Thinking of setting up my first salt tank

[Ephraim]

Another question... sand. People always seem to use white sand. Is there any practical reason for this. I'm really keen on back sand and would like to use it.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

White aragonite sand helps buffer the water & add calcium to the system as it slowly dissolves. The black "Taihitian" sand (I think its called) may or may not add calcium to the same degree. You'd have to check that out.

Of course, there are a lot of reefers now who swear by the bare bottom method.

Anthony

[Ephraim]

That would explain why the white sand is so common. But without it, I would just have to compensate in some way, either by adding calcium suppliments or would a canister full of crushed coral do the trick?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

You're thinking of a calcium reactor, which is basically a container filled with aragonite media that has CO2 slowly pumped in to lower the pH to dissolve the Calcium. Crushed coral will not do nearly as good a job of increasing Ca levels as aragonite sand or media.

Anthony

[Reefhawk1]

I would go with MH lighting. The appearance with corals is amazing especially when the light penetrates through a rippling current at the tank surface.

I have recently set up a 110 gallon system. This is my 6th system and the most expensive yet. I am running a coralife 150 watt HQI system with 120 lbs of live rock. I recently purchased a Asm g3 skimmer and have had it running for two days. It is amazing what a good quality skimmer can do in such a short period of time.

A drilled tank is the best way to go in my opinion. You can hide all filtration below the tank including a refugium to help with nutrient export. I also use aragonite sand in all of my past and current setups. It helps with PH levels and gives fish and inverts a place to hide. IMO a bare bottom tank looks terrible but if it floats your boat more power to ya .

The best thing for a newbie to do is research and ask questions. Save up and buy proper equipment new or used. I learned the hard way and have spent way too much $$$. Good luck with your setup.

[ron101]

First off, welcome to the hobby. Secondly, there is more than one way to run a reef tank so different opinions are often equally valid. One thing that is for sure is that starting off in the right direction in the first place does save time and money down the road.

I would seriously consider using a different tank. Not only does a 72Lx24Hx12W tank require a lot lighting relative to the volume but the short width will be a PITA for stacking rock and because of the higher density of saltwater, it will look about 9" wide from the front. So while that configuration gives max viewing for a FW planted tank it may not be so suitable for you for SW.

The T5 vs MH is an ongoing debate. Personally I have not seen any numbers that declare one decidedly superior to the other. MH run 'hotter' partially due to them being a 'point source' whereas with fluorescents the heat is distributed over several feet. I suggest you compare pricing AND appearance and see which you prefer.

FWIW I successfully kept softies, lps, lower-light sps, and bubble tip anemones in a 24" tall tank under 10000K 175W MH for years. If you want to go with 'bluer' 20000K lamps factor in that as color temp goes up, usable output and lamp life goes down.

As for the sand issue, if you like black sand use it. Sand will have limited buffering ability in seawater since the water already has a higher pH and carbonate hardness. Unless you run it in a calcium reactor setup, your carbonate and calcium replacement will have to come through additives such as kalkwasser, calcium chloride, and sodium carbonate/bicarbonate.

I have had a few pieces of tuffa in my system for years. It's all encrusted now and difficult to differentiate from reef rock. So I would day use some (as long as it is relatively pure) if you want to save some money. Since it is so soft you could even drill some rough channels through them to make passages.

HTH

[kwirky]

Originally Posted by ron101

I would seriously consider using a different tank. Not only does a 72Lx24Hx12W tank require a lot lighting relative to the volume but the short width will be a PITA for stacking rock and because of the higher density of saltwater, it will look about 9" wide from the front.

agreed...

that's actually been itching at me... I was promoting T5 lighting, because it would suit your own tank, with it's surface being 6'x1'. I had a 33 long nano, that was only a foot from front to back and 18" tall, and aquascaping that was quite difficult, to get the rock to stack in a good way. It was hard for me to keep it from looking like a wall of rock in the tank. Your tank's 24" tall, which may make it even more difficult to aquascape.

And like joe reefer said, there's nothing like good ol' metal halide.

Using a different tank is another option to consider all together (to make it even more confusing, too! ), and I think in some cases, spending the money on another, more suitable, tank might work out much better in the long run. If you're worried about wasting anything, you can sell the old tank in a bargain finder or something. And spending $600 on a new tank and stand isn't much if your gear and rock to go with it may cost double that.

And like joe reefer said, there's nothing like good ol' metal halide. You could use a tank that opens up more options to you, so you don't HAVE to pick something because it appears to be the only thing that will work well on your tank.

I can say from being kinda new to the hobby (4 months experience), I had experienced the "should have done it different the first time" problem, and like many more people on here, would like to see you be satisfied with your choices from the get go