ltkenbo
Reefing newb
Hello, new here and new to the saltwater aquarium hobby. I've always been interested in marine life cause I used to live in Florida and Hawaii and went snorkeling a lot and now have a scuba diving certification Anyways, I just got a tank and some other stuff and I had a couple questions or things I would like comments or opinions on. I am planning on doing a reef tank.
Here's what I got:
55 gallon tank with oak stand and cover:
Dirty:
Cleaned:
Protein Skimmer (coralife super skimmer I think?? Don't know the model/size. Top has cracks see question below):
2 Power Heads, heater:
Under gravel filters:
Hang on tank style filter
I got this whole setup for $285, pretty good deal considering most tank/stand setups this size are more expensive to that and it came with extras.
From what I was told at the fish store here in town, I shouldn't used the under gravel filter with a reef tank setup because I will likely use sand as a substrate which I agree with plus they are old school anyways. However, I asked about using the 2 powerheads to promote water circulation and he told me I shouldn't cause it can keep stuff blown over since they have a very directed stream. But I read an article on about.com that says they should be used (Using Powerheads For Water Circulation In Your Saltwater Aquariums) plus I could always attach something to break up the stream more, it would be a shame for these to go to waste.
When I was washing much of the salt off the protein skimmer, I used some hot water and apparently that caused the collection cup to crack in a couple of places, and then I also dropped it which didn't really help those cracks much. The question here is since the cracks are only in the collection cup and they only leak slightly could I not just seal them with a layer of aquarium safe silicone instead of buying a replacement collection cup?
Another question. I'm guessing I should probably just thow away the old hanging tank filter caused they don't even make it anymore and I've heard that time of filter is not that effective. I would then just buy a nice marinelife canister filter or something. So between a nice canister filter, the powerheads, and the protein skimmer that should provide enough filtering for the tank correct?
The setup also came with lights, but they are just aquarium regular fluorecents. What I thought might be good to do is to initially fill the tank once I get the filter and stuff and set it up with live rock and then after that a couple fish (using the lights I have), then once I can afford the expensive T5 lights, I can add those and start introducing corals. Would this be an allright course?
It came with a tank heater, should I buy a second/backup one especially since this is a semi large tank (large for me at least)?
Finally, the guy at the fish store told me that for reef he wouldn't recommend using tap water due to the heavy metals and possible phosphates in the water (which I know are not good for reefs) but he told me about some type of water they have D something or other (uses some reverse osmosin process), that is like $ 0.50 a gallon. However, that would take so many trips back and forth I dunno if it's really necesarry or not. Most of the books and articles I have read say that tap water is usually fine with proper treatment and conditioning. I suppose I could call the water company to ask them about phosphate levels. What do you think?
Sorry about all the questions :-) Open to any opinions.
Here's what I got:
55 gallon tank with oak stand and cover:
Dirty:
Cleaned:
Protein Skimmer (coralife super skimmer I think?? Don't know the model/size. Top has cracks see question below):
2 Power Heads, heater:
Under gravel filters:
Hang on tank style filter
I got this whole setup for $285, pretty good deal considering most tank/stand setups this size are more expensive to that and it came with extras.
From what I was told at the fish store here in town, I shouldn't used the under gravel filter with a reef tank setup because I will likely use sand as a substrate which I agree with plus they are old school anyways. However, I asked about using the 2 powerheads to promote water circulation and he told me I shouldn't cause it can keep stuff blown over since they have a very directed stream. But I read an article on about.com that says they should be used (Using Powerheads For Water Circulation In Your Saltwater Aquariums) plus I could always attach something to break up the stream more, it would be a shame for these to go to waste.
When I was washing much of the salt off the protein skimmer, I used some hot water and apparently that caused the collection cup to crack in a couple of places, and then I also dropped it which didn't really help those cracks much. The question here is since the cracks are only in the collection cup and they only leak slightly could I not just seal them with a layer of aquarium safe silicone instead of buying a replacement collection cup?
Another question. I'm guessing I should probably just thow away the old hanging tank filter caused they don't even make it anymore and I've heard that time of filter is not that effective. I would then just buy a nice marinelife canister filter or something. So between a nice canister filter, the powerheads, and the protein skimmer that should provide enough filtering for the tank correct?
The setup also came with lights, but they are just aquarium regular fluorecents. What I thought might be good to do is to initially fill the tank once I get the filter and stuff and set it up with live rock and then after that a couple fish (using the lights I have), then once I can afford the expensive T5 lights, I can add those and start introducing corals. Would this be an allright course?
It came with a tank heater, should I buy a second/backup one especially since this is a semi large tank (large for me at least)?
Finally, the guy at the fish store told me that for reef he wouldn't recommend using tap water due to the heavy metals and possible phosphates in the water (which I know are not good for reefs) but he told me about some type of water they have D something or other (uses some reverse osmosin process), that is like $ 0.50 a gallon. However, that would take so many trips back and forth I dunno if it's really necesarry or not. Most of the books and articles I have read say that tap water is usually fine with proper treatment and conditioning. I suppose I could call the water company to ask them about phosphate levels. What do you think?
Sorry about all the questions :-) Open to any opinions.
