Completely confused

[rm86100]

Ok well last time I asked some questions everybody was really helpful. Now I have a few more questions. I am brand new to this hobby so please bear ith me.

I bought this tank and a couple pieces of equipment and now I dont know what to do, what other equipment to get or how to set it up.

My goals are to eventually be able to keep some coral and anemones along with fish of course.

What are some ideas of what I can do with what I have or what should I buy?

Here a few pics of what stuff looks like:

A sump pump that has a pipe going out of it and turning into the tank.

The tank has a pipe that is drilled on the back... Overflow I think?

Filter or something like that?

Thank you for all your help in advance.

-Ricardo

 

[Zer0]

Its good that you have bought some equipment, but im almost 100% positive, that if you read this link, you will know exactly what you need to move forward in your SW career.

Enjoy.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f14/stock-list-and-tips-for-maintaining-your-sw-tank-73477.html

And yes, the pipe thats connected to hole that is drilled in the back of your tank IS an overflow.

 

[joy13]

The one that looks like a filter is a HOB skimmer.

 

[InfernoST]

I doesn't look like you have anything on, you shouldn't let the water remain stagnant it should be circulating. As joy13 said it looks like a HOB skimmer with a filter media compartment. Do you have any test kits, refractometer, lighting, live rock, what kind of substrate?

 

[rm86100]

I doesn't look like you have anything on, you shouldn't let the water remain stagnant it should be circulating. As joy13 said it looks like a HOB skimmer with a filter media compartment. Do you have any test kits, refractometer, lighting, live rock, what kind of substrate?

I have it running. The tank is overflowing to a container underneath and I have a sump in there pumping it back it, that will at least move the water.

I have salt in the water. Salinity about right got to tweak it some more.
I have test complete test kit.
Refractometer??
NO lighting yet, T5HO is what im planning.
Oolite LS

-ricardo

 

[InfernoST]

Refractometer is a much more accurate way to check the salinity/specific gravity of your water, do not rely on a hydrometer they are extremely inaccurate. I didn't notice any surface movement that's why I asked, it's important to have good surface movement because this is where the oxygen exchange takes place. It's also necessary to have 10 to 20 times your tank capacity in water movement.

 

[juice28]

Im assuming you turned off the pumps to take the pictures because there is no H2O moving in them... like INFERNOST said, you want your water moving constantly.. you will need some powerheads also to circulate your water around your LR when you get it set up and it will increase surface agitation which is crucial for gas exchange and keeping oxygen in the water. I actually rotate one pwr head up every few days or so so it really splashes the top on the water, just shooting air bubbles in the water really isnt going to much for keeping good o2 in the water(from my minimal experience) the water that circulates around your live rock release the oxygen into the water if I am remembering correctly. I have 2 in my 47 gal. with about 65 lbs of rock. one pushes out 220 gph and the other is a small 165 gph and an emperor 400 bio wheel filter which circulates about 440 gph, thats roughly 800 gph total for a 47 gallon tank, it seems like alot but you want your tank to mimic the ocean and it is never still or steady in one direction. this is good for my little column tank being that I dont have room for a sump(thats coming on the upgrade lol) from what I am reading your set up right so far, water being pulled from your main tank into the sump and then back into the display. id say what you need now is pwr heads and lighting...add about 40 lbs of LS(enough to have about 3-5 inches roughly, I dont know if you have LR yet but there is a ratio like 1.502 lbs per gallon, I didnt folw this lol I went with the size of the rock instead of lb or rock. it all is not he same and does not weigh the same, I have a piece about the size of a baseball that is like 5 lbs...I have another piece that is the about as wide a plate but 1.5 in thick and it weighs 8....see what I mean..you want more surface are or volume to rock than pure weight(thats just in my opinion)

 

[rm86100]

Im assuming you turned off the pumps to take the pictures because there is no H2O moving in them... like INFERNOST said, you want your water moving constantly.. you will need some powerheads also to circulate your water around your LR when you get it set up and it will increase surface agitation which is crucial for gas exchange and keeping oxygen in the water. I actually rotate one pwr head up every few days or so so it really splashes the top on the water, just shooting air bubbles in the water really isnt going to much for keeping good o2 in the water(from my minimal experience) the water that circulates around your live rock release the oxygen into the water if I am remembering correctly. I have 2 in my 47 gal. with about 65 lbs of rock. one pushes out 220 gph and the other is a small 165 gph and an emperor 400 bio wheel filter which circulates about 440 gph, thats roughly 800 gph total for a 47 gallon tank, it seems like alot but you want your tank to mimic the ocean and it is never still or steady in one direction. this is good for my little column tank being that I dont have room for a sump(thats coming on the upgrade lol) from what I am reading your set up right so far, water being pulled from your main tank into the sump and then back into the display. id say what you need now is pwr heads and lighting...add about 40 lbs of LS(enough to have about 3-5 inches roughly, I dont know if you have LR yet but there is a ratio like 1.502 lbs per gallon, I didnt folw this lol I went with the size of the rock instead of lb or rock. it all is not he same and does not weigh the same, I have a piece about the size of a baseball that is like 5 lbs...I have another piece that is the about as wide a plate but 1.5 in thick and it weighs 8....see what I mean..you want more surface are or volume to rock than pure weight(thats just in my opinion)

Thanks for your input.

My tank is 28 gals, I originally thought it was 38, dont know why but anyways. I have one power yet. I have 40lbs of LS, don't have any LR yet but I was planning on get both LR and just plain "dead rock" i guess its called. What do you think? is that what you do when you "seed" the rock? The water is overflowing down to a container and I have a sump pumping it back in. I have a HOB skimmer but the O ring needs replaced as it leaks. What kind of heater do you think would be good for this size aquarium?

Thanks for any and all your help.

-Ricardo

 

[thominil]

Two 50w heaters would work great, you could even get 3 or a 100w and a 50w. Live rock is what is used to seed base rock. Using a mix of base rock and live rock is fine.

I would toss that skimmer and get a better one as that looks like one of the cheap piece of junk skimmers. Try Reef Octopus.

 

[juice28]

Thanks for your input.

My tank is 28 gals, I originally thought it was 38, dont know why but anyways. I have one power yet. I have 40lbs of LS, don't have any LR yet but I was planning on get both LR and just plain "dead rock" i guess its called. What do you think? is that what you do when you "seed" the rock? The water is overflowing down to a container and I have a sump pumping it back in. I have a HOB skimmer but the O ring needs replaced as it leaks. What kind of heater do you think would be good for this size aquarium?

Thanks for any and all your help.

-Ricardo

as far s heaters go honestly if I could id send ya mine lol i havent used it since february.. my tank keeps a temp of 78, but I live in Oklahoma cold winters and super hot summers, it'll be 14 in the winter and 115 in the summer...temp flux a bit but no more than a degree or two so I honestly dont use my heater, I have it in case i need to though..hope it still works its covered in coralline...as far as seeding goes yes I used limestone and seeded it I did get more LR than base though I didnt want to wait for the seed process(sorry natural reef) i got about 20 lbs of base rock(non-live) and I also got some small pieces that i just sprinkled around the tank.ai also got a nice piece completely covered in thick red and bluish coralline, it was a tiny piece about the 5x6x1. I just basically crushed it into dust and tiny particles and tosses it in my tank..turned off the filters first then added it let it settle(about and hr-2 this spread the coralline fragments all around my tank and sped up the seeding process a lot! i di that so far every 2-3 months( im 7 months in now but I have alot of coralline on my back glass, heater, pwr heads, base rock..and it grows best and faster under the blue/actinic lights so I ran/run them longer