New Tank questions

[weyburnt]

New to this forum seems to be a great deal of info. I have kept many types of fish, I had a marine tank some years ago, that did all right, and was looking at starting another. I was hoping to get some opinions on a few things so please any advice would be appreciated.

I have a 55 gallon bowfront I plan on changing over. With a large hang on filter, Aquaclear. I plan on keeping fish and soft coral, posibly upgrading things later for hard coral. My questions are as follows

Live rock. To get things started proparly how much live rock should I be putting in. I want to set this up right but would like to save my initial startup cost as much as possible. I can add later but what is the minimium starting. As well my LFS suggested using what they called "base rock" underneath my live rock. It is like a dried out coral. This would save my budget imensly say if I used 50 percent live and 50 percent "base." but will this base rock do anything for me towards building a stronger ecosystem other than make my reef look larger?

Second question is lights. I think I will be using t5 lamps, is this my best option, will this sustain most soft coral? The LFS suggested using one atinik and one 10 000k. she said I could also add an LED combo strip to brighten things up. is anyone here succesful with 2 t5 bulbs

Would 4 T5 suit me better. My concerns with 4 t5s are, more difficult to mount into a canopy, Would I have too much heat without fans? Will I have algea problems? and of course again trying to keep my initial startup cost a little lower. Maybe my best bet would be to go with a 2 bulb setup, with futer expansion in mind?

Any input towards this would be greatly appreciated
Thanks

[Coralgurl]

Hello and welcome!

We started our 55 with a 2x54watt t5ho light, fine for fish, not corals. Added a few lps and they did not do well at all. Added another $500.00 led fixture, good for sorties and lps, not sps. That was $1,000in lights in a few months. I'd say get a fixture that will allow you to try everything when you are ready up front rather than spend the money having to upgrade as it will cost you more to do so. I don't have a canopy so can not speak to heating issues, but with only 2 t5s it's not an issue.

Watch this forum, there is always loads of stuff selling, or you can throw a post up stating what you are looking for. You could get all your live rock from ppl selling here rather than the lfs at a fraction the cost. Base rock is great but can take a long time to become live.

Hope that helps! I'm sure there are others who can chime in as well!

[Reef Tank Engineer]

Try to get 1 pound of rock per gallon of aquarim water
For lighting 2 t5 good for fish only, try to aim for somewhere between 3 to 5 watts per gallon for a reef tank to keep corals happy and growing get bulbs in the proper colour temperture a 10k or higher and a 470nm or 460nm pure antinic bulb will be fine.
If u use a canopy u may have heating issues and may need to add a small fan for additional cooling.
I have 4 55 watt t5 over my 90 gallon reef with a diy led fixture
All my softies, lps and two anenomes are all growing rapidly with polyp and tenticle extension.

[jorjef]

This is as simple as I can get it.....

Live rock, get as much as you can first go round don't worry if it's not cured the cycle will take care of that. After only buy cured live rock as not to start another cycle. Base rock is fine if you have patience.

T-5's are fine I had 48 fick'en watts for the longest time and maintain many types of corals. Then I wait WAY up to 108 watts of T5'S woo hoo, things were still fine. Don't let people scare you. I have pictures of my tanks in my profile under Statistics all are with the above mentioned wattage.

If a person went out and bought all the "suggested" equipment one of two things would happen...one you would be broke, or two you would run like hell and never get into this hobby.

Buy what you can when you can... NO one ever ever ever stays with their original equipment they start with, you will learn to avoid certain brands of equipment and should do this early on to avoid the dissapointment after the fact..as an example ask before you buy things like skimmers or certain brands of lights, they will likely be the most expensive items you will buy...

If you are from Weyburn there are a few people in your town that are very knowledgeable that I'm sure could give you some advise.

I guess I'm done ranting,,,:lol:


Oh ya, never overstock you tank with fish or corals ( they poop too) especially in the early stages....well any stage for that matter.

[weyburnt]

Thanks for the advice, as well with 3 -5 watts per gallon is that including atinics? Fore example2 attinic and 2 10000 is kinda were I'm leaning to

[JohnnyReeftank]

I recommend 2 actinic, 1 10000K and 1 fiji-purple or giesseman-pink bulb (either or) so you can get another spectrum of colour in there. Yes the 3-5 watts is for your total light emitted so add up the wattage of each bulb. I would lean closer to 5 watts/gl so that you can get a wider range of corals down the road. I noticed you havent mentioned anything about a protein skimmer....have you looked into them yet? Because your standard hang-on filter wont do the trick.

[weyburnt]

No I did not mention a protien skimmer. I will be shopping around in the for one. If anyone wants to put input towards that I would be greatful as well

[reefwars]

i dont think the watts per gallon rule applys to strictly if it does im down to around 1.1 w per gallon lol and i have a full mixed reef

[reefwars]

All my softies, lps and two anenomes are all growing rapidly with polyp and tenticle extension.



lol

[Aquattro]

Find some really nice porous rock. It's the pieces that surprise you because you thought they'd be heavier. Go for about 30 pounds minimum. I use about a half pound per gallon, works fantastic. Don't pile it in a mound, leave room for water to flow around the rock.
Next, watts per gallon is fabulous rule when you were buying that 10g Hagen tank for the guppies. It does not apply in reef tanks. Your tank is what, 18" deep? Depending on what you want to keep, I'd look for a 4 bulb T5 fixture. Sure, you might get away with less, but you'll want more one day soon and not get your initial money back trying to sell something less. There are usually a lot of 4' coralife 150w MH/PC combos for sale here, they go pretty cheap. Not the best light in the world, but certainly not the worse. You'd keep pretty much anything under them in 18" of water.
Ideally, try and see some tanks in person, or browse the pics here to see what works for what you think you might want to keep.

Base rock is not my preferred method for rock, but if you really really can't afford 30 pounds of real rock, then I'd say no more than 10 pounds. It won't act as a filter for a long time, and won't contribute to the biodiversity in the tank.

[Reefer Rob]

"Base" rock to me is the petrified rock that is as hard as glass and about as impervious. I still have some in my garden from my first tank :smile: Dry rock like Marco rocks is soft and porous, and will eventually work just like live rock with time. I don't like to fill the tank up with rock so there's no room for the fish to swim, so I don't see the need for "base" rock.

[Aquattro]

"Base" rock to me is the petrified rock that is as hard as glass and about as impervious. I still have some in my garden from my first tank :smile: Dry rock like Marco rocks is soft and porous, and will eventually work just like live rock with time. I don't like to fill the tank up with rock so there's no room for the fish to swim, so I don't see the need for "base" rock.

Agreed. To me, "base rock" is just filler. And I've discovered that it isn't necessary. I'm pretty sure the pound per gallon rule was thought up by someone that sells rock :) I've used half pound per gallon for the last 6 or 7 years, and aside from having nicer corals than ever, I found I still have no measurable NO3, even with a fairly high fish load.
For the OP's tank above, 55g, easily 30 pounds of good quality ocean rock (my new word for real live rock) would be enough to filter the water, provide enough rock to scape the tank well, and leave lots of room for the fish to move around. Even at an average retail price, it's not going to break the bank, and long term, will provide a better base for a reef.

I certainly understand the desire to save money, but if you're deciding to set up a reef tank, there's a certain minimum requirement for expenditures. In my mind, good quality rock is THE most important aspect to spend money on. You can get an awesomely functioning skimmer used/cheap/DIY, and you can ghetto together a lighting system, but skimping in the rock is a great way to sabotage your success from the moment you add water. Yes, you "could" use premium quality dry rock (reefers are known for their patience, right??:)), but this does not contribute to the biodiversity that I feel is very important. If you seed with top quality rock, and don't mind waiting a very long time, it might be the route to take, but unless you REALLY REALLY can't afford premium ocean rock, I would not use it.

[weyburnt]

I went out shopping today and have 4 t5 fixtures. Now I will need to fashion a canopy. But that wont be too hard. Another live rock question. The LFS, which unfortunatly is 100km away, and the only one that carries live rock, is stocking the aquascaped live rock. It seems pretty porouse compared to other live rock Ive seen, has some coraline algea, etc. However aparantly its coral skeleton or whatever that was put back into the ocean to re culture. They are asking 9 bucks a pound. Is this stuff as good as traditional live rock. Would I be better to have rock shipped from another supplier?

[Aquattro]

That's expensive, especially for aquacultured. I'd look at shipping in from other vendors.