New 90 gallon build

[Jsteiner]

I am new to salt water, but have had fresh in the past. I have been lurking behind he scenes trying to read and learn as much as I can from you pros.

I have a 90 gallon that I had drilled, two 1400 power heads, heater and a control unit, red sea skimmer, and a 30 gallon sump.

This is going to be a fish only tank for now, but am buying and setting up as a reef, so I don't have to buy twice when I want to expand.

My first question is about the rock. I plan on 90 lbs in the DT tank and 20 lbs in the sump. My question is how much of the 110 pounds needs to be live rock? Of course my LFS says I need 80 lbs of their live rock for $11.00 a pound, but I am hoping not. Also does the live rock go in the DT tank or the sump?

I have an ro system and refractometer just so you know.

I will have many more questions to come, so thank you for your help in advance.

 

[200 gallon reef]

I would only buy about 10 or 20 lbs of live rock. The rest can be base rock.

 

[200 gallon reef]

I would put at least 10 lbs in the sump.

 

[Steve silbernagel]

I agree that base rock will eventually turn to live rock. I did a 50/50 ratio bc at my LFS it goes for 7 per pound and I found dried Fiji on craigslist for 3 per pound.

 

[Jsteiner]

Just ordered 80 lbs from reef cleaners and will get 30 lbs of live rock local.

With any luck I will get to put water in my tank this weekend.

 

[200 gallon reef]

Sounds like a plan

 

[Jsteiner]

Some more questions.

1. Do I need to glue my rock together or just stack it well?

2. Do I stack the rock against the back of the tank or keep some space for cleaning?

3. Can I post a pic from my iPad to one of my replys? I want others to look at my sump to make sure I am on the right track.

Thank you for your help.

Jim

 

[200 gallon reef]

Some more questions.

1. Do I need to glue my rock together or just stack it well?

2. Do I stack the rock against the back of the tank or keep some space for cleaning?

3. Can I post a pic from my iPad to one of my replys? I want others to look at my sump to make sure I am on the right track.

Thank you for your help.

Jim

Personally I would glue them together. And the way I have mine set up is it is just away from the back glass to allow for flow in the back and for cleaning.

You should be able to.

 

[Ingy]

1. I wouldn't glue my rocks. That way you can tweak your landscape, remove rocks for fragging or add coral rocks later. I would put egg crate on the bottom tho so the rocks sit on that instead of the glass bottom. And the rocks MUST sit on something on the bottom other than sand. Many fish will dig and if your rocks are on sand they will shift and come crashing down.

2. As you said you want to eventually go coral with this tank you may want to stack your rocks further back ( and even touching the glass). That will provide more space in the foreground for displaying the corals. Don't worry about cleaning the back glass. Hopefully coraline algae will start to grow there anyhow. Don't want to scrape that off (unless you do of course). But leave enough room in the sides for your scraper to fit thru so you can clean the side glass.

3. If iPad is like iPhone hit the reply and the + button and select the photo you want.

Good luck

 

[Jsteiner]

Egg crate is in the tank already. Will get some pics up once my rock shows up.

 

[Rich42082]

What are your plans for a sump? I also have a 90 with a 30 gallon sump. I have an swc150 skimmer in first chamber with one drain that T's off into two. Second chamber I have a 5 inch deep sand bed with an additional inch of Miracle Mud and chaeto. I have my bubble trap and then my return in the last chamber. I also have my phosban with rowaphos in last chamber. I highly recommend miracle mud it's helped me with less water changes and I've noticed a huge difference with my corals.

 

[Rich42082]

Oh and chemi pure elite is also in the last chamber.

 

[Steve silbernagel]

Why so thick on the sand bed? I just built my sump, I ask bc I'm at that stage where I'm ready for sand and mud

 

[Rich42082]

Personal preference. Its a peace of mind for me. I see lots of life filled with critters in the deep sand bed in the refugium stage that help with the overall quality of my system.

 

[Jsteiner]

I was only going to put rock in it. What should I do?

 

[Rich42082]

Set it up with one bag of miracle mud. It's $80 and last one year. Very beneficial to your tank. If not then a DSB will be just fine. I would do either one of those two. I'm sure someone else will chime in. I don't have any rocks in my sump because I have enough in my DT.

 

[Steve silbernagel]

Ok thx I saw that mud at my LFS it wasn't that much. I'm gonna put one inch of mud and one inch of live sand

 

[Jsteiner]

I have plenty of rock for my sump so I was leaning towards that. Is there a benefit to do one over the other?

My rock came today so I will be trying to figure out how I want to set it up. I also have the ro system making water.

I will get some pics up this weekend.

I also need to buy sand this weekend. What does everyone recommend and how many pounds for a 90 gallon tank?

Thanks for all your replies.

 

[Steve silbernagel]

1 pound per gallon is my rule of thumb

 

[Jsteiner]

Since I am putting the rock in first, then the water. Do you have to get sand behind the rocks where they touch the back glass and in between he rocks?