The jump from fw to sw

[gottafindnemo]

Originally Posted by Dearth

One thing you will learn real fast in this hobby whether you choose to continue in it or not is SW vs FW is so much more rewarding but so much more frustrating at the same time.

Visually SW is so much more stunning and captivating and so much more demanding depending on how anal you choose to be with upkeep compared to FW.

The two biggest pieces of advice I can give is first patience is a virtue in this hobby never rush and do your homework especially when it comes to fish and inverts many species are specialized eaters and others can outgrow smaller tanks in no time www.liveaquaria.com is sort of the bible on fish and inverts

Secondly use this forum for resources and advice. There are a lot of SW forums out there but many posters will steer you with bad advice on those forums. Canreef members have had some very ribald discussions but nobody here will ever try to steer you wrong.

I think the biggeet thing im looking.forward to is the corals. And how its way more of an "eco system" then fw. My wife is the one thats looking forward to fish. I would have just coral if it was up to me haha

[gottafindnemo]

All clean, now start to set up!

[scherzo]

Good luck. I did FW for years and it took my 2 tanks to finally get the SW "groove" - What I learned from the 1st time is go slow. May as well go poor slowly. lol.

I looked up the light and it looks like it is at 6000K - I'd be careful as that will probably grow more algae than corals. That would be a perfect light for a refugium to grow chaeto or nuisance algae.

It can get really frustrating really fast if you don't have the right equipment to start - I also learned this.

Have a fun ride!

[gottafindnemo]

A bit of progress. Any suggestions on placements?
Both power heads are in the same spot on oppsite sides pointing down in same dirrection towards where live rock will be stacked. Feels strange to have them like that compared to fw where they should be all flowing in the same dirrection createing a clockwise or counter clockwise flow

[reefwars]

I would place the larger power head pointed towards the surface but only enough to ripple it , the small nano koralia isn't very strong that I would have pointed low to keep detritus moving.opposite sides is fine but absolute final placement will be however your rock allows you to provide flow. You need not blast the rock but provide the whole tank with gentle flow and no dead spots.

The idea is to keep the surface moving to pull in oxygen and to keep bio films and oil slicks off the surface and in motion or skimmed out , this is why it's good to get a hang on back skimmer as well

[reefwars]

Also if you paint or vinyl the back panel on the outside black then you won't see your cords and coral colors will stick out more

[dino]

I try to point my power heads in a way that moves the water in a circular motion throughout the tank

[gottafindnemo]

Originally Posted by reefwars

Also if you paint or vinyl the back panel on the outside black then you won't see your cords and coral colors will stick out more

Yeah im gunna be limo tinting the back panel. I did it on a 55gallon i built a while back and it looked awesome

[gottafindnemo]

A bit More progress today


I know i know, use rodi not ro.. Haha but this is all i have to work with for now, and its not that bad, 4ppm tds. Tested infront of me while ibwas there.

Ugh. Stupid hydrometer. Thats with no salt added lol a guy i know from local fish groups lent me his fractometer after amd its all good now lol

Mixim salt! Found dead spots, tryed a 1000 diffrent positionings for the powerheads amd still dead spots, gunna pick up another powerhead tommorrow

What temp should i be set at? I got it sittin at 79.2 right now, googled and that seems about average for reef tanks.

Got my live rock ordered!!! Will be shipped monday and be here tuesday afternoon

[Slyguy00]

You will probably wonna just get some bigger powerheads. Once you add samd and rock its going to create even more dead spots. I keep my tank at 77.5-78.0. Tanks looking good so far