very new. Help please

[llmoe]

Just bought and mounted a 150 gal tank in wall. Was going fresh water but wife and I love salt water and want to give it a try.
She wants to do some nice rocks and then mayber coral and some fish.
What type of filter do I need. Wet/dry skimmer filter. What brand is good.
What is the best salt to add to water.
What type of sand and so one. What is live sand and live rock?
I know I am very thick with this.

 

[dougai]

She wants to do some nice rocks and then mayber coral and some fish.with the corals you will need a certain light(not sure which i have fish only)
What type of filter do I need. Wet/dry skimmer filter. What brand is good.
i have a whisper filter and a prism skimmer
What is the best salt to add to water.
i use Instant Ocean
What type of sand and so one. What is live sand and live rock?
your LFS(local fish store) will tell you about the LS and LR(live sand and live rock)
also ask about crushed coral instead of LS if you prefer the look better
I know I am very thick with this.
there are people on here that will help a bit more but i thought i'd get you started
welcome to the board :jumping:

 

[fishmamma]

There are some great reference books out there to get you started, I would spend some time reading as much as possible before buying too much equipment- just so you have no regerets down the road. That tank set-up will be AWESOME!! I run small tanks with bio-wheel filters so can not give you any advice there. There are quite a few options for your lighting, again some investigation will be needed. With something like Power Compact Flourescents you could house many corals, but not all. Some systems come with moonlights,actinics and flourescents to give you a dusk to dawn effect. Sea salt is personal preference, Instant Ocean is very popular. You will want lots of live rock- the "live" being beneficial bacteria and critters living in the rock that help keep your system balanced by acting as biological filtration. Live sand is the same only the sand holds the bacteria and critters. You can buy "dead" sand and seed it with live to save some money.
Live rock can get quite pricey so ordering it on- line in large quantities may be a good option for you. It will need to be cured before adding it to your display though, this is the drawback vs. buying cured from LFS. Don't use tap water........trying to think of anything else to say for basic intro to saltwater. Buy a refractometer instaed of a hydrometer. These are more expensive but very accurate.
Do you have any equipment at all or just a bare tank in the wall? This is a great hobby, read as much from this site as you can and have fun!!!

 

[the reef]

Originally Posted by llmoe
Just bought and mounted a 150 gal tank in wall. Was going fresh water but wife and I love salt water and want to give it a try.
She wants to do some nice rocks and then mayber coral and some fish.
What type of filter do I need. Wet/dry skimmer filter. What brand is good.
What is the best salt to add to water.
What type of sand and so one. What is live sand and live rock?
I know I am very thick with this.

try to read as much as you can on this board but here is my set up I have on my reef tank
I have 2 404 filters
two powerheads
one sea swirl wave maker
2-4 inches of live sand
1-2 pounds of live rock
coralife hood set up with 4 65 watt bulbs as in power compact 10,000 k
two aquamedic halide pendints each with a 250 watt 20,000k bulb
and I use instant ocan sea salt
when making your salt watter only use ro or distiled watter stir it and get the sg up to 1.025 then put a air pump in it and let it airate for 24 hours before adding to the tank
and wait at lest one month for the tank to cycle
you will need to make shure your gph is at lest 20 gph per gallon

 

[nomad]

Don't use crushed coral (cc) or tap water they will give you nothing but trouble.

Liverock is fascinating. Get rock that is uncured because it will have the most varied life on it on time goes on. Watching life develop on the LR is very time consuming, you will find yourself missing all your TV programs.
Make sure you have plenty (12-20x) of circulation in the tank, it will prevent a number of problems.
Welcome to the addiction.

 

[fuax]

You may want to check out some books stores or even your local public library. There is tons of info out there on this hobby. These boads are a great resource but you weight what you find here carefully, there is a lot of factual information here as well as alot of opinion.
Your best bet as you jump into this hobby. is to READ READ READ READ and gather as much intel as you possible can.

 

[jjlittle]

Here is pics of mine and what I have . I have bout 250+ pounds Live rock that is my filter the best you can have. I run a skimmer made for a 400 gal tank. I have a large sump and 25 gal refrugium . I have a mag 18 & mag 9.5 return pumps and 5 maxijet 1200 in the tank. The pic shown is older and it si when I ran VHO lighting which nowI have redone the canopy and run MH lighting. if there are any questions feel free to ask mine run awesome very little needed to maintain.here is link to see new canopy and pics http://shinyfeet.com/jjlittle13199 and below are the old pics.

 

[llmoe]

Oh god. What am I getting myself into.lol I know I have to take my time and not get into a
rush. I learned that already.
So I should start on putting live sand in the tank first. I only have town well water
which I don't think I should use. I know the town adds crap to it. So what do I do,
go out and buy store water?
jjlittle. that is a awesome tank. that is what we want to do but not sure about the coral.
I might not be able to get the hang with the lighting.lol
I just have a bare tank right now and the light tubes that came with it.
Is there different kinds of live rock. Where do I start.lol I am going to get some books tomorrow. I am not starting this until I am ready and have what I need and I understand more.
Do I fill the tank and put live sand in it then salt it or what order.
Can I get a filter. I am trying to get things that will fit on the side of the tank and under. My tank you view from both sides.
Thanks for all the info.
Larry

 

[fishmamma]

To get yourself started you will need filtered water (can purchase or make your own with RO unit), salt, a heater or two and some filtration/power heads. I have always added my sand first, then saltwater. You can mix the salt in the tank this one time only, or you can mix water first, then add to the tank. Once things settle you can start running your filter. After you have adjusted your salinity (need that refractometer) and brought your water up to temp you can add your live rock. Again, you will want this cured or it will foul up your tank. You can add fish and live rock with your current lighting. If you decide to tackle corals in the future you can upgrade your lighting at that time.

 

[llmoe]

does the bags of salt tell me how much per gallon I will need. If I mix it out of the tank does it have to sit for a while or just pour in tank and start running filters for a while.

 

[celacanthr]

well actually since they need to cycle their tank i believe they would want to leave it uncured to cycle the tank.

 

[magickyl]

Originally Posted by llmoe
So I should start on putting live sand in the tank first. I only have town well water
which I don't think I should use. I know the town adds crap to it. So what do I do,
go out and buy store water?
Look in the yellow pages for a culligan in your area. They sell RO water and it's cheap. You may want to invest in a unit though. It will pay for itself in the long run. Use a large rubbermaid container to hold your RO water, have a powerhead circulating it so that it doesn't become stagnant.
As for your substrate, I would go with live sand. Try to stay away from crushed coral. You will also need lots of live rock which you can buy online. Go for the ultra premium Fiji live rock. It has tons of goodies on it for you. Good luck and welcome to the hobby!

 

[fishmamma]

Personally I have heard to never cure rock in your main tank, newly set up or not. If it was pre-cured and bought from LFS that is of course a different story- but large quantities of LR that have been shipped will have a lot of die off and get quite foul smelling etc.....best cured in a trash barrel or large rubbermaid bin, scrubbed clean of die off and then added to display.

 

[fishmamma]

You can buy 5 or 7 gallon buckets of salt and they will list gallons of saltwater made on them. Once empty these are great buckets for mixing up water for future changes. You can mix the salt in your main tank for your intial set-up since you have no livestock/rock in it at that time. Just add less than you think you will need initially since it is easy to add more salt to adjust. Also, remember not to completely fill the tank since you need room for the live rock.

 

[fishmamma]

I also like to add a buffer to the water such as Seachem marine buffer to keep the pH at 8.3.

 

[mikeyjer]

I agree with fishmamma!!! Listen to all the comments she have listed...

Welcome aboard, start with those text books and internet research!!

 

[llmoe]

well, thanks for all the info.
I think I am getting the live rock and sand stuff now.
can I get a big wet/dry filter with a skimmer or should a get a seperate skimmer. I been
ckecking online for filters and don't even know where to begin. So many names and styles
Once I get the filters. I will put the sand in and the add the water and salt. I long should
I let that set and run my filters before my next step. Days or weeks.
Now you keep on saying RO water. What the hell is RO water.lol What is a Ro unit
Can a buy a RO unit and make my water. I am confuse on this part.
Larry

 

[prelag]

R/O water stands for Reverse Osmosis.
I recommend you dont get live sand. It is a waste of money man. Just get the non-live sand and put that in your tank.
Then follow these easy steps
1. Put non-live sand in tank. I would use a two inch sea bed because DSB (Deep Sea Beds) have been known to crash.
2. Fill your tank with R/O water. Dont fill it all the way, leave yourself some leeway.
3. Add salt to your tank. Check salinity. 1.023 is a good salinity to shoot for.
4. Add your live rock. This will seed your non-live sand. It should also raise the water level in your tank.
5. If you need to add a bit more water do so. Then, put in small amounts of salt until you get your salinity back to 1.023 or so.
6. Wait for your tank to cycle. Usually takes 6 weeks.
Also, whenever water evaporates from your tank, just re-add R/O water. DO NOT ADD SALT.
The only time you need to add salt back into the tank is when you do your water changes.

 

[prelag]

Btw, when I mean dont fill your tank all the way I mean leave a few inches of gap between where the glass meets the black rubber at the top of your tank. The live rock wont make your water level go up drastically but it will make it go up quite a bit depending on how much you put in your tank. Salt will also incrase your water level.
Hope that helps.

 

[saltfish]

Hey I have been reading everthing PLEASE DO NOT Cure your Live rock in your main Tank!!! I learned the hard way many years ago!!! Just Dont do it!!!!