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01/27/2013, 02:50 PM | #1 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: NoVA, USA
Posts: 17
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Getting started on my 50
Hey all. I'm finally getting back into the hobby after a few years, and I'm just looking for a sanity check from the RC community.
My first tank was a 10 gallon nano. Tragically, I lost almost everything in an prolonged power outage after being up for about a year. Learned a lot, though. I saved a few coral frags, but ultimately gave them away and broke everything down. Fast forward a few years, and I'm setting up a new tank. It's a "reef ready" 50 breeder with a 29g sump. I'm planning a mix: a few fish and "beginner" corals to start, some SPS when the tank matures. Of course I ordered the wrong unions for my overflow plumbing, so it'll be a couple more days before the right ones show up and I can finish off the setup. I've got 50 lbs of BRS reef saver and 20 lbs of Arag Alive Fiji Pink live (well, live-ish) sand (so, shallow/decorative bed). My plan is to rinse the dry rock and set up the aqua-scape while the tank is empty. It's a glass tank, so the rock will sit on top of egg crate. When the scape is ready, I'll fill the tank with RODI, let everything begin to circulate and warm up, and then add the salt. My plan was to add the salt to the sump instead of dumping into the top. Once the salt is in and I'm at temperature, I'll add the live sand and a bottle of Bio-Spira to cycle the tank. I expect that to take 2-4 weeks or so. In the mean while, I'd like to get a QT happening. My old 10g nano should suffice for that. It's a biocube 14 (yes, despite the label, the bc14 is a 10 gallon tank) that I've modified but can revert to mostly-stock. I'll run it with just a heater, stock pump, and some filter floss. Once the DT is cycling, I'd like to pick up a pair of clown fish and hold them in quarantine while their permanent home cycles. I retrofitted the bc14 with LEDs which I'll just run at low power so I can see the fish, and so they don't become acclimated to living in the dark. When the fish get moved into the DT, I'll pick up a batch of corals and start them in the QT under higher lighting. So, sanity check time: 1) Am I missing anything obvious? 2) Because the rock is going on top of egg crate, and the sand is going in after the water, I'm worried about voids under the rock. Should I pack the egg crate with common aragonite play sand or some non-live pet-store aquarium sand prior to building the aqua scape? 3) Skimmer during cycle? I think the answer is "no, it goes on when the fish go into the DT." 4) For the QT, is a 2g WC twice a week sufficient? 5) Should I start with 2 clowns or just 1? I'll be purchasing them together, so they'll almost certainly be juveniles coming out of the same tank from the LFS. I'd eventually like to have a bonded pair. 5) Should I add more flow to the nano/QT for the clown(s)? A koralia nano or something small? 6) About when do I want to add a CUC? Same time as the fish go into the DT, or maybe a couple of weeks after? It seems like adding the fish to the DT, turning on the skimmer, and adding a CUC is a lot of changes at the same time. Further thoughts? And thanks! |
01/27/2013, 03:03 PM | #2 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Garden Grove, Ca
Posts: 17,023
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1. I would start with pre-mixed salt water right from the start rather than adding salt to the sump. Mix up 5 gallons at a time in a bucket.
2. The sand will eventually fill in any voids. The voids do not present any issues even if they are present. 3. If you have a fair amount of die-off from your live rock I would run the skimmer near the start of the cycle. If not I would still fire it up after a couple of weeks to break it in. 4. It depends upon how many fish you are placing in the tank. My guess would be for one fish it would suffice, for two fish it's 50/50. 5. I don't recall the flow from the stock bio-cube but you should have at least 100GPH of flow. 6. I would add a few snails as soon as the cycle completes and increase the CUC size over time as need increases. 7. Best of luck with the new tank! |
01/27/2013, 03:06 PM | #3 |
Reefer
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Clarksville
Posts: 457
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Mix salt with water before adding to the tank
Add sand before water and lay plastic bag over sand and pour water onto bag I would still add a small piece of clean live rock or piece of sponge material from an established tank for different strains of beneficial bacteria Your sand should settle under the voids of your rock to help support them Water changes in QT depend on method of qt. I would add fish as pairs if you plan to keep them as pairs CUC can be added after initial cycle Make sure you add an ammonia source to help bacteria populate Skimmer not necessary for little while as it will just remove bacteria and slow down ur populating process Always have some kind of water movement to avoid deadzones that could cause harm
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Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing. - Oscar Wilde |
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