New tank - 150 reef

[Medic with Fish]

I recently got a 150 gallon reef tank very reasonably. It ended up crashing after it was moved, as the sand needed taken out of it just to make it moveable. It was set up as it had been previously, but fish and reef did not survive the crash.

Being a newbie to the marine aquarium world, I had quite a bit of learning to do. I've got most of the basics under my belt and now hope to have it back up and running soon. This has involved a good deal of equipment so I thought I'd talk about it here. Hopefully I'll get some additional insight from some of the more experienced fish lovers here.

Here are the initial stats:
custom 150 gallon acrylic tank (short display tank - 60" long")
~20 gallon sump with protein skimmer, bio balls, and a sponge like filter
FX5 with UV filter attached to the return
Live Rock, Sand and Water all came with the tank.
Lighting system uses a halogen bulb (2x500 watts)
Single ViaAqua heater
Two power heads (unknown brand)

 

[Medic with Fish]

AWI Typhoon III extreme

My first addition is an Air Water and Ice Typhoon III Extreme RO/DI system.

I had two reasons to buy this unit. I have horrible water for fish provided by my well, and buying water gets really, really expensive when you have to go 100 miles to the nearest LFS.

The set up was kind of a bear to complete. The instructions were less than desired, and the plumbing was a bit confusing. What I did like was that absolutely everything was labeled. The instructions also included several images for the different parts of the system.

I've had it up and functioning for about three quarters of a day and it's made about 40 gallons of water. I imagine that my cold water has something to do with it. Also I have a pre-filter (AWI water softening resin) on it so my usually high water pressure is reading only about 40 psi on the gauge. I'm not concerned about the output at this point. My main intention was for good, clean water instead of the well water that was mentioned.

A few of the nice features that this AWI unit came with was the dual on-board Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) meter as well as a hand held one to check the water in the container. It also came with a float valve for automatic shut off. This is really a unit that comes with everything someone needs to set up a RO/DI system with the exception of a container for the water. I was very pleased to see completeness of the kit.

I'll post further with the results of the first water change and hopefully better quality water resulting from it.

 

[Medic with Fish]

I've had great results from this RO/DI system so far. I've made about 100 gallons with it. It's been slower than expected, probably due to the colder water and the pre-filter. However after my first water change I saw dramatically better results in the tank. It started cycling ammonia almost immediately. I can't say that it's been all because of that one water change, but the dramatic difference that was made over such a short amount of time is quite convincing.

 

[melosu58]

I would not do any PWC`s till it cycles. The only test you`ll need are ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. After the tank cycles then do about a 33% PWC and then start your weekly or bi weekly PWCs. Doing PWC`s before the tank is cycled will only prolong the cycle. Good luck with the tank.