55 gallon reef - First Saltwater Build Ever!

[matthewh133]

Ok so the tank is plumbed, all ready for my to go and get the sand, water and live rock on the weekend!

I'm a little confused on the water aspect. Should I be buying RO water and salt and mix them together, or should I be buying natural salt water?

Also, what kind of sand should I go for? 2mm coral sand?

 

[carey]

The sand is up to you. Depends onw hat look and texture you want. I went cheap and used 250lbs of pool filter sand for my 125 and am very pleased with it. Has a nice size grain but not too big so sifters can still sift without hurting themselves. The color choice is limited though, it;s just plain colored sand.

You can buy ro/di water and salt yourself (my choice if I were you) or you can buy the premixed salt from them.

In the future you can look into buying an ro/dio machine of your own so you can mix your own water and it will end up costing pennies a gallons in the end. and no lugging bugs and jugs to the lgs. LOL

 

[matthewh133]

Thanks for the tips Carey. So what is the main advantage of buying the RO water and adding the salt myself over natural salt water?

I can't really buy an RO/DI machine, just no room haha!

 

[carey]

I have a portable one that fits in a shopping bag that I only take out once a week to make water with. No hard plumbing required either, will hook up to a garden hose or a sink faucet.

here is the link for reference

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I find its very convenient to make my own saltwater and I know exactly what I'm putting in.

Also if you buy premixed SW you need to also buy pure ro/di water for your top offs due to evaporation since that will raise your salintity levels. So topping off with ro/di is important.

When I was buying my ro/di from alocal lfs it contained ALL the things it wasnt supposed to, so you alwasy take that chance to if youre not doing it yourself.

Heres the link for the ro/di machine. small enoguuh to fit in a small shopping bag whennot in use.

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[paulweck]

There always room for a ro/di I have mine order a small vanity cabinet in my bathroom running off my bathroom sink in my aoartment . Carey has the link for the best priced and most compact unit on the web that I found. making and mixing my own water has been one of the best things for my tank, my back and the breaks in my truck driving every week to go get water pre-made. No to mention to fill your tank u will need to buy 11 5 gallon buckets to do your first fill.

The 60 bucks I spent on my ro/di was the best investment I got for my tank

 

[matthewh133]

$50 postage to Australia So how do these units work exactly? Like I said I have no room at all around my tank, and it's in my bedroom so I can't use it in the same room as my tank if that matters?

 

[carey]

You need a kitchen faucet or an outdoor garden hose and someplace that the waste water can run off to. I use mine on my back porch, the waste water waters my grass and plants and the pure water goes into a 32g garbage can.

 

[paulweck]

Mine sit under my bathroom sink when and hooked up my a sink adaptor that they give u. When I need it I take the waste hose and put it in my sink drain. And when I fill water I put the bucket in the bathtub so if it overflows I have nothing to worry about. And for filling my tank I just went out and bought 25 feet 1/4 inch tubing and connected it.to the rodi so it will reach my tank I sat on the couch and watched my tank fill up

 

[carey]

I have a small pump and like 18feet of hosing so if I wanna do a water change form the garbage can of water I can just drop it in and refill. I use a python to drain the water and the rio pump to fill her back up. Though I have to admit, last few water changes i actually used buckets, so much eaiser to know exactly how much went out so I know how much to add back. But I like having options.

 

[matthewh133]

I feel really stupid, a lot of that confused the crap out of me lol. Sorry! So basically the machine sits in something like a drum full of water. It weaves its magic, the water in the drum turns into RO/DI water and also filters out the waste water into somewhere else? Then I can just fill up buckets and take them upstairs when needed?

 

[paulweck]

Pretty much when I need to mix water I get a 5 gallon bucket turn to shut off valve on and start filling my bucket up then ovce its done I add salt and let it mix for 24 hours. And that's it.

 

[matthewh133]

Sounds good I'll have to buy water to start off the tank, but an RO/DI machine sounds good for long term top ups.

So you guys reckon buy RO water and add salt to initially fill up my tank and sump rather than buy natural salt water?

 

[paulweck]

Yea that will work but ro/Di is the best route. And if u have a lfs in your area u can probably get it per mixed for around a 1.50 per gallon

 

[matthewh133]

Yea that will work but ro/Di is the best route. And if u have a lfs in your area u can probably get it per mixed for around a 1.50 per gallon

Ah ok so you can buy RO/DI water from the LFS too. I wish salt wasn't so expensive haha.

Any recommendations for a clean up crew for a tank my size guys? Need some recommendations with what to do with the refugium too (sand depth/type, what to put in there?).

Sorry I'm a complete noob and feel annoying asking lots of questions, but I'm serious about this tank and doing things right. I don't want to hurt any poor animals because I didn't ask a question!

 

[carey]

Here's a picture of how I had it setup on my porch. I now use a gfarbage can isntead of the jugs though.

 

[carey]

Pure water tube is on the left, the middle one is attached to the hose as you can see and the white tube on the right goes outside to my lawn.

 

[paulweck]

.

Any recommendations for a clean up crew for a tank my size guys? Need some recommendations with what to do with the refugium too (sand depth/type, what to put in there?).

Well for the cuc I would go with a quick crew from reefcleaners.com get on rated for half the size your your tank because reefcleaners goes over board on there cuc.( somthing else I learned from Carey ) and as for the fuge there are many things u can do but in my fuge I have a 4 inch dsb, some live rock and some chaeto. Here's a pic of my fugethe chaeto is on order and should be here tomorrow

 

[matthewh133]

Thanks guys, super appreciated! I actually live in Australia so I cannot order from reefcleaners. I'll go and see what they use and see if they are available here What kind of sand did you use in the refugium?

 

[paulweck]

Cribsea sugar fine reef sand I believe that's what its called

 

[matthewh133]

I know you like pictures Carey




This is the current state. I will be putting dark blue acrylic to cover the weir tomorrow. Still undecided on whether I'll put a blue backdrop. My wall is a really nice, grainy blue colour, but I hate seeing the power chords from the LEDs lol The return pipe will be coming up the back left too so that would be visible without a backdrop.

Ideas for aquascapes?