kilo
Reefing newb
20ibs of rock or sand? Both? I would think I'd need at least 40ibs of sand
kilo's 100 gallon tall REEF!
- Thread starter kilo
- Start date
20ibs of rock or sand? Both? I would think I'd need at least 40ibs of sand
little_fish
Moderator
live rock to start the cycle
kilo
Reefing newb
ok thank you, my plans are to start the tank saturday, get it cycling... just got to figure out how to get 100g of saltwater to my house lol
how much sand? 40ibs?
how much sand? 40ibs?
x19
Reefing newb
Home Depot and Lowes, along with other hardware stores, sell 5 gallon buckets you can use. In the long run though you are definitely going to want to invest in an RO/DI filtration unit and make your own saltwater. Its not an insignificant initial investment but it will save you a lot of money and frustration in the long run.
I suggest these guys: The Filter Guys
I suggest these guys: The Filter Guys
kilo
Reefing newb
I'm gona get a mixing station setup but I don't have one yet, and I get free RO from a friend, but I'm going to get one soon hopefully...
Sir Alex
Dragon the eel (below)
I used like 3 pounds of live rock and 150 pounds of dry rock in my tank. It wasn't a particularly slow cycle, but it was a very small one. Ammonia never got above 1 ppm, nitrites were hardly detectable, and to this day, the nitrates have never risen above a couple ppm. And I started the cycle with 3 whole table shrimp that I never ended up taking out...
So 20 pounds should be more than enough.
So 20 pounds should be more than enough.
kilo
Reefing newb
Ok thanks! Where do I get the shrimp lol? Just raw unseasoned?
Sir Alex
Dragon the eel (below)
Yah any raw shrimp works just make sure it doesn't have any additives.
kilo
Reefing newb
ok so since i dont need the sump or filtration to cycle or just have fish.. this cycle should begin this weekend or the next, so in the tank im planning on:
25 ibs live rock
40-60 ibs of live arg. sand
after/during: im going to add roughly ~50ibs of pukani dry rock from "bulk reef supply" ill be aquascaping the hell out of these rocks, drilling, gluing, making caves, etc....
25 ibs live rock
40-60 ibs of live arg. sand
after/during: im going to add roughly ~50ibs of pukani dry rock from "bulk reef supply" ill be aquascaping the hell out of these rocks, drilling, gluing, making caves, etc....
kilo
Reefing newb
I'm going to the fish store today to get the water/etc. we might bite the bullet and get all the filtration in anyways, the light that it came with doesn't have the plastic sheet in front of the bulbs? Does that do anything besisdes protect from water damage? Also.. A bubble magus skimmer, are they good? They have one at the Lfs rated for 180g, would that work well?
R3verb
Time to add some coral!
Can't say for the skimmer but I know from experience if you run those lights without having some way to keep them from getting wet, you are risking corrosion and possible arching that could result in a fire (this is worst case obviously but still possible). I would recommend seeing if you can get a class canopy for the top of the tank if it's not already covered. If it's a covered tank, you shouldn't have as much of a problem but it would still concern me.
little_fish
Moderator
You really dont want a covered tank, its cuts down on gas exchange which is really bad for your fish and corals. It also cuts down on the amount of light that gets to the corals and keeps the temperature of the tank really high.
The lights should come with their own covers.
The lights should come with their own covers.
kilo
Reefing newb
They probably did, but by the looks of it he took it off, could I just put a piece of Seran wrap to protect from water?
x19
Reefing newb
The Saran wrap would melt i'd expect. Just get a piece of acrylic from the hardware store.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
+1 x19. Lights will get too hot for saran wrap, but you need to protect the bulbs somehow.
Sir Alex
Dragon the eel (below)
I have a bubble magus skimmer. It does a great job skimming but it's kinda a low quality design. Lots of openings and stuff. It also produces quite a few micro-bubbles. And the pump gets hotter than the pump on my reef octopus skimmer. Nice skimmer overall though...
kilo
Reefing newb
were going with a SWC skimmer, trying to make it as silent as possible, wouldnt wana risk having to buy a chiller!
what do you guys think about them?
also were looking into sumps, thinking aqueon proflex 3.....
what do you guys think about them?
also were looking into sumps, thinking aqueon proflex 3.....
x19
Reefing newb
I wouldn't buy an SWC product, you'd be supporting an alleged coral smuggler..
Owner of SWC faces $1,000,000+ fine and prison time for smuggling protected species
There are lots of other great companies that aren't trying to rape the natural resources we all want to preserve.
kilo
Reefing newb
Ok, found a guy with an aqua c 180 ev skimmer, so were going with that
x19
Reefing newb
Good choice. Noisy I think but a lot of folks like them.
