Need help with new 110

[danben]

Hello Everyone!

So I've never done a saltwater/reef setup and I recently purchased a 110 gallon tank with a considerable amount of equipment for $300 (good deal? bad deal? you tell me...)

The previous owner had it set up as a reef and I was wondering if doing this would be not only feasible but maintainable, considering that I'm new to this and the equipment I've got.

Anyways, so here goes. I purchased the following:

110 Gallon tank (5'x1.5'x2')
*Wood stand (threw out as it was seriously damaged, planning on building one in the coming months)
170lbs seafloor reef sand
Eheim Pro 2329 Canister Filter with inline heater
Fluval 403 filter
(The above two items came with [dead] biological media that I can reuse)
Berlin Venturie HOB skimmer (300 gallon pump)
4 different powerheads of various strengths
and a few other smaller items that are nice to have (python hose, master test kit, hydrometers, thermometers, etc.)


So yeah. The tank currently holds water but the silicone isn't in great shape so I'm planning on re-doing that.

The tank also did not come with lights or a hood, so I'll have to get that.

On a final note, I'm kind of worried about weight as the largest tank I've had yet is a 55. The tank will be taking the place of a piano in the room so I don't think it should be much of an issue, but just in case I thought I'd ask.

I know I'm just throwing everything out there but I just thought I'd give as much info as possible to get any suggestions I could by those more knowledgeable in this.


Thanks a ton ahead of time!

 

[ff.rice]

In my experience the canister filters tend to hold too much of a bio load... Especially for a reef tank. And the sand if it's not already will probably die off before you use it with the time it sounds like you have until your ready for set up.... If it were me I would rinse the sand and then seed it with love sand when you start up your system. As far as the weight, what kind of floor is it going on? Slab? Floor trusses?


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[ff.rice]

In my experience the canister filters tend to hold too much of a bio load... Especially for a reef tank. And the sand if it's not already will probably die off before you use it with the time it sounds like you have until your ready for set up.... If it were me I would rinse the sand and then seed it with love sand when you start up your system. As far as the weight, what kind of floor is it going on? Slab? Floor trusses?



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[danben]

Yeah I figured a sump would be suggested, I'm just not sure how feasible it is for me right now.

And it's the main floor of the home, which is joisted with a steel beam going through the middle of the home
On top of that it's parquet, which so far has been very chip, water, and damage resistant so that's comforting, if nothing else

The wall it would be against is an exterior wall, under which is a concrete basement wall so if anything the joists might have extra support from being close to the wall.

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[danben]

The length of the tank would be perpendicular to the joists

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[ff.rice]

If you have a basement you can build an amazing sump and run the pipes through the floor!! But yes the joists should hold it fine.


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[danben]

haha I would consider it but we finished our basement about two years ago! A little late for that now as I'm not too keen on ripping the walls out

and the more I've looked at the tank itself the more I think it might be worth selling and just getting another one with a stand included, around the same size though (it's got a couple of scratches and needs a decent amount of work to look good so that's what's mostly deterring me).

It would make an awesomely huge sump, but oh well


Having a really nice sump sounds more and more appealing to me now, but I'm mostly concerned with issues regarding tank overflow. I've had a couple of pretty bad experiences trying to set up a diy sump for my 55g, namely the aquarium overflowing and about 15 gallons of water ending up on my floor.
Of course all of this happened when I wasn't home and I picked up the phone to my panicked mother asking what the hell happened

 

[ff.rice]

I certainly understand that.... Don't count out building your own stand though...... Even if I bought one brand new from a aquarium store I would still reinforce it! Building it yourself you can build it the way YOU can trust it!

Either way.... Good luck! I'm super excited to get a big tank again someday! Split up with the wife and had to get rid of my 180 ...... I built it from just the tank.... Made everything else...


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