Am I in the ballpark

[seaduck]

Hello,
This is gonna be a long post 8O

At this time I am still deciding weather or not to take the plunge on a reef aquarium.
It really only crossed my mind less than a week ago, but I've been thinking of nothing else since and have been doing alot of reasearch and think I have a clue what I need.

I currently have a 55 gal fw setup(48x12x18) and if I do this that tank will serve as my reef tank and those fishies will be finding themselves in a smaller tank.

Any way I'm hoping someone can chime in here on the equiptment I am considering to go with this set up, and any opinions and criticizim is very apreciated.

Coralife super skimmer hob protein skimmer 500 gph (125gal model)

Nova extreme T5 lighting w/lunar lights 48" 216 watt

90lbs fine sand

30lb live sand

70lb live(or maybe a little more, I have no idea how much room it will take up) I havent decided what type (more research on lr needed)

two maxi jet 295 gph models, do I really need a wavemking device?

Like I said this is still just rolling around in my head but, what do you think so far?

THANKS!

 

[Sparkie]

Welcome to AA. I'm a newbie myself but here is my 2 cents:

Everything sounds good. 120lbs of sand sounds a little much to me. I have approximately 60 lbs in my 75 and that gave me about an inch to inch and a half. I do prefer the aragonite sand above any other types of sand. The "rule" for lr is 1.5 to 2 lbs per gal of water, but it ultimately is up to your preferences. I think as long as you have your two ph on opposite sides of your tank, you should be good, so no I do not think you need a wavemaker.

Maybe someone with more experience could agree/disagree.

HTH

 

[seaduck]

Thanks Sparkie,
If I could get away with less sand, that would be great, I just thought I read somewhere that 4" was recommended for a reason I can only half remember (goin' into information overload). But maybe I'm mistaken.

I'm all ears.

 

[Sparkie]

I have read anywhere from 1 inch to 4 inches of sand for a deep sand bed. I personally am probably going to add about 20lbs of ls to my tank (I transferred 60lbs of sand from my FW 55 gal tank to my 75 gal tank) Are you going to use any type of filter? If not then you may wish to have a slightly deeper sand bed and more live rock. I'm using a wet/dry filter/sump, so I am not going for as deep a sand bed.

 

[seaduck]

Thanks

 

[roka64]

WELCOME TO AA!!

70lb live(or maybe a little more, I have no idea how much room it will take up) I havent decided what type (more research on lr needed)

You could cut costs by buying some LR and lots of base rock (cheap and will become live). As for the LR, the more surface area, the better. See if you can find porose (sp?)....with lots of nook and crannies. You can probably substitute phs for a wave maker, some even alternate their phs.

 

[Finatic]

Skip buying Live Sand and just buy the stuff from the LFS that is not alive. I am not sold on the idea of buying live sand. Some folks around here have found that they can find the same type of sand (aragonite) at Lowe's for MUCH cheaper, but I haven't been able to. Not your typical sand box sand, but a certain brand and type of sandbox sand that comes from the same quarries as the Carrib Sea stuff.

Ditto on the LR/Base Rock. You can look for "reef bones" online and save a ton of money including the shipping over the LR, or you can find a good LFS that has the same type of thing. They usually have some Marine Safe dry base rock in stock. You don't want anything with silicates (i.e. Lava Rock) as that will lead to algae headaches. Just ask them and I am sure they can help you out. If the LFS says you can use any rock, then either come back here and ask before you buy or go to another LFS.

I started with about half Base and half LR several months ago, now the Base rock is all sorts of colors from the coraline algae that seeded from the LR.

Just go in with your eyes open, whatever money you budget for this hobby will go up by about 50% to 75% when you start buying and needing more stuff. Save money where you can so you can spend it on the other stuff that will come up.

Oh, and don't forget the test kits. I like AP's, the NO3 kit especially is the easiest one I have found to use.

 

[seaduck]

Thanks,
Base rock huh? I've seen the term before, just did not realize that it would become "live" but it certainly makes sense, interesting.

As far as the porosity of the stuff, I would most likely order from an online retailer and imagine I would end up with what they send me.
I would rather be able to see and put my mitts on something like that before buying but the lfs's around here all want between 7-10 bucks a pound for the stuff (I realize setting up and mantaining something like this can be expensive) but that's out of hand.

I have been starting to do a little research on that "playsand" stuff, but I'm not sure either way yet.

As far as my eyes go there getting wider every day (probably from lack of sleep 8O ) and I agree, thats why I'm not rushing in to anything.

Thanks again

 

[BillyZ]

As far as my eyes go there getting wider every day (probably from lack of sleep 8O ) and I agree, thats why I'm not rushing in to anything.

Aye, Then yer off to a good start already lad!

Be keepin them eyes wide when ye be lookin' fer tha right sand. Ye be wantin that rich beautiful sand ya be only findin on the shores of tha great wide sea. Argonite sand. As Pure and white as the clouds that be fillin' yer sails! A wee drop of vinigar in tha sand should froth and foam like a fresh pint o' ale! That's how ye be tellin when ya gots the right one! Be lookin at yer local Home Depot or Lowes where they keep the rest of the landlubbin gardening supplies.



-Mad Tom Roberts ( http://www.talklikeapirateday.com )