Greetings and questions, warning long post, lot's of questions =)

SeaMunkie · 02-11-2004, 09:55 PM

Reefdude mentioned I should post this here, so I'm taking his advice (Nice to meet ya Austin, thanks for the advice).

~~~~~~~~~~~~ <-waves, lol

New here, new to SW, even though kept FW all my life. This is MUCH more interesting, hehe. Wanted to say Hi to everyone. Been reading a lot (I have a bad habit of lurking, so making a point of joining and actually talking on this forum) and really learning a lot. And everyone here seems to be genuinely nice. The folks in the reptile forums I visit always seem to argue and throw childish insults at one another.

I do have a couple of concerns about my setup. First off, I will go ahead and give my specs.

100gal
2 Emperor 400's
2 Maxi-jet 1200 powerheads
300w heater
48" VHO light fixture (4 bulbs, 2 white, 2 actinic (sp), I'm sorry but I don't know the wattage right offhand)
22lbs of LR (40lbs in on the way, but still needs to cure)
80lbs of LS
Temperature is 82F, SP is .023, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate all at 0, pH is at 7.

I have read a lot concerning filtration. I use 2 LFS's and both use the Emperor system with the biowheels. Both have stated that this method has worked for them, and they see no need for protein skimming. But in most forums, protein skimming seems a requirement, where no one mentions using the Emperor/biowheel filtration. Did I go the wrong route in choosing this type of filtration? To me, it seemed logical, because it utilizes each stage of filtration, chem, mech, and bio. Both LFS's said with the amount of LR/LS my tank can hold, that it will do most of the filtration, and that skimming removes too many beneficial minerals from the water.

I purchased a RO/DI unit for water changes. I have read that tap water has too much phosphorus and other harmful things. And when water quality is discussed, do they mean the water before it is salted, which in this case, the RO/DI unit will deal with?

One of the LFS's has multiple successful reef tanks that are using the 4bulb VHO setup I purchased. Many of the posts state that PC lighting is being used. If I understood the LFS, they said I would need twice the bulbs on the PC fixture to equal the wattage coming off the VHO fixture. Btw, I want to get to a reef tank, not necessarily with the hard stony corals or clams, but with soft corals, anemones and polyps. Will what I have be sufficient?

One more question for now. My live sand came with small pieces of a brown plant (looks sort of like Sargasso). What is this, and should I vacuum it up? Will anything eat it, or will it just decompose, adding to the ammonia levels in the tank?

Sorry that this post is so long, but I am so unsure who to believe, since there are so many varying opinions. And I know my LFS has an ulterior motive when telling me things.

Eric P · 02-11-2004, 10:07 PM

Welcome to TRT!!!!!

I will need to keep this short (getting up early)
Your VHO's are 110 watts each
I prefer VHO to PC. I am running PC now and I hate them.
I will be going back to my VHO's soon.
If you get enough rock you won't need the bio wheel IMO.
I would highly recommend a skimmer.
Your lighting setup will be fine for most softies, 440 watts.
If you do plan on keeping SPS or clams I recommend halides.

HTH, Eric...

rogerthmyers · 02-12-2004, 10:06 AM

Congrats on joinging TRT, it's great you'll love it...

I'm sure everyone will tell you to go with a skimmer, I had the bio-wheel set up a couple of yrs ago and just couldn't keep my tank stocked over a long period of time...From what I've discovered the RO/Di unit and the skimmer are very important, they've changed my tank alot, I have 220 watts on my 75gal and it does just fine with softies, and polyps..so you should be fine, really the only thing I would try and change right away ofcourse over a short period of time is the heat on your tank. Why is it so high? Do you have fans on your lights or hood?

SeaMunkie · 02-12-2004, 10:26 AM

Thanks for all the advice guys, I guess I'm going in the right direction, just so worried I might screw something up, hehe. I'm sure I won't with your help though!

To Roger: Yeah, I have thought about it, and realize I will probably use a skimmer a bit down the road. I am still working on my first cycle, so am not too worried about overfiltration. I'm not sure why the temperature is going up. I turned the heater down once again last night, and hopefully it is at least below 80F. A friend mentioned that perhaps the lights are heating the water, and suggested I dispense with the heater all together. But in my mind, once the lights go off at night, the temperature will drop, and I didn't think fluctuations would be good for things.

BTW, I did succumb to buying some inexpensive damsels (had two given to me by a friend), so now have four in my tank. They seem happy as clams ...forgive the pun

... A few people said it would be okay, so as to speed up the cycle, and I couldn't resist when I saw them at my LFS.

I can't wait till I start seeing some critters appear from the LR/LS, I think that is almost as interesting as watching my fish play around!

Thanks all!!

Reefdude5 · 02-12-2004, 10:46 AM

Sounds like your on the right start! Two questions. How old is the tank, and what photoperiod are you on?

Reefdude5 · 02-12-2004, 10:47 AM

Okay, i posted this on the other, but might as well post it on the new one,

Hi SeaMunkie, I'm Austin, and would like to welcome you too! Although i haven't found the fancy welcome signs Casey uses. Yep, we pride ourselves in being flame free and not usually getting into insults and the like. If a moderater reads this, i would move it to the General discussion, where it will get more flow(get it, flow ) or you could just copy/paste it there.

First of all, Are Emperor systems = Biowheel systems. I'm not familiar with them. Also, what's in the tank. As saltwater tanks are recommended to have a ph of 8-8.4

Also, about filtration, I was advised in my early days that a skimmer was not necessary, and that i only needed to get one if i needed. In my opinion, and most here, a skimmer is a vital piece of equipment. It is the ONLY continual means of waste export. Many believe that a tank can't even be "over-skimmed", as it does not take many trace-elements out. Also, once the LR is established and if there is enough, it will act as a biological filtration. With LR and a good, efficient skimmer, almost no other filtration is necessary. Although Water Changes are also usefull, as you know with Freshwater(I have African Cichlids by the way). Also, are you using any particulate filtration, do you have a sump?

Yes, the RO water is very important, especially if your water is "hard" like mine.

The lighting should be fine with most soft corals(which i love) but if you fall in love with sps and clams, as you might, you can always find a way to upgrade later, how wide is your hood?

About the algae in the sand, is it in big groupings? If you could i would take it out, but i don't think it really matters.

rogerthmyers · 02-12-2004, 10:57 AM

Seamunkie, about the heat do you have glass tops or canopie, if you have glass tops I would remove them, I had to remove mine, and I still had to turn my heater all the way down to 72 before I could get the heat to drop and stay at or around 78, trust me it's the lights, if you don't have fans to take some of that heat you'll have to turn the heat down quiet abit, that's what I had to do, b-c 82 is way to high...also I would remove the damsels before adding any more live rock, you will hate yourself if you put alot of rock in there and then try and remove them, plus if you plan on adding softies or polyps forget it, they will destroy them...sounds like your heading in the right direction....

Reefdude5 · 02-12-2004, 11:05 AM

Can i get an Amen on what Roger said?

Hey Roger, we're really close! I never knew that, we're like 45min right? I'm 50miles W of DC

Geoff · 02-12-2004, 11:11 AM

Welcome to TRT!!!

dang Austin, good post! you have learned a lot!

G~

wanareef · 02-12-2004, 11:18 AM

You will find out that those damsels will be a PITA if you add more fish to the tank. They are territeriol and will chase most anything smaller than they are. My yellow tails go after my hand when it's in there rearranging things they knock down.

Welcome

rogerthmyers · 02-12-2004, 11:31 AM

Austin, yeah were close...NICE...any great SW store you go to around the area?

Reefdude5 · 02-12-2004, 11:45 AM

Geoff, that means a lot!

Thanks! And i couldn't have done it without TRT and you! I remember all those times when i pm'd you asking for help!

Seamunkie, Yeah, the damsels will, not maybe, but will, get agressive towards other fish. I would reccomend a Lawnmower Blenny or a Brownbarred/bullet sleeper goby, as they both are detritus/algae eaters, and the goby will actually clean the sand!

Roger, yep, there is a REALLY cool one in Herdon Va, i don't know how far it is from you, called Marine Scene. You could call for directions, they're a bit hidden. They specialize in SW fish and Corals. And must have a good 600 corals at once. Excellent service!

Are you a member of WAMAS?

rogerthmyers · 02-12-2004, 11:56 AM

What city are they located in Austin?

Reefdude5 · 02-12-2004, 12:21 PM

Herdon!

SeaMunkie · 02-12-2004, 03:46 PM

Hmm, well I knew the damsels would be aggressive, in fact the two that were given to me, were given for that reason. Mainly I got them to speed the cycle. Once I get the next batch of rock cured, I should remove them then? I thought you could add rock while you had fish, but slowly, like when adding anything else. Once everything is stable, I would like to get get some blennies/gobies though, I think those are my favorite fish so far, love to get a cute little scooter, maybe even later a mandarin (I know, I have a while to wait for that, no critters for it to eat yet). And the guy at my LFS said he would take all the damsels back for credit. Sweeeet

Roger: Yeah, I do have the glass tops on the tank. As it is now, the lights are resting on the glass, but my roomie has built a canopy that will get them off the glass, and probably a few inches above it. And we already talked about adding fans to cool it down. I will turn the heater all the way down, and once the canopy is installed, see what the temp drops to.

I was reading this afternoon about DSB. Does that stand for deep sand beds? the LS I'm using is about 1 1/2" - 2" deep. From what the guys were saying about DSB, I'm scared I won't have enough sand stirring critters to keep it okay (going to be getting the janitor critters once all the rock I bought is added and cycle is complete, there is food for them to eat).

Glad to have everyone's help, really appreciate it.

SeaMunkie