Q's on first SW and QT setup

[realmling]

I was figuring on either a 10 or 20 gal QT (proabaly 20 so I don't have to set up a larger one when we move on to bigger fish??)...but then do I make my own mini wet/dry for it, or would a decent canister filter be ok? And then what all else should go in it?
and the really dumb question for the day is...I can keep the QT in a different room, right? It would be small enough to go in my office off the main room the rest of our tanks are in....and I wouldn't have to constantly explain what that odd little aquarium in the corner is when people come over. (unless I put a really big sign on it)
For the 55gal DT, I'm planning on small basic clean up crew of assorted snails & hermits (I love the little halloween ones), a pair of Firefish gobies, and a pair of clowns(if the husband and I can agree on which type of clowns anyway). Four fish and some inverts should be a good starter for us I figure.
And, since our one "decent" LFS have the greatest selection for base or live rock...and the closest good LFS is 2 or 4 hours away depending on where we go....what could I collect on my own from the abundant geology around us that would work for base rock? Sandstones? igneous basalts? limestone? ....I'm just figuring on the bottom most layers of rock that would end up under the sand and be the foundation, building on top of that with the live rock. (though I'm guessing that limestone would end up being too calcitic for an aquarium...but I study the rocks themselves...no water chemistry...though I guess I'll have to start that now

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[scopus tang]

With a SW tank its generally best to stick with oceanic rock for even the base rock, because bacterian and other organisms (like corallene, etc) will reproduce and move on/into even the base rock. Your basalts might be ok, I would stay away from the others. Your best and safest bet is to purchase - if you don't want oceanic rock, consider ordering some of the man-made rock from online sources (its cheaper, and there isn't a chance of introducing something that will later crash your system) or if your really into it, you can make your own. Have fun with the water chemistry - be sure and get decent test kits

 

[realmling]

Hi fellow Wyoming-ite!

That's what I was guessing on the rocks..just wasn't 100% sure on my first lower cost plan B. Ah well, that's what the planning stage is for anyway.

 

[sepulatian]

Welcome to the boards Realmling! Quarantine tanks are very basic. You can use a hang on the back filter, a heater, power head, and some fake decoration or lengths of pvc pipe, for the fish to hide in. I would go with the 20 gallon, and yes you can keep it hidden in a different room.
When you do start to stock the tank only add one fish at a time, or two if you are going to have pairs. You will have to stock it slowly so that you do not put too much strain on the biological filtration.
I would not add rocks that you find outside. They add too many minerals to the tank and throw off the ph. You can order base rock online, but you will still want to add a few pieces of live rock on the top to seed the base rock with. Good Luck and ask us any and all questions that you may have

 

[realmling]

Good to know I don't have to do too many special things for the QT....though I may make it look a bit nice since I'll have to look at it all the time when I'm in my office.

Should the QT have it's own little clean-up crew to keep it from getting too funky between fish or is that just inviting myself into disaster?
I'll have to acutally look at the rock the LFS has instead of looking at the fish and moving on to the items we need for our current tanks....it might be ok. Not sure about the sand situation, but will get that figured out eventually. We're just not that happy with them because they unfortunately know nothing, and their selection of things not fish isn't always the best (with the same being true for their fish on occasion).
Next step is working out the budget, what we'll have to buy, and what we can construct ourselves and the like. I'm probably over planning things, but I figured that was better than the alternative.

 

[realmling]

Does anyone know if this is a good brand of substrate? I do like the idea of a darker substrate for my FOWLR....but I'm not going to spend money on it if it isn't.
Seachem Meridian Gray Coast Substrate
I've only found it at one site so far...and they only had one customer review on it...so thought I'd ask here while I'm continuing the search. (course..I am supposed to be working on work related things while at work...but...

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[realmling]

I'm budgeting $900-1000 for Stage 1 setup on the DT (this does not include anything for QT right now) -- now to make sure my list is forming up ok...and see what I managed to forget about already:
tank
test kit
refractometer
live & base rock
substrate
skimmer
heater
powerheads - what kind, how many, how much water to move through a 55gal tank?
DIY wet/dry-
plastic totes in about 3 diff. sizes
PVC pipe & fittings
pump
overflow for tank - do I absolutely have to drill the tank or are there ones that come over the top?
bioballs - or what could be used in place of? If I can't get locally, I need to know what to use instead of or in an "emergency" type situtation
other filtration medium (??)
That's all I can think of initially for setup - I need to research powerheads and the wet/dry a bit more to get everything nailed down 100%....but moving forward.

 

[realmling]

Since I'm shamelessly bumping my own thread...figured I'd toss in a few more questions while I'm at it....because looking up more things made my brain go "Wha...."
Overflow box -
I came across some C-Siphon overflow boxes that have a different system from ones with tubes....has anyone seen or used one of these such units? Looks like they just hang over the side rather than drilling the tank. The other thing that I have no idea on is flow rate and what I would need for a 55gal.
I'm sure I'll be back with more...though I think I'm going to take a break from looking things up and model up what I want my tank to be.

 

[realmling]

Back again. I think I know what I want for my skimmer....but I don't know which one would be better.
The one I'm looking at is for 40-150 gal, with flow through of 225gph - is that enough for my planned 55gal FOWLR? The next one up is for 60-200 gal, with flow through of 275gph. I figure the second one is a bit over-kill...but is there such a thing in the land of skimmers?