building first real tank

[jpenwell]

i am setting up my first real salt water tank. i built a little 10 gal one about 10mo ago and had a hard time keeping things alive . i was told a bigger tank is a lot easier to do so. i am about to set up a 55gal. so far here are the things i plan on adding to support my tank.

PLEASE GIVE AS MUCH INPUT AS YOU WOULD LIKE. i am open to input

AquaClear Powerfilters 70
Eheim Wet/Dry System Model 2227
Rena Air Pumps 400
Turbo-Twist UV Sterilizer 9watt

all these items are on www.drsfostersmith.com/

my tank is tempered glass so drilling holes for a sump is a no go.

[shanersnyder]

You are going to want a protein skimmer, an RO/DI system. The wet/dry and UV sterilizer will be good for the tank but not too sure on the air pump and the powerfilter. They are more for fresh water.

Also, check out the Starting a Marine tank thread at the top of the forum.

[jpenwell]

i was told the filter would be good for water movement and adding O2 to the water. Plus the filter would be good since i cant have a sump. the air pump i was told that the fish would have to have air in the water and i needed one. is this incorrect?

[jpenwell]

also, call me a moron but what exactly does a RO/DI do? what would be a good size to start with for a 55 gal?

[slapshot16]

RO/DI is a water filter. You hook it up to a faucet or directly to your water line and the water passes through a membrane and series of filters. A small hose runs from that into a storage container. They filter out 99.9% of impurities from tap water. Your LFS may sell RO/DI water for about a $1 per gallon or you by the machine yourself. Depending on the size, it will produce a minimum of 25 GPD. Cost starts around $100. Good idea if you are diligent with weekly or bi-weekly water changes.

RO is reverse osmosis. The DI has something to do about ION removal.

[jpenwell]

so let me understand this. you use it during water changes, or do you set it up to the tank and run a hose from the sink to your tank all the time. i am having a hard time understanding the use or how to set it up properly. can somebody please explain this thing for me. sorry for being a pain but i am trying to learn and living in japan talking to the LPS is like talking to a wall.

[N8ster]

The bottom line is that you need a good source of water that doesn't have phosphates, nitrates, chloramines, or other junk in it. You can purchase filtered water, but over time, it is more cost efficient to buy the RODI filter. The water is for mixing new walt water for water changes, and for replacing the water lost to evaporation.

Before you get too far down the road of deciding what you need, what do you plan to keep in your tank? If you are doing fish only with live rock (FOWLR) it will be simpler than if you want to keep invertebrates, or corals. To do the latter, you will definitely need a skimmer, and you will have to worry about lighting, etc. If you can determine what you want to eventually have, you can design the appropriate system.

[Myka]

I also would ditch the Rena and the Wet/Dry. The Wet/Dry often becomes a nitrate factory. You don't need an air pump in a SW tank. I would suggest you buy a protein skimmer instead. Try finding a used AquaC Remora on these forums...about $100 used.

You can buy water from the water stations at grocery stores too. They are only RO, not DI (deionization), but it's better than tap that's for sure!!! RO is the water you use to mix your salt in, in a bucket before you fill your tank. You also use the RO + salt for waterchanges. You use plain RO for evaporation topoff.

I wouldn't bother with the UV sterilizer unless you get a bigger one. The rating listed on it is just for killing algae in the water column. Usually people buy UVs for killing parasites in which case you need a UV that is rated for about 4-5 times the capacity of your tank. I have a Turbo Twist 6x 18W for sale that's never been used if you're interested.

You will also need powerheads. The amount of turnover you need will depend on what you want to keep. You'll need 10-15x for FO or FOWLR, and 15-25x for reef. This includes all your water pumps/filters gph combined. I recommend the Maxi-Jet powerheads or AquaClear...don't use the air hose piece.

Have you thought about test kits? Salifert is my recommendation...I think anything else is a waste of money. You'll need pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. If you want a reef then you'll also need Alkalinity and Calcium.

[jmait769]

jpenwell – Please take the time to read Waterkeepers So you got a new fish tank Newbie thread. It will answer most of your questions and you will arm yourself with the knowledge you need to set up a great tank. IMO I think they should make his thread a sticky here on the New To The Hobby forum.

HTH

Jay

[jpenwell]

Originally posted by Myka
I also would ditch the Rena and the Wet/Dry. The Wet/Dry often becomes a nitrate factory. You don't need an air pump in a SW tank. I would suggest you buy a protein skimmer instead. Try finding a used AquaC Remora on these forums...about $100 used...


I wouldn't bother with the UV sterilizer unless you get a bigger one. The rating listed on it is just for killing algae in the water column. Usually people buy UVs for killing parasites in which case you need a UV that is rated for about 4-5 times the capacity of your tank. I have a Turbo Twist 6x 18W for sale that's never been used if you're interested.

You will also need powerheads. The amount of turnover you need will depend on what you want to keep. You'll need 10-15x for FO or FOWLR, and 15-25x for reef. This includes all your water pumps/filters gph combined. I recommend the Maxi-Jet powerheads or AquaClear...don't use the air hose piece.

i plan on doing a fowlr tank. i know i need some better lights but i have a guy who is selling some that he used when he had a 55gal. they worked for him and he is a part of this forum so i really trust him.

so if i get rid of the wet/dry and the Rena what would my filter be exactly? only the skimmer? i definetly want the UV so i will upgrade to a bigger one. the RO/DI is not something i will need right away so i think i may wait on that for now (i am in the military so i am BROKE ). with out the wet/dry how would the UV run? just off the powerhead?

[Myka]

Yeah, you can run the UV just off the powerhead. The Turbo-Twists have a clip to hang them on the back of the tank. What kind of lights are these that you are planning on buying? For FOWLR I would suggest you add an AquaClear 70, they are more adjustable as far as what you can put in them for filter media. Also, with the Remora, I would suggest you use the surface skimming prefilter attachment as well. I don't have an RO/DI either, I just buy my water from the grocery store. Don't use tap water though...you'll have bad troubles with algae.

[jpenwell]

Originally posted by Myka
Don't use tap water though...you'll have bad troubles with algae.

to late!!!!!

[jpenwell]

so far here is what i have done. i added my sand (no live sand) filled the tank with water and i have a penguin 330 running as my filter until i get my taxes back to buy all the correct stuff. still hoping for a "list" of the things you experts think i should get in order to run a good tank.

So far i got
RO/DI
Electric TDS
PH meter
Test kits
Live sand

[jpenwell]

sorry i also put my salt in. it has been running like that for about 2 weeks

[Myka]

Well you need to buy some LR. 1-2 lbs per gallon is a good start. If it's too expensive for you then you can use dry base rock seeded with 10 lbs or so of LR.

I started my tank with tap water too. I haven't done any waterchanges yet, however I am going to do a large one tomorrow to get rid of part of the tap water. My phosphates are too high from the tap water and I am having quite the algae bloom right now.

[jpenwell]

ok, 110 lbs of LR got it. i posted somewhere else but i will take input on how to best build asump for my tempered glass tank.

[jpenwell]

Originally posted by jmait769
jpenwell – Please take the time to read Waterkeepers So you got a new fish tank Newbie thread. It will answer most of your questions and you will arm yourself with the knowledge you need to set up a great tank. IMO I think they should make his thread a sticky here on the New To The Hobby forum.

HTH

Jay

read it all and boy is it full of good info. thanks for the link. great info for building a good tank. now if i could get some info on my sump i think i may know enough to get myself into trouble.

[jpenwell]

ok maybe i need to rephrase my question. How do i get water from my tank to the sump under my tank since i have a glass tank that can't be drilled?

[danch]

You need a hang-on-back style overflow like this: http://www.aquacorals.com/ShopOverflows.htm
or this: http://www.lifereef.com/siphon.html

There's also one by CPR Aquatic that doesn't use a syphon tube (there's a 'continuous' syphon all along the box) but that's reportedly harder to keep a syphon in. I'm using the AMiracle one (the first link) and it's been fine through my freshwater testing, anyway.

[danch]

Hmm, and another thought - most of the time you _can_ drill the _back_ of a glass tank. Generally it's only the bottom that's tempered. Of course, some of us are too chicken anyway

[N8ster]

How to drill, if you feel up to it:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...ht=drill+glass

I drilled 3 holes in a 20 gallon to make my own sump. It was pretty easy using the instructions in the link I just posted.

[jpenwell]

yeah, i DON'T think i will be drilling. i would be madder than a... (ok i will stop there) if i broke my 55 gal. hey to me its a big tank. so for a 55 gal what would you suggest for a GPH output for the overflow and return pump? Fowler tank

[jmait769]

Originally posted by Myka
Don't use tap water though...you'll have bad troubles with algae.



to late!!!!!
so far here is what i have done. i added my sand (no live sand) filled the tank with water and i have a penguin 330 running as my filter until i get my taxes back to buy all the correct stuff. still hoping for a "list" of the things you experts think i should get in order to run a good tank.

So far i got
RO/DI
Electric TDS
PH meter
Test kits
Live sand

OK let’s address this first. Did you treat the water with chlorine removers? If it was me I would use the tax money to buy the RO/DI unit first. If you start with pristine water you will have far less aggravation down the road. I would do some water changes with the RO/DI water (saltwater!) before I added anything “live�.
You need to check the salinity of the water. You can use a Hydrometer but I recommend a Refractometer:
Add a skimmer to your list. I recommend an AquaC Remora
I have one of these that I used on a 55 and now it is my back-up skimmer. Simple and easy to use.
You can click on my red house or the gallery for some pictures of the Remora and my overflow for some examples of that. If it is a fish only I would worry about getting the tank setup first. You can add the overflow later just make sure you set the tank up with enough room behind it to hang the skimmer and the overflow.

Are you in Okinawa or mainland? I spent 6 at Camp Zama! Loved it.

Jay