New SW Setup: Big Questions

  That's a ton of questions!!!

Regarding the sump portion of the thread - check out melev's site, good resources on sumps!
http://www.melevsreef.com/links.html

But as far as size - awesome salt water starter tank! 

Mag24 = great return pump.  It might be too much or too little depending on your plumbing.

. . .

Tileman!  Where you at??

Tileman has has an 225gal acrylic tank. .  he'll tell you how to keep it clean and scratches to a minimum.

Great book to check out it by Delbeek & Sprung - The Reef Aquarium Volume Three: Science, Art, and Technology





Edited by sukie - October 24 2008 at 11:38am

I know there are alot more experienced people on these boards that can throw there hat in on this info, but I guess ill toss out what I know.

A. No, in SW bigger is better for beginners. There are many toxin levels to watch out for in SW and more water volume allows for a little error.

B. Glass is better, but can be costly. Not much to give you on cleaning acrylic, never had it.

C. Mag 24 should be fine. I have always heard to turn your tank water over roughly 10X every hour. With the Mag 24 doing 2400 should be good.

D. A 225 tank and especially if you are doing reef I would say 3-5 extra powerheads.

E. Sumps come in many different setups. your basic usually is 3 sections. First is your protein skimmer and drain tubes, second can be a refugium, third is your pump back to the tank. I would say protein skimmer is almost a necessity, but calcium reactor you can get away without having if you keep up on water changes.

F. The "sump" you have should be fine for now. I have seen 75's for cheap, just wait and watch. No need to rush.

G. http://www.fish.com/Fish.com%20-%20Saltwater%20Fish%20Compatibility%20Chart.pdf

There is a good pdf on compatibility.

H. Battery backup is only necessary if you are going to be away from the tank for days at a time. Otherwise I wouldn't bother. If you do want to get one I would have your return pump and maybe one powerhead on it.

I. Unfortunatly Yes. Standard is about 10% a week or 20% every other. Granted you can do less and be fine still, but your corals will love you with more.

J. I run a 150 in a basment room about that same size and no fan. Humidity hasn't been a problem.

Again my advice is only a year into the hobby and I know there are people out there that have been in it a lot longer that may trump my advice. Just thought I would get you started.

A.  Definately not too big as a starter tank.  The most difficult tank I have ever tried to do was a 16G.  The bigger they are, better room for error.  Where you are going to get slammed with a big tank like that is the cost.  I easily have $3500 tied up in equipment for my 125G.

I think you are a genius to be a newbie in SW and start out with these type of questions.  One of the two tricks is to DO YOUR RESEARCH which you already obviously have.  The second is to ask people on the board.  I congratulate you on starting out right   I wish I had done as much research..., it would have cost me a lot less money and less mistakes!

Ill leave the answers to the experts since I still feel like a newbie after all these years but I just wanted to let you know that you are on the right route!

Sculpin wrote: Can I come over? Sculpin

I am lazy and don't do water changes much and have stopped testing lately also. I was initially testing once or twice a week while I was figuring out what my system needed. My setup still looks good but I'm guessing it could be better(although everything seems very happy and growing fast). I am lightly stocked on fish and I think that helps. I leave my rocks alone and hope that I never have to catch a fish.

In the beginning you should test your water frequently (maybe even once a day) as new setups can sometimes have fluctuating parameters as things settle in...

vadryn wrote: carlso63 - I couldn't see in your other thread how you seperated your sump and refugium.  I could see the egg crate but surely that wouldn't keep the sand and plants from getting pulled into the pump in the chamber next to it.  Can you elaborate?

i think this hobby is defently worth a second job ,  my power bill allown went up 50 + a mo. not to mention food for all diff. kinds of stuff and repalicment parts for somthing that broke or replentishing crabs and snails , trust me im NOT tring to discurage you in any way i love this hobby as much as i love to race my camaro , but just think about not only water changes but all the other hidden cost .....but then agian im a nubie and ask a lot of questions my self when ever i have a pblm i turn to the board . I have only had my tank for a year ...... but ive put in about $5000.00 worth of stuff in it and the first 2000 everything died to much bio load at one time tank wasnt established enough to add all that stuff at once so over the last year ive added about 3000 more a little at a time .... and trust me 2000 in live creatures just gone hurt my feelings ALOT i almost gave it up ( before i even started ) but a buddy talked me into stick'n with it and now my 72g bow is so full im looking for a bigger system... but all of this is IMO . think of it like a boat its a hole in the water that you throw money in..... i dont know what your $$$ limit is some of us dont care what the cost if we've got it and we see somthing we like its going in .     just keep this in mind IMO....the more money you throw at your tank the moreyou will be