Newbie with a 90gal tank and in need of a shopping list and advise

MightyMouseD · 09/20/2012, 02:11 PM

Hey all! So my husband got me a 90gal salt water fish tank and it was previously set up. The previous owner had it set up not to par...it only had a 45gal Fluval filter, two power heads, and old lights. It also came with about 20lbs of live rock and some random fish and snails that have since died.

The previous owner also gave us a sump that he didn't have connected and a 100gal Fluval filter. Since we were on a budget and were newbies we decided to connect the 100gal filter with the sump. It's a two compartment sump. My guess is that it's a 5gal sump (5gal on the first compartment that filters the water). In the sump we have rocks at the bottom and bioballs on top (suggestion from local aquarium shop). We also added about 2in of live sand and bought a nice T5 light fixture, and replaced the overflow box with a dual box with 1100 GPH.

We had that set up for some time and since it was pretty basic with no corals, it actually worked for us. We even were crazy and jumped the gun and bought an anenome for our clown fish and It survived until my husband lost interest in the tank.

Long story short... I'm incredibly determined to make this tank work!!! I need help...knowledge...and hopefully a good shopping list to get me started. I hope to eventually have a reef tank but I need to move slowly in that direction due to my finances. I'm patient which I know I will have to be, so I'm in no hurry for fish or anything else. I understand...baby steps first. So...HELP! PLEASE!

reeferstace · 09/20/2012, 02:57 PM

Kudos to you for asking for help. I would suggest reading all the stickies at the top of this forum. Once you have that baseline of knowledge you can know what you specifically need to ask. Good luck with your tank.

Tinkanator2000 · 09/20/2012, 03:22 PM

Lets see..... You have an overflow box going down to your sump on one side with rock and bioballs, yea? In the other side is the return pump.... is there a skimmer? I would suggest going out and taking advantage of Petco's $1 a gallon sale and picking up a tank to build your own sump out of. The advantage here is that you get to design it exactly how you want. Most folks are going to say to ditch those bioballs, and I would agree. I would rather see you with more then just 20lbs of live rock in your display as well (this will take the place of thos bioballs for bio filtration). I also believe the rock in your sump is a bad idea, it really is just going to trap detritus (you want the sump nice and free flowing.... and easy to clean too). Take that rock and put it up in the display where it'll serve the same purpose as in the sump.

09/20/2012, 02:11 PM	#1
MightyMouseD Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Posts: 1	Newbie with a 90gal tank and in need of a shopping list and advise Hey all! So my husband got me a 90gal salt water fish tank and it was previously set up. The previous owner had it set up not to par...it only had a 45gal Fluval filter, two power heads, and old lights. It also came with about 20lbs of live rock and some random fish and snails that have since died. The previous owner also gave us a sump that he didn't have connected and a 100gal Fluval filter. Since we were on a budget and were newbies we decided to connect the 100gal filter with the sump. It's a two compartment sump. My guess is that it's a 5gal sump (5gal on the first compartment that filters the water). In the sump we have rocks at the bottom and bioballs on top (suggestion from local aquarium shop). We also added about 2in of live sand and bought a nice T5 light fixture, and replaced the overflow box with a dual box with 1100 GPH. We had that set up for some time and since it was pretty basic with no corals, it actually worked for us. We even were crazy and jumped the gun and bought an anenome for our clown fish and It survived until my husband lost interest in the tank. Long story short... I'm incredibly determined to make this tank work!!! I need help...knowledge...and hopefully a good shopping list to get me started. I hope to eventually have a reef tank but I need to move slowly in that direction due to my finances. I'm patient which I know I will have to be, so I'm in no hurry for fish or anything else. I understand...baby steps first. So...HELP! PLEASE! Last edited by MightyMouseD; 09/20/2012 at 02:24 PM.

09/20/2012, 02:57 PM	#2
reeferstace I'm a little people Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Over Yonder Posts: 1,392	Kudos to you for asking for help. I would suggest reading all the stickies at the top of this forum. Once you have that baseline of knowledge you can know what you specifically need to ask. Good luck with your tank. __________________ Stacy

09/20/2012, 03:22 PM	#3
Tinkanator2000 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Maryland Posts: 168	Lets see..... You have an overflow box going down to your sump on one side with rock and bioballs, yea? In the other side is the return pump.... is there a skimmer? I would suggest going out and taking advantage of Petco's $1 a gallon sale and picking up a tank to build your own sump out of. The advantage here is that you get to design it exactly how you want. Most folks are going to say to ditch those bioballs, and I would agree. I would rather see you with more then just 20lbs of live rock in your display as well (this will take the place of thos bioballs for bio filtration). I also believe the rock in your sump is a bad idea, it really is just going to trap detritus (you want the sump nice and free flowing.... and easy to clean too). Take that rock and put it up in the display where it'll serve the same purpose as in the sump.