Starting a new tank

[1moreRobot]

Hi everyone. I am setting up a new aquarium that I intend to turn into a reef tank. I wanted to describe the setup a little bit and get some ideas/feedback.

The tank is a 40 gallon column (about 18" by 20", 27" tall). I have read that doing reef stuff in a vertically-oriented tank can be an extra challenge, but the space in the house the tank occupies was very limited. This shape gave us the largest volume we could reasonable fit in the smallest floorspace. I added a mix of live aragonite, dead aragonite and some white marine sand. I thought the marine sand would help add some light reflectivity, but if I had to do it over again, I probably would leave it out. The particles were so small that it left my tank pretty cloudy, even after massive rinsing. It seems to have all settled down now. The sand is about 2.5-3.5 inches deep.

I currently have a Marineland Emperor 400 HOB filter. It should be turning over the entire tank about 10 times an hour. Maybe somewhere down the road I'll think about moving toward a sump based system, but I'm going to see how the HOB does for now. I've read suggestions of removing biowheels I also added an oscillating powerhead pump for some additional circulation, and may add another if it seems necessary.

We bought about 45 lb. of live rock a couple days ago. Fixed it together with marine epoxy and some support pegs. That process was trickier than i first imagined! We got it arranged as we wanted it in our tank -- bunch of little crevices and mini-caves for future inhabitants. Tried to make some shelves at various heights, particularly higher up (to account for the depth of the tank).

For lighting, I ordered a couple of Marineland LED fixtures online that I know now I'll need to send back. After some research, I realized that these are just not going to cut it for coral growth, particularly since the tank is deeper. Because of the way the tank is situated, the lighting needs to go across the 18" wide side. Right now I'm thinking of buying a 20" four-lamp T5 system. Currently I have jury-rigged a fixture with IKEA Dioder color-adjustable LEDs, which i like so much that I'll probably stick them on whatever T5 rig I buy.

Here's the current water stats. These were taken 3 days after salt was added, 2 days after sand, and 1 day after live rock.
pH 8.3
Salinity 1.020
Temp 78 'F
NH3 1.5 ppm
NO3 0.5 ppm
KH 12 dKH
PO4 1 ppm
Ca 240 ppm

So now I'm watching and waiting. Would appreciate hearing from anyone who's done a similar setup, or any general tips or suggestions for the notice aquarist.

 

[1moreRobot]

Here is a pic of the live rock setup.

 

[Feelthereefer]

Raise your salinty to .25..

 

[mr_X]

consider a single 250 watt halide pendant. that will allow you to keep whatever you want and also look better than a rectangular fixture over a round tank.

for a reef, you are going to need a lot more flow than what you have now.

 

[1moreRobot]

consider a single 250 watt halide pendant. that will allow you to keep whatever you want and also look better than a rectangular fixture over a round tank.

I hadn't really been considering halides because I wants to keep the carbon footprint of the tank as small as possible. It's actually a rectangular column so the fixtures don't look too out of place.

 

[1moreRobot]

This is the shape (bit cloudy because sand an rock had just been added).

 

[mr_X]

at 27 inches deep, a 4 x 18 watt T5 fixture is going to limit you. what corals do you intend to keep?

 

[kurtyboh]

Sounds like a job for electrodeless plasma bulbs!

kurtyboh

 

[1moreRobot]

I was thinking mostly soft corals.

Are there any LED fixtures that would work and are recommended? My local reef shop had some very high intensity LEDs over their big coral tank.

Really appreciate all the feedback.

Just figured out the shop had ACAN LED fixtures.

 

[mr_X]

there are a few, but i'm not sure which would be best for you as i don't have any direct experience with LED fixtures as of yet. see if you can get PAR numbers from the fixtures you consider. the manufacturers should have them listed. after all, the only important features about LEDs are less heat, good color, and PAR numbers. nothing else matters.
you could also search the posts on this forum, as some people have had success with them. just don't take advice like "they are really bright" or mention of corals "doing fine" without concrete data to back that up.

not sure about the acan fixtures. pretty expensive though!

 

[Badfishofbabylon]

There are a lot of DIY Led threads online if you look. I made one for my tank and it was simple, pretty cheap, and turned out great. Just make sure you do your research on them.

 

[1moreRobot]

After doing some research it looks like the A104AC LED fixture by Acan would meet my needs pretty well. I am going to take another look at the store tomorrow, and will probably have them order one for me.

http://www.acanlighting.com/

 

[1moreRobot]

Here's the latest update.

My tank seems to have cycled quickly. Ammonia and nitrite levels have been at zero for several days. Nitrates were high (>60 ppm) but dropped below 15 ppm with the first water change. I decided to add some livestock, and bought a small a yellow watchman goby and bicolor blenny.

I also picked up a AcanLighting A104AC LED fixture. It was more money than I originally wanted to spend, but it's a beautiful light and won't limit the corals I can choose.

Here's a pic of what the setup looks like right now.

 

[177ichael]

Looking good so far.

 

[1moreRobot]

My specific gravity is only about 1.022. Over the next couple water changes, I'm going to try to bring it up a bit.

 

[1moreRobot]

Here's the goby. Both are settling in and are eating, but he seems very shy.

The specific gravity is only about 1.022. I'm looking to bring the salinity up to a good level for invertebrates. Could I safely go to 1.025 with a single water change?

 

[177ichael]

What are your magnesium levels? You can also bring salinity up by dosing mag..

I've found my skimmer performs better with higher salinity as well.

 

[mr_X]

i have never heard of that. can you point me to some data that explains the relationship between mag and salinity?

 

[177ichael]

The question should be what is Mag? Well, Mag is typically a combination of Magnesium Chloride and Magnesium Sulfate. Since Magnesium is a Sulfate, it can build up and increase your salinity over time, especially if not keeping up on water changes. I usually adjust my water change parameters prior to adding the new saltwater to the tank, so never had an issue.

Think Sulfate, Sulfer, Salt, and it should become more clear X.

 

[Karlos69]

The question should be what is Mag? Well, Mag is typically a combination of Magnesium Chloride and Magnesium Sulfate. Since Magnesium is a Sulfate, it can build up and increase your salinity over time, especially if not keeping up on water changes. I usually adjust my water change parameters prior to adding the new saltwater to the tank, so never had an issue.

Think Sulfate, Sulfer, Salt, and it should become more clear X.

So when dosing mag your salinity will rise how much are we talkin here? And what brand of magnesium additive are you using? I was under the impression adding mag and kalk will raise ph not salinity?