New to saltwater tanks

cmcimino · Jul 21, 2016

Hello everyone!

I have been in the freshwater hobby for a couple of years now, and really enjoy keeping planted tanks. Today I came across what I think was a deal of a lifetime, so I went with it! I got a 28 gallon JBJ, reef keeper 2, stand, auto top-off, battery backup, SunPod light, etc.. for $20.00 I'm going to be working on cleaning out the tank and stand and organizing all of the accessories while I do my research. What advice do you all have for me being new to the saltwater hobby?

Thanks in advance!

jsker · Jul 21, 2016

Welcome to R2R, nice score on the tank. Look forward the see you progress of your new/used tank

4FordFamily · Jul 21, 2016

Welcome home, you will love it here!

That's a great deal, keep us posted on the build!!

Salty1962 · Jul 22, 2016

Welcome to R2R! Good snag.
The best ideas I can give you is to read and study as much as you can. There are many great threads on this site about starting up your first tank. Then ask a thousand questions, many great folks here more than willing to help. The next, and most important, is to be patient. This is a hobby you need to take small bites of at a time. Patience will assure you of better success and an awesome tank.

Feltman · Jul 22, 2016

Biggest rookie mistake. Remember salt doesn't evaporate so when u refill water that has evaporated (I see u have an ato) use rodi freshwatwr for this topoff.

domination2580 · Jul 22, 2016

Welcome to the reef! This place is fully packed with valuable info and great help from everyonw in the hobby! I look forward to seeing you progress on the tank! Btw very nice score on the tank and equipment...send some of those people with those deals my way.

eatbreakfast · Jul 22, 2016

Welcome!

Take your time, nothing good happens fast.

We are all happy to answer any questions you might have.

cmcimino · Aug 5, 2016

The tank has been cleaned! I really wish I had some before pictures so I could show the progress, I'll make sure I take some from now on. I started by taking out all of the sand, and spraying it out with a hose. I ended up finding a kitchen knife in the back filter section so I made sure I really washed everything out. I took apart both return pumps and cleaned them out, and installed them back in. I wanted to get any coraline algae/ build up off the tank so I poured about a gallon and a half of vinegar in and filled the rest up with water, and let it run over the weekend. It looks practically brand new now!

I have also decided to pick up a new light because I did not really want to run a 150W metal halide bulb all day so I picked up an AI Prime from a local craigslist add for $100. I sent in a costumer service request and had the top mount piece replace so it no longer swiveled down.

My next step is going to be buying rock. I went to my LFS and talked to them about live rock, but I really don't want to spend $5.99/lb on live rock. I was thinking about possibly ordering some dry Pukani rock off of BRS and cycling it in my tank. Any thoughts on this? I'm fine with waiting on longer for the tank to cycle to insure I don't have any unwanted hitchhikers. I also don't know how much rock I will need. I've heard Pukani is not very dense, so I am thinking around 15-20 pounds. I'll also buy some live sand to go in the tank after the rock.

I live near the beach (Wilmington, NC) and the local university has an aquaculture center down the road that has filtered ocean water for public use. I just spoke with someone from my LFS and they had just tested a sample and said it looked great, so I will be filling my tank with that. Anything else I need to start cycling my tank?

Thanks in advance!

reef_junkie · Aug 5, 2016

I think 15-20 pounds of dry rock is plenty for your cube. I can't weigh in on filtered ocean water as I don't live anywhere near a beach but get some opinions here as lfs have a habit of telling new hobbyist what they want to hear. Live sand is a waste of money in my opinion,you could instead but live rubble to seed your rock with.

cmcimino · Aug 5, 2016

reef_junkie said:
I think 15-20 pounds of dry rock is plenty for your cube. I can't weigh in on filtered ocean water as I don't live anywhere near a beach but get some opinions here as lfs have a habit of telling new hobbyist what they want to hear. Live sand is a waste of money in my opinion,you could instead but live rubble to seed your rock with.

I had read that in other places too, what do you recommend for substrate then? Also whats your opinion on the bottled bacteria/cycling boosters? There seems to be so many different opinions on how to cycle tanks, similar to the freshwater side.

BummersReef · Aug 5, 2016

cmcimino said:
The tank has been cleaned! I really wish I had some before pictures so I could show the progress, I'll make sure I take some from now on. I started by taking out all of the sand, and spraying it out with a hose. I ended up finding a kitchen knife in the back filter section so I made sure I really washed everything out. I took apart both return pumps and cleaned them out, and installed them back in. I wanted to get any coraline algae/ build up off the tank so I poured about a gallon and a half of vinegar in and filled the rest up with water, and let it run over the weekend. It looks practically brand new now!

I have also decided to pick up a new light because I did not really want to run a 150W metal halide bulb all day so I picked up an AI Prime from a local craigslist add for $100. I sent in a costumer service request and had the top mount piece replace so it no longer swiveled down.

My next step is going to be buying rock. I went to my LFS and talked to them about live rock, but I really don't want to spend $5.99/lb on live rock. I was thinking about possibly ordering some dry Pukani rock off of BRS and cycling it in my tank. Any thoughts on this? I'm fine with waiting on longer for the tank to cycle to insure I don't have any unwanted hitchhikers. I also don't know how much rock I will need. I've heard Pukani is not very dense, so I am thinking around 15-20 pounds. I'll also buy some live sand to go in the tank after the rock.

I live near the beach (Wilmington, NC) and the local university has an aquaculture center down the road that has filtered ocean water for public use. I just spoke with someone from my LFS and they had just tested a sample and said it looked great, so I will be filling my tank with that. Anything else I need to start cycling my tank?

Thanks in advance!

We got our dry rock from BRS ... Got reef saver and we're happy with it but probably will get Punkani next time ... Just looks so nice and rock is a big part of the final tank impression. There are MANY ways to cycle ... You have to ask yourself how patient am I? You can try to speed things along or take it slow safe and steady. You will get varying advice as you ask at LFS and on here ... If you can find a good reliable person at LFS you are ahead of game.
Will you be using all dry rock to start? It's fine if you do and you will not have hitchhiker problems. But no matter what you might hear you can not cycle a tank in a few weeks .... Especially without fresh live rock. You need lots of time .... Which is free. As long as you are willing to give the time go for it

cmcimino · Aug 5, 2016

I figured I would use all dry rock to start. Go through and pick out any dead organism in the rock, and then give it an acid bath to help with phosphates. I have lots of time, and don't mind having a tank with only water and rocks sitting in the corner. I have a planted freshwater tank that I can occupy myself with. What are your opinions on introducing bacteria, there seems to be a lot of different methods.

reef_junkie · Aug 5, 2016

I've never used bacteria in a bottle. The dry rock directly from BRS has enough dead organic matter in it to start your cycle then it's a matter of feeding the cycle ammonia to fully establish.

erinmegan85 · Aug 5, 2016

What LFS store do you go to? I go to Wilmington for most saltwater stuff since our LFS is poop. I typically go to The Fish Room. In fact, that's where I got all my live rock from for our 68 gallon and it is critter free! I also got a discount thought because I bought a decent amount of it.

cmcimino · Aug 5, 2016

I've been going to the Fish Room for help. I ended up deciding on getting dry rock from BRS, and dry sand of Amazon because I have a gift card. I ended up getting the Caribsea dry aragonite special grade reef sand. I plan on getting livestock from the Fish Room, but that wont be for a while.

erinmegan85 · Aug 5, 2016

They have some good stuff there, and I really like the people who work there. They're always helpful and friendly. I haven't gotten any fish from them yet, but I plan to. I have gotten some pretty awesome frags and decent size piece of coral from them that have done well.

Alex23 · Aug 5, 2016

Have you set it up yet? Pics!?

cmcimino · Aug 6, 2016

Alex Scott said:
Have you set it up yet? Pics!?

Here its is in my garage. The metal halide fixture will not be used.

My roommates girlfriend is a teacher, so I've been caring for her betta tank this summer. She is moving in her classroom in a week and a half so I will be setting it up then. Below is the list of all equipment I have.

JBJ 28 gallon cube
15 pounds of dry aragonite special grade reef sand
20 pounds of dry Pukani rock
Bag of Purigen
Chemi-Pure elite
Aqua Illumination Prime
2 Maxijet 1200 return pumps (may switch one out with with a 900 after reading about issues with 2 1200's)
Auto Top off system
ReefKeeper 2 Controller
New pH probe
Hydor Koralia 565 GPH powerhead
Battery Backup system.
1.5 gallons of Kalkwasser
Test Kits, supplements, etc.

I'm going to get my water from the UNCW Aquaculture center because its free, and everyone here locally says its good water to start a tank with. Any top off water will be RO/DI from my LFS. So far I have right around $300 invested in the whole set up. I wanted to stay under $400 so I'm doing well! Obviously I'll have more time to save up while the tank cycles. I'm beyond exciting to get this started!!