First salt water tank

[Kerwin1721]

Hello,

I am finally setting up my first salt water tank after years of freshwater tanks and a bit of time breeding cichlids. I joined R2R a while ago and have done a ton of research and reading everything I can so I can set up a tank.

My original plan was to set up a 20gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump. I had the tanks left over from when I used to breed the cichlids. They have been sitting around for about a year in my basement. After cleaning them really well and water checks and drilling the tank I built a stand. The way I built the stand there ended up being about a 1.5 inch gap on both sides of the tank so the sump would fit into the stand.

Thinking I was finished with the stand my wife ended up not liking the gaps and suggested I just use one of the 29 gallon tanks so I could keep the 20 gallon as a sump. I wasn't going to argue about going bigger so I drilled the 29 gallon and rebuilt the stand. This time instead of having two door, I made the front one panel that would open. I still wanted it to look similar to the 110 gallon cichlid tank that it will sit next to so I put false doors on the font.

When plumbing the tank I decided to use two overflows, one that will be the main tuned to make a siphon with a ball valve and one as a emergency. I used a schedule 80 cap with holes drilled into it as the main and a schedule 80 elbow as the emergency. On the back of the tank I am using clear flexible tubing to carry the water to/from the sump.

After doing a lot of looking at how other have built a sump I started in on mine. The silicone is not pretty but for a first attempt I don't think it was too bad. In the tank I used acrylic sheets to make the baffles and a filter sock holder. I tried to make the compartments for the filter sock/skimmer and the return pump about the size as the equipment so I could leave as much room as possible for the refugium.

Here is how it looks now that I have everything into the sump and in the stand.

I am still waiting on the power head and the dry rock which is supposed to be delivered tomorrow.

I'm also on a bit of a budget so I couldn't go as nice as I wanted to but the equipment I have picked up after reading reviews and lots of posts on here are.

Substrate - CariSea Arag-alive Figi Pink
Skimmer - SCA-301 by SC Aquariums rated for 65-75 gallons
Return pump - PP53006: 530 GPH, Submersible - 45W, 6' Cord that I picked up from Amazon
Powerhead - Hydor Koralia Nano 425
Light - 165W Dimmable LED Aquarium Light Full Spectrum Reef Coral Marine Lamp
Under stand light - white LED light strip.

I have a little bit of dry Fiji rock and have more coming from BRS. Then I believe I am ready to put water in. My plan is to use Red Sea Coral salt.

I am still confused about a few things and want to have a solid plan before I put water in, cycle or even consider putting coral/fish. I want to learn as much as possible and do thing correctly to help head off problems that may come up later on.

First few questions.
1. How does the setup look? Anything I should consider changing, adding or skipping?
2. What is the best testing kit? Are there better/easier options than the API test kits?
3. What is some suggestions on what should go into the refugium? I know there are so many options. Should I just put live rock/rubble? Substrate or plain bottom? Macro algae?

Thank you all for your options and suggestions. I have enjoyed reading as much as I can and figured now that I am this far I would share and get any/all opinions/suggestions/criticism I can get.

 

[Russ265]

Hello...

First few questions.
1. How does the setup look? Anything I should consider changing, adding or skipping?
looks solid
2. What is the best testing kit? Are there better/easier options than the API test kits?
easier? not really. more accurate? certainly. red sea pro kits are my personal favorite. hanna also takes the cake for alk and po4
3. What is some suggestions on what should go into the refugium? I know there are so many options. Should I just put live rock/rubble? Substrate or plain bottom? Macro algae?
a refugium is for pods to take refuge from it's prey. generally a deep sand bed, rubble, macro algae to grow and reproduce in this area free from predetation.in my case it is just an ats, dsb and live rock.

Thank you all for your options and suggestions. I have enjoyed reading as much as I can and figured now that I am this far I would share and get any/all opinions/suggestions/criticism I can get.

hth

 

[booth2010]

Looking good. I miss my cichlid tank there we so fun. Looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

 

[Kerwin1721]

Looking good. I miss my cichlid tank there we so fun. Looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

Here is my 110 Cichlid. It has been a fun tank. There were quite a few that were hiding in the rocks as well.

 

[melypr1985]

1. How does the setup look? Anything I should consider changing, adding or skipping?
It looks great! What a good start! I would just make sure that taking the filter sock out is easy enough to make sure your doing it at least twice a week to clean. Also make sure you can easily remove any and all equipment for cleaning or emergencies. I did test a run with removing my skimmer before I filled it with water to make sure I could do it on my own without tearing apart the sump or stand.

2. What is the best testing kit? Are there better/easier options than the API test kits?
I agree with Russ... Red Sea has very accurate test kits. I use them also.

3. What is some suggestions on what should go into the refugium? I know there are so many options. Should I just put live rock/rubble? Substrate or plain bottom? Macro algae?
Your right.. so many options. My last one had sand and rubble and Calerpa(sp?) macro algae in it. I found it to be a pain to keep free of detritus. This time around I went with extra live rock I had left over and a bare bottom. I'm still using the Calerpa since it seems to grow REALY fast for me.

 

[Kerwin1721]

Thank you very much Russ265 & Melypr1985

I saw that suggestion about easy access on another post and checked. The stand is high enough to easily take the skimmer or anything else out. Thats also why I made the stand with the entire front panel swings out of the way to give as much access as possible. I have also picked up quite a few filter socks so I can change them out on a very regular basis.

Thanks again for the suggestions on the fuge and will definitely check out the Red Sea test kit.

 

[booth2010]

Here is my 110 Cichlid. It has been a fun tank. There were quite a few that were hiding in the rocks as well.

Awsome! I had a 75g with sand and slate rock caves I made. Had around 15 cichlids and my Kenyi were breeding by the time I had to take it down. Im trying to convice the wife to let me get a 90+ gal when we buy a house to have them again.

 

[Kerwin1721]

What is everyone's suggestions on what salt to use? Is it ok to start the cycling process with instant ocean reef salt and then move to a better salt like Res Seas? Or should I look at another salt?

 

[booth2010]

A LOT of people use IO Reef Salt or Crystal and just use supplements to get the the levels they want. Its all a matter of preference and availability.

 

[Kerwin1721]

Just received my LED light.
Question: How high above my tank should a light be? Is there a standard that most follow or is it just a personal judgement type deal? It is dimmable so I think it would be ok close but not sure.

Update - Water is in. I used IO salt to start out but will probably move up to a Red Sea reef salt after the cycle. Still have not decided. I also ordered some Pukani dry rock from BRS along with a refractometer which was shipped today so I will look forward to adding it in probably next Tuesday. I was using an Instant Ocean Hydrometer but still can't get a consistent reading when I try it more than once. I've seen reading between the 1.023-1.025 lines. I'm guessing it is about 1.024 and I'm slowly trying to raise it to 1.025. .