novice setting up 150 gallon reef aquarium

Before you say I am crazy, I "inherited" the fine equipment and tank. I am using an expert to help me get started and will have her maintain the tank until I have acquired the necessary skills. Tank and its residents' health come first.

As soon as I get the specifications I'll list them in my profile. I'll post pictures of what I have so far.

About the tank, it has a central overflow column (could be set up as 360 degree, but I have it about 18 inches from a wall). Sealife Systems wet/dry with bioballs filtration, two apparently powerful output heads, two panels of a total of 4 Actinic lights (two white, two blue in color).

There was a reticulated eel that I has getting but it got out and died before the tank's move to my home was completed. I've started from a cleaned out tank and am using live sand (1-2" estimated), small amount (4 or 5 live rock), and decorative rock and coral. Plan a reef (fish and coral, no eel) set up.

My background is that I am a biologist and conservationist who hasn't dared until recently to try to maintain a salt water tank. I am excited about my new adventure.

 

we;come to reef fielding. good to have you aboard. alot of people dont like the blue bioballs. too much crap gets caught in them , basicaly they become nitrate factories. or you can continue to rinse them off during maintenace. in that size tank, and especially if keeping corals, you will want to have quite a bit more live rock in their. for placement and filtration reasons. its beneficial. rule of thumb is 1 lb per gal minimum. do you know what type ;ights they are? for corals you will be needing t5's or better. and wattage of them is important too. i didnt see mention of power heads , you will need them for circulation.

wont call you crazy , because if you are , youre in good company here. lol.

 

Congratulations, welcome to 3reef and welcome to a great hobby. I don't think that you are crazy at all. I got started about 15 years ago and my first tank ever was a used 70gal that it got a great deal on. Like you my background was biology with a good chemistry background to boot and I think that gives you a huge leg up on things. I can't begin to relate how much pleasure this hobby has brought me and I think mosthere on 3reef would say the same thing. I am going to assume that as a biologist and conservationist you don't have an aversion to text books. If this is so, pick up a copy of The Reef Aquarium: Science Art and Technology, Vol 3 by Delbeek and Sprung Amazon has a good price on it Amazon.com: The Reef Aquarium: Science, Art, and Technology, Vol. 3 (9781883693145): Julian Sprung, J. Charles Delbeek: Books though you can find it lots of places. Volumes 1 and 2 are also great but Vol 3 is the most recent and also focuses the most on the things importantant to you as you first set up your tank.
It might help us to know in broad terms, what your hobby budget is. Our first 8 years in the hobby were while my girlfriend/wife and I were still starving students so this can be done with limited resources. On the other hand there is a lot of great technology that can make your life easier and help you acheive even better results if you are at the stage in your life where a $100 here and $100 there isn't going to cause you to go hungry.

 

Hello and welcome to 3reef

 

Welcome!!

 

WELCOME Fielding,
I'm new here also and my start is much smaller then yours, Aquapod 12, it's just finished cycling, I'll wait another month or so to start adding corals. I'm sure a lot of us will be keeping an eye on your setup,

Phil

 

Welcome to 3reef dude. Glad to have you here. Pics are good.....GOOOOOOOOD.

 

welcome to 3 reef, Fielding

Steve

 

welcome fellow biobuddy

 

Welcome! You will learn a lot here. Never quit learning, and be patient. There's my $.02