Baby, I'm just getting started...

[bikesandbullies]

Hello everybody! What's going on? Been poking around the forums here for a minute trying to soak in as much knowledge as I can. You guys do a great service to noobs like myself.

Ok this weekend I picked up my first "large tank." I have been wanting a big freshwater for the longest. I spotted one on Craigslist last weekend for $150. It was supposedly set up for saltwater, which I really didn't care about because I was just gonna fill it up with fresh water water run it for a couple weeks and drain it and fill it up again etc, etc, until all the salt was gone and stock it with some plants and fish.Well after I got the tank I firgured what the heck, why not? At first I thought I had most of the things that I had to start a reef. So I got busy putting it back together and buying stupid thinkgs that I didn't need like a typical noob. These are the things I have.

Tank and Stand... I know the whispers are useless

Empty Sump and Pump

Here's another pic of the sump

Crappy Overflow

Two of the Lights are connected to this block thingy

It also came with about 150 lbs of live rock and 45 lbs of crushed coral substrate, which I don't have pics of.

I wanna keep the sump and the pump, if they work not sure yet. I filled the tank and it doesn't have any leaks and is nice and the stand is nice and study. He must have had some bad algae outbreaks cause the glass near the top is pretty scratched up. 1)Is there anyway so buf this out? 2)Is anything here salvageable besides the tank and stand? I worked on the plumbing a little bit in my haste to get everything set up and I have a pretty good idea of how that works.3) Any one have any idea how many gallons that sump holds? 4) Is it ok to store the live rock in a 5 gal buckets without any type of filtration or is the ammonia killing it as we speak? 5) keep the sump or ditch it and start new? 6) Sump or canister? 7) What should I fill the sump with to filter? 8) How does that thing (sump) work anyway? I keep seeing a lot about Reverse Osmosis. 9) What is RO/?? ?

I numbered the questions to make them easier to reply/answer to.

I have a million more questions, I just can't think of anything right now. Please stop in on this thread often. I'm quite sure I will have a million more as the build comes along.

 

[ccCapt]

1- I don't know of any way to get scraches out of glass.
2- You can use everything as long as it still works. The pump is fine, the sump is fine. The lights probably won't work if you are going to do a reef with corals. Can you see what the ballast (the little black boxes) say?
3- Doesn't really matter how much it holds, it's just there to filter the water. Just put some live rock on the white eggcrate in the 1st section and that will be the filter.
4- You can, if you plan on changing the water every few days.
5- Nothing wrong with the sump, unless you want a new/different 1.
6- Sump
7- Water and live rock. You can also hide your heater down there.
8- Water comes out of the tank thru the overflow (I see rusty bolts on it. Go to HD or Lowes and buy plastic nuts/bolts.) into the sump. The liver rock filters it and the pump pushes it back into the tank.
9- RO = Reverse Osmosis. It is a filter for purifying tap water. Pretty much a must have for a reef tank.

 

[yote]

+1 Capt.
Get a powerhead in the bucket with the rock.It'll be alright as there some water movement.
BTW
Nice looking tank and stand.
Welcome to the site and hobby.Your already addicted and didnt even know it.:D

 

[bikesandbullies]

How long will they survive with out water movement? I don't know how long they have been sitting and I can't get a hold of the guy that sold them to me. I have two large tupperware bins and some powerheads. Moving them today.

 

[dcantucson]

Your going to have to cycle everything once you get them in your tank with sand anyway. The water movement will just help keep everything "alive" on the rock until you can get into your tank. That will give you a bit of a head start.

By the way WELCOME to the hobby!

 

[yote]

How long will they survive with out water movement? I don't know how long they have been sitting and I can't get a hold of the guy that sold them to me. I have two large tupperware bins and some powerheads. Moving them today.

That depends on a lot of different factors.Like how warm the water in the buckets gets or how cool.
A day with just water probably wouldnt be too bad.But I'd sure watch for ammonia one the rock was in the tank.

 

[messiah023]

Hey B & B,

Looks like you have some good starting information.
Definitely get rid of the rusty bolts. If your brave....and your tank is NOT tempered, you can drill an overflow into the back wall with products from GLASS-HOLES.

Dump the crushed coral in the trash and never look back.
Get some nice oolite mix sand for your substrate. You can get some livesand and the rest "base" sand.

You may want to pickup a small BRUTE trashcan from walmart.
You can keep your rock in there for a bit with the powerhead and heater.
I would check the water that you soak the rocks in for a while to test for COPPER.
You can pickup a copper test at any LFS.

If you see copper in the water, after the rocks have been in there for a few days, you can't use them. I'm not even confident that boiling the rocks will work if copper is detected (some people say it's ok....I don't fully trust it). Copper will kill your reef tank if it leeches into the water....you never know what the previous owner of used stuff did with it before you got it.

Good Luck.

 

[Piggy]

Welcome to the reef. All the above have you covered. What size of tank is it?

 

[bikesandbullies]

Welcome to the reef. All the above have you covered. What size of tank is it?

Tanks 60 gals. As I learn more I see it's gonna be a while before I can get this reef going. Is it ok to let the rock "die" and just add it in during the cycling process? Will it come back "alive." (Jeesh, you would think we were making monsters over here!) Ask this because I know these rocks have been sitting up for awhile.The guy said that he moved down from Maine and didn't have the time to fool with it anymore.

 

[dwinzent]

the rock does die but after a while in a tank with a few pounds of new live rock it can resume living again. you just need 10-20 lb of live rock to seed the dead. also you may need to clean the dead rock before adding it.​

 

[Bifferwine]

I also second the idea to get rid of the crushed coral and use sand instead. Crushed coral causes lots of problems, especially in new tanks.