My 1st Saltwater tank...YIKES!

SeattleDarko

SeattleDarko

REEFER
OK, so I did it! I got my 24g Aquapod w/ HQI lights on the way. BUT now I need Help!

Heater?

Salt I was thinking Kent Salt?

Sand?

I am ordering some live rock I am going to get cured rock, I can't cure it at my house. I have been shopping around any good places to look?

LFS guy says I should use little peices of live rock in place of bio balls? any thoughts?
 
your not going to need a heater, but youll actually need a chiller on your tank because you have metal halide lights. kent salt is a good choice. if you want cured your going to have to buy it from your LFS, a local reefer, or from tampabaysaltwater.com
 
Welcome to the site and the addiction.
For the heater.How warm do you keep your house?If you keep it close to 75 or so,I wouldnt even worry about a heater.If you keep it close to 70,then any 25 to 50 watter will do the job.About the difference in different brands,is the price.

Kent salt is supposed to be a good salt.Myself,Kent will never again go into my tank.I'll either use Oceanic or SeaChem Reef salt.

Sand.Just pick an aragonite based sand that you like.You use either live sand,or the dry stuff.The dry is cheaper and will become live sand within a couple of months.Just stay away from the crushed coral.

And be aware that you'll still have to the rock if you order it online.Your going to have some die off on it.But the bright side is it'll cycle your tank.

And rock rubble will do good in place of the bio-balls.
 
dustin_P74 said:
your not going to need a heater, but youll actually need a chiller on your tank because you have metal halide lights. kent salt is a good choice. if you want cured your going to have to buy it from your LFS, a local reefer, or from tampabaysaltwater.com
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Dont know Dustin.We've got one of those set up at the store.It dont get over 78 degrees with the halide on.And is actually a great looking all in one system.
 
Search seattle craigslist for people tearing down their tanks and buy their live rock and at least a little of their live sand to seed your sand. Getting rock and stuff from established tanks will help shorten your cycle. And this way you'll get to hand pick the pieces of rock that will look good in your tank. You should be able to get it for about $3/lb saving yourself lots of money compared to ordering online or buying at your LFS.
 
yote said:
Dont know Dustin.We've got one of those set up at the store.It dont get over 78 degrees with the halide on.And is actually a great looking all in one system.
Click to expand...

the reason i said that is one of the fish stores here has one set up but they cant turn the halide on, only the LED's because it gets too hot and they have a JBJ chiller that was made just for that tank on order
 
Rad! thanks everyone for jumping in so fast!

My house is pretty cold 65? (not by choice) so I want to make sure it stays pretty constant. LFS guy says I may need a chiller in the sumer but really its our summers if we have them are like 2 weeks? so we will wait and see on that.

I have looked into Craigslist some, I am going to keep pugging away there but not a lot of saltwater stuff pops up.
 
I highly doubt that you'd need a chiller in the summer. I live in Arizona, where it routinely hits 115+ and I don't have a chiller.
 
Don't most people have air conditioning and heat nowadays???
I don't understand why the subject of climate always comes up.
I live in Houston and let me tell you, my house is never warmer than 74 degrees or colder than 68.

I had metal halides in an enclosed hood on my 150 and needed a chiller.
 
Dustin,I think his lights actually hang about 16" above the tank.Its not built into a hood.Plus if its the one I'm thinking,its got a fan thats built into a cover over the the filtration stuff,that blows under the light.
 
d2mini said:
Don't most people have air conditioning and heat nowadays???
I don't understand why the subject of climate always comes up.
I live in Houston and let me tell you, my house is never warmer than 74 degrees or colder than 68.

I had metal halides in an enclosed hood on my 150 and needed a chiller.
Click to expand...

And Houston summers are brutal.Humidity and heat together makes for a bad day.
 
Thats not the set up I was thinking.I was thinking Redsea for some reason.They have an arm the mounts to the back of the tank,which holds the light above the tank.
 
the light does not heat up the tank that much, mine just goes up about 2 degrease. but, i you should buy a chiller for the summer because then it is a pain in the ass to control.
 
nudy6969 said:
the light does not heat up the tank that much, mine just goes up about 2 degrease. but, i you should buy a chiller for the summer because then it is a pain in the ass to control.
Click to expand...

My six 39 watt T5's with individual reflectors inside an enclosed canopy heated up my 46g tank by 10 degrees. Fans took care of that problem.
 

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