New Tank

[noone]

I have decided to once again setup a larger tank. I am planning on replacing my 12 Gallon JBJ Nano Cube (as it has been given me nothing but headaches recently) with a 29 Gallon Oceanic Bio Cube which I have already purchased. I will be starting from scratch with new sand, water, live rock, everything. Hopefully things will work out this time. I have started a list of things that I was planning on buying for the tank but I wanted all of your expert opinions. Here is my list:

29 Gallon Oceanic Bio Cube
I already have the tank and stand set up, but I have noticed it has a fairly small scrape on the inside near, but not on, the rounded corner. It is very hard to notice and will be even harder to see when the tank is setup. Will this cause any problems?

Fission Nano Skimmer
Is this a good skimmer? I obviously couldn't run it 24/7 but you don't need to do that anyways do yo? Would I be better off getting something different?

Visi-Therm Stealth Heater
I was thinking of getting the 150 watt one which is obviously bigger than what I need to heat a 29 gallon tank. Would this be overkill?

Portable Refractometer
This seems to be the model that everyone else uses.

Coralife Digital Thermometer
I figured I could keep this in one of the filter compartments and have the readout on the back of the tank, possibly velcroed.

Oceanic Sea Salt Mix
I currently have a humongous bucket of Instant Ocean, but I have heard that it can cause algae problems which is one of the reasons I am tearing down my Nano Cube. (Maybe it will get a new lease on life as a freshwater tank.) I know opinions will differ on the salt subject but, is this a good one?

Substrate
I was considering the Special Grade variation. Is there a better brand I should use? I know that live sand is kind of a waste of money, but I can't seem to find the proper play sand in my area.

RO/DI Unit *Warning, lots of Pictures!*
Any experience with this type? Would I be better off getting another brand? I was hoping that I could get this at a later date and use RO/DI water from the grocery store for the time being. Would distilled be a better option if I were to go this route, or should I just get this and start out with water from the home unit?

Live Rock
Does anyone have any experience with this company? I found a link to them from the "Stock List" sticky so I assume they have a quality product. They appear to look good from the pictures on their website. I would start out with 30 lbs.

Anything to add? Anything I should change? Critique away!

P.S. It is 1:30 in the morning and I am barely awake. I apologize if this entire post is incoherent.

 

[MT79]

Fission Nano Skimmer
Is this a good skimmer

Bluntly, no. You'll want much more than that on a 29. You get what you pay for w/ skimmers. Best to do it right the first time. It may be a little pricey, but I would recommend an Aqua-C remora. Guaranteed great results- worth every penny IME.

Visi-Therm Stealth Heater
I was thinking of getting the 150 watt one

Sounds good. If you have some place to hide them, you could go w/ 2 smaller heaters. That way if one fails there is a back up built in.

Portable Refractometer
This seems to be the model that everyone else uses

I have the same one. Works well IME.

Oceanic Sea Salt Mix

I would not recomend it, but that's JMO. For a reef, it's ionically imbalanced, w/ very high Ca and low Alk, if I remember correctly. High numbers are a little difficult to deal w/, where as low numbers can easily be increased before use. I like Reef Crystals. FWIW Drsfostersmith.com has RC's on sale $44 for a 160 gal bucket including shipping.

I was considering the Special Grade variation. Is there a better brand I should use?

That will work well, size wise. If you can find regular aquarium sand, in the same size particles, that would work just as well, and w/ time become live. It will probably be a lot cheaper too.

Anything to add?

I don't see what your using for water movement ie power heads, etc. A reef, which I assume is what your designing, should have a minimum 10-15 x per hour turnover. This will help ensure good coral health/growth and proper filtration as well. I would aim for 15x or more.

 

[Ziggy953]

Maxi Jets are a good reliabel option for PHs....also you could look into the new Nano Stream 6025 by Tunze...they are about $60 but they move a lot of water but do it in a wide swath instead of a small jet. I have them on my 72 and love the results I get.

 

[melosu58]

I agree with everything said except the marine salt. I use Oceanic and have great results. Calcium levels stay at proper levels as do all my other test results. No need IMO for any additional supplementations. Oceanic IMO would be a good salt to use and there are others that use it also on this website. If you asked 10 people what is the best salt you would get 10 different answers based on personal experience. Also according to your link the LR sale ended today.

 

[roka64]

Personally, I like the finnex digital titanium heaters.

 

[noone]

Sorry that it has taken me so long to reply. I have had time to read what you all have advised, I just haven't had time to shop around. How do these products sound?

How would this for water movement? Anyone have any experience with these?

As for the protein skimmer, I will definitely look into the Remora, but I will probably hold off on buying anything for awhile. That will give me time to recoup from all of the money I will be spending.

As for the salt, how about this? I will eventually want to keep corals, but not right from the start, obviously. I don't really want to buy a big batch and be stuck with something I don't like which is what has happened with my Instant Ocean (the regular kind, not the reef crystals).

 

[Ziggy953]

I don't have a Koralia yet but I have one on the way. I mentioned above in a post about the Tunze Nano Stream 6025, basically the same type of pump. I love them and they only use 7watts of powre. Roka has the Koralia in 2 different tanks and is very happy with them. I will evaluate them when I get mine in but I think it is a good alternative to the Tunze. Time will tell if it holds up as long as the tunze...

Salt is fine...I don't use it personally but I've heard good things about it...Salt mix is a touchy subject as eveyone has their favs...I use IO and have excellent results and I have lots of SPS corals in my tank. Just one of those things that you have to figure out for yourself and your tank....

 

[roka64]

I have the Koralia 2s in my 55 and the 4s in my 125. I like the gentle flow. I actually saw a snail crawl accross the intake and it didn't suck him in or hurt him. I have only had them for about 2 months so I can't say how long they last.

 

[MT79]

As for the salt, how about this?

I have not heard anything bad about Red Sea coral salt. According to their chart, Ca is a little too high for my liking though. I like to run at 425-435. Going above 450 isn't neccessary and over 500 ppm can cause problems. Not saying it will not work, just my preferences. Heck I used IO for a couple years and liked it, after increasing Ca some of the freshly made SW. To each his own heh.

 

[noone]

If the calcium is too high, I will just try to find something else. I haven't placed my order yet.

 

[melosu58]

Most times you can raise or lower your calcium by doing frequent PWC`s

 

[noone]

I am about to place my order for everything but the LR, RO/DI unit, and the skimmer. I will order the LR after I receive the dry goods to reduce die-off and the skimmer after the tank is cycled. My question is about the water. Should I hold off on starting the tank until I buy the RO/DI unit, or could I get away with using RO/DI water from the grocery store. (I work at a grocery store so I could get it after the system has been inspected.) Could I use distilled water to cycle and do water changes with RO/DI water from then after? TIA!

 

[melosu58]

Could I use distilled water to cycle and do water changes with RO/DI water from then after? TIA!

IMO you could do that to start off with. I used distilled water for 7 yrs before I got my RO/DI unit. RO/DI is the best and you do need to get it going as soon as possible though.

 

[MT79]

die-off and the skimmer after the tank is cycled.

A skimmer is definitely a bonus when curing LR. You may want to reconsider.

 

[noone]

Really?! I always thought that would harm the newly forming bacteria.

 

[MT79]

I guess it could reduce the amount of waste/ammonia, in some situations, more than desired for cycling. The LR is going to release a lot of DOC's as things die. Those nutrients may then settle into the rock, and could be released later causing algae issues, etc. IMO you should still see a significant enough ammonia spike for proper cycling while using a skimmer. It may also reduce the cycle time along w/ curbing nutrient issues down the road. Running a PO4 reducer when done cycling would be good also. Rowaphos and phosban are two very effective products.

 

[noone]

Well my order arrived this evening. Everything appears to be well except for the salt mix. There was a small hole in the bag and it leaked onto everything. It also appeared to be damp. I contacted the Dr.'s Foster & Smith customer support folks who are going to send me a new bag. Other than that, all is well. I didn't realize how big the Koralia water pump was though! It seems huge compared to the rest of my tank. Maybe I can cleverly hide it behind some LR, as that is next on my list of things to purchase! Does anyone else have a clever trick for hiding things like this?

 

[noone]

I am now ready to purchase the RO/DI unit. Is the one I previously suggested a good choice, or would I be better off getting some other one? They have some that are a bit more expensive that says 0ppm. Would this be money well spent, or would it just be a waste? Thanks!