total newbie

[tmc11755]

1. Can anyone recommend a good store on Long Island New York?

2. I am planning on setting up a tank this winter. I have the books, and I am reading them now. Most recommend 20% water change every 2 weeks. On a 100 gallon tank, that is 20 gallons. Where do you store this 20 gallons? Several 5 gallon buckets? Sound painful on larger tanks.

3. Seems like on a reef tank, you want a protein skimmer, but no additional bio filtering. So is it best to set up a trickle filter (w/o filtering), and a skimmer in the sump?

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Welcome to TRT!

Sounds like your on the right track with reading all you can and coming to this great forum where there is plenty of great hobbyists here!

If you are going to set up a reef aquarium then a skimmer is highly recommended and a DSB(deep sand bed) with either 4-6" in your main tank or go with 2" in the main tank and 4-6" in your sump or refuguim(where you raise critters to feed the tank).

Lots of LR(Live rock) 1-11/2 lbs per gallon is recommended! The sand and LR and skimmer will be all the filtration you will need!

Also lots of water movement to help with the filtration! Others will follow with more information and don't want to confuse you to much at this point! Again welcome and don't be afraid to ask questions!

[tmc11755]

Thanks for the reply. Kind of funny- I was on your site when your reply came in.

What do you use for water movement?
How do you know if you have enough water movement?.

TC

[Junkzoo]

WELCOME TO TRT!!!
i think you will enjoy the ride!
1,,,sorry no help here,,
2-thumbs up , for starting out right, reading books,,i'm sure someone else will add here, the list of recommended reading.
ya gotta watch, some books are /can be outdated fairly quickly,,,
the w/c (water change) deal,this topic runs the gambit from continual, to never,,,really!
10%-20% every two weeksor so , is not a bad number IMO,,
best way to store made up SW, is Rubbermaid containers IE: garbage cans.(do a search here on the correct/safe ones to get)
3 -again,,,a lot of different theories/beliefs on this, myself, now i run only a skimmer,,,,had used a wet/dry with bio balls, removed them , removed the wet/dry in time, etc.etc.
without spouting off my beliefs as the standard,,,,
best thing i could say is,,,read up , check TRT's archives,do a search on a topic,,see what the word is out here,,,
ask, ask, ask questions!
we have a LOT of very smart reefers out here, and we all love to help out when we can.
look around the different forums here,,get to know the place,,
Again ,Welcome Aboard!
we want to hear from you!

[tdwyatt]

WELCOME TMC!!!

Originally posted by tmc11755
1. Can anyone recommend a good store on Long Island New York?

kind of an oxymoron , although I knew of a great little shop over in Jamaica just about a block off the tube, don't remember which stop, I am sure the locals there will chime in.

Originally posted by tmc11755
... Most recommend 20% water change every 2 weeks. Sound painful on larger tanks...

a more realistic amount is around 10% every 2 weeks, although if you're having problems during the initial setup, a 10% change every Sunday morning may be more prudent. Most folks that have large changes to consider have both a good nome RO/DI unit and a 40 gal(US) Rubbermaid "Brute" trash can with a wheeled dolly. I personally have two, one to put the RO/DI in for top off, and another to mix water change water in. I am considering buying another for the old seawater to go in, but for now, I just run it through a hosepipe out to the evaporation pan (rather than dump it into my septic system, I evaporate the water and bag the salt for the landfill after a few evaporations)

Originally posted by tmc11755
...Seems like on a reef tank, you want a protein skimmer, but no additional bio filtering. So is it best to set up a trickle filter (w/o filtering), and a skimmer in the sump?

Live rock and deep sand beds (DSB) perform the biological filtration, and it is absolutely necessary to have this biological filtration to have the biotope thrive. Mechanical filtration, on the other hand, becomes over time a source of nitrates, an absolute NO-NO in the hobby, as corals are quite sensitive to nitrates and the nitrates often drive nuisance algal blooms.



The Reef Tank is a great source of information to supplement your reading. There is a search function that will allow you to look at the historical files for information, and you can specify not only what topic to search for, but who wrote or contributed to the thread as well. Doug may want to chime in on this, as he is the Keeper of the Archives. You will be able to ask your questions here without fear of ridicule nor "flame", so feel free to ask about the things you don't see rational for, as there is a wealth of info here in a well-moderated, commercial-free environment.

Again, Welcome to TRT.

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Check out this link about water movement! http://saltaquarium.about.com/librar...y/aa082799.htm