New guy, Rock and sand questions
 

OK, First off, Hi all, new here from 100 Mile House BC. Have had freshwater aquaria for 7-8 years now, and am finally venturing into Salt. Just got a 190L corner unit Aquarium, Fluval brand, with a Fluval 205 canister filter. I will get a sump eventually, when time and tank requires it. The problem is my LFS does not have Salt supplies in stock. No rock, sand or fish. But, they can order in anythign I want, and it comes in pretty quick, 3 days. My question is, what should I be telling them to order for me? I will be eventually gettign a pair or Percula Clowns, and the rest, well, havnt gtoen that far yet LOL. Pretty much the norm, huh, Wanting to get into salt with Percula's. But Daughter has told me how it is going to be HAHAHA. Also, waiting longer to get tank to cycle is not a problem so if I could use more base rock, or just regular aragonite instead of live sand, that would be ok. I am gettign overwhelmed with the different choices there is out there, Aragonite, crushjed coral, types of live rock, etc. Would like a little 'push' in the right direction for product/brand selection.

Ohh ya, I would liek a healthy cleanup crew too, Hermits and the like. I think the cleanup crews are just the coolest thing, watching them work away..

First off, Welcome to the board.

I recommend reading a book called "Concientious Marine Aquarist by B.Fenner" first and "The reef aquarium vol. 3 by Delbeek and Sprung" these will give you an idea of where you want to take your reef tank and how to get there. They also will explain all of the equipment and methods used today in maintaining a suscessful reef that your family can enjoy.

Ask lots of questions before you mix your first batch of water. And IMO crabs should be left in the ocean.

Welcome :)

For what it's worth I have halloween hermits and electric blue hermits in my tank and they have never caused me any problems. Just my 2 cent.

I will rephrase that: Crabs should not be in my tank.:mrgreen:

OK, another Q, if my RO unit puts out 30GPD, it will take over 1 day to fill my tank. The sand will get covered fairly quick, but what about the rock? I assume most place rock in tank after it's filled?? I have to order rock and Sand, was going to order them at the same time, but I was thinking I would have to much die off if filled from RO?

rock is usually shipped in boxes wrapped with damp paper. to wait another day while the tank fills, is not a big deal. i'd order at the same time as you'll have to cycle the tank anyway.
just my 2 cents worth

:mrgreen: Welcome to Canreef.

Lots of info here to read. And a lot of helpful aquarists. :smile: Regarding your water, much of it could be made up in advance in something like a 50g Rubbermaid tub or something similar.

:) Rubbermaid garbage pails are your friend. I have two in my fish room. One for top off water and one for salt water. If you have the space it is always nice to have made up saltwater on hand incase you need an emergency water change.

Premix your saltwater before adding to the Live Sand or Live Rock. I would fill the tubs or buckets with RO water, add salt & a powerhead & heater. Then measure the salinity after several hours & adjust till its between 1.024 and 1.026. After 24 hours, you can add that to your tank.

Anthony

Welcome!

Are you definitely wanting a sand substrate, or have you considered the possibility of a barebottom tank? Different looks, pros and cons for each, etc.

As far as live rock....I never considered what "type" of rock I was getting when I bought mine. As long as it was live rock, I was pleased! I personally don't think it matters what type. Some people have preferences, and maybe they can/will chime in. If you're creative with your aquascaping, you can make for an attractive setting.

My advice regarding a clean-up crew is: if you want some crabs, get only one or two. I find that they eventually kill each other off (just my experience talking here), and/or they knock things over. They can also kill snails as they grow larger. I would just focus on having some effective cleaners like snails, and perhaps a cool-looking shrimp for kicks (coral-banded, peppermint, fire, etc.)

Thx fro all the great info, Much appreciated. I thought about the rubbermade buckets while I was tossing and turning tryin to sleep this morning. I am sure are wanting a sand bottom, we just love the looks of fine sand bottoms. But, like everything I decide on, I bet there is a drawback, isnt there.???

Hee hee! Welcome to the club (re: tossing and turning, thinking about aquariums, equipment, fish, corals, testing, etc...etc...).

If you want sand, just make sure you have some critters in there that can help to clean it. Do some research on this end. Again, I don't have sand, so someone else will chime in I'm sure.

There are many different schools of thought on BB vs. DSB, It seems that most hardcore SPS keepers prefer bare bottom so they can crank up the flow in the tank without having a sandstorm.

I like the look of sand and have it in my tank but in my next tank I am going to go bare bottom. I just find that my water is never clear because sand is always being kicked up and floats in the water.

It has also been said that a sand bed needs to be regenerated after a period of time becuase it ends up being a trap for nitrates and other bad elements. I think though if you have a good cleanup crew and a sandsiftings stars or sleeper gobies to keep the sand turned often you should eliminate any of this risk.

I've had sand in my tanks for the past three years and it has never caused me any real problems, in the end it's a decision you need to make for waht suits your future stocking plans.

Welcome aboard! You'll find that people here are great for helping you get into the hobby.

I agree that there are many differing opinions on sand bottoms. I really like my shallow sand bottom in my tank, but since adding SPS coral, I did have to up the flow and therefore my sand it a little messed up now.

In my opinion, Live sand is the way to go. It brings with it a lot of the life that makes for a healthy tank. Be careful with a sand-sifting starfish as I had one in a bigger tank than you and eventually it still starved to death. I like sand-sifting gobies or 2-spots even as an alternative. Just remember that a fish that sifts will lift the sand up and sometimes cover anything that you have resting in the sandbed (an annoyance to clams for example)

Rubbermaids are your friends and bad things happen so plan for everything that you can. Also, keep in mind that cannister filters (unless cleaned regularly and religiously) can be an ugly trap for things that will make a mess of your tank.

Lastly, buy the best light you can afford, as you will always see that everyone here is moving up the light scale regularly.

Enjoy and good luck!

Cool, thx for the info. Lighting, ya, I am thinkking about that allready. The tank has a flat top, with 2 24W T5's in it. I'll have to build some kind of hood to hide a Halide. I am an electrician by trade and have access to all kinds of halides :D Got to love work benifits.
But will the T5's be ok for FOWLER? Not planing corals, unless I get some on the live rock hehe, atleast not fro starters. Would like to get more experience before I jump into the word of reefs. But knowing me and my wife, that will happen :D

That lighting is most definitely adequate for a FOWLR.

some things too consider!! If you are adding live rock it is pointless to add any mech or substraight in the cannister filter.... the only thing cannister filters will be good for is a place too put carbon, polish the water (clean the top of the water), and add water flow.. the live rock and the sandbed (if you are going with a sand bed) will do all the breking down of nutrience in the tank.. and 1 more thing see if the rock is cured or not.. if not you will want to cure the rock before adding any fish or cleaning crew... so much to learn and have fun doing it ...


hth

:razz: :razz: :razz:

^ Dave speaks truth. I was at the sermon.

tank
 

Were you only having only fish or plan to put corral in to

Might get coral at a later date, not sure. If I do, then I can upgrade lighting \I gues. Build a hood

substrate
 

Its just if you are going fish only I would go with crushed corral or even better a bit coarser sand then most people put in a reef tank because it is easyer to clean.The sand looks way better.I have it in a 255fowl and can still vacum it .