setting up new reef tank

pcolagirl · 04-13-2005, 06:32 PM

Hi all. I need some help. We are fixing to set up a 75 gal tank that used to be a fw tank for our oscar. Now we would like to set it up as a reef tank. This tank is drilled and has a high water baffle. What we need to know is what is the best filtration system to use to set this tank up?

Cosine · 04-13-2005, 06:50 PM

have you ever dosed the tank with copper?
because if you did that will be trouble for a reef tank

motorslave · 04-13-2005, 07:09 PM

For biological filtration about .75 to 1.25 lbs of LR per gallon and then a high quality protien skimmer to remove disolved solids. This will provide excellent filtration.
On the LR (live rock) the more pourous the better. And get the best skimmer you can afford, that way you wont have to buy another later on down the line when you realize you need a better one. Also once you figure out what types of coral you want to keep then you will have to invest in the proper lights.
Read as much as you can before you go spending a ton of money. between the people here there is probably experiance with dang near every product out there.
Read read read and read some more. This is a great place to learn and ask questions so hang around and welcome!

Robert

btang · 04-13-2005, 07:48 PM

Welcome, Robert is spot on. You will need good rock (I like cured) and a good protein skimmer. Also, try yo use only RO water.

tims · 04-13-2005, 08:42 PM

i agree with robert too.

what do you mean high baffel?

VWD · 04-13-2005, 09:56 PM

Robert said it about as good as You can , Take Your time every step of the way, iit's all fun and so much to learn You won't get bored .

Vince

wanareef · 04-14-2005, 05:46 AM

Just to add to what Robert said - ro/di - just ro is not enough unless you have great water

pcolagirl · 04-14-2005, 07:29 AM

thanks guys. I know he wants to set up corals like anenomes and leathers and zoos. And he only wants very few fish in it. (like only one or two) We have a 20 gal that we started out with and had trouble with keeping any fish alive.

the 75gal has never had copper in it as far as we know. we never put it in there anyways.

i dont know what "baffle" is that is just what my bf said about tank.

my bf has been looking at tanks at different lfs and he sees tanks w/smaller tanks underneath with balls and other things in them and that is what he thinks he needs for his tank. is that what he needs? also another site he goes to tells how to set up your own wet/dry system should he do that or not?

i usually check the message board everyday whether i have a question or not. (my bf says im addicted to TRT) so i will keep reading and asking questions. "The only dumb question is one not asked." that is what i always say.

skeety · 04-14-2005, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcolagirl

the 75gal has never had copper in it as far as we know. we never put it in there anyways.

Copper is in most fish disease treatments. What we are really asking here is, did you ever treat your FW fish for Ick, or any other fungus that has copper in it's medicine? Double/triple check this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcolagirl

my bf has been looking at tanks at different lfs and he sees tanks w/smaller tanks underneath with balls and other things in them and that is what he thinks he needs for his tank.

the smaller tank underneath is called a Sump (or sometimes a refugium) depending on what you have in it. The point of a sump is to separate whatever water cleaning/altering devices you have from the main display. You can put skimmers/heaters/calcium reactors/UV sterilizers/etc all down in the sump, that way your display tank doesn't look cluttered or more mechanical then peaceful.

The balls you're talking about are called Bio-balls. The were invented to compensate for the lack of Live Rock in the tank. It gives surface area for bacteria (good stuff) to grow on. If you go with LR, you really shouldn't get Bio-Balls. They become a nitrate factory down the road. LR is expensive, but WELL worth it. I highly recommend going this route.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcolagirl

i usually check the message board everyday whether i have a question or not. (my bf says im addicted to TRT) so i will keep reading and asking questions. "The only dumb question is one not asked." that is what i always say.

You're amongst friends here. We're all hopelessly (and happily) addicted as well!! I've checked out a few of the other reef forums, I truly feel this is the friendliest one. Welcome again, and we look forward to seeing you tank's progression! Keep the questions coming, and keep us posted!

DataDude · 04-14-2005, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcolagirl

i usually check the message board everyday whether i have a question or not. (my bf says im addicted to TRT) so i will keep reading and asking questions. "The only dumb question is one not asked." that is what i always say.

Welcome to TRT! You're right....there are no dumb questions. I can't emphasize enough the valuable advice you'll get from the good folks around here. I've asked what I thought were some dumb questions.

I converted a 75g FW tank into a FOWLR just over a year ago. I'm now preparing to convert it to an Indo-Pacific lagoon system. I don't have any experience with corals, so I read this forum frequently and pose my "dumb" questions.

At any rate, WELCOME! from another squid.

DD

pcolagirl · 04-15-2005, 10:44 PM

thanks to everyone for your answers. as far as i can remember we never had to treat our oscars for anything(except to seperate them because they fought like crazy) but we bought the tank from a friend and I am not sure how she did with it. hopefully, there never was any copper used in it because we have already had BAD experience with copper in our 20gal. we were misinformed on how to use copper safe and killed ALL of our beautiful inverts that were starting to grow on our rock. so now we are just going to start all over with a bigger tank.

Cosine · 04-16-2005, 08:56 AM

if you aren't certain you can get tests for copper
just use a sample of the water that's in the tank now