First tank

[Starry]

Hi all,
Just a few questions from a newbie. (although I have been lurking forever)

I will be purchasing a 70 gallon(48x18x18) tank with 80lbs LR. It comes with 4 NO 30watt flourecent tubes and 2 175watt MH. It also has a prizm skimmer (plan to replace this) and 2 aquaclear 50 filters (will be using these as well as my fluval 404 with carbon for current) and 2 powerheads. Has no fish but does have tons of hermit crabs and a few snails.

My question is if the tank is now established, how long do you think I will have to wait before adding any inhabitants? I realize I may have a small cycle after I setup the tank again, but it shouldnt take more than a week, no?
Also, with this type of lighting could I pretty much have my pick of corals? Plan on making it a reef tank with mostly corals and zoos only a few fish and inverts.

I have been doing freshwater for about 15 years but other than research, haven't done anything with Marine aquaria.

Starry

[michika]

As for adding inhabitants after the move, I would just wait until all your parameters return to 0 again, nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia. Then maybe give it a few days after that.

Under 18" depth, you can keep most anything with 175w lighting, including clams.

[Delphinus]

Welcome to Canreef and welcome to the dark side (err.. the bright side??). Although I have 1 FW tank and wish I could do more, I keep finding ways to justify turning any new tank I get into a reef.

The lighting sounds not bad at all for a tank that size. It's a very good starting point anyhow - time will tell if you want more light down the road. But I did fine with 175's over many tanks. Because the tank is the same footprint as a 90g, but shallower, you may find that 175's will colour up corals just fine. It should be more than adequate to keep anything photosynthetic - the real question is whether things colour up for you or stay brownish - but the only way to tell is to try and see how it goes.

With 175's, your power bill and heat issues will be lower than with higher wattages.

You may want to explore replacing the NO fluorescents with T5 retrofits. It's something I would look into anyhow. Maybe not necessary for now if you're chomping at the bit to get started, but T5's have a better selection of lamps, and with the reflectors you'll be getting a HUGE improvement of light over the NO's (and will take up roughly the same amount of space as a T12 - well, I guess a little more - the reflectors are about 3"). But you may even find that you need only 1 pair of 48" T5 HO's to get the look you're looking for. So yeah not a "necessity" per se, but look into it at some point - I think you'll be happier with T5's.

As for the cycle after a move - well .. every tank move is different. Sometimes there's no noticeable cycle at all, sometimes the effects linger for weeks. There's really no hard and fast rules other than observe and test. It's possible that you may be able to start adding livestock within a week, but no guarantees.

Also, I'd ditch the Aquaclears and 404 and look into a skimmer. I guess there's no sump here - so either look at a hang-on version or maybe look into one day installing an overflow box and then you can use a sump (which will open up the possibilities for different skimmer models). The rock, skimmer, and adequate water movement are all the biofiltration you need (better, in fact, because aquaclears and fluvals can't reduce nitrate - in fact, they produce nitrate - but the algae and bacteria in the rock will consume nitrate an addition to the primary nitrogen cycling that they do).

Water movement is key, in fact, for a tank that size you may just be perfectly off with two Maxijet upgrades - these are the best $20 you'll ever spend: http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/s...ID=wp-mpsf1600

(Well, I guess it's more like $50 if you have to buy the magnet - I already had the magnets for my Maxijets - but still - buying the magnet and this upgrade kit together - you won't regret it.)

Anyhow hope I'm not overwhelming you with suggestions, but yeah, welcome to SW.

[Starry]

I have an old 25 gallon tank Im planing to turn into a sump once everything else is set up(will have to use an overflow). I also have a refuigum I made awhile back using plans I found on the net using an AC 300 filter. (if anyone in the OK has macro algea plz let me know)

Does anyone still use bio balls or is that too old school?

For now the prizm skimmer will have to do as this was an unexpected purchase and Im still paying for Xmas. lol

Starry

[michika]

Bioballs are old school, and they are also nitrate factories to boot!

25g would work as a sump. Are you going to drill your new tank?

[Myka]

I would suggest you drill your tank when it's empty while you're moving it. I don't have overflows on my tank, it's just a bulkhead with a strainer on it. I like the look a lot better than overflows...doesn't take up any space, and they work very well. Those HOB overflows are too unreliable to be a consideration imo/ime.

I'm also a huge fan of the MaxiJet mods with magnets.