New and Learning, Lots of questions!

[Angry_Preme]

Hi Team,

BRAND new to the hobby, recently purchased a 36L (9.5 Gallons) as my first tank. Started the cycle and decided it was not large enough for what I ultimately wanted to do.

Now I am 7 days into running a brand new Aqua One 400 Series 2. So far I have made a lot of mistakes. Learned a lot also though!

I have some questions and some thoughts and would love as much personal feedback from as many people as possible in the hopes to gauge information.

I feel I need to also note that the tank will be cycling for roughly another 5 weeks to make sure it is REALLY established. So time to plan everything and to make sure I have not overlooked the basics.

Tank: http://bit.ly/2EkVBo8
Return pump: Included with the tank
Skimmer: Included with the tank
Lights: Included with the tank
Cabinet: Included with the tank
Heating: Included with the tank
Wave Maker MP 40: http://bit.ly/2L4pidz
ATO: Don't remember but it works.

Chemicals added; Dr Tims all in one (500ml), Aqua Reef Bio S, 4 drops every morning, Dr Tims Ammonia at the start of the cycle.

Also added 1 Large unseeded bio media cube, and 10 small seeded bio media cubes from my LFS which was in a tank running for over 5+ years.

Substrate is just normal fine grain coral sand.

35KG's of live rock + 10KG's of dry rock. (some dry rock is also in the sump with my bio media to help seed the biomedia)

I have been debating with myself for DAYS over how I was going to have the rocks and finally decided on the photos below, ignore the twitch logo. Eventually this will be used as part of an AFK screen for my gaming Twitch Stream hence the 3D printed logo with Salt aquarium safe printing material.

The questions I have, I know I need ALOT more tech. However funds are running low for this hobby for the mean time as so far I has spent roughly $3,750 AUD.

1. Should I be having a custom sump made to so that I can have a refugium or is there a way around having one somehow put in?

2. Is it worth having a chiller? Yes I live in Aus and we can randomly have VERY hot days for EG the last two days have been 39c (102F) outside. Down stairs in the room that the tank is in does have an air con but obviously if no one is at home my concern is if the tank gets up in temp. Are they noisy though? Would I be able to fit it in the cupboard with the sump? I will post photos of the sump below.

3. In regards to dosing I don't quite understand. Like I feel super dumb asking this. But should I be dosing before having live stock in the tank? EG Before fish or before putting in any coral? How do I dose? How do I know what to dose? Etc Etc?

4. RODI filter. Now I am lucky enough to not be shot bringing this huge tank home in the first place so I don't have much more room for this. Are these needed or is there a way around this or should I just keep buying RO water from my fish store?

5. UV sterilizer? Is this worth it? Like is it a great downfall to not have one?

6. Monitoring water parameters. Is there any tech even if its multiple pieces that I could get that will help me monitor my levels to keep them normal and or healthy?

7. Is there any tech or anything simple I am missing? Any feedback on the tank or thoughts I would greatly appreciate.

Tank: https://imgur.com/a/XnK62Pa (please ignore the mess on the glass I just finished aqua scaping and have not had a chance to clean the glass just yet)
Sump Left Hand Side: https://imgur.com/a/u3XwfN6
Sump Right Hand Side: https://imgur.com/a/1IUnTi7

 

[sfin52]

Welcome to Reef2reef
With lr (live rock) your cycle may go a lot quicker especially with adding Dr. Tim's. Just keep testing amonia nitrite and nitrate.

Rodi unit will be cheeper for you over the long run. Also you are not at the mercy of the lfs water quality. It is also nice to have a reliable water source in case of emergency.

Hanna makes great teaters that don't rely on color charts.

 

[sfin52]

 

[Angry_Preme]

Welcome to Reef2reef
With lr (live rock) your cycle may go a lot quicker especially with adding Dr. Tim's. Just keep testing amonia nitrite and nitrate.

Rodi unit will be cheeper for you over the long run. Also you are not at the mercy of the lfs water quality. It is also nice to have a reliable water source in case of emergency.

Hanna makes great teaters that don't rely on color charts.

Any recommendations for a like movable RODI unit?

Hanna test kit? Or is it like an electronic plug in kind of one and will they be able to test for everything that I will require for keeping fish?

My plan is to begin with keep an Anemone and Two clowns and nothing else for a little while oh and a clean up crew ofcourse.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

1. Custom sumps are nice but can be pricy, you mentioned you are about to your limit on funds, a DIY project might be an option.
2. I have never used one or needed one so no help here.
3. Don't worry about dosing at this point that will be sometime down the road.
4. I would recomend a ro/di unit. Beats lugging buckets, you are in control of your mixing and water quality.
5. I have read mixed reviews on the need and personally don't use one. Somebody else experienced with using them can help answer this one.

 

[Billldg]

Welcome to R2R!!!

A chiller is only really needed if you have a hard time keeping your water temp below 80 degrees, I just dropped the temp on my hvac unit to lower and maintain tank temp, but each person's situation is different. You don't need to start dosing until you have corals in your tank and water changes aren't enough to replenish the supplements. You just have to test the parameters once you have corals and see if the demand is more than water changes provide, the touch have to start dosing. A ro/di system, IMO, is a must for a successful tank. Things happen and having ro/did water on hand gives a big you a big advantage in preventing and combating problems as they arise. I couldn't tell you how many times I would have a problem and I already had water made up, so a water change was as simple as just doing to stopping or slowing down any problems that came up.

 

[NS Mike D]

2. Not until you actually set up you tank in the hot days will you know if a chiller is worth it. The room air should be fine if it has AC. If the tank temp rises, a less expensive solution is to set up a fan hooked up to a temperature controller, like an Willhi or InkBird. (BTW, you should use one of those to your heater since heaters are typically the cheapest pieces of equipment and most likely to fail). You can also hook your lights to a controller (fan on and lights off if temp gets too high)

More sophisticated controllers like the Apex (expensive) or the DIY reefpi will do the job of many controllers as clutter can happen very quickly in this hobby. These more sophisticated controllers also have wifi/internet capability to alert you to a problem remotely.

 

[Ron Reefman]

1. Should I be having a custom sump made to so that I can have a refugium or is there a way around having one somehow put in?
You don't NEED one. But the sump can be very helpful. And a refugium can be very useful as well. I have a 40g cube as a DT and a 40g sump/refugium. That how much I think it matters.

2. Is it worth having a chiller? Yes I live in Aus and we can randomly have VERY hot days for EG the last two days have been 39c (102F) outside. Down stairs in the room that the tank is in does have an air con but obviously if no one is at home my concern is if the tank gets up in temp. Are they noisy though? Would I be able to fit it in the cupboard with the sump? I will post photos of the sump below.
I live in SW Florida where it's between 92 and 94F for 4 months of the year. We keep our house at 80F and so is the tank. If you are going to let the house get hotter when you aren't there, or have the possibility of power outages (we have hurricanes so we also have a big generator and a spare portable room A/C), a chiller can be worth having. It becomes more and more important as the cost/value of all the livestock you keep goes up and up over time.

3. In regards to dosing I don't quite understand. Like I feel super dumb asking this. But should I be dosing before having live stock in the tank? EG Before fish or before putting in any coral? How do I dose? How do I know what to dose? Etc Etc?
You shouldn't need to dose anything until you start keeping lps or sps corals. Before that, you will be able to keep Ca, alk and Mg levels more than high enough by doing regular water changes. You'll dose when the lps and sps corals start to use more Ca and alk out of the water than you replace with water changes. Eventually you'll need to get test kits for Ca, alk and Mg. But that should be at least 6 months to 12 months from now.

4. RODI filter. Now I am lucky enough to not be shot bringing this huge tank home in the first place so I don't have much more room for this. Are these needed or is there a way around this or should I just keep buying RO water from my fish store?
For most people, getting an RO/DI system is both cheaper (in the long run) and MUCH more convenient. And the bigger the tank, the more convenient it is. Doing a weekly 10g water change gets to be a real chore if it means going to the LFS every time. Heck, I found a 1000gpd high end RO/DI system for sale used at $150 from another reefer getting out of the hobby. So now I have a 45g RO/DI water storage tank and a 200g RO/DI reject water tank that I use to do laundry. BTW, I have this because at one time a couple of years ago I had 4 tanks and over 600g of saltwater in the house. A simple RO/DI with a Brute garbage can or even a couple of 5-7g buckets may be enough for you over the next year or two.

5. UV sterilizer? Is this worth it? Like is it a great downfall to not have one?
Not needed. Can it be useful? Maybe. But I ran a 120g DT with a 40g anemone tank and a 40g sump/refugium with just a filter sock, a refugium and a skimmer. No UV sterilizer, no GFO reactor, no carbon reactor and no special phosphate remover. And the DT was FULL of sps corals.

6. Monitoring water parameters. Is there any tech even if its multiple pieces that I could get that will help me monitor my levels to keep them normal and or healthy?
Buy simple test kits and use them on a very regular schedule. Starting out you need to test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate until you get through the nitrogen cycle. And even the diatom, cyano and algae blooms that will follow as your tanks starts to mature. Then nitrate, phosphate become more important and even alk, Ca and Mg may become a regular part of your testing. After everything is mature and stable it really boils down to Ca and alk. I test for these every week and then dose the Ca and alk up to my spec manually. But my current 40g DT is 70% zoas, 15% anemones, 5% softies, 5% lps and 5% sps. So my tank doesn't use that much Ca and alk week to week. My old 120g sps tank had to be dosed every day and I had a dosing pump set up to do that 24/7.

7. Is there any tech or anything simple I am missing? Any feedback on the tank or thoughts I would greatly appreciate.
There is always more high tech stuff you can get, like an Apex controller. It can make life easier, but it isn't cheap and it certainly is NOT required (I sold mine when I downsized to my 40g cube).
My advice is that you are certainly starting out on the right foot by taking your time and asking questions. There is an old saying in this hobby, "Nothing good happens fast in a marine aquarium!" Look around for a local club and try to make a friend or two that can offer help (and maybe even cheap, used equipment). Don't EVER buy anything to put in your tank without knowing it's compatible. There are fish that are not compatible with other fish and lots of other critters that aren't always compatible either. And if it's at all an unusual critter, ask here for advise. LSF's and websites will sell you animals that can be nearly impossible to keep and at the same time, tell you they are easy to keep. Ask here and you'll get MUCH more honest answers.

I hope that helps some? Good luck and don't be a stranger.
Ron Reefman

 

[NS Mike D]

fwiw, I did my DIY sump for under USD50. Simple glass tank on sale, 4 sheets of glass from the big box hardward store, silicone and a glass cutter.

My ATO is the DIY from BRS USD40 I recently added an Apex but decided to keep the BRS ATO. My water container is a plastic water jug.

 

[Captain Quint]

Welcome to R2R Angry_Preme

You've received some great info already and it looks like we are all on the 'same page' and we can address accordingly as you progress.

The ~121 US gallon tank you are getting sounds great and you've put a lot of thought in it.

Don't worry yet about dosing and such, baby steps and patience and advice will get you where you want/need to be.

Please do not add an anemone immediately after your tank has cycled. Just not a good idea. It does need to be a bit mature before doing such.

~cheers~

 

[SPR1968]

You have got some great advice already so I’ll just say welcome to R2R!

 

[reef lover]

Welcome to r2r!!
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

 

[Angry_Preme]

Hi Team,

Firstly thanks for all the advice! I will have time to have a proper read tomorrow when I am not so exhausted. Just thought I would pop in and mention that today is the first day that I have what I think is algae growing on the back of the weir. I can see some snails have come from my live rock and are obviously doing fine as I can see little trails that they have cleaned up. Now question is, I have another tank with three snails in it. Would they be able to be acclimated to my larger tank now and go in or is it better to wait? I simply just don't want the algae to get out of hand.

 

[JasonK84]

Do you plan on QT'ing before putting live stock into the display? If yes then you will need to run fallow for 76 days since you used media from the LFS's established system. Assume that anything wet from the LFS or any other tank has parasites and moving to your tank will move the parasite also.

 

[lapin]

I will pipe in on the uv. Since you are unsure about heat build up. Remember a UV unit will add heat to your tank.