Newbie needs advice on 240g

[frunkster]

Hi i am a long time fishkeeper,unfortunatly for me all in coldwater and malawi-cichlids,i am looking to set up my largest tank(8x2x2)as a reef set up,mainly sps corals mushroom and inverts,any help and advice on all aspects of setting-up and maintaining a healthy reef.(not to bothered about fish for now).I am particualy interested in cutting the intolerable cost's involved with liverock on such a large set-up,PLEASE HELP! My equipment list is as follows,what else am i going to need(can i get away without a skimmer as i am using such a large sump 75g) Tank8x2x2 240g pre drilled with 5 overflows- Sump 3x2x2 75+g- 2 x Ehime 2217's - 1 x Ehime ecco 2235 - 4 x 300w heaters - 1 sodium/mercury 125w/100w combo light - 1 x high blow air-pump - I know this is'nt going to be easy or qwik so patientce and knowledge is the key ,YOU can help with the latter.Many thank's Frank

[icebear]

i suppose you could DYI your live rock, i think if you do a search on aragacrete or aragocrete you may find more info. if you don't have any luck searching, i'll go find you some good links

[frunkster]

Thak's that would be usefull as i am newer to the computer than keeping marines

[wanareef]

Welcome-

one word of caution - is your tank glass? and have you used copper in it? If not then you are good to go. The copper is harmful to corals and will kill them.

I would suggest a skimmer- the sump is just a place to "house" your equipment as well as hold water, a place to add chemicals and such. Keep the sump and get a skimmer. The skimmer helps take out the organic and whatever is left the LR will take care of. Since you will not have that much LR the skimmer is a must have. JMO

Unfortunatly as you go up in size so does the cost- something of an inverse relationship or something.

You will need lights - perferrably in the 250watt range or even 400w and will need 4. With a reflector it is suppose to cover 2 sq ft area. So your tank will have 16sq ft area to light. You'll need circulation for the corals since you mentioned SPS. A closed loop is in order and thus more holes need to be drilled. And another pump. You can get away with coming over the top of the tank, but the plumbing will take room. Or you could use PH's (unsightly) or the reeftec (more $$)

Here are some links that will help show how others have setup their big tanks.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/totm/index.htm

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-03/totm/index.htm
Steve uses 3 skimmers on his tank and this was his old tank. He now has an 850gal one.

I think you need more reading and reshearch even before you start. Books come in handy, to the type of corals and their requirements, light, flow and so on.

My next tank will be a 330 in the wall and I'm building the tank myself as well as the skimmer, calicum reactor, it'll have a 90gal sump, 2x 29gal fuges on a RPP gravity feed, a diy controller, 6 MH's 5 are 250w's and one 400w and several actinics, bigger kalk reactor for top off, a closed loop for circulation and another pump for the return - maybe an Iwaki 100. I figure I'll need at least 400lbs of LR closer to 550 maybe.
good luck


http://www.garf.org/ this is for making your own LR. Iss 5 may 97. I made some and it took 6 weeks to fully cure - not leach phosphates. You have to change water often. Some guys put the rocks in the toilet tank - water flushes - water change. Go figure.

[icebear]

here's a few, real quick
What it is, some do’s and don’ts
http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...ght=aragocrete

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...ght=aragocrete

a link to a thread with more links.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...light=DIY+rock

Pasta rock:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...ighlight=pasta


took me forever to find them between the phone calls here at work

[frunkster]

Nice one Icebear,save'd my head the stress of the LR issue,look's like i'll be geting my hands,dirty just the way i like it hands on and enviromentally minded to,beats having to take it out of our seas!