is this set up okay??

[sunryze]

am i set up ok??

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we want to have mostly fish in the tank with some liverock for decoration.

please any and all advice and opinions are welcome


i have a :

125 gallon 72" long

seaclone skimmer

2 _36' 96 watt compact florscents that we took the double 50/50 bulbs out of and replaced with double 10,000k daylights
72" florescent with 2 - ft8 30watt atinic reef bulbs

*****( is this enough light? and what should timers be set for?)

cascade canister filter 1500 , - 350gph

2, seio powerheads - 670 gph each

****( Is this enough movement ? and should i let air bubbles into tank or run the powerheads with just water flow?)


2-3" of crushed coral
10# or so of live rock ( with 10# in tub curing and 40 comming)


living in tank now are:



2 maroon clowns (male-1 1/2" , female 2")
2 pajama cardinals ( 2")
2 green chromis (2") , ( 4 more new ones in qt tank- 1")
brittle star
1 coral banded shrimp
6 hermit crabs
neon bubbletip anemone ( 6")
rose bubbletip anemone (3")

am-0
nit-0
nitra - 0-5
ph 8.4
sg-1.023

 

[Jolieve]

Wow.. that's um..

I started with my tank like that. I ended up ripping out the crushed coral and replacing it with a 4" deep sand bed. I've never had a seaclone, but my first skimmer was too small for the tank, so I replaced it with a bigger, better one. You're in the same boat with the seaclone IMO. Also.. that's not enough light for keeping anemones.. nowhere near enough. You probably need to look into T-5's or metal halides, and I'd do it fast.

J.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but I am going to ditto his recommendation. Bigger (much bigger) skimmer and significantly more lights for the anemones.

Don't worry, I started out the same way with my 150. I had no clue how to size things for this big of a tank.

 

[Jolieve]

Yeah, we all have to start somewhere and our first system usually isn't enough for the animals we want to keep. It's no big deal Just work on getting things up to par for your critters

J.

 

[sunryze]

thank all , this really stinks , the store knew money wasnt the issue on buying things so why do the stores sell ya stuff thats not big enough ,, :x ,,


so.... what do you suggest for a skimmer , and lights???

they said the lights were good since my tank isnt deep,,??????


and how about a good filter ???

my brother in law is tearing down a 125 this weekend ,he bought from someone whos setting up a 280 and says i can have the sand (3" deep)since hes doing the mud thing hes not using it ...and 40# of baserock ,,

can i put that in my tank??? ( how?)
do i have to remove all the coral and fish to do it???
do i have to qt the rock since its been in a tank for almost 10 years

sorry for all the questions ,, hubby traded in my well established african cichlids for this brainy salt water idea ,which the lfs said would be cake,,,arrrrg,, i know ill get it eventually but speed learning is not my idea of fun!!!!!! interesting but no fun yet!!!

 

[melas]

yeah the seaclones are junk. . . i had one as my first skimmer. you can't even take them apart to clean them. . . euroreef makes really nice efficient skimmers. you'll be suprised to see how much crap you can actually pull out of a "pristine" looking tank with a high efficiency skimmer! if you search this forum you'll see LOTS of discussions about skimmers.

Good luck and have fun with your new "baby"!

 

[Anonymous]

Are you looking for skimmers that you have to hang on the back or are you looking for skimmers that you plumb externally? What price range are you looking to spend?

What are you looking for in lights? Do you want them in a strip hood that you place on the aquarium or would you be willing to build a custon hood? Would you be willing to suspending something from the wall/ceiling? What is the price range you are looking for?


sorry to answer your question with questions but these will help narrow down choices.

 

[Jolieve]

I've heard of people having problems moving sandbeds from one tank to another. I would think you could use it, but I would dry it thoroughly first.. (do this by setting the sand in a warm, sunny place and periodically sifting through it to evenly distribute the water throughout). Doing this has the down side in that any life that is in that sand bed now will be dead by the time this drying process is over. It also means that any pest algaes in the sand bed will also be dead though, so it's less likely you will import those things into your tank using this method. You might find that you will need to buy more sand to get your sand bed to three inches once this is dry. It will also take some time to dry the sand, but well worth it if you can get the majority of it for free IMO.

As a testimonial to the coolness of Euroreef skimmers..

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=36746&

That picture is from Len's euro-reef skimmer. The only downside with these, is that they are in sump models only. If you're interested in a hang on the back skimmer, I'd look into aqua c's skimmers at: http://www.proteinskimmer.com and see if they have any hang on the back models large enough for your tank.

As far as the lights go, it's hard because LFS's see lots of customers who are looking to save money and have absolutely no idea how expensive a reef tank can be, so I can see how they might default to getting you into a system as inexpensively as possible, to keep you as a customer. Sometimes, if your LFS is not reputable, the guys at the store will tell you the minimum things you need to get your system started and then wait for you to come back and buy better stuff when you learn that you need better equipment. I don't know which is the case here, but I would bet that it's the former.

Hope this helps!
J.

 

[Ben1]

I think your lighting is fine for the time being. Adding an additional 2 96 watt PC's would help and you should have the space to do that. ahsupply.com has some decent cheap retro kits to help with this. AS far as skimmers go try a ASM g-3 or even better a becket skimmer like a www.myreefcreations.com or bullet skimmer like the bullet 3 from www.premiumaquatics.com

I think you need to invest in a decent water purifier also so you don't go using tapwater. Start right with an RO/DI from www.buckeyefieldsupply.com or some where else, but look into one if you already dont have one. Powerheads should be run for just water movement.

What type of corals do you plan to keep?

 

[sunryze]

thanks for all the links , ill be out there surfing awhile ,



looking for skimmers

i need a hang on type for now

What are you looking for in lights?

right now it would be nice to fit the right bulbs into exsisting fixtures
my husband is looking into some halide fixtures to hang above the tank , he found one in his van, so we need 2 more , he also found 2 cases of 175 halide bulbs in the garage collecting dust ( he dose electrical and refrigeration work for grocery stores) so we may be on the right track soon, he can build anything if someones got the specs for it .

What is the price range you are looking for?

as for price of course the cheapest way is a great idea , but lets talk reality and critters already in the tank... i need whatever is best and quick, :lol:

problems moving sandbeds

so.... iyo .. should i just can the used sand idea and buy new ??


water purifier

we're on a well with really great water ( with a natural PH of 8.4 )
but we have a UV light on the intake for the whole house because im paranoid , :lol: :lol:

 

[Jolieve]

Well water also carries with it heavy metals. I'd get someone to check the levels of copper and things like that in your well water. A UV filter will take care of most organic issues, but heavy metals are not filtered out by it.

It would, honestly, be easier and less time consuming for you to replace the entire sandbed, but you *could* use the old sand being donated to you if you wanted to save a few bucks.

For specs on the lights, search the DIY forum here for ideas on how to build your own metal halide light rig.

J.

 

[sunryze]

search the DIY forum

thanks , ill do that

heavy metals

got a water conditioner system too , i know it takes out metals , softner and helps with calcium but will have to read to see what else it removes



[/quote]

 

[Ben1]

There really isnt that many decent hang on skimmers for a tank that size. I would use two turboflotor multi 1000 or two PM HOT skimmers. I large hang on Lifereef www.lifereef.com would also be a good idea.

FWIW, I am not trying to stear you away from MH but it isnt needed for softies and BTA.
On top of that the MH bulbs you found are most likely around 4300K, or in other words ugly yellow and mostly useless. UV will kill off bacteria not helping with P04 or nitrates
and other oganics. You might be fine but might not. Try pulling a sample and testing it for P04 and Nitrate and see where those levels are at.

Where are you in PA?

 

[Anonymous]

FYI-go the county health dept for a water test. Around here, they come to you and it's free, so you may want to call first

 

[HisKid]

I have found that you should have about 4 to 6 watts per gallon. The halides are definitely the best way to go. I would probably mix them with some dual actinic bulbs to get that blue spectrum covered.

I was running PC's for a long time, but when I went to halide/actinic my tank took on a whole new life. The fish are more active; plus my corals literally started growing overnight. It is really amazing what the right lighting can do for inverts too. I started off with 5.78wpg with my PC's for an eight hour duration of full spectrum and 10 hour duration with the actinic. After the initial algae bloom, everything settled down and I was in business.

When I went to halides, I went from 5.78 wpg to 6.22 wpg. So I cut the duration back and gradually worked it to where I like it. I am running the dual actinic for 3hrs in the morning, with a 1 hour overlap on the halides. The halides run for 6 hours. Then 3 more hours in the evening for the actinic with a 1 hour overlap from the halides. Then 6 1watt moonlights all night until the whole process starts over again in the morning.

Again this works for me, so it is just my opinion

 

[sunryze]

hi hiskid, hope you dont mide a few questions..what size tank do you have , whats the wattage on the atinics , and what type halides??

 

[Anonymous]

4 to 6 watts per gallon

Thats flawed in thinking..4-6W per gallon isnt the way of looking at it...4W per gallon of PC isnt the same as 4W per gallon of MH