1st sand tank 46 bow

bill santana · 05-17-2006, 07:39 PM

hey

everyone

I have my first saltwater tank with live sand. Does anyone have any suggestions about this. I have been doing saltwater for about 3 years so Im still new. My tank is now cycling just started it last week. I want to make it into a reef tank. Its a 46 gal bow front, would like to get a sump for it but for now it has a skimmer and magnum hang on canister filter and 900 maxi jet . This is all I can do for now, Im getting back surgery in June. In the meantime I could use some advice.

What kind of sump that would fit the tank stand, what I would need pump wise and tubes etc.. I have a 55 gal FOWLR and thats going good ,so advise I would take kindly.. If I knew how to post pic I would of my 55.

Geoff · 05-17-2006, 07:51 PM

since this is going to be a reef. i suggest removing the cannister filter. what kind of skimmer do you have? the LR and the skimmer are all of the filtration you will need. i know it is tough to believe, but it is all you need. cannisters will actually be working against you.

to have a sump, you either drill the tank for an overflow or use a HOB overflow. drilled tanks are less likely to fail. anythink will work as a sump. a lot of people just use rubbermaid buckets. whatever fits in the space is fine. you do not need to spend the money on a true sump unless you want to. 20 longs are a good choice for sumps also.

G~

nobody · 05-17-2006, 07:51 PM

first do not send more money then you have to.......go buy a 29 gallon tank for about 50-60 dollars and use that as your sump........i am too using live sand for the first time........i would also put about 50lbs of live rock in there and then the nice thing use you willNOT need that canister filter on that tank........this is the great thing about a reef tank is when you have ls/lr and the right amount of it you do not need a biological filter......if you want to use carbon just throw it in the sump and thats it...............reef tanks are expensive in some ways but save money in others

tony0980 · 05-17-2006, 08:45 PM

Do you have to eventually replace a shallow sand bed? I've heard you do on DSB, but don't want to have to replace mine, which is only about 1-2 inches deep

bill santana · 05-17-2006, 09:42 PM

I have a seaclone 150 on it right now. I havent put any LR in yet because I dont want it to die. I know that some will when I do. I dont know what a HOB overflow is, well kinda it goes on the back of the tank, right and line would to the sump.

I will get what I can to make of sump or go and buy one on ebay. please dont stop with the advise I can use it.

leveldrummer · 05-17-2006, 11:48 PM

have you checked into lights yet? that will help your live rock. you will have coraline algae growing on your rock when you get it, and if you have any good hitch hikers, youll want them to live too. i have the same tank, with a 20 long inside a custom stand, just barely fits, that tank or a smaller one would fit great, you can measure your stand and find out just what size to fit in there, the bigger the better, because you want more volume.

deathmatch782 · 05-18-2006, 12:46 PM

You should consider getting a better skimmer. Seaclones are the lowest bracket IMO and probably wont keep up well enough for you.
What lighting do you have/planning on getting?

saltwater_wannabe · 05-18-2006, 12:55 PM

[<< raises hand] I know! I know!

All joking aside, I have a very similar setup to you. We have had our 46g bowfront for ~4 years now and everything's running fine. I have just thrown out my SeaClone in favor of an AquaC Remora Pro skimmer, but everything else has been done on the cheap.

The best investment we have made to date is the Coralife Aqualight Power Compact fixture(2x96w). It really helped our coralline algae take off and the liverock in our tank came to life seemingly overnight. Other than that, I have 2 - Maxijet 1200's; one in each of the back corners of the tank aimed at the center of the front pane on the tank. We have almost no deadspots, so it seems to be working.

The only real mistake I have made is overfeeding the tank. It's really starting to pick back up now that I've let up a little.

Hope that helps!
Brian

BGJ223 · 05-18-2006, 02:03 PM

You don't need to worry about the live rock dying, it is going to happen a little when you cycle the tank. You need to rock to start your filtration process. Since you are going to have surgery, just get yourself some rock in the tank and let it sit for a couple months. Just do some water changes on a regular schedule (10 - 20% every other week) and all should be fine.

bill santana · 05-18-2006, 02:25 PM

I plan getting a different skimmer but know sure what kind yet. for the lighting I want to get a corallife compact. I just got some mangrove for this tank and my 55 gal which is a fowlr but might turn into a reef. which means more money for that, but for now I want the 46 bow to get going. If there are any good used skimmers out there that are not to old let me know,or just tell me a good kind to get.

BGJ223 · 05-18-2006, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bill santana

I plan getting a different skimmer but know sure what kind yet. for the lighting I want to get a corallife compact. I just got some mangrove for this tank and my 55 gal which is a fowlr but might turn into a reef. which means more money for that, but for now I want the 46 bow to get going. If there are any good used skimmers out there that are not to old let me know,or just tell me a good kind to get.

A pretty good skimmer for that tank would be the ASM mini G skimmer
here is a link
http://www.asmskimmer.com

I am personally running one of those on my 60 gal tank and it rocks.

leveldrummer · 05-18-2006, 03:03 PM

also the coral life super skimmer is pretty good, i run one on my 46 and its been great so far. plus it has a good price tag.

bill santana · 05-18-2006, 04:18 PM

just checked out the link for the asmskimmer doesnt look bad nice price on it, but I need a hang on for this tank until I get a sump for this tank. I seen the coallife super skimmer at my lfs and that ran 139.99 that was for the 125 gal so Ill see if they got anything else or one that is smaller for my 46 bow.

leveldrummer · 05-18-2006, 10:23 PM

they also make a 65, and if you get a sump later, it can be used in sump too.

nobody · 05-18-2006, 11:00 PM

i am going to chime in again the aqua remora and aqua remora pro skimmers are the best hang on i have ever used...........in sump different story but they are one of the top 5 skimmers to buy according to most skimmer reviews