New 90g reef ready tank

[mrwizard]

Hello every1, I had to start a new thread as I forgot my login password and haven't got a pc handy to get my password back.

I've decided to move over to saltwater now, I've just bought myself a 90g reef ready tank with sump, I think the sump has been made ready for a refugium but not 100% sure till I get the tank at the end of the week.

I'm gonna be doing my Own research on the way as I'm a complete newbie to saltwater so any input at all will be like gold to me lol.

I have bought my skimmer already which is suitable upto 125gal tanks, will this be sufficient?

So far my stock list is clown fish and a blenny, clown fish is for my gf and sons enjoyment, the blenny is for mine lol.

Gonna need a lot of help, advice and suggestions with this build so all input is welcome.

I think to start with I'm gonna go fowlr but will want to move over to a reef when I'm comfortable.

At the moment I still need to pick up a few things like:~
Lighting- I was thinking if I get lighting good enough to support corals now it will save me
Time and money later on down the line, any suggestions?
Gonna get majority of my rock as base rock and a little bit of live rock to seed the base rock.
Pick up a saltwater testing kit and hydrometer or is the refractometer better? (think that's what it's called lol)
Pick up a rodi unit
Buckets of salt
Powerheads, I've read they should turnover 4x the amount of your tank, is that right?
Hopefully gonna pick all of this up on Thursday.

That's all I can think of at the moment if I've missed anything please let me know.
Sorry for the Lllooooonnnnngggggg thread. And thanks for any input.
Here's the tank.

 

[mrwizard]

So decided I'm gonna do a refugium in my sump, I've seen quite a few sumps with refugiums and I like it, plus the manager at my Lfs has my exact tank but a later model with a refugium so gonna see of I can set it up like his.

Also this might be a silly question but can I still have a cuc in a fowlr tank?

 

[spoonman]

Depending on the size of your sump, I would say that the skimmer that you are getting is JUST going to cut it. Usually people on this forum suggest a skimmer rated for up to twice the size of the aquarium and sump. I have a 75 with 40 sump and my skimmer rated for 125 seems to be doing ok. I only have one fish and no corals at the moment though, so we will see.

 

[mrwizard]

Depending on the size of your sump, I would say that the skimmer that you are getting is JUST going to cut it. Usually people on this forum suggest a skimmer rated for up to twice the size of the aquarium and sump. I have a 75 with 40 sump and my skimmer rated for 125 seems to be doing ok. I only have one fish and no corals at the moment though, so we will see.

I think the sump is about 10-15 gal will know for sure on Thursday, do u think that's to small?

I was thinking it was and was thinking about getting a 20 maybe 30gal for the sump as long as it fits in my stand, the manager at my Lfs has the same tank and he runs the same skimmer on his and his tank looks perfect but still, I'm a bit wary of info given from people that work at any fish shop lol

Not sure if I like the JUST part lol I want one that will be sufficient and do a good job I might have to see how much difference in price a bigger one will be.

 

[mrwizard]

Hey, just been drawing a design for my sump, im still trying to get my head round all this so if I'm way off don't laugh to hard at me lol.

I've decided to go for a refugium, I've seen only good things about them so I'm all for it, not sure what to use as substrate tho? Sand or mud? I'm gonna put macro algae in there is there anything else I should have in there?

Also when I looked at my tank it had two drilled holes in the same corner so does that mean my return line will have to go back across the sump?

Heres the pic, please be gentle with me lol

 

[spoonman]

Looks like mine. Check out the build in my signature.

 

[mrwizard]

Looks like mine. Check out the build in my signature.

Haha cool, I did see one sorta like mine in another thread, it could of been yours now that I think about it lol. How's it working for you?

 

[spoonman]

working great! Just added my first fish this weekend. A Kole yellow eye tang!

 

[mrwizard]

working great! Just added my first fish this weekend. A Kole yellow eye tang!

Gd to hear, that's the sump sorted then that was racking my brain so much trying to figure out how it all kinda works. Argh man I'm jealous, I was looking at them myself very cool fish, im either gonna get one of them or bristletooth tomali tang, my gf wasn't too keen on the tomali tho. Are you gonna be keeping corals 2?

 

[DaveM]

Well first off you are taking the proper steps for your first saltwater aquarium by asking questions. And the best advice is never go short on your equipment because it will always haunt you. Get the best skimmer you can even if it delays the tank by a couple months. Lighting as well because you will only hurt yourself making the same purchases two or three times. I highly recommend a sump setup and your drawing looks fine but a filter sock will become a constant investment. Plenty of livestock and a deep sand bed will suit your needs just fine. I unfortunately spent many years chasing my tail with reef tanks and finally put money into good equipment and proper sump size and I couldn't be happier

 

[mrwizard]

Well first off you are taking the proper steps for your first saltwater aquarium by asking questions. And the best advice is never go short on your equipment because it will always haunt you. Get the best skimmer you can even if it delays the tank by a couple months. Lighting as well because you will only hurt yourself making the same purchases two or three times. I highly recommend a sump setup and your drawing looks fine but a filter sock will become a constant investment. Plenty of livestock and a deep sand bed will suit your needs just fine. I unfortunately spent many years chasing my tail with reef tanks and finally put money into good equipment and proper sump size and I couldn't be happier

Yeah I've already bought myself two saltwater books on my iPhone lol, I like to know what I'm doing and why I'm doing it lol.

Do you think I should get a better skimmer then? The one I have is rated for a 125g.

Lighting is a whole new ball game for me, I think I'm gonna go reef, still not sure if I'll go reef straight away or not tho, can u recommend any good ones that will be enough to support coral?

Do u think I will be ok without a filter sock then?
And do u mean a deep sand bed in the sump?

I've had a look at some of your reef pics and it's very very nice.

 

[mrwizard]

Anyone have any experience with LED lighting for a reef? I'm thinking about using LEDs, I think it'll save me money in the long run, but don't know too much about lighting.
I was looking at these but the LEDs are only 2watt each, would they be ok to support corals?

 

[mrwizard]

Looks like this is gonna be alot of trial And error then lol

 

[NyteGTI]

I'm running LEDs over my little nanocube as a test before I go to a bigger system. so far i cannot be happier and neither can my LPS & zoos. I just started getting into SPS so ill have to let you know but for now everything looks happy & extending nicely. I've got 24x3W CREE LEDs running at 10% white & 20% blue over a little 12G. It looks like I'll need 2 of these fixtures total cranked up to 95%blue,80%white to run a 4 foot tank. because you've got the 90 & it's so tall I'd definitely recommend 3W or 4W LEDs only just to get your depth.

 

[mrwizard]

I'm running LEDs over my little nanocube as a test before I go to a bigger system. so far i cannot be happier and neither can my LPS & zoos. I just started getting into SPS so ill have to let you know but for now everything looks happy & extending nicely. I've got 24x3W CREE LEDs running at 10% white & 20% blue over a little 12G. It looks like I'll need 2 of these fixtures total cranked up to 95%blue,80%white to run a 4 foot tank. because you've got the 90 & it's so tall I'd definitely recommend 3W or 4W LEDs only just to get your depth.

Ok thanks this helps a lot, I had a feeling because of the depth of my tank the 2w wouldn't be sufficient, I'll probably start off with the easier more hardy corals but will eventually want to move on to the harder corals so may aswell get the right lighting now.
Please let me know how it goes with the sps's, hope it all continues to go well for u.

 

[NyteGTI]

a lot of LED units run 3W LEDs at 2W to save diode life so I would say you can run 3W LEDs at 2W just don't expect to put SPS on the bottom of the tank. also might have trouble with a clam but other than that I don't see a problem with it.

 

[mrwizard]

Ok so after hours of looking for LED lights I think I'm gonna give them a miss, for now, the ones I wanted were over £1000 so gonna wait for them to drop in price.
I've found some other lights in the end, they are aqua medic t5 ocean lighting 6x39w, will these be sufficient for all corals or will I need more power?

Also been looking at wave makers, I've read Powerheads need to move 4x times the total amount of my water in my tank so would these be ok?
2 Koralia circulation pumps 12v with a flow rate of 1000-2600 l/h, and it's a hydor wave maker 2. Also does anyone have experience with these?

I'm off to the Lfs in about an hour so need to know if these will be ok before I start buying.

 

[mrwizard]

Ok, Back from the lfs a lot poorer than when I went lol.
The guy at the lfs to my amazement actually knows a lot about reef tanks so i think im in good hands.

So, i've took back my 500litre skimmer and replaced it with a 1500litre skimmer, that should do the trick shouldn't it?

I've bought my rodi unit aswell only problem
Being I have to use it at my gfs mums house as they have a garden tap and i cant attach it to my copper pipes, cheap water bill for me tho lol

Bought 10kg of aragonite sand, and 3 smaller bags of coral sand was gonna do a mix of the both of them.

Also picked up 25kg of reef crystals salt it's the stuff they use in their tanks so I thought I'd use the same as I'll be getting my stock from there 2.

Bought my refractometer, and got given a tds meter, in his words 'I'm helping emptying your wallet its the least I can do' lol.

And also bought 3 new books, 1 on corals, 1 on invertebrates and 1 on angelfishes.

Hopefully someone will chime in about the lights 'hint hint' lol.

 

[OniTweak]

Lights really depend on what you plan on keeping in the tank. I wouldn't give up on LED's yet. Maybe check out some of the PAR38s. You might have to run multiiples but it will cost about the same as high quality t5 or MH and will have less power consumption and less end cost.

 

[mrwizard]

Lights really depend on what you plan on keeping in the tank. I wouldn't give up on LED's yet. Maybe check out some of the PAR38s. You might have to run multiiples but it will cost about the same as high quality t5 or MH and will have less power consumption and less end cost.

Well I was gonna go fowlr but now I've decided I want a reef, gonna start off with a few easy to keep corals tho, then a yr or so down the line move on to the harder ones but I'd rather buy the right lights that will support the harder ones now then have to change later on down the line. I'll have to see if I can find some Of those par38s, I spent hours searching online last night and kept coming across the same ones.