New reef tank! 41 Gallon Fluval Osaka. Suggestions?

[sphelps]

The quality of your rock looks questionable, some being lava and the rest I can only assume being made up of lead being that you have 50lbs in a 41 gallons and it looks empty

You might want to consider new rock all together, unless your rock was freshly shipped/uncured then you shouldn't get major algae problems right off the start. I'm guessing it's just a bunch of random rock from another hobbyist, so not only is the wrong stuff but probably polluted as well. Not a great way to start your first tank!

[redearslider]

Originally Posted by sphelps

The quality of your rock looks questionable, some being lava and the rest I can only assume being made up of lead being that you have 50lbs in a 41 gallons and it looks empty

You might want to consider new rock all together, unless your rock was freshly shipped/uncured then you shouldn't get major algae problems right off the start. I'm guessing it's just a bunch of random rock from another hobbyist, so not only is the wrong stuff but probably polluted as well. Not a great way to start your first tank!

Thanks for the input. It may not be exactly 50lbs.. We didn't weigh it. I may Get rid of one of the lava rock pieces, and replace with some different live rock. The lava is still live rock and came right out of an established tank. And I like the caves that it provides.

There are many little things growing all over the rock. I am by no means an expert but it looks pretty healthy to me. All of my levels are still testing great.

[Aquattro]

As I mentioned elsewhere, ditch the internal filter and the lava rock. You have no idea what's in it, and you don't want to spend thousands on corals and have to ask one day why they keep dying. Lava rock is an unknown and should not be in a tank. Save yourself a lot of potential grief right up front and go buy 15 pounds of fresh live rock at the LFS. Make sure it's new rock, not something they bought off someone else shutting down. IMO the biggest mistake in this hobby is using somebody else's old rock.
Other than that, the list looks fine. Brown stuff is diatoms, perfectly normal and will go away on it's own.

[redearslider]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

As I mentioned elsewhere, ditch the internal filter and the lava rock. You have no idea what's in it, and you don't want to spend thousands on corals and have to ask one day why they keep dying. Lava rock is an unknown and should not be in a tank. Save yourself a lot of potential grief right up front and go buy 15 pounds of fresh live rock at the LFS. Make sure it's new rock, not something they bought off someone else shutting down. IMO the biggest mistake in this hobby is using somebody else's old rock.
Other than that, the list looks fine. Brown stuff is diatoms, perfectly normal and will go away on it's own.

Ooooookay

I like the look of it, but I guess if it has to go, it has to go.

This is going to take me longer to set up than I thought, I was pretty happy with the deal that I got on the Live rock, because I wanted to avoid spending hundreds of dollars on it.

One little thing at a time I guess. I am going to buy a used protein skimmer and get rid of the internal filter, I am also thinking of adding another powerhead to replace the small one.

I did clean off most of the diatoms from the glass yesterday, I couldnt see much in the tank, so hopefully that is okay that I did that!

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by redearslider

I did clean off most of the diatoms from the glass yesterday, I couldnt see much in the tank, so hopefully that is okay that I did that!

They'll come back, but it's fine to wipe them away until they stay gone.

I know it sucks spending money on stuff, especially rocks, but rock really is the main life support of your system. If you have to, you can try used, but I wouldn't.

[MarkoD]

Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. Some people have a vested interest in keeping sponsors happy. There's nothing wrong with buying used rock or even dry rock.

Most stores take in people's rock when they shut down. And that's what they end up selling you at 4 times the price.

Just use common sense look at what kind of tank its come out of

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by MarkoD

Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. Some people have a vested interest in keeping sponsors happy.

This is a bunch of crap Marko. I have no interest in keeping anyone happy other than fellow hobbyists. Used rock is just that, used rock. Rock acts as a sponge and will adsorb nutrients and eventually leach them back out into the water, usually causing all kinds of algae problems. We see it all the time in posts here and other boards. Someone buys a bunch of rock someone had sitting around, then they battle algae forever. I can list the members that have done that in the last year..many very experienced people that maintained their tank well. Sure, it's possible to buy rock that's used AND clean, but it's a gamble. Fresh live rock from the ocean is the best product to use when starting a reef. That has nothing to do with keeping anyone happy, just years of experience with tanks and reading the "help, I have a tank full of algae" threads.

[MarkoD]

Most of the rock bought from the lfs is people's old rock from shut downs.

I've taken lots of rock to the lfs and it just all goes into one bin and all sold at the same price. So the risk to get bad rock is there regardless.

At lease when buying from someone you can inspect it and there's a better chance there won't be any pests

[Northernseacorals]

Originally Posted by MarkoD

Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. Some people have a vested interest in keeping sponsors happy. There's nothing wrong with buying used rock or even dry rock.

Most stores take in people's rock when they shut down. And that's what they end up selling you at 4 times the price.

Just use common sense look at what kind of tank its come out of

Could not agree more; there is ZERO problem acquiring second hand rock, have used hundreds of lbs of second hand over the last 21 years and never had a problem.

[redearslider]

*UPDATE*

It is a Fluval Osaka 41G

30lbs argonite
15-20lbs live rock (About 30lbs of lava which I will be removing)
2 powerheads:
Active Aqua pump 250GPH
Laguna pt 8100 80GPH
A Current USA SunPod 250W MH Fixture
Aquaclear 10 submersible heater 50W

5 scarlet hermit crabs
8 blue legged hermit crabs
2 pink turbo snails
Brittle sea star
2 paradise snails