NorthernReefer
Reefing newb
Hi there everyone. First off i must say that being new to the hobbie it has been great reading through all of the posts and soaking in as much information as possible. For me its always been about taking the time and doing it right the first time. I know that only so many mistakes and (disasters) can be avoided, but i'm sure with this hobby there will be no shortage of issues that will find there way into my setup. I am new to Saltwater aquariums but have spent the past 6 weeks reading and researching as much as possible.
My girlfriend and I, purchased a used setup off of Craigslist approx 2 weeks ago.
We were able to get:
- 90 Gallon tank
- Solid Pine Stand
- 404 Fluvall Canister Filter
- Hang on Prizm Skimmer
- 3 power heads
- Power Compact Lighting system (4 x 21" bulbs, 2 10,000K and 2 Actinics)
- 90 lbs of Live Rock
- 3 inch coverage of crushed coral
- Heater
and all test kits, nets, replacement filter pieces, garbage cans for mixing water, salt, 5x 5 gallon jugs for transporting water and a ton of other small things.
The family that we purchased the set up from only had 1 naso Tang and a bunch of snails living in the tank. They had lost their passion for the hobby and had neglected the set up for quite some time. We already had a 35G tank with lights that we were planning on using as a possible sump / refugium that is currently being used as the home for the naso and snails.
Long story short, in transporting the 90G tank, stand and the majority of our supplies my buddies truck broke down and all of our equipment is stranded approx 80 miles from our house. The Naso is doing just fine in his temp home and we were planning to take our time with setting up the new tank anyways. I figured that we will definitely run into problems where we will need experts opinions and documenting our whole build on here might be both fun and beneficial. I like to ask as many questions as possible and after getting different answers from different LFS i have turned mostly to researching online.
Hopefully if all goes well we should have our tank and equipment this upcoming weekend.
One thing that we were sure that we would need to upgrade was our lighting system. This past weekend we picked up a ballast and 36" hood that contains 2x250W Metal Halides as well as 2 fluorescent actinic bulbs.
Now to the questions:
1) I have about 80lbs of Live rock sitting in a garbage container with a bit of saltwater in my garage waiting for my 90G tank to get here. Will i need to do anythig special to get this rock ready to introduce back into the system?
2) My Naso is in the 35G with the canister filter, heater, powerhead and a bit of liverock, unfortunately the skimmer is in the broken down truck. It's been 9 days in this new setup, all my test kits are in the truck as well. Will he be ok in here for another 7 days? Should i do a water change?
3) From what i have read, sump is the system to go with for reef tanks, (especially with the new lights and the heat that will come off them --> evaporation) Should i use my 35G for this setup? What are some of the things to consider when planning this out?
4) Our tank also has an undergravel filter systerm built into it (easily removable) should i drop this setup as it may trap nitrates in my substrate?
5) What substrate should i go with? crushed coral? argonite? live sand? how deep?
I guess this should be it for my questions at this point. I will get the camera out in the next day or two to take pictures of our naso temp home. I have some questions about some small tares on his fins that i will save for once i have pics. If it helps we plan on having 8-12 fish, a couple tangs, pair of clowns, some damsels, maybe a coral angel, full cleaning crew, soft corals. Any help, pointers or advice that can be shared with us throughout our build would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
My girlfriend and I, purchased a used setup off of Craigslist approx 2 weeks ago.
We were able to get:
- 90 Gallon tank
- Solid Pine Stand
- 404 Fluvall Canister Filter
- Hang on Prizm Skimmer
- 3 power heads
- Power Compact Lighting system (4 x 21" bulbs, 2 10,000K and 2 Actinics)
- 90 lbs of Live Rock
- 3 inch coverage of crushed coral
- Heater
and all test kits, nets, replacement filter pieces, garbage cans for mixing water, salt, 5x 5 gallon jugs for transporting water and a ton of other small things.
The family that we purchased the set up from only had 1 naso Tang and a bunch of snails living in the tank. They had lost their passion for the hobby and had neglected the set up for quite some time. We already had a 35G tank with lights that we were planning on using as a possible sump / refugium that is currently being used as the home for the naso and snails.
Long story short, in transporting the 90G tank, stand and the majority of our supplies my buddies truck broke down and all of our equipment is stranded approx 80 miles from our house. The Naso is doing just fine in his temp home and we were planning to take our time with setting up the new tank anyways. I figured that we will definitely run into problems where we will need experts opinions and documenting our whole build on here might be both fun and beneficial. I like to ask as many questions as possible and after getting different answers from different LFS i have turned mostly to researching online.
Hopefully if all goes well we should have our tank and equipment this upcoming weekend.
One thing that we were sure that we would need to upgrade was our lighting system. This past weekend we picked up a ballast and 36" hood that contains 2x250W Metal Halides as well as 2 fluorescent actinic bulbs.
Now to the questions:
1) I have about 80lbs of Live rock sitting in a garbage container with a bit of saltwater in my garage waiting for my 90G tank to get here. Will i need to do anythig special to get this rock ready to introduce back into the system?
2) My Naso is in the 35G with the canister filter, heater, powerhead and a bit of liverock, unfortunately the skimmer is in the broken down truck. It's been 9 days in this new setup, all my test kits are in the truck as well. Will he be ok in here for another 7 days? Should i do a water change?
3) From what i have read, sump is the system to go with for reef tanks, (especially with the new lights and the heat that will come off them --> evaporation) Should i use my 35G for this setup? What are some of the things to consider when planning this out?
4) Our tank also has an undergravel filter systerm built into it (easily removable) should i drop this setup as it may trap nitrates in my substrate?
5) What substrate should i go with? crushed coral? argonite? live sand? how deep?
I guess this should be it for my questions at this point. I will get the camera out in the next day or two to take pictures of our naso temp home. I have some questions about some small tares on his fins that i will save for once i have pics. If it helps we plan on having 8-12 fish, a couple tangs, pair of clowns, some damsels, maybe a coral angel, full cleaning crew, soft corals. Any help, pointers or advice that can be shared with us throughout our build would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
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