Equipment Questions for new setup.

Stoll · 01-20-2006, 02:49 PM

Hello everyone! I'm in the process of setting up a marine tank with live rock, and ideally I want to have a nice anemone for 2 clowns to live in. I'm not looking to make a predator tank or anything requiring metal halide lighting.

I currently have:

75 gallon glass tank (reef equipped - pre drilled for sump)
Coralife 4-65W 48" light system (2 10k bulbs and 2 actinic bulbs)
70lbs of medium crushed coral substrate
20lbs live sand
70lbs of live rock (on order)
Submergable water pump (I think it says it's good for 700gph)

Equipment I'm considering:

Super Skimmer 3002 (in sump)
2xSeio 620 Powerheads in tank

Now come the questions. Are the skimmer and powerheads i mentioned going to be good enough for my tank. The guy at the aquatic store wanted to sell me a $500 (canadian funds) Euro Skimmer, and that is definitely out of my budget. The super skimmer is $190 (much more affordable for me). My uncle is running a $100 hang on skimmer on his tank (which is the exact same size as mine) and it seems to do just fine.

I'm also curious as to whether or not it is ok to cure my new live rock directly in my tank, with the skimmer connected and everything. I'm also wondering if you can put bags of carbon and bio balls/stars loose into the sump to assist in cleaning the water.

Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated. I'm thrilled to be starting this hobby so you'll be seeing a fair amount of me in the future I'm sure!

RAVEN · 01-20-2006, 03:05 PM

Sounds like you have a good start with the equipment. The super skimmer should be fine for a 75g tank. You might want to add another smaller powerhead to the mix.

I would not recommend curing the live rock in the tank although others have done this. I think its just asking for trouble. You can cure the rock in a Rubbermaid trash can.

Stoll · 01-20-2006, 04:25 PM

Thanks for the reply Raven.

I don't have anything set up yet, as I'm building the stand tomorrow. My original plan was to get everything set up and cycling, with carbon, bio-balls, and skimmer in the sump, and the powerheads and heaters in the tank.

Then i was going to put the live rock straight into the tank, no substrate or live sand or anything else, just the rock. Apparently it takes 3-4 weeks to cure the rock, so I was just going to keep an eye on the water quality, do water changes as needed, and allow the water to right itself in the tank before adding the substrate. I've also read that running the lights for short periods of time can be beneficial as well to help things regrow, but not on long enough to promote algae growth.

After the rock had cured and my water quality had stabilized, I was going to to get my cleaner crew (snails, hermits, a brittle or two, and a couple cleaner shrimp). Eventually I would start adding the fish I want.

Is it generally a bad idea to cure the rock in the tank, even if the tank is devoid of anything but the rock?

On a side note, to get my water cycling through the sump, how does one go about adding water? With the predrilled holes in the tank, any water I add in will drain directly to the sump. I'm assuming I should fill the sump to 30-40%, then start adding water to the main tank and turn on the return pump at the same time. Granted I'm assuming that the Super Skimmer doesn't need to be plumbed into the system, that it just sits in the sump and does it's job. I was planning on using flexible hosing with clamps and putting valves in the lines for easier maintenance.

Diver_1298 · 01-20-2006, 04:33 PM

Where did you get your liverock from? Do you have a link?
Carbon can be placed in the sump for filtration. If you place them around the intake to your pump they will get the most flow there.
I wouldn't use the bio balls unless you plan on a wet dry with a strict cleaning schedule.

That sounds like a good idea on your sump. Look in the diy " I made this" forum for more ideas.

Jim

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stoll

I'm also curious as to whether or not it is ok to cure my new live rock directly in my tank, with the skimmer connected and everything. I'm also wondering if you can put bags of carbon and bio balls/stars loose into the sump to assist in cleaning the water.

Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated. I'm thrilled to be starting this hobby so you'll be seeing a fair amount of me in the future I'm sure!

Stoll · 01-20-2006, 04:47 PM

I am buying my LR from www.jlaquatics.com in Vancouver, B.C. I have 70lbs of Tonga rock ordered which should arrive in about 2 weeks.

RAVEN · 01-21-2006, 03:15 PM

The problem with curing that much rock in your tank is that your nitrates will go through the roof and you will be doing major water changes and wasting salt and money. I still stand by curing the rock in a tub and then you can set up your tank at the same time and let it begin cycling while the rock is curing.

Stoll · 01-23-2006, 10:03 AM

Well I was told it would be good to have a skimmer running while curing the rock. If so I won't have a skimmer running on the tank itself, which I spose wouldn't be a bad thing as there won't be anything in the tank anyways.

Now would it be a good thing to snag some water from my sister's marine tank to help with the curing? Would the bacteria from her tank help in the curing process?

RAVEN · 01-23-2006, 04:48 PM

Curing the rock is just letting anything that is dying on the rock die off so as not to pollute your tank. You can usually tell when the rock is cured when it no longer has the fishy rotten ammonia odor. I don't think taking water from your sisters tank will help with that.

NUGIO · 01-23-2006, 06:05 PM

i agree w the tub route cause itll stink up the whole house.i did mine in the garage and i couldnt stand going in there w the main door closed.

Stoll · 01-24-2006, 10:58 AM

Alright. My plan, after reading your responses, is this. I'm going to buy 2-38gallon tubs from Rona, and cure half my rock in each tub, utilizing a Seio 620 powerhead and a 200w heater in each tub. I hope those heaters will be good enough, if not I'll buy 300W heaters.

I was thinking of Visi-therm heaters, the 200w ones say they will work from 45-75 gallons, so one per tub should be good I think. While my rock is curing, I'm going to get my tank cycling with my live sand and substrate, then add the rock when it's all good to go. Hopefully that will do the trick!

I'll take pictures of everything, then figure out how to post em.