New and tons of questions

[VAreef]

Hi everyone. I recently decided to set up a 65 gallon reef aquarium. I had a 55 FO saltwater about 10 years ago and wow things have changed alot since then. After reading tons of posts on here I came up with some conclusions.

I think I made a mistake on my initial setup. I ran the tank for a week with about 3 inches of substrate, water, and a biowheel filter. I used the cycle brand to help boost things a little. I then added 3 yellow tail damsels and a 13lb base rock. The sales guy at my fish store said they would be good to cycle the tank. I'm finding with more research that the filter needs to go and I need ALOT more rock. I was thinking 40 lbs live rock and 40 lbs base. I'm buying a metal halide light set-up today and some more rock. Will adding that much rock kill the fish? Should I add the rock a few at a time or just all at once?

My biggest problem is filtering and location of filter systems. I'm confused on what type of filter system to get. I now want to have all my equipment in the cabinet under the tank which is 36"W X 18"H X 18"D. Is this going to be enough room for a sump and protien skimmer that can handle my tank or do I need to build seperate cabinet? I originally thought the biowheel and a hang on tank protein skimmer would be fine.

For my current flow through the tank will the filter set-up under the tank give enough or do I need to also install powerheads?

Instead of a sump is it possible to use canister filters and a protein skimmer in the cabinet under the tank. I'm a little worried about overflow problems with a sump.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice. I'm really psyched about setting up this aquarium and want to do it right just getting a little overwhelmed with all the choices.

Brian in VA


Tank: 36W X 18D X 24H
PH: 8.4
Ammonia: .5
Nitrite: .25
Nitrate: 0

[squibley2]

You are definitely right you need more rock then what is in the tank already. I also would say if the live rock you are getting is cured (it has been in an established tank for a while) then you should be fine to add it all at once. If the rock is uncured (fresh from shipping) if you add 40lbs of uncured rock you would be looking at a significant cycle but the down side of adding it slowly is the cycle to end and then start again as you added more uncured rock. I would say that you should add it all at one time and see if the lfs would take the damsels back. Let the tank cycle with the live rock and the base rock in the tank at one time and then add the fish you want slowly.

Metal halides are the way to go for lighting so good choice there.

The bio wheels are not bad filters but remove the bio wheel itself! You can still run the filter just without the bio-wheel in place. I actually have a bio-wheel filter on my tank but I removed the bio-wheels.

You don't have to have a sump to start you can add it at a later date if you want to get things rolling first. I am adding a sump to my system shortly and my tank has been up and running for quite some time.

[VAreef]

When I add the live rock don't I need to get a protein skimmer going right away, or since the tank is still cycling I don't need one up and running yet. Or do I need one at all until I get into corals later? Would it be better just to get everything all set up now before the tank is cycled than adding it later on?

[Bifferwine]

Hi and welcome! I agree with Squib on the rock thing -- try and take the fish back, add enough rock to equal 1 to 2 lbs per gallon and cycle using the rock until your nitrites and ammonia equal 0. If you can't take the fish back (or you can't catch them) yellow tailed damsels are very hardy and have an excellent shot at surviving the cycle, so I'd also say it's fine to go ahead and cycle with them in the tank, as a second option.

You don't need a protein skimmer as long as your water parameters are in line (ammonia and nitrite at 0, nitrates less than 50 if you have fish only, less than 20 if you have inverts). It is fine if you want to get everything now, but sometimes that's not an option because of the cost of things. Like Squib, I've been slowly improving my tank over the last year. It took me about 6 months to get a good skimmer, 8 months to get some good lights, 10 months to set up a sump/refugium, etc...

You will definitely need at least 2 powerheads, as the flow through filters will not be enough current in your tank. You want to aim for enough movement so that there are no "dead spots" in your tank where leftover food can fall to the bottom and collect. You want to keep stuff suspended in the water column so that it can be picked up by the filters. If you do not have enough water movement in your tank, you will run into algae and detritis problems. The good news is, you can find very good powerheads for less than $20 apiece, so the expense is not much to worry about compared to everything else that'll soon be emptying your bank account!

Last thing I guess, you do not need a sump. Hang on back equipment will work just fine. As you get more and more into this hobby you will try to tweak things and improve things, and yes, hiding all that equipment makes it look nicer and makes maintenance easier, but with time you'll come up with all sorts of ideas of how to better your tank.

Also, #1 rule: Take it slow. Patience. Do not overload your tank by adding a bunch of animals at once. This leads to a lot of frustration, wasted money and dead pets. Also, it's useful to post on this forum if you're thinking about buying a new piece of equipment or a new animal -- lots of people will chime in to tell you if we think you're making a good move of buying a piece of .

Good luck and keep us posted as to how it's going!

[yote]

I dont think that running the bio-wheels would do anything but help your tank. I my self am running 2 of the emp.400 bio-wheels on my 30 gal and in the last 6 months after the cycle my nitrates have not gone above 0.5
I would also go ahead and get the skimmer.

[squibley2]

I would definitely get the best skimmer you can afford and start running it when you add the rock. You don't have to do this but it will help cut down on the amount of nitrates caused by the cycle. I have to disagree with yote and caution you to not run the bio-wheel unless you plan on having a very very lightly loaded tank.

[VAreef]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm trying to keep overall cost at under $1500 so want to make sure I make the purchases only once. So I guess basically if I get the rock in there and hopefully the damsels out everything will be fine with my set-up as it cycles and I won't need to worry about the filter system until I start adding corals many months from now.

So my shopping list for today is lights, live rock, base rock, and 2 power heads. I love going to the fish store.

[bobby]

You dont need hob filters. I run one though to take out solids, but I have seen several with live rock, hob refugium, and a skimmer only, and those tanks looked very nice. I agree get the best skimmer you can, other wise you want to upgrade down the road. If you dont know much about the different brands of skimmers post on here what you want and some one will help you to pick out the best one. Not all skimmers work the same, the one you will see most will probably be the sea clone, they are so hyped up at lfs's but there junk.

[Bifferwine]

Also be careful when you buy lights. Corals require very specific lighting so be sure you get ones that are strong enough.

I agree with Bobby -- avoid Sea Clone skimmers at all cost.

[VAreef]

Back from the fish store.

I now have 33 lbs of live rock and 45 lbs of base rock in there. I gave up on catching the damsels so I hope they survive. I also got one of the Seio m1100 power heads, and a light with a 150w Metal halide, 2 65 watt coral life flouresence, and the blue night lights. When the guy showed me one they were using I fell in love with it.

I checked out skimmers but didn't find one that I am looking for. Do they even make skimmers that will fit in an 18" high cabinet under the tank? Can I get more than 1 small skimmer to do the job if the combined filtering adds up to my tank size? I'm protein skimmer dumb so still reading alot on that subject, I don't want to buy one just to replace it in a month.

I borrowed a digital camera so I'll upload a picture later after I get it finished so you guys can give me some feedback.

Again thanks for all the advice. Extremaly helpful. I already want more stuff for it but I am exercising extreme will power at the moment.