Tritan's SW Startup (110g)

T

tritan

Reefing newb
Hey guys, I've been on this forum picking your brains for information so I figured I may as well post my progress along the way. I enjoyed looking at a lot of the members tank life cycles on here and it would be fun to see how far my tank has comes along.

My story: I have always wanted a saltwater tank. It was one of those things where I always said "Some day..". Well about 3 weeks ago my wife's best friends wealthy grandparents told her that they have a tank they are just looking to get rid of. It was a 110 gallon tank and stand that was sitting in their basement for 5 years untouched. They had to empty it when they moved and never set it back up. He asked for $100 and to get it out of his house and I couldn't have been more happy. I was finally getting the tank I wanted, and for a steal to boot. All of the plumbing was completely ruined and all I was able to salvage was the return pumps, skimmer, and pump for the skimmer. That alone was worth well over $100! I got it home safely and after I washed it up and and it looks brand new now. I plan on doing reef and fish. So far I have gotten the saltwater in and refugium set up in the bottom. The live rock and live sand comes in today and tomorrow. I went with black sand. Once that is all in I will post updated pics. So far this is where I am at:



photouzm.jpg
 
Ill take pics of the fuge and lighting that I custom built and post those later also.

I painted the back of the tank flat black as suggested by many. Since the pic I have also installed 2 Koralia Evolution Water Pump's 1050gph for circulation.
 
**Update**

So my rock and sand came in. I read that it is smart to place the rock first for multiple reasons (secures the rock more, the ammonia spike can kill the good bacteria in the live sand). It is about 30 lbs of live and 70lbs of dry. I went ahead washed it off a little and put it where I liked it, I'm sure I will change it later down the road since this is my first swing at it. Still had a lot of debris kick up but its quickly clearing up as seen below. I checked the ammonia last night and today and it is still reading 0. You think I should toss in a shrimp to get it started?

Day 1:


Day 2:
 
Also, the last set of 48" t-5 lights are coming in Monday. That will make a total of Three 18 Watt 10K and Three 18 Watt True Actinic T5 fluorescents, all 48". I am considering getting one more set just because I have the room and it wouldn't hurt.
 
Im on my way to the grocery store right now. Would you agree that I should wait until ammonia is 0 to put in the live sand?
 
no, i would add it. The live sand really isnt very live. Who knows how long its been sitting in a bag, in who knows what kind of conditions. If you havent already bought the "live" stuff, i would just get plain, dry sand. Like the dry rock, the dry sand will become live once you cycle your tank.
 
+1 LilFish. LS is really a waste of money, as is starting an entire tank with LR. I made that financial mistake when starting my 50, and I could have saved a good bit of money (which I would have then spent on something else tank-related). All you really need is a few small pieces of LR, and the rest can be dry rock and "dead" sand. Throw in a shrimp, and off you go. "Live" just refers to nitrifying bacterial colonies, and bacteria will grow during the cycle, turning everything in the tank "live", including powerheads, heaters, pumps, rocks, sand, and anything else that sits relatively still.

Trust me, I will not be making the same mistake when setting up my mini reef or restarting the 50.
 
Live Sand isn't worth the money, but around here it seems as though the sand anyone sells is "live." Its not going to hurt anything if you use live sand.
 

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