Native tank questions (New York)

[Reeftanker3295]

Alright nice so i think im going to go with two of those then. With the fans the tank will probably stay around 70-72 which should be fine for the fish ill be keeping, i dont know if im using a sump yet, if i find a good deal on like a 125 and up tank ill build a sump but i think for now if i get a tank like 100-120 gallons ill use a hang on skimmer until i get money to get a nice one and a sump.
So far im thinking of having 3 koralia 3s or so, would this be ok? Im going to have baby fish like 2-5 inches long so dont want too much flow but want enough to keep algae down and stuff, should i go with 2 or 3 koralia 3s or not even that much?
For rock, has anyone ever made their own and been succesful? I want to make rocks with big holes so that fish like porgies with large girth bodies can fit through the holes so thinking of making my own rock thats porous with nice sized holes, how do i get a nice sized rock and is this a good idea?

[Fat Tony]

Yes, 2-3 korallias will be ok.. you have to remember that these fish come from an area where the flow far exceeds what we can recreate in our tanks.

Lots of people have made rock... the hardest part is waiting for it to cure.. ti takes a long time for it to properly cure and it has to be done in water (that is frequently changed) The best advice I can give you is to buy some dry marcorock and create the caves by epoxying or doweling the rock together.

[Reeftanker3295]

Originally Posted by aquawolf

Sounds like you are getting a good plan in place.

Yea, not doing the same thing i did with my biocube, im researching how i can keep these fish as healthy as possibly and getting everything down now so i wont have any algal problems during curing and stuff, which brings me to my next topic:
CURING:
For a tank like this, is the curing process the same? Could i get like 60 pounds of dry rock (Not the whole tank will be a reef, only parts of it) And then get either live rock from the LFS or even rock from the sound to cure this tank? The tank will sadly be running for up to 3 months with nothing in it except for inverts like crabs and things because it will be winter and will be impossible to go and collect fish, and then as certain species begin to show up ill collect, but im planning on actually starting now and starting up a 30 gallon with just a powerhead, sand and HOB filter and collecting baby fish like sea robins, crabs and baby oyster toadfish so that when i start the tank ill have fish for it. So back to curing, is it the same as tropical reef tank curing and should i use LI sound rock or tropical live rock for bacteria?

[Reeftanker3295]

Fat Tony that was my original plan, ill probably get either marcorock dry rock or tampabaysaltwater dry rock which is really nice as well and a little cheaper with shipping then add like a bunch of smaller sized rocks from the LI sound, sound good?

[Fat Tony]

seriously.. i suggest Marcorock over anything else..

[aquawolf]

I would use the dry base rock like Tony said. Once it is finished cooking, add a few pieces of live rock from the sound in order to seed the base rock and it will all become live after a while.

[Reeftanker3295]

How does the base rock get bacteria though at first? Shouldnt i put in base rock first then the LI sound rock for bacteria?

[Reeftanker3295]

Will aquamend be ok for aquascaping the tank and holding up some nice sized rocks?

[aquawolf]

Yes, you want to cook the base rock and then seed it with the live rock. You can do a search on here for cooking rock for the details.

I do not like the aquamend putty as it always seems to need a whole lot, and it eventually fails. I would look into rods either like the Fly Guy Rock Lift, or the CRVZ deal. You will get a much more stable structure that way.

[Reeftanker3295]

Alright cool, thanks for all this information guys, Im planning on getting fish that are going to be bottom dwelling like the sea robin that is why im worried about sand because i think im going to go with a 2 inch sand bed, how many pounds of sand is that in a 48x18 inch tank?

[aquawolf]

I think 2 bags should get you where you want to be.

[Reeftanker3295]

2 bags of how many pounds haha. When you cook rock, how do you exactly do that? Is it basically just curing it for a long time or what? It will be fine if i use my LFS' salt water right? Will corraline algae ever grow in a tank like this?

[aquawolf]

I think 2 20 pound bags will be plenty for a 2 inch sandbed, and it may leave you with some left over.

Do a search on here for cooking rock, there are a bunch of good threads that explain the entire process.

As long as your LFS is using RO/DI water at 0 TDS to make their saltwater with it should be fine.

Yes, coralline will eventually grow as long as the water parameters are right for it.

[Reeftanker3295]

Alright ill search it up and research. And really only 40 pounds of sand? thought i would need alot more.. Do you add sand before or after LR? I used 25 pounds of sand for a 2.5 inch sand bed in my 10 gallon so thought id need alot more sand but is there a better way to use less sand and get a deeper sand bed?

[aquawolf]

If I remember correctly I used one 20 pound bag in my 75 and ended up with a 1 inch deep sand bed. That measures 48 X 18. I like to add the sand first, and then put a garbage bag over top of it when I add the water. Once the tank is about 1/2 full, very slowly pull out the garbage bag, and then you can begin aquascaping.

However, if you are going to cook the rock in the tank then you will want to go bare bottom during that process. This makes it much easier to clean the tank, and will not foul your sand bed too early.