New 72G FOWLR setup - advice needed

[aravindk]

Hello all,

Thanks to everyone's guidance, now I have a 72g bowfront up and running. This is what I have assembled so far:

a) Oceanic reef ready (overflow) 72g bowfront
b) CustomSeaLife 48" strip with both moonlight and regular white light.
c) Oceanic reef ready sump
d) Rio+ 2100 powerhead
d) A heater
e) A thermometer
f) 20 lbs of live sand & 40 lbs of reef sand (non-live)

My plan is to start a FOWLR and hopefully someday add a couple of corals.
The lfs guy suggested to fill the tank with fresh water and run it overnight before adding salt. Thats what I am doing right now.

The lfs guy says that I should add 1 lb live rock a gallon whicn means that i have to get over 70 lbs. Isnt it a overkill? Also is it ok not to have any other filteration system?

Please let me know where do I go from here. What other equipment that need to be added for an optimal setup.

TIA.

 

[hackteck]

when i did my sw i mixed the salt and water first then i added it into the tank

 

[canyon15]

The lfs guy says that I should add 1 lb live rock a gallon whicn means that i have to get over 70 lbs. Isnt it a overkill?

Definitely not. The amount of LR your LFS would be considered a minimum around 1.5-2 lbs/gal is a better goal. You can use base rock (approx 50 lbs) and then buy LR (approx 25 lbs) to seed the base rock. You can find good base rock on Hirock.com. That would be a min i would go with.

The lfs guy suggested to fill the tank with fresh water

Did you use tap or ro or ro/di water? if you used tap there may be elements in the water that you don't want in your tank. Not saying you can't use it just do so knowing what you are putting in your tank.

This is what I have assembled so far:

a) Oceanic reef ready (overflow) 72g bowfront
b) CustomSeaLife 48" strip with both moonlight and regular white light.
c) Oceanic reef ready sump
d) Rio+ 2100 powerhead
d) A heater
e) A thermometer
f) 20 lbs of live sand & 40 lbs of reef sand (non-live)

The only things i can think of are:
1. good test kit
2. good skimmer
3. a return pump for the sump (if not included)
4. maybe another PH
I'm sure there is probley something else but someone will chime in.
What wattage are your lights? (4-7 watts/gal for corals)

As far as the LR as the only filtration i don't know so i will leave it for someone else to answer.

HTH and GL!

 

[sonoma2nv]

From what i hear from everyone is to have 1.5-2lbs per gal.And you will prob want to have atleast a 3" sand bed.I have 120lbs of lr and 80lbs of ls.But i will be adding more sand in the spring.hth

 

[tjara03]

have you put the sand in?? if you put the live sand in already and also put in fresh water you running a high chance of killing off all the beneficial bacteria in the LS.. one thing i did not see montioned was a hydrometer, or better yet a good refractometer... make sure you have plenty of salt on hand at all times for water changes when needed... be sure to get a good skimmer asap, if not you will need to do pwc more frequently. a couple maxijet 1200s would do nothing but good so just something to think about.. IMO..

 

[aravindk]

canyon15,

I used tap water.

I bought a test kit too. I am planning to buy a skimmer soon.

Why do I need another powerhead?

I dont have know the watts. I will check and let you know.

 

[aravindk]

tjara03,

Oh god, I did put in the live sand in fresh water, hoping that this would speed up the cycling process!

I dont have hydrometer or refractometer. I am on my way now!.

 

[aravindk]

I am going to add more live sand and more non-live sand this weekend. I will be adding more until I get a satisfactory depth.

1.5/2 lbs per gallon is a lot. I am not really worried about the cost, but more worried that nearly two thirds of the tank would have just rocks.

 

[aravindk]

One another thing. After I added sand the water looks very VERY cloudy. Will this settle down after a little while?

 

[Reese]

One another thing. After I added sand the water looks very VERY cloudy. Will this settle down after a little while?

Yes.

 

[canyon15]

Right now your PH is rated at 695gph which is probably the min you would want to run in your tank. This will be fine for a fowlr but if you are getting corals later i do belive you will want more flow. The rule of thumb is approx 10-20 times your tank capacity you should aim for as a turnover rate (720 gph- 1440gph). I don't want to say for sure but i think i read somewhere a turnover rate higher than what i mentioned ( as high as 30x) with some corals.

As far as tap water goes i started that way by adding stress coat ( or any declorinator) to tap water. After doing some further reading i decided to to check my PO4 after algea started to become more plentiful. I found my water ( which is city water) to have some PO4 in it. This was helping to feed the algea. By starting to use RO water for PWC's i have dropped my reading in my tank to a low or almost undetectable amount. The algea growth has slowed down so my clean up crew can now almost keep up with it. A reduction of lighting tome was needed as well. I would suggest, if it is not to late, to start with RO or RO/DI water. You can usually get it at major grocery stores. HTH

 

[aravindk]

Canyon15,

Thank you. Can you tell me what brand do you use and if there is online store that carries?

 

[canyon15]

I am using an aquaclear right now and have no complaints. My knowledge on PH brands and how they compare is lacking so i cannot say which would be better and which would be worse. As far as online stores go there are so many out there. Where i am in Canada i try to order my equip. for here so i don't have to pay duty unless i see a smokin deal in which i don't care where it comes from. I like Ebay but sometimes there is no guarantee on what you buy. May be try liveaquaria.com, petsolutions.com or some of the sponsors on this site. There are lots of sites so take the time and shop around. HTH.

 

[canyon15]

1.5/2 lbs per gallon is a lot. I am not really worried about the cost, but more worried that nearly two thirds of the tank would have just rocks.

Go with 1.5. That is a good # and it won't take up 2/3 of the tank. It sound like a lot but once you aquascape you will realize it isn't as much as you thought.

 

[tecwzrd]

Can you tell me what brand do you use and if there is online store that carries?

I’ve use the following powerheads and recommend anyone of them.
Maxi-Jet 1200
Penguin 1140
Seio Super Pump I like these the best personally and just replaced my other three pumps with two of these

 

[aravindk]

I have a Rio 2100 that is used a return line. If want to purchase another powerhead, where do I put it. Can I put this in the sump and run the water back to the tank? Or is there some pump that I can put in the water which will circulate the water in the tank itself? Do I make sense at all?

 

[tecwzrd]

Can I put this in the sump and run the water back to the tank?

Most ph have very little head pressure so you want them in the tank since the gph pushing from the sump would take a 300 gph pump down to a 100 or less gph pump.

The 3 listed would work well in the tank placing one on each end and facing each other for good convulsing currents. If you don’t like the look of ph in the tank then you could also do a closed loop system but it’s more work.

 

[aravindk]

That closed loop system is lot of work for me. I think I have to forgo aesthetics and add two or three powerheads right into the tank.

 

[aravindk]

Another question: Instead of running two or three ph inside the tank, is it better to put another powerful ph (like rio 2100 which is rated at 650gph) which will pump the water from the sump to the tank?

 

[tecwzrd]

Thats why I like the Seio Super Pumps They put out a ton of gph but the flow isn't too overwhelming for the fish Two Seio M620 alone would give you a 17 times turnover.