complete newbie building a tank

midna · 04/10/2007, 11:50 AM

Ok, my dad has had this monstrous 300+ gallon salt water tank for years and I have had a small 30gallon fresh water tank. Now I'm going to be making the plunge into salt water, this is what I have:

30g glass tank
biowheel
unlimited access to good water and salt
a florescent light in a small housing that sits on top of my tank
hopefully a few pieces of live rock (still in the works)
Some in water pumps that I'm going to pull off my undergravel filtration and just use as power heads (yes they are saltwater safe, they were originally in one of my dad's smaller salt water tanks, the salt was hell to clean)

I'm probably going to buy an Aquac Remora H.O.T. skimmer to sit behind the tank. For such a small tank and due to limited space I'm not going to build a sump. And i'm going to replace my undergravel filter with a small sand bed.

I have a couple questions and comments are welcome.
First, I would really like to have coral later on, what would be the best way to go about that lighting-wise?
Second, for now the tank is going to be in my room at my house, but in a few months its going to be moved to a dorm room (reason for limited space). A 30g full tank would be extraordinarily hard to move in (I'm on the third floor). My only idea thus far is to empty everything out into buckets, quickly set up the tank and quickly put everything back in, one bucket at a time. Any ideas?
Third, and this is kind of two fold, can I use my biowheel and if not do I need more filtration (in addition to above protein skimmer)?

I guess one last question, what else do I need?

I am a college student so I'm on a tight budget, I can probably spend $500 right now if I had to, but I would like to keep that price down as much as possible. The stock and that will come later after the tank has cycled for a few weeks, so I have time to save more money I assume.

papagimp · 04/10/2007, 11:58 AM

Lighting, this will depend on the corals you want to keep. Get an idea of that, and we can give plenty of recommendations. The flourescent fixture you currently have won't be good for anything but the lowest light corals.
Moving the tank, that's how many of us do it, just dont' let the corals/fish/livestock go stagnant in a bucket for too long. An airpump or somethign for circulation would really help keep em going longer, depending on the length of time it'll take.
Filtering, take the biowheel and chunk it, get 1.5lbs - 2lbs of live rock for filtering purposes. Rock and sand will be your biological filter in a reef/marine system.

Initial setup costs can be expensive, so I advise ya to look through the DIY forums, they can save you alot of money. And being a small tank, I would highly recommend a fuge/sump. Larger quanities of water is going to be far easier to maintain.
The skimmer is part of your filtration but not part of the biological filtration, do not confuse the different types of filtration available. Skimmer will pull dissolved organics from the water, rock and sand will work the nitrogen cycle, and powerheads with sponges on them will act as mechanical filtering. All 3 are important. Speaking of powerheads, you may need more, depending upon the gph rating of those you currently have. Differnt corals will require different amoutns of flow so again, get an idea of the type of reef you want and we can narrow down some suggestions for ya.

Mel-E-Mel · 04/10/2007, 12:02 PM

IMO depending what corals your gonna have and yoru budget, you will be good with pc's or t5's.

Second if your gonna be moving to a dorm in a couple months, i would just wait till you move before setting up. i would probably start curing some live rocks??

im sure someone out there can give a little extra info. good luck with you build!

Mel-E-Mel · 04/10/2007, 12:04 PM

what papagimp said

2fishy · 04/10/2007, 01:04 PM

midna,

To Reef Central

midna · 04/10/2007, 01:06 PM

I was doing some additional reading after seeing your posts and if I'm going to not use the biowheel, I would have some additional space to retrofit a Aqua Clear into a small fuge. I don't have much space to work with and would like to keep the whole setup quiet. I would definately add some live rock, but would such a small fuge be worth it on a 30g?

Rommelgin, the live rock idea sounds good, except I'm not sure how to go about doing that. The search on this site is disabled (high traffic) and google doesn't help. Any hints as to where to look?

papagimp · 04/10/2007, 01:28 PM

A fuge is always worth it. Even in a small HOB like that, you'll give the pods a place to breed without worry about being eaten. The pods will make a nice difference in the system as a whole. And any macro algae you grow in there will help to reduce nitrates and phosphates. Lower Nitrates/phospahtes are never a bad thing. I agree with Rommelgin comment, at least get the tank curing and cycling now, then when you move, no livestock to have to worry about, just remove the rock into some buckets, move everything and set it back up. Then give it a week to settle properly and go from there.

papagimp · 04/10/2007, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by midna

the live rock idea sounds good, except I'm not sure how to go about doing that.

What he is saying is that when you buy up live rock, and transport it to your house, there will be some die off that occurs. This die off will jump start your tank cycle and "cure" the rock. After oh, lets say 4 - 6 weeks of curing, the rock will have had any die off occur and will have stabalized enough to use in a reef/marine tank without fear of toxifying the inverts/fish. Even if the rock is 100% fully cured, it wouldn't hurt to let the tank run like this until after the move anyways. Just add to the maturation time before livestock is added. And a tank will take a year at least to mature fully. The more mature the tank, the better it is for new livestock.

This will also allow the tank to seed to some degree. AFter the cycle is completed, I would try and find another source of live sand (such as from this 300g you mentinoed) Just a cupfull would suffice, and add that to your tank. The pods and other microlife in that cup will reproduce and help seed the rest of your rock and sand. I probably got several cups from several different reefers during the first year my tank was up and now I have all the micro life I could want, and I'm always getting requests for a little of my sand.

Mel-E-Mel · 04/10/2007, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by papagimp
What he is saying is that when you buy up live rock, and transport it to your house, there will be some die off that occurs. This die off will jump start your tank cycle and "cure" the rock. After oh, lets say 4 - 6 weeks of curing, the rock will have had any die off occur and will have stabalized enough to use in a reef/marine tank without fear of toxifying the inverts/fish. Even if the rock is 100% fully cured, it wouldn't hurt to let the tank run like this until after the move anyways. Just add to the maturation time before livestock is added. And a tank will take a year at least to mature fully. The more mature the tank, the better it is for new livestock.

This will also allow the tank to seed to some degree. AFter the cycle is completed, I would try and find another source of live sand (such as from this 300g you mentinoed) Just a cupfull would suffice, and add that to your tank. The pods and other microlife in that cup will reproduce and help seed the rest of your rock and sand. I probably got several cups from several different reefers during the first year my tank was up and now I have all the micro life I could want, and I'm always getting requests for a little of my sand.

couldnt have said it better myself!

midna · 04/10/2007, 01:58 PM

Well then, I guess the plan for me right now is this:

Step 1)
purchase the aqua clear to make a small fuge.
purchase the aquac remora skimmer
Step 2)
Put the stuff together, ie put in some live rock, make and attach the fuge, get the skimmer working, get the temps going, just generally get the tank cycling.
Step 3)
Wait. Add some live sand from my dad's tank and other tanks going well if I can find them.
Step 4)
Wait until moving time.
Step 5)
Add newly afforded lighting, and recycle for 1-2 weeks.
Step 6)
Add fish, coral, etc very slowly.

04/10/2007, 11:50 AM	#1
midna Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 53	complete newbie building a tank Ok, my dad has had this monstrous 300+ gallon salt water tank for years and I have had a small 30gallon fresh water tank. Now I'm going to be making the plunge into salt water, this is what I have: 30g glass tank biowheel unlimited access to good water and salt a florescent light in a small housing that sits on top of my tank hopefully a few pieces of live rock (still in the works) Some in water pumps that I'm going to pull off my undergravel filtration and just use as power heads (yes they are saltwater safe, they were originally in one of my dad's smaller salt water tanks, the salt was hell to clean) I'm probably going to buy an Aquac Remora H.O.T. skimmer to sit behind the tank. For such a small tank and due to limited space I'm not going to build a sump. And i'm going to replace my undergravel filter with a small sand bed. I have a couple questions and comments are welcome. First, I would really like to have coral later on, what would be the best way to go about that lighting-wise? Second, for now the tank is going to be in my room at my house, but in a few months its going to be moved to a dorm room (reason for limited space). A 30g full tank would be extraordinarily hard to move in (I'm on the third floor). My only idea thus far is to empty everything out into buckets, quickly set up the tank and quickly put everything back in, one bucket at a time. Any ideas? Third, and this is kind of two fold, can I use my biowheel and if not do I need more filtration (in addition to above protein skimmer)? I guess one last question, what else do I need? I am a college student so I'm on a tight budget, I can probably spend $500 right now if I had to, but I would like to keep that price down as much as possible. The stock and that will come later after the tank has cycled for a few weeks, so I have time to save more money I assume.

04/10/2007, 11:58 AM	#2
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	Lighting, this will depend on the corals you want to keep. Get an idea of that, and we can give plenty of recommendations. The flourescent fixture you currently have won't be good for anything but the lowest light corals. Moving the tank, that's how many of us do it, just dont' let the corals/fish/livestock go stagnant in a bucket for too long. An airpump or somethign for circulation would really help keep em going longer, depending on the length of time it'll take. Filtering, take the biowheel and chunk it, get 1.5lbs - 2lbs of live rock for filtering purposes. Rock and sand will be your biological filter in a reef/marine system. Initial setup costs can be expensive, so I advise ya to look through the DIY forums, they can save you alot of money. And being a small tank, I would highly recommend a fuge/sump. Larger quanities of water is going to be far easier to maintain. The skimmer is part of your filtration but not part of the biological filtration, do not confuse the different types of filtration available. Skimmer will pull dissolved organics from the water, rock and sand will work the nitrogen cycle, and powerheads with sponges on them will act as mechanical filtering. All 3 are important. Speaking of powerheads, you may need more, depending upon the gph rating of those you currently have. Differnt corals will require different amoutns of flow so again, get an idea of the type of reef you want and we can narrow down some suggestions for ya. __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

04/10/2007, 01:04 PM	#5
2fishy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Rhinelander, WI Posts: 918	midna, *To Reef Central* __________________ Carole Current Tank Info: 55 gal

04/10/2007, 01:28 PM	#7
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	A fuge is always worth it. Even in a small HOB like that, you'll give the pods a place to breed without worry about being eaten. The pods will make a nice difference in the system as a whole. And any macro algae you grow in there will help to reduce nitrates and phosphates. Lower Nitrates/phospahtes are never a bad thing. I agree with Rommelgin comment, at least get the tank curing and cycling now, then when you move, no livestock to have to worry about, just remove the rock into some buckets, move everything and set it back up. Then give it a week to settle properly and go from there. __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

04/10/2007, 12:02 PM	#3
Mel-E-Mel Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Shark City San Jose, CA Posts: 1,950	IMO depending what corals your gonna have and yoru budget, you will be good with pc's or t5's. Second if your gonna be moving to a dorm in a couple months, i would just wait till you move before setting up. i would probably start curing some live rocks?? im sure someone out there can give a little extra info. good luck with you build!

04/10/2007, 12:04 PM	#4
Mel-E-Mel Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Shark City San Jose, CA Posts: 1,950	what papagimp said

04/10/2007, 01:06 PM	#6
midna Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 53	I was doing some additional reading after seeing your posts and if I'm going to not use the biowheel, I would have some additional space to retrofit a Aqua Clear into a small fuge. I don't have much space to work with and would like to keep the whole setup quiet. I would definately add some live rock, but would such a small fuge be worth it on a 30g? Rommelgin, the live rock idea sounds good, except I'm not sure how to go about doing that. The search on this site is disabled (high traffic) and google doesn't help. Any hints as to where to look?

04/10/2007, 01:58 PM	#10
midna Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 53	Well then, I guess the plan for me right now is this: Step 1) purchase the aqua clear to make a small fuge. purchase the aquac remora skimmer Step 2) Put the stuff together, ie put in some live rock, make and attach the fuge, get the skimmer working, get the temps going, just generally get the tank cycling. Step 3) Wait. Add some live sand from my dad's tank and other tanks going well if I can find them. Step 4) Wait until moving time. Step 5) Add newly afforded lighting, and recycle for 1-2 weeks. Step 6) Add fish, coral, etc very slowly.