Another Person Setting Up First Marine Tank, Could Use Some Advice

[Tony44]

Hey there everyone. Havent ever posted here before, and I was looking to get some much needed advice. I have had FS tanks for quite a while, and now I have decided to go marine, and I am very excited about it.

I was able to find a 125 gallon with a stand, and canopy for a very good price on craigslist, and I am going to pick that up this weekend. I have friends who keep SW tanks, so I have bothered them with many questions, but there are a few that they arent able to answer.

It wont happen overnight, but I want to make this tank into a reef tank. I need to find a good filter, probably a wet/dry. The guy who I am buying the tank from told me that there are three holes on the bottom of the tank, he said they are there for the filtering, and plumbing. Anyone know if that is normal, and what kind of filter would be good for a 125? And are there special filters that are made for the tanks with 3 holes in them? And how much would that filter cost? And I have never seen wet/dry filters for sale in stores, any good Ebay stores where I could get one from?

Also, for a 125 I need ALOT of live sand, and alot of live rock. I live right next to the ocean, I have been told that its not a great idea, but would I be able to use ocean sand as my live sand? I have been told that ocean sand contains parasites, but that there is a way to get the parasites out of the sand. Anyone here know a way to do that?


Thanks alot.

 

[cleekdaFish]

dam a 125 gallon marine

 

[Tony44]

Well why not?

 

[cleekdaFish]

nah i think its great , hope it goes well

 

[Tony44]

Thanks alot. Do you know anything about the questions that I asked, about the filtration, and the sand?

 

[n3ont3tra]

For filtration you'll need at least 125 pounds of live rock, and at most, 250. I would say get about 155 pounds.

 

[Tony44]

For filtration you'll need at least 125 pounds of live rock, and at most, 250. I would say get about 155 pounds.

So you are saying that I should not get a wet/dry filter, and just use the live rock as my filter instead?

I think I would much rather go ahead and at least get a canister filter in the beginning, and once my tank is established, and going good, then take out the filter and just let the rock do the job.


Anyone know about the sand though? What could I use to get parasites out of the sand?

 

[Ter]

Well, sounds like your tank is drilled , you already got the hard part on your way 2 a sump already done. check this link for more details...

will you get your live rock right away? if so u won't need a filter.. your liverock will act as a filter.. if not well.. don't get a wet/dry filter so all the better if u cant find one

sand; well this is gonna sound crazy but its a federal crime if ur in the states If u do deside 2 go that way... I guess u could boil the sand in water for a few minutes but wow.. that would be quite long with the amount of sand ur gonna need.. and urll kill the beneficial stuff at the same time... if your looking for some cheap sand...

((("Silica sand is a lighter tan and is very uniform and fine in grain size. It cleans very easily and provides a nice look , it’s very afffordable and can usually be found for 10 dollars or less per 100 lb. sack.

Play sand is also very affordable and is darker and less uniform in grain size & color than Silica sand. It contains a fair amount of clay and can be quite dirty compared to Silica sand. As long as you take the time to thoroughly rinse the sand it makes a good substrate.

Black Beauty is another affordable sand used for sand-blasting and is sold at home supply/hardware outlets. It’s not really sand but powdered iron slag. It can be quite sharp so it’s not recommended for fish that sift a lot of sand such as Tanganyikan sandsifters. Furthermore, these very fine particles contain iron, which means they are not inert.

Coral Sand is an off white color, lighter than the previous sands, and less uniform. It’s a bit rough to the touch but is a good choice if you need to stabilize your PH or improve your buffering capacity. It’s fairly expensive compared to the previous types but less than Aragonite.

Aragonite is a sandy substrate available in several colors and grain sizes, it’s similar to Coral sand as far as buffering goes, so it’s a good choice if you need help with buffering. It’s quite expensive, so you may want to consider another choice if you have a large tank to fill."

"With the exception of "Live Aragonite" (sand that’s pre-seeded w/ living organisms/bacteria) you’ll need to clean your sand. Don’t cut corners here; it’s time well spent. Get a 5 gallon bucket and a garden hose with sprayer attachment. Pour about 2 gallons of sand into the bucket and fill the bucket with water, pour the excess dirt film from the bucket, then really churn the sand while giving it a high pressure spray, this will get most of the dust, etc, off the sand. Pour the dirt film again and repeat until you’re pouring clear water. If you choose Play sand or Black Beauty this can take several tries before it’s clean enough. I get a 30 gallon trash can and line it w/ a couple trash bags to pour the clean sand into. Just repeat this process 2 gallons of sand at a time until you get all the required sand clean.")))
Ter

 

[SkiFletch]

Agree with Ter, the holes are for a sump wich I would HIGHLY reccomend for a big tank like yours. A lot of reading, building and conceptualizing, but sumps are a fantastic way to assist filter a marine tank and to hide equipment and easily waterchange from. I have sumps on both of my tanks and will never go without one. That link Ter posted is awesome, and if/when you have further questions feel free to ask, other members and myself will be happy to help you out with setting a sump up when that website confuses you

As for sand, check out your local homedepot or lowes, they often sell coral/aragonite sand called Kolorscape. If not, bring a couple of glasses and some vinegar with you into the store. Give a bag a pinch, remove some sand, and put it in some vinegar. If it fizzes for 5+ minutes, its coral/aragonite based and suitable, if not, its silica based. Btw, where in the states do you live?

Ter is right, collecting sand from a beach is a federal offense despite the fact that you probably wouldnt get caught. Either way, its not a good idea at all more because of pollutants than parasites. Parasites can go away if you run the tank for a month without any livestock, pollutants dont go away if you know what I mean . Even if you THINK your local beach is clean, trust me the sand is full of oil-based pollution. In a small tank that pollution poses a MASSIVE problem, especially for inverts and corals.

All that said, a 125 is a phenomenal reef-tank size. Great dimensions, nice and long, good width and not too tall. I've seen some GORGEOUS reefs that size, so great choice. I'm really excited to see what you come up with longterm .

Lastly, any ideas what you want to stock it with longterm? Stocking decisions will greatly influence hardware decisions so be ready for that

Keep the questions coming and happy reefing

 

[Tony44]

I really appreciate you guys helping me out with this.

I will go ahead and either make, or just buy a sump if that is possible. I like making things myself, but im not always the greatest at it lol, but hey thats what friends are for lol.



As for stocking, I am not to worried about that yet. This whole thing will take me a long long time to complete. After I get all the rock and all the sand, I want to let the tank cycle for at least 6 weeks, so thats at least 6 weeks I have of thinking about what I want to stock it with. I know that I need good lighting, and I heard that for the best corals I will need about 4 watts per gallon, that seems a little extreme, but I am sure I will need around 2 or 3 watts per gallon. A friend of mine was looking for lights for his 40 gallon, and it will cost him like $300, so I cant imagine how much it will be for a 125 gallon, ouch.


There is just so much you can do with a SW reef tank, that if I choose something right now, I will want something else tomorrow. But, ofcourse, the girlfriend wants to have the whole Finding Nemo theme, and she HAS to have her two clown fish, and a blue tang, so I will definitely be getting those 3, and I think they are all cool fish to. As for corals, and invertebrates, I saw something called Xenia at a fish store by my house, and the only thing I have to say is WOW!!!!!! I will definitely be getting some of that in the future!!! Before I get any of those type of things, I will definitely do my research on it, so thats another reason I am not to worried yet. For now I will just get sand, probably 50 pounds of live rock, and I have heard that if I was to put in a decent amount of LR, and LS, that if I put in normal, or uncured LR, it would turn into cured LR, is this correct? Same thing goes for sand right? I hope this is true cause it could save me a good amount of money.


As for sand. I will probably take your guy's advice, and not go with beach sand, because yes I agree that even a small amount of pollution will do alot of harm in a 125 gallon, compared to the trillions of gallons in the ocean. I am in south Florida, so the beach is right next to my house, that is why I asked. My friend with the 40 gallon bought two bags of, I am pretty sure it is aragonite live sand. I like this sand alot, and I would love to use it, but its $30 for a 25lbs bag, I will probably need about 8 bags if I was to use that, and thats just to much money for one thing. What sand, that I can get for a good price, looks like the aragonite sand? Or is there a way to buy some live sand, and then some "dead" sand? And eventually the "dead" sand would become live sand? I have a FW 55, and I used regular white sand, I think it looks great for a FW tank, but its very fine, and it doesnt look like sand that is in SW. Living in Florida I have been to the beach countless times, and we also have many FW canals. The sand that is at the beach looks like the aragonite sand, and the sand in my 55 FW looks like the sand in the canals, and lakes, I dont think it would look right to have that sand in my SW tank, thats just me.



I hope you guys can answer my questions again this time, there wasnt very many in there.

Thanks alot

 

[Tony44]

Another question.

Three holes on the bottom. I read that link you gave me Ter, thanks alot, I am sure I will need that pretty soon, thanks. But how do I make the sump through the holes in the tank? If I read it correctly, the pipes went from the top of the tank, and not from the bottom of it. How does that work? And are there places where I could just buy a sump? How much would one cost for the size of my tank? And what size sump would I need?


Thanks

 

[SkiFletch]

As for corals, and invertebrates, I saw something called Xenia at a fish store by my house, and the only thing I have to say is WOW!!!!!!

LOVE the enthusiasm . You think Xenia is cool, just wait, there are plenty of things even cooler than xenia that will blow your mind

Back to the sand thing, remember the vinegar test, it always works. Put any sample of sand in vinegar and if it bubbles for 5+ minutes, its a calcium carbonate aka aragonite sand. Go ahead and test your old FW sand, it might be suitable, you never know. Calcium carbonate sand has to be cheapest and abundant down there in florida, thats where its all mined . Dont forget to search your local HD and Lowes You do NOT need to waste money on live sand. IMO, live sand is a complete gimmick and not worth it. It astounds me how many people actually think that there is something alive in that bag which has been sealed off from oxygen and rested on countless warehouse/store shelves for weeks if not months before sale... Nothing's alive in there, waste of money. Live rock is more than capable of seeding plain old aragonite or calcium carbonate sand beds

As for LR, yes, you can buy say 50lbs of LR and 100lbs of BR. Just make sure that the base rock you purchase is highly porous and again, made of calcium carbonate (break off a chunk and do the vinegar test if unsure ). Down in south florida, pretty much the whole state is constructed of calcium carbonate rock as south florida was all a coral reef millions of years ago. You're building your houses on coral skeletons long since dead . Heck, if you know some construction contractors you might even be able to get some base rock from a building foundation? . I did the whole base rock to live rock method myself, used about 25lbs of LR and 50lbs of BR and it worked. Having done so, I would have stocked slower as you plan on stocking slowly, but still it worked. Also, make sure you don't repeat my mistake and run a phosphate binder BEFORE nuisance algae takes hold . Rowaphos is the ticket

As for the sump, where in the bottom pane of glass are the holes located and are there any internal boxes glued in the tank? A pic or even a paint drawing would be very helpful . Use photobucket.com to host images if you dont have an image host allready. If you like building things yourself, you're gonna love this hobby

Edit: Apparently I like Emoticons

 

[Tony44]

Unfortunately, I have not got the tank yet, I am buying and picking it up this coming Saturday, so I do not have any pictures of the holes in the tank. BTW, if you are looking for a bigger tank in the future, classifieds are where its at, I am buying this 125 gallon, with matching oak stand and canopy for $200. The guy was asking $500, but he hadnt been able to sell it, so I offered him $200, and he said he can do $200, a setup this size in a store will easily cost close to a grand.


You say live rock and aragonite sand should be cheaper here. How much is live rock by the pound at your LFSs? Over here its usually about $5lbs, if you buy more than like 20lbs, its about $4, or $3.50. I personally do not think that that is cheap at all, especially when I have to buy 150lbs of it. Would anyone recommend buying LR, or sand from Ebay? I have looked on ebay, and the prices there are a good amount cheaper than in stores.


I looked through your thread, the one that you have on your sig, and I gotta say thats pretty cool what you got there, I hope that mine looks as good one day, but ofcourse I got alot more room in my tank .

If you dont mind me asking you, how much have you put into that tank for the fish and all the corals? If you dont mind me asking you? Just so I know what I am looking at.

Thanks again.

 

[SkiFletch]

You say live rock and aragonite sand should be cheaper here. How much is live rock by the pound at your LFSs? Over here its usually about $5lbs, if you buy more than like 20lbs, its about $4, or $3.50. I personally do not think that that is cheap at all, especially when I have to buy 150lbs of it. Would anyone recommend buying LR, or sand from Ebay? I have looked on ebay, and the prices there are a good amount cheaper than in stores.

Lol, I WISH LR was that cheap from a store around here. Try $7-8 per lb on the cheap end . I wouldnt deal with ebay for live goods at all. Hardware and drygoods, sure but nothing live. Too many horror stories. However buying LR from say premiumacquatics.com or another online retailer is no problem. If you do, buy uncured LR as it usually comes with more goodes. Takes a couple days longer to cycle but you should go slow anyways

I also agree, buying used drygoods is the ONLY way to go. The only new items on my tank currently are my UV sterilizer, one powerhead, and my ozone reactor. All my major hardware (lighting, skimmer, sump, pump, etc) are either used or DIY.

And how much have I spent on livestock? Well, prolly $1000-$1500

 

[Ter]

i'd say maybe 2000$ but that depends really on what kind of lights you want... and at the sametime that desides the type of corals you can have... sadly there isnt really a cheap way around the marine world... and if u try 2 go the cheap way... well... things can go very wrong.
Ter

EDIT GOD DAM U SKI!
lol
Ter