Starting up my first large scale reef tank

intermision · #1 12/21/2007, 07:09 PM

I've had my nano tank set up for over 8 months now, and have finally
gotten it all squared away so I decided to try my hand at a larger
tank. The owner of the LFS I work at gave me his oceanic 58 setup
with all of the equipment so I decided it wss a good time to setup a
large reef.

I'm not sure what I'm going to keep in there yet. Today I flled it up and
put in the live rock to get it going. For now I just have a single
odyssea t6 bulb over it. I plan un adding one more t6 and a 250w MH
to top it off.

Here's how it looks as of now.

demonsp · #2 12/21/2007, 07:17 PM

Remove the bio balls.I dont see any powerheads. This may help.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/1/aafeature/view

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/ar...id=285&aid=243

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/sta...opmistakes.htm

intermision · #3 12/21/2007, 07:19 PM

I have a power head, I just didn't get a picter of it, it's on the same corner as the overflow. What would you do in place of the bioballs?

intermision · #4 12/22/2007, 08:28 PM

I added some more live rock today, it's still a little cloudy.

corals b 4 bills · #5 12/22/2007, 08:35 PM

Live rock is what takes place of the bioballs, bioballs are old school technology, it's like saying what's wrong with tube televisions? If your LFS is advising you to use a wet/dry filter then you will need to do some research on your own, put it this way if Most of the so called experts here on RC are using either or live rock and sand then you may need to reconsider the balls.

corals b 4 bills · #6 12/22/2007, 08:41 PM

Remove the filter floss (blue foam) it will (like the bioballs) increase your nitrate to unmanageable limits.

Reef'in Colorado · #7 12/22/2007, 08:43 PM

Ditto, get rid of the bio-balls in favor of LR. You may also consider retrofitting the sump, adding some baffles and create an area for a DSB and some chaeto to grow with a light over it.

intermision · #8 12/22/2007, 08:47 PM

Well I'm dumping the sump, one of the guys I work with is building me a custom fuge. I just hae the floss in ther now trying to clear the tank up, I wasn't planning on keeping it.

The only reason I have bioballs now is I got the whole setup for free. If I had done it from scratch it would have a fuge in it already.

intermision · #9 12/25/2007, 04:00 PM

Alright last night I got the fuge setup , and put a new light on.

wabio · #10 12/25/2007, 04:14 PM

Get all that electrical off the floor.

If you get any kind of leak ------> disaster.

intermision · #11 12/25/2007, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wabio
Get all that electrical off the floor.

If you get any kind of leak ------> disaster.

I can't believe I didn't think about that, I'm going to fix that right away.

zach0660 · #12 12/25/2007, 05:33 PM

The new sump amd fuge looks great!! Youll see much better results without the bioballs. One thing i will add though is you should probably look into a skimmer and a couple powerheads such as a Hydor Koralia 3 or4 for more flow

intermision · #13 12/25/2007, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by zach0660
The new sump amd fuge looks great!! Youll see much better results without the bioballs. One thing i will add though is you should probably look into a skimmer and a couple powerheads such as a Hydor Koralia 3 or4 for more flow

Right now I have a prizm skimmer on it which seems to work ok except for the noise.

Which size pumps would you get?

zach0660 · #14 12/25/2007, 06:25 PM

I would maybe look into a 4, i think it puts out roughly 1200 gph. I have a 3 at 850gph in my 40 BR which is the same size as the 58g but just shallower . What type of corals do you plan on keeping?

intermision · #15 12/25/2007, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by zach0660
I would maybe look into a 4, i think it puts out roughly 1200 gph. I have a 3 at 850gph in my 40 BR which is the same size as the 58g but just shallower . What type of corals do you plan on keeping?

I'm still trying to figure that out, i'm kinda open to anything right now.

I was thinking about getting 2-3 more mj1200s.

cpl40475 · #16 12/25/2007, 07:10 PM

ill 2nd the koralia #4 2 if possible or if you decide on the MJ 1200's use 2 of them with the mods you can buy now and that plus your return pump should give you alot of flow

intermision · #17 12/25/2007, 08:57 PM

The reason I want to use the MJ1200s is because I already have one in there, and migfht as well keep everything the same. PLus koralia #4s are kinda expensive. I might upgrade later, I don't know. Are koralia style pumps that much better?

intermision · #18 12/27/2007, 11:32 PM

Well I ordered 2 koralia #2s and a #1 today with our store order. I think that they should work out great, gotta love an employee discount.

I also decided to keep LPS corals such as Favias and cand canes.

intermision · #19 01/03/2008, 12:07 AM

Diatoms have now proceeded to take over my tank for the last wek or so hopefully they will go away soon. I also got the koralia's put in, they are awesome.