Starting my first saltwater reef tank, advice and comments welcome

background information on my fish keeping ability, started numerous freshwater tanks, just got bored with it so I wanted to start a saltwater reef tank, after spending weeks searching for a tank I finally found it my new 36 gallon bow front on craigslist for 50 bucks, came with T8 lighting fixture and a fluval 3+ filter. now begins my journey on starting a new tank, I want to start with a 2 inch layer of fine sand with an inch of course grain agragonite on top of that, are their any draw backs to doing that, also I have my LFS for about 20 pounds of live rock, including my center piece for my tank an arch way about six inches tall and a foot long, this is my first reef tank and my first saltwater so I don't know exactly what I'm doing I just know I need to start with my sand bed and then my live rock and I need to get my saltwater as well, what's the best way to buy pre mixed, or make your own? I'm a noob to all this saltwater stuff so any help is welcome, I'm hoping to blog about this on a regular basis so long term help may be needed

 

Apologies in advance, but the first thing I'm going to do is point you at some links

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...uarium-part-1-where-to-start-research.118422/
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...ing-nature-home-researching-equipment.119039/
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...ng-setting-up-and-running-your-system.120421/



When aqua-scaping a reef tank, start with the Live Rock then add your sand. The reason for this is that the live rock will settle, and sink, potentially causing an avalance in your system. By placing the rock first, it can't sink. Also, if you add burrowing cleaners like some snails, sea cucumbers etc, they won't be able to bury under your rock work.

I'd consider ditching the canister filter. Canister filters can work against you in a marine environment. A good protein skimmer should be all you need to maintain water quality.

Water choices - it's up to you. I mix my own. I use a reef salt mix, but natural sea water is also fine. Using RO/DI water for your top-up (and mixing) is the best advice I can give.

T8 lighting is possibly not going to be enough light to support corals, T5HO with multiple tubes, or a LED fixture would probably provide a better result.

A 3" sand-bed is getting to the limit of what we call a shallow sand bed. Do some research on shallow vs deep sand beds, there are pro's and con's of both approaches.

Looking forward to the blog

 

thanks for the links I had looked over them, had some good advice in them, I did just pick up my sand luckily for me my LFS had some expired arag alive sand that he sold me for 5 bucks, the only thing is it has some mold growing inside the bag so I guess I'll have to wash it, also the more I read the more a shallow 1 inch bed sounds like the way to go. I was going to start looking into LED lighting due to the fact that I live in Texas and during the summer my apartment has an ambient temp of 80, so the heat from a T5HO might warm the water to much, my only concern with LED was does it produce enough light for coral. with the filter I'll probably use it for another tank or see if my LFS will trade it for a powerhead, thanks for the welcome into the marine aquarium community, I'm looking forward to the challenges (as long as they aren't too hard lol)

 

LED definitely creates enough light. Just be sure to get a marine/reef fixture, typically these will use CREE LEDs;

 

alright my LFS recommended this system. I don't think it's bright enough though, and I finally got the tank scum off the tank sides, took a good two hours lol. and I decided to go shallow bed but how do you clean sand?

 

That fixture (IMO) is not suitable for a Reef. The only blue is for moonlighting.

Note the use of 460nm Blue LEDs for actinic lighting.

I use the Inwatter Stingray (https://inwatter.com/stingray.htm) - pricey? yes definitely, but results speak for them selves.

As for sand, what does the packaging say? I used a hose in a bucket to get rid most of the dust, then a rinse in de-chlorinated tap, then added to the tank.

 

what about using two of these and I actually already have 460NM night lighting from my freshwater tank, the only reason I ask is because cost is a factor and and I can get two of these for 100$

also if I was doing a tank with live rock and fish only would that play a difference in what lighting I need, and the sand doesn't say anything so I'll try your method

 

Hmm, possibly, would it all fit over the tank?

The actinic spectrum is quite important for corals, which is why most fixtures are 50/50 white/blue.

I don't know how you'd go without an even spread of white/actinic lighting over the tank.

EDIT: Yes, a FOWLR has much lower lighting requirements, as the lighting is then only really for human viewing rather than for growth of corals.

 

yeah I know the spread of blue/white light is important, that's why I might wait to have to add corals to my tank, till I can afford the lightning needed, I wish I could have the corals, as one of the articles I read talked about having a reef tank is like having a part of the reefs that are slowly dying and well I think I'll buy the two systems for 100 and will having that much light be over kill for a FOWLR?

 

For a FOWLR, yes, I would think it's overkill. Better of saving some of the money for a Reef fixture.

Also, too much light could lead to algae problems.

 

I'll see if I can just get one for 50 and, +1 to the saving money for a reef fixture, the big thing that still confuses me coming from Freshwater is how the live rock become your filtration

 

Post #2 in the following should explain it for you

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...ing-nature-home-researching-equipment.119039/

 

makes perfect sense lol, well I'm still trying to find the lighting I want, I went ahead and ordered the double bright system but I'm a little offer whelmed at the options for lighting, I really love the true 50/50 look that blue tint to it just makes my day but I don't know if the double bright can recreate that look, and at the same time I'm limited due to budget, so I'm just confused on what to do, and I could get a T5 system but it's more pricey

 

What background will your tank have? Using a blue background can help give a blue hue to the tank

But in reality, nothing compares to the actinic 'glow' in a tank. If it was me, I would sacrifice the blue, and save for a good fixture, capable of doing the job properly, rather than skimp and get a light that, in the end, you won't be happy with.

Kinda short-term pain for long-term gain.

 

I painted the back of my tank black, and what's your thought on the nova extreme T5.HO

 

when buying live rock from my LFS what do I need to be on the look for? all the rock is cured and it's all in the stores display tanks, but what do I look for and will rock that's in the LFS be better because it's wet and fresh from their tanks

 

Hi, I posted the following in another thread, and think it applies here

Personally, I'd custom order in fresh rock from the ocean or aqua-cultured. The rock that sits in the LFS holding tanks tends to be in the dark, meaning that a lot of the good little plants, and coralline can be lost. You can also end up with phosphate rich rock.

What tends to happen is we buy the live-rock, fresh from the ocean if possible. When that rock goes in your tank, inevitably there is some die off, which maintains the ammonia source. However, if you buy enough fresh live rock, your tank can be almost instantly cycled.

As an example, my tank was cycled in a week (I never saw ammonia or nitrite), but I let it go 2 weeks before adding stock, just to make sure. My rock was harvested from the reef at 7am, on a plane at 8am, and in my tank by 9pm.

 

where did you buy your live rock at?

 

I bought it from my LFS here in Australia.

The rock itself was harvested from the Great Barrier Reef, off the Queensland coast.

 

ahhh your very fortunate that you can do that lol, me I'm stuck in the middle of the US, but I'll have to see about ordering live rock, do I need a protein skimmer from the start of the tank or later

 

There's different views on running a skimmer from the start.

I ran mine from day 1, but others let the tank cycle first, then turn the skimmer on.

Just keep in mind that it can 2-3 weeks for the skimmer to "break in" and really start producing skimmate.

 

that's what I hear and I was thinking about getting the AquaC Nano Remor, it has great reviews and I like that it hangs on to the tank

 

alright so after a few days of being away I have gotten most of my equipment and the final coat of stain on my stand, I have a JBJ auto top off system, a hydor slI'm skim, nova T5 HO 2 bulb, the one thing I'm not happy with is the color of the lighting, its a very intense white and bright but no blue tint to it, the bulbs it came with are truelumen 460 nm actinic blue, and a 12kk power white is it just the power white that's preventing the color?

 

The white may be washing out the blue a little bit. I'm fortunate that I can adjust the intensity of my white/blue mix.

The other thing you may be expecting is the blue hue that Metal Halides can give a tank, which is not easily achieved with T5's.

You could try using a 18000k or 20000k T5 tube. These are closer to the blue spectrum.

 

that could be, the only reason I'm really disgruntled is my LFS uses T5 and they have that blue hue, and I'm not terribly familiar with the difference in 10k vs 12k and so on, I really only know that 12 should have a blue tint to the lights however the supposedly 12 k blub I recived was only white no tint to it that I could distinguish. but if I do go with 18k and 460nm actinic will that be of any harm to the coral and or fish?

 

It shouldn't do any harm, it's a fairly common setup. You may need to reduce the amount of time lights are on with a higher spectrum tube.

Your fish will certainly be ok, and most Corals will do well, especially zoo's and other high-light corals that use photosynthesis.

You may want to check your LFS and find out:
a) How many tubes are they running? What's the ratio of actinic to white...
b) What sort of reflectors are they using? Some reflectors are tinted a bit, and can give the blue hue (might be a cheap upgrade for you )

 

they use 4 bulb, so I'm at an disadvantage, but in my research I did see something called PAR what is that, and also have you ever heard of the atI coral plus bulb

 

PAR = Photosynthetic Available Radiation - it is basically a measurement of how deep the light will penetrate the water, and it's intensity at that level.

I have heard of the ATI tubes/bulbs, but haven't used them. There should be plenty of reviews out there about these tubes, they are quite common in the hobby.

 

thank you !! glad to finally know, and I'll look into it, and my new tank was forced to be used as a freshwater temporally, my fathers 55 gallon tank cracked on one side spilling about 30 gallons onto a hardwood floor, lucky for him I hadn't put sand or rock into it yet

 

so has anyone ever used an aqua clear as a carbon and gfo filter I figures it would be a good idea, and I'll post pictures soon of the team and stand it looks very good if I may say so myself

 

finally got my substrate in I have 3 inches of arag alive sand and one inch of crushed coral, I have 30 pounds of pukanI live rock and my salt water, I'm currently looking for a timer that can active at say 6-8am and then turn on again at 7-9 pm, does any one know of one other than an aquarium controller

 

I just have basic timers on my tanks. I paid like $4 at local grocery store.

 

I agree sweetsammi.

Most likely you can get a cheap timer from Walmart, Lowes, Best Buy, Home Depot, Target, Kmart or similar.

There are mechanical ones that you press tabs in for on time, or digital ones that can be programmed.

 

I'll look into the mechanical ones, also for my substrate I went with 3 inches of sand and one inch of aragonite crushed coral on top is their any down side to doing that

 

I don't see any down side to the sand bed however the critters such as inverts etc. to help turn the sand is the most important are you planning on having a reef or fish only?
What pat of Tejas are you from?

 

I'm from Dallas, and what I ended up doing was mixing the sand and the crushed coral into each other, I think it's actually a pretty natural look having the shells mixed into the sand, and for right now it will be fowlr, but I'll start adding corals in a few months.

 

heres the sand with crushed coral, and the tank

 

Looking good!

 

That's how I mix my sand as well but like I mentioned get a good sand crew to keep the sand stirred if you ever notice that parts of the sand are getting solid I guess you would say make sure that you stir the sand some how these are called dead spots and can spoil in a sense.
Welcome to Fish Lore my fellow Texan!

 

Thanks, I think the whole thing is coming along nicely I should be able to get water in the tank this week, or I hope so cause my lfs just delivered my live rock lol, and thanks I'll make sure to get some and its nice to meet a fellow texan with a reef tank lol