Setting up my 190gal (still a newbie)

[MikeP]

I've only been into marine for a few months so I still have a lot to learn. Recently my Dad gave me his old tank and I figure if your gonna have a 190 gallon tank it had better be salt water (I will likely have FOWLR and maybe some soft corals). I would like any help or tips from start to finish on getting this thing going (leave nothing out even the smallest details help). I don't have any real specific questions right now so just start throwing posts up. I have my 55gal I can use for a sump/fuge but have no idea what equiptment I need or even how a sump works. I also need to know about lighting. I'm sure I will think of many questions once I get going. One thing that does come to mind is that I am worried about the age of the tank, it's over 10 years and has not had water in it for a long time. I will check the silicone and test fill it if I can but is there anything else I should think about when starting up an older tank? The reason my dad took it down was because the center piece of glass (the brace?) came loose and he found it at the bottom of the tank one day. He was concerened about the integrity of the tank without the brace and didn't want it to break itself open one day. I will take some pics and post them ASAP.

Thanks for any help
Mike

[christyf5]

moved to reef forum (you'll get more views that way )

[Quagmire]

Silicone can be trusted for about 5 yrs,after that its gets riskier every year.You may want to resilicone before going any farther.Also check the referance library near the top of the reef forum.Some realy good info.

[MikeP]

Originally Posted by christyf5

moved to reef forum (you'll get more views that way )

Thanks

[Molino]

I don't know much about sumps, but there is a lot of great information about them at www.melevsreef.com

[TheReefGeek]

You should at least get the center brace installed again, and possibly get the tank re-siliconed if it hasn't ever been done on this tank.

Is the tank drilled with an overflow? If not you will need an external overflow in order to use the sump.

For lighting, it depends on the corals you want to grow, if any. If you are thinking fowlr, just go with NO lighting, that is just normal fluorescents in lighting strips available cheap. Use a coupld actinic/blue tubes along with white ones for a nicer color. You could upgrade it later if you want to grow corals.

The best advice I can give is don't buy anything, not one piece of equipment until you have your entire setup planned out after doing tons and tons of research. Post lots of questions, read as much as you can find, then research and plan some more.

You can find good deals on used stuff here too, once you know what you need/want.

[TheReefGeek]

You have a great community of reefers in Calgary, and some excellend stores.

Couple questions for you: Where will the tank be located, does everything have to fit under the stand, how tall is the stand, what are the dimensions of the tank.

[MikeP]

Couple questions for you: Where will the tank be located, does everything have to fit under the stand, how tall is the stand, what are the dimensions of the tank.[/quote]

Thanks for the replies Rory. The tank will be set up in our den along one of the main walls that supports the house (at least I think it does). The dimensions of the tank are 60 inches long, 30 inches tall and 24 inches deep. The stand is just slightly bigger length and width wize and I'm guessing 36 inches tall. It would be nice to fit everything under the stand. The stand is basically a metal frame with wood covering. One of the things I'm doing is recovering the stand and I plan to make everything accessible from the front maybe the whole front will come off or it will have large doors. I plan to reinstall the brace and resilicone the tank or have it done by someone here in Calgary (suggestions?). The tank has a corner overflow, a hole drilled in the center along the back and a valve like one used for a garden hose at the bottom right/front corner. As far as lighting, I have to see what my dad has but from what I can remember when the tank was set up the lights are not 'strip type' they were two separate lampshade looking units that hung over top (if that makes any sense). The tank will have live rock, some soft corrals and fish of course. One of my concerns is on tank placement like I said it will be along one of the main walls of the house but how do I make sure it won't end up in my basement? I think it will weigh 2000-2500 pounds when I'm done. I remember my dad reinforceing the floor at his house but the tank was placed along an 'outside' wall and not a wall in the middle of the house.

[TheReefGeek]

Ok, good to hear the tank is drilled, so you don't have to mess around with an overflow box.

If you are going to have soft corals, make sure you don't pick fish that will pick at them. Try to find out what kind of lighting your dad had running, if you can find any ballasts or anything, post the info and we can help identify. Pictures would be even better, along with any stats you see.

Is your basement finished? If not, you can usually tell a load bearing wall from a non-load bearing wall by hitting the 2x4s with your fist, and seeing how much they flex. The load bearing 2x4s will be much more rigid. If your basement is unfinished you can pretty easily add some 2x6s and teleposts to support the floor.

That said, I had a 110 gallon tank (6ft though, so weight was spread out along more wall) on the main level of an apartment build in the 50's.

Check if the tank is going to run along the supporting beams, or across them, hopefully you are running across them. One tip is to put a large board under the stand. This way the weight is spread out across a larger surface area, instead of just at the points where the stand touches the floor. (or at least the weight will be more eve)

Don't try to push too much flow through your sump, if you have 2 holes in the overflow I would use them both as drains (instead of traditionally 1 drain, 1 return) and just push as much water as 1 drain can handle, then in case of a drain line failure your other drain line will be able to handle the flow.

You could use the hole at the back of the tank for a closed loop manifold for water flow if you want. I have a sequence baraccuda on a closed loop manifold and am happy with it, I have 7 1/2" loc line nozzles I can point anywhere to customize my flow. Tunze streams would be awesome, or seio's for cheaper but not as good.

I would put as big of a sump as you can fit, and put a refugium in it, and buy the best skimmer you can afford. If you can't afford a good skimmer, don't start the tank until you can. I use an ASM, they are cheap but good IMO. A G4X would be awesome on your setup, especially if you are going to get some larger fish that eat a lot and waste a lot. http://www.asmskimmer.com/catalog/pr...products_id=33

Euroreef, bubble king, and deltec are others that are great skimmers, but for me they are cost prohibative.

[TheReefGeek]

Do you have a budget in mind?

Also seeing as you already want some soft corals, that could very quickly escalate into LPS, then SPS, clams, anemonies, etc. So I would plan your setup thinking that you will go full reef in the future, especially water flow.