annoying

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