Returning to the hobby

[Sniperhank]

Well, after going through college and leaving my freshwater tanks in the care of my parents...aka them killing off 3 beautiful tanks where I somehow had swordfish reproducing in the one... I have picked back up the hobby. I am running a 36 gallon tank for my first run at salt water and am really excited about it. I would have gone bigger but my house has little room and my wood floor was attacked by beetles 10 years ago so don't want my setup to magically end up in the basement. I have it full of water that is doing great with the salinity and live sand on the bottom, roughly an inch deep. I ordered roughly 45 lbs of caribbean live rock that will be arriving sometime next week. I'm sure I'll screw most of it up and have a small ugly rock left over, but that isn't really my concern yet. I'm going as slow as I can so not to kill my investment and am nervous about starting my tank's cycle. For the last 2 days I have read different people say different things about the cycle and curing live rock. Some say do it seperate, some say toss that rock in after cleaning it up some and cure during the cycle. Which should I do? I'm sure that curing in the tank will give me some great dead stuff that'll be a pain to clean up... but isn't that why I'm going to have crabs, starfish, etc. or is that something I would have to clean out myself? I currently have a UV light, biowheel, and a heater in my tank. I know the biowheel will be replaced by my LR, but didn't when I started putting this project together, but will I need one of those canister sump things? This will make changing my water easier won't it? Am I missing anything?

 

[crister13]

I would just toss the rock in. MAke sure its stable. Canister filters are very good, but you could run a system with a hang on the back filter. The canisters will probably give you better water quality. Also, if you eventually get a reef, you will need better filtration than for a FOWLR. The rock will cycle the tank, but you can add pure ammonia to help. You will also want powerheads. Theyre not needed but again help out alot. Better lighting needed for a reef also. GL!!!!! Keep us posted!!!!!

 

[Sniperhank]

I'm actually waiting on my powerheads and other things to arrive in the mail since my lfs was out. I want to get a sump on my tank but am unsure of some things about it. It is only a 36sump gal so most sumps will be as large as it is. Due to this and the power on the pumps, it would be moving most of the water quite quickly. Would this pose a problem?

 

[BallinCrew10]

Even in a fowlr you want powerheads. Powerheads keep the water moving and eliminate dead spots. If you allow uneaten food and detrius to collect in an area with no flow your nitrates will constantly be high. Granted a fowlr system can tolerate higher nitrates, its still good to keep them as low as possible.

A sump is definatly a good idea. As a lot of people start with fowlr and quickly convert to reef lol. The only problem with having the sump the same size as your tank would be that it probably won't fit under your stand. The power and GPH of the pump/overflow is completely up to you.