My wife caved and I got my Tank!

[MadManMac]

Who knew all I had to do was buy her a new house? 8)

In return I went out and bought:

DAS ECO 60 Gallon Rectangle Aquarium (glass 40x16x22)
H99 integrated Reef filtration system w/Protein skimmer
2 JBJ SP-1300 Powerheads for in-tank Circulation
250w Visa-Therma Heater
Digital Thermometer
Aquarium Systems fasTest Master Kit
3x96w PC Unit from AHSupply in a Custom Built Hood
2 Combo Actinic/10,000K bulbs
1 10,000K bulb
1x13w PC Blue Moon light
1X13w PC Red Night viewing light
Deep Six Hydrometer
Nets, floating glass scraper, etc...

I have also ordered 30 lbs of live sand and 45 lbs of Premium Fiji Live rock from The Marine Center here in DFW. The lights should be here today and the sand/rock next week.

Here is where I need the help/reassurance

I am taking the position that this is a 12 to 18 month project to get setup and established. I am planning a shallow sand bed ~1" to satisfy some sand sifting creatures, but not enough to have a DSB. I will be adding more live rock to get to 75-90lbs. I plan on cycling the tank for between 3 and 6 weeks before adding any creatures and then the first group will be an algea eating pack of snails and crabs. After that all settles, I want to add some different corals, not sure which ones yet, but research is the really fun part right? In the end, I want to have a pair of clowns with a nice anemone (the whole Nemo thing for my daughters), a large blue Tridacna Clam or two(I know lighting may be an issue, but I will place them higher in the tank), and several different Reef Safe Fairy Wrasses. I wanted a yellow tang, but I have heard the Tang Police stomping around and I know the feelings towards tangs in this size tank.

I am having an issue with what type of chemicals/supplements I need to add. My lfs sells pre-buffered RO/DI top-off water and premixed saltwater, so I will be using their water as my supply. Until I get my first batch I will not know what the standard parameters are, but will post those as soon as I can. I have a huge fear of Kalkwasser because it seems so difficult to dose properly. Is there a simpler method using a premixed calcium liquid? I have thought about using the Kent marine series of reef supplements since I have read good things about those products. Any help on what, when and how to best add things to the tank would be greatly appreciated. I would also like to hear more on the shallow sand bed since I do not want a DSB but I do want sand sifters. Thanks in advance for your thoughts, and I am glad to be here with such knowledgable people.

PS- Future posts will be much shorter!

 

[biotoxin]

sorry to burst your bubble but it wont be just the house. Now you'll have to go see every sappy tear jerker movie as well

 

[reefrunner69]

I wanted a yellow tang, but I have heard the Tang Police stomping around and I know the feelings towards tangs in this size tank.

No tang police here, just concerned aquarists that urge you to give your fish the best possible environment for their health and longevity. FWIW, I think a yellow tank would do fine in your tank, but it would greatly restrict the number of fish you could safely put in your tank. Remember when doing a reef tank...sometime (well most times fishwise) less is more.

My lfs sells pre-buffered RO/DI top-off water and premixed saltwater

Purchase your own RO/DI filter, get one with the bladder tank for drinking water, your wife will love the idea and you'll save on water and have total control of the quality of water going into your system. I do not recommend buffered RO/DI water, it is rare that new SW will need to be buffered and using buffered water might complicate issues if you actually need to buffer your tank. The premixed SW is the same, you don't have control of the water.

have a huge fear of Kalkwasser because it seems so difficult to dose properly. Is there a simpler method using a premixed calcium liquid?

I highly recommend a balanced solution like kalk or b-ionic (or one of the other 2 part additives). Remember your tank will not need much more than regular waterchanges until your start adding calcium consumers to the tank, like stoney corals and clams.

I keep a shallow sand bed, it is a fine grain sand (not sugar grain fine) chock full of worms and pods etc...LOL, I even get nitrogen bubbles every now and again, it's about 1" - 1.5".

 

[MadManMac]

Sounds good, I will start the RO/DI fund but until then I am going to use the Stores water. They are pretty well thought of and have a big RO/DI plant that runs constantly for their customers. I have seen that they do things properly when it comes to acclimating and caring for the fish. I will check about getting non-buffered top off water until I need the buffering.

Also, can you give me an idea of when the right time to add critters would be? I am going to start with a variety of snails and go from there with Mythrax crabs or hermits.