Newbie to Marine... Input Needed!

[wocoi]

Hello,
I am new to this website and to marine aquariums. I have a 55 gallon freshwater aquarium that I have maintained for a few years.
Anyway, I just got a new 75 Gallon tank with a stand and hood. It has cheap equipment (filter, hood, powerheads) and I am thinking of upgrading the equipment. There are no fish/coral/rocks/sand in it yet. (I just got it today.)
I have a couple questions.
First, What do you recommend as far as equipment, sand, and live rocks?
Second, I know I have to get the natural biological cycle going before animals are added, so what should I put in the tank initially to get the process going?
Third, should I use sand or gavel?
Forth, How much live rock? I have heard 1lb. per gallon?
Any other advise is welcome! Feel free to let me know what the most essential things are to do before setting the tank up. I am in no big rush to get animals in the tank. I would rather have heathly fish other than sad, sick fish.
Again, any other advise that will get me a head-start is greatly appreciated! Sorry if I sound like a complete newbie to marine aquariums, I just want to ensure that my future marine tank is as good and safe as it can be.
Thanks for your dedication and contributions,
-Alex

 

[hagfish]

A protein skimmer is a good piece of equipment to add.
To get the cycle started, just put something dead in the tank. Some options are uncured LR, one or two cocktail shrimp, feed tank with fish food as if there were fish. These things will decay and kick off the cycle.
Sand is usually considered a better option than crushed coral. You mention gravel, I assume you mean fresh water style. I wouldn't use that at all. You can get argonite sand very cheap at Home Depot or maybe the LFS. Our petsmart has it cheap. Then go to the LFS and get just a couple pounds of live sand. This will seed your dead sand and it will all be alive eventually then.
1 lb/gallon of LR is a good start. You can easily go 2 per gallon and possibly even more. If you go reef though, keep in mind that most corals come on LR.
Make sure you get test kits if you haven't already. You'll need at least ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph. Also, it's typically best if you don't use tap water. Instead you can get distilled water or RO (reverse osmosis). LFS probably has some water to sell. Or go to grocery store. Wal-mart is cheapest for me at ~ $.50/gallon of distilled. Also get something to test specific gravity and/or salinity. A refractometer is the best option, but you may decide to go with the cheaper swing arm hydrometer. They are a little less reliable and accurate, but better than nothing of course. Don't forget heat and a thermometer.
Sounds like you're willing to go slow. That's very good and important. The cycle could easily take a month so be patient.

 

[wocoi]

Thanks for the input!
So I do not need to shell out all the money for all live sand? I can get "dead" sand from Home Depot and add some "live" sand? Thats pretty cool. So, will the "livliness" of the live sand grow to the "dead" sand?
Yes, I am willing to go slow. I learned from my freshwater aquarium about 8 years ago that slow and steady is the way to go. I am hesitant about the price of the LR, however, from what it sounds like, the initial investment is smart.
Again, thanks for the input! Any other advise is greatly admired.

 

[alohami]

Hagfish really covered the basics well. To answer your question...yes...eventually the small amount of live sand will seed the rest of the argonite sand so eventually it will all be live.
Live rock is pricey, but is worth it in the long run. If you can't afford it all at once, you can add it little by little. The only thing with that is, once you have already cycled your tank, you need to make sure the rock is cured before adding it or it can cause another cycle. If you buy it cured from your LFS you can add it right in. If you order it and it has to be shipped you will need to cure it again before adding it to your tank. Even if you buy cured rock, you will have some die-off during the shipping process so it will need to be cured again. Curing it is easy enough to do. Just do some searches and you will find step by step instructions.
Just read all you can on these posts, I have learned everything I know from everyone here. It is a wonderful resource!!!
Be patient and good luck!!!

 

[snipe]

Hello,
(Hello)
I am new to this website and to marine aquariums. I have a 55 gallon freshwater aquarium that I have maintained for a few years.
(Me to I just re-used my tank instead of having another "not enough room")
Anyway, I just got a new 75 Gallon tank with a stand and hood. It has cheap equipment (filter, hood, powerheads) and I am thinking of upgrading the equipment. There are no fish/coral/rocks/sand in it yet. (I just got it today.)
(75 gallon is a great starter tank "most ppl say at the smallest a 55 but "everyone" sais get as big as you can afford! I would keep the filter and powerheads and replace the hood "if your gonna have corals if not and your gonna do a fish only then keep them)
I have a couple questions.
First, What do you recommend as far as equipment, sand, and live rocks?
(For a fish only tank try and hit 10X turnover "your waterflow times the size of your tank" For a reef try and hit 25X the min is 20X and the max is 30X. You just add all the stuff together "powerheads filters skimmers anything that moves water" together then times it buy your tank size "that is 75".
(Now for equipment I would try and hit a 4 inch sand bed give or take an inch. Try and find a sand depth calculator using google to search there will be many of them show up)
(for live rock I would try and do 1 to 1.5 lbs per gallon. 1 lb per gallon really isnt very mutch and 2 lbs per gallon is a very full tank)
(For equipment I would suggest looking up posts from 007 he has some really awsome posts. For filters there are all kinds "hang on, canister, wet dry, fuge, skimmer," Most ppl use a "hang on or a canister or a wet dry or a fuge "with" a skimmer" It really depends on what you can afford. As for powerheads maxi jet are supposed to be the best but I have them and jebo's and they bolth are great "the jebos dont need as much space and puts out way more GPH "gallon per hour")
Second, I know I have to get the natural biological cycle going before animals are added, so what should I put in the tank initially to get the process going?
(Use 3 cocktail shrimp. Just uncooked unseasoned shrimp from your groceria store will work)
Third, should I use sand or gavel?
(sand all the way gravel holds waste and causes high nitrates and such most ppl find it a headache and then have to replace it)
Forth, How much live rock? I have heard 1lb. per gallon?
(as stated above I would try and get 1.5lbs per gallon I would suggest getting base rock "or dead rock" and getting around 10 lbs of live rock to seed it it is cheaper and you will end up with the same thing in the end)
Any other advise is welcome! Feel free to let me know what the most essential things are to do before setting the tank up. I am in no big rush to get animals in the tank. I would rather have heathly fish other than sad, sick fish.
(Well there really isnt mutch els to add if you have any more ?'s feel free to ask I will reply or one of the other ppl will replie with there adive "note that what we give is advice there is always 1000 diffrent ways to do things in this hobby. Just get as mutch opinions as you can and then decide for youself that is the way this hobby goes lol)
Again, any other advise that will get me a head-start is greatly appreciated! Sorry if I sound like a complete newbie to marine aquariums, I just want to ensure that my future marine tank is as good and safe as it can be.
(Your a newb alright but atleast you came looking for advice before throughing it together and killing everything and wasting alot of money)
Thanks for your dedication and contributions,
(No prob thats what were her for!)

 

[wocoi]

Snipe, Thanks for the info.
You talked the same way about the "dead" and "live" rocks. For the "dead" rocks, what type of rock should I get? Will any rock do, or are there "dead" rocks specifically made for this process?
Thanks!

 

[offshore80]

Congratulations most people don't ask questions until it's to late. Good luck. sounds like they covered the basics for you.

 

[snipe]

I got caribsea rock. Post your email for me. I got 75lbs of base rock for $111 bucks. I will show you a pic of my tank. I am in your boat live rock costs "WAY " to mutch I cant afford $7 a lb. So I went the other way. I got base rock "caribsea honey comb and caribsea reef rock and I absolutly love it "alot of other ppl do to" .

 

[wocoi]

email is chiliandcheese@gmail.com
Thanks again.

 

[wocoi]

I have one more question....
When I am looking at filters, skimmers, ect... Do I need to factor in the 40 Gallon sump, or do I just say 75?
Pretty much, When looking at buying equipment, should I look for items to handle 75 Gallon or 115 Gallon?
Thanks!

 

[hagfish]

When buying LR, you can usually get a cheaper rate if you buy more lbs. Some places go as low as $3-4/lb depending on how many pounds you buy. Usually 50 lbs worth starts the discounts. If you can afford the big one time payment, it will be cheaper in the long run to get most of your rock right away like this. But as pointed out, base rock is going to be even cheaper than that. I personally would try pretty hard not to make it so the dead rock was very visible though.