Help!!! New to SW!!!

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swchic02

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Mar 17, 2011
Messages
8
Hey everyone! I've been trolling these forums for a few days now looking for advice and decided it was time to join! I'm brand new to this and want to avoid as many rookie mistakes as possible. I've seen a lot of good advice on here and hopefully some of you more experienced aquarists can give me some pointers.

So, this is what I have so far:
60 gallon tank (48lx12dx24h)
Eheim 2217 canister filter
40lb Aragonite and 40lb crushed coral (may be exchanging that for more Aragonite)
Hood & fluorescent lights

Will be getting this weekend:
200w heater
2 AquaClear power heads ~200gph each?
Eheim pre-filter and surface skimmer
Odds and ends (hydrometer, test kit, etc)

The guy at my LFS said that the 2217 is about middle of the road, which is what I want. Nothing crazy but not the cheapest stuff either.

Before I start setting anything up, I've got a couple questions that I'm hoping some of you can help with. I'm probably over analyzing this but I'm having a hard time with the live rock concept. I get that it acts as a bio-filter and all, but does all rock become 'live' after a period of time?

My plan is for a FO tank but I really like the way live rock looks. I found a website that sells 'reef saver' eco rock, that I guess is essentially fossilized live rock. Is that something I could use in my tank just as decor? Or would I be turning it into a FOWLR tank at that point? If this 'reef saver' rock is ok to use as decor, do I need to do anything with it before putting it in the tank? Is a quick rinse sufficient?

Next, after I get it setup with rock, substrate, and what not, do I have to cycle my tank or is that only something that applies to FOWLR?

Sorry for the length...I'm really excited to get started on this and can't wait to read responses. Thanks in advance everyone!!! And sorry if these are totally dumb questions.
 
Welcome!

and yes you need to cycle your tank search around for fishless cycling to do it right. Essentialy all "reef Rock" is or will become live rock. For your tank i would start out with 40-50 lbs of base rock something like florida rock from marcosrocks.com or simmalar. It needs to be calcium based. Then seed that rock with 5-10 lbs of live rock either from a freind or buy some on the interwebz
 
Thanks for the response. So basically, if I want to keep my tank truly FO, I would have to go with something like Instant Reef artificial live rock for decor and rely on my canister for filtration. Would that be enough filtration? I'm only planning on having about 6 or 7 fish and eventually some cleaners. I'll probably start with a couple clowns and go from there.

If I were to go with the dry rock and seed with live rock, would my set up still work? The Eheim 2217, pre-filter, surface skimmer, and 2 powerheads? The reason I was planning on FO is because I don't have room for a sump in my stand and I was told by the LFS that anything besides FO would require a sump and drilling my tank.

Thanks again!
 
It's possible to go FO but FOWLR is much more common. Without live rock, you need a solid filter where the bacteria can grow. I would suggest buying dry rock and seeding with live rock as Jnam mentioned. Unless I'm missing something, I don't see any valid reason why you need a sump to have live rock. Another suggestion, use all aragonite for your substrate and ditch the crushed coral.
 
Thanks again guys! I took jnam's advice and ordered 50# of base rock from reefcleaners and I started reading up on fishless cycling. Any suggestions on reliable places to get live rock online? I looked at one of my local stores but I'm not sure what good live rock should look like. This was kind of dirty looking, I guess is the best way to describe it. What should I be looking for?
 
Thanks for the links melosu. The rock I got is Florida reef rock from reefcleaners.org, sorry don't know how to hyperlink from my phone. It looks very porous from the pictures. Hopefully what I get is just as good!

Sorry to keep asking so many questions, but does anyone have a recommendation for powerheads? How many gph should it be? I looked at a hydor koralia evolution 750 yesterday but 750gph seemed awful high. Do I need that much in a 60 gallon tank? And if so, is it better to have one that does that much or split it up between a couple, like one on each side of the tank?

Thanks for putting up with my newbie questions, I really appreciate it!
 
I think they recommend at least 10 X on the flow so I think that would be just about the right amount. Your rock sounds like it`s OK.
 
I have the 750 on my 55 fw tank. On the packaging it suggests a 750 for I believe around a 75 gallon fw tank, but it drops that rating for a sw tank. Can't remember the exact numbers, but can look later if your interested. Personally I enjoy it and it provides tons of flow in a spread out pattern so it's easier on my fish.
 
the reefcleaners rock is superb! its so porous that compared to fiji dry rock its about 2/3 the weight for the same size piece. You are off to a good start.

premiumaquatics.com has some VERY nice LR you can seed with there stuff is top quality!
 
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