new to reefing!

T

Tkelley

Reefing newb
Well im new to reefing as well as aquariums in general. a few buddies tried to convince me to start with a freshwater tank but ive always dreamed of having a beautiful saltwater aquarium. however i believe these buddies might be steering me in the wrong direction. i got a decent deal on a used 55 gallon tank with various equipment but ive been selling/replacing most of it. so as of now i have...

55 gallon with stand
original canopy lights (plan on replacing with lights for corals just down the road)
my dad gave me a cheap submersible pump rated for 200GPH
200 GPH Miniature Submersible Fountain Pump
this is too small to be used as a return pump for my future sump correct? if so what could i use it for, any thoughts?

(currently being shipped)
fusion 500 (maybe 600) air pump
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=19779&cmpid=PPC-G-4032
saltwater testing kit
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4452
aqueon proheater 150W (i plan on getting a 2nd 150W as well)
Aqueon Pro Heater | Aquarium Heaters at DrsFosterSmith.com

the tank came with 3 bio-wheel filters but these are unneeded correct?
from what i understand filtration in a saltwater setup consist of live rock, water movement, and water changes pretty much? is a protein skimmer a must or could it wait a month or two until my sump is setup?

so since my friend helped me set up my tank i started researched fumbled upon the site and now i stay on here anytime possible reading anything i can to learn. that being said, ive learned that when my friend helped set up my tank with TAP water and adding AmquelPlus to treat the water that this is bad? we added sand filled my tank with water added some amquel then mixed some salt and pretty much my tank has sat for 2 weeks with a biofilter stirring up the water a little bit. i have not got any live rock yet due to funding paused and research. im planning on buying a good bit of dry rock and adding some live to have at minimum 75lbs total. is it bad to have say 70/30 mix of dry to live rock? im unsure if i need to throw out all sand/salt/water i have used and starting over with distilled water or can i just get majority of the water out and save the sand i got.

all words of wisdom are welcome - thanks!!
 
Im VERY new to reefing so I dont want to give a bad opinion but i wanted to stop by and say WELCOME TO THE FOLD. Oh, and dont rush things, I think I got impatient and took advice I felt was bad because I wanted to get fish in fast. lol
 
I dont think you need to throw away the sand and water. Just keep what you have and start doing water changes with RO water. Over time all the tap will be gone. I think that ratio of dry and live rock sounds good. Do you know if your tank has started to cycle yet? The live rock will help the cycle along. I think you could wait a month or so on the skimmer but I would add it as soon as I could. It really helps water quality a lot. Ditch the biowheels. They will trap gunk and cause a rise in nitrates if not cleaned all the time. You could just use them to move the water for now. Oh and welcome to the site!
 
thank ya'll, due to an absence in testing equipment and rock im thinking the tank hasn't cycled, plus the amquel is suppose to rid of ammonia and nitrite. my tank did get reeeally cloudy like 2-3" visibility then was fine next morning. this was after sand and salt mix settled.

any other opinions anyone?

also i bought a saltwater aquariums for DUMMIES book for ~$5 online. thought it'd be a decent purchase for a noobie like me:bounce:
 
Welcome, did u throw in a shrimp at the start?.I would do that now if u dont know if it has cycled or not.Then do your tests.
 
Yea is get some live rock and throw in a raw unseasoned shrimp to get the cycle going. Then just wait a few weeks.
 
Hello and Welcome. :D

The best way to save money would be to go with mostly all dry rock and just add one live rock to seed it. You can get great dry rock from Marcorocks.com for about $2.20 a pound for a 50 pound box. Then just get one live rock from a friend with an established tank or from your LFS. I would get the rock in to start maturing as soon as possible as it is gonna be your biological filter. One pound per gallon bare minimum, 1 and 1/2 to 2 is even better.

You want some powerheads for water movement. Hydor Koralia is a popular brand and reasonable priced. At least two powerheads minimum. You want them to turn the water over around 30+ times an hour. So with two powerheads you'd want them rated at least at 1250 gph each.

For a 75 gallon tank once you get it up and running with fish in it your gonna probably want to get a protein skimmer to remove the disolved organics from the water before they turn into nitrate. There are many good protein skimmers, but Reef Octopus is a popular and quality brand. If your gonna do a sump you can get one to go in there.

A RO/DI unit would be extremely beneficial to eliminate contaminates from your water supply.

Lastly, lighting. Depending on what you want to keep in the tank will determine what you get here. This will most likely be the most expensive item you buy for the tank so research it carefully so you get what you need the first time out.

What do you plan on using the Fusion Air Pump for? You DON"T want to use it with an airstone bubbler as that is not something needed in a saltwater tank and will only cause your PH to rise.

Welcome to the addiction. :mrgreen:
 
Well i got my order in. i wish i had known about the air pump before purchasing :frustrat: but i did some searching and figured out that's why i had so much salt creep from the old air pump i was replacing. hopefully i can return it for something else because i still need powerheads if not i'll just sell it. i did order 50lbs of dry rock from marcorocks for $109 shipped which is the cheapest i found anywhere at $2.18 a pound :bounce: and plan on getting some live rock asap and probably more dry. i got my test kit in and am currently doing tests but have yet to put a shrimp in the tank because i figured the live rock will cause the ammonia to spike again or am i wrong? im trying to come up with a sump design but all the older threads im searching thru no longer have pictures.
 
test-31712.jpg


test2-31712.jpg


testing my photo posting skills as well.. ammonia is a lil high but likely will spike again when shrimp is added correct? also my pH was about 7.9 this needs to come up i believe and how can i do that?
 
Yes, the shrimp will cause the ammonia to spike again. Also your pH is fine. It will be a little lower when you cycle your tank but the pH will naturally fluctuate during the day, being highest at night before the lights go off. So when test your pH be sure to test around the same time of day
 
Since there is no fish i have been leaving the lights off or should i start to cycle the lights with the day? Also i ordered an eshopps overflow box for my future sump build. The pf-800 model to be exact i figure the extra flow just means i can use smaller powerheads. Ive been looking at powerheads that possibly will run on a wavemaker in the future. The Hydor Koralia's run in reverse when put on a wavemaker and the marinelands seem to have decent reviews for how cheap they are. Any other reputable brands used by anyone?
 
If you have no fish or corals then there is no need to run the lights. Also unless you want to get into the high tech fancy (and therefore price) powerheads, those are the most commonly used brands.
 

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