20 Years Later...It's all new to me!

[Yorto]

20 Years ago I had my first saltwater aquarium. Wet/Dry's were not the norm, cutting edge, and expensive. Mostly UG filters, hang ons, and air flow. The best filters were canisters. I had a Magnum 350. Now, I'm inheriting a 90 gallon. Getting some live rock and coral from a man who has become too ill to continue the hobby. So, I need some advice....

1) I bought a Aqueon ProFlex sump, Model 4. Is this too big of a filter/sump? I'd like to make it a refugium. Sometime later, though.

2) Say, the power goes out. The overflow box, will on drain so far and then lose its prime. I get that. What about the return? Should I do something to the hose or return valve to prevent a back flow?

3) Water from the tap.... I know that I can't afford a R/O just yet. How should I prep my water for saltwater and most importantly, the corals and live rock until the R/O system is installed and available? My LFS does sell R/O saltwater for $1 per gallon.

4) For the substrate, I went with live sand. Problems? I want to get jawfish. Crushed coral, I heard is too much for them to move. I do have water flow jets to circulate water. I don't want to stir up the sand. Thoughts?

I do have a skimmer for the sump. I multi-light T5 HO with blue moon lights, 10K and actinic lights. Very cool stuff. I just need to prep my filter and water flow. I know to take my time. Your time, and consideration to my questions is greatly appreciated.

-Dave Yorto

 

[Waters]

I was in the same boat when I started over last year. Roughly 15 years ago I was running a wet/dry with bio-balls, a diatom canister filter, etc. Anyways, I will try to answer your questions......
1) There is no such thing as a sump that is too big. I have seen tanks where the sump was actually larger than the display tank. The larger the sump, the more extra water volume you add to your tank, along with more room to handle larger, more efficient equipment.
2) Unfortunately I cannot answer this without knowing more about your setup. My system is set up so that my sump can handle water coming back into the sump without overflowing (my return will backflow until it hits a siphon hole, then stops)
3) I would purchase the R/O water from the LFS......that is one of the biggest changes from 15 years ago until now, for me anyways. Tap water just adds too many things that you don't want in your tank, and will just cause issues in the long run. I could never figure out why my first saltwater tank, 15 years ago, was loaded with hair algae. It all makes sense now lol.
4) Live sand is fine. A lot depends on the grain size that you went with. If you use super fine sand, then the water movement will blow it around if you aren't careful. I have never had jawfish, but based on research I have done, they do like a mixture of different size "rubble" to build their dens....doesn't have to just be super fine sand.

Hope this helps.

 

[melypr1985]

I have a bluespot jawfish.... he likes the live sand, but as Waters said, they do love different bits of rubble to decorate their home. Make for certain your rock structure is secure. My jawfish has dug all the sand out from under my largest rock and made that his home. Don't place any corals too close to his den, it will either end up apart of his decoration/ structure or covered in sand lol. Good luck!