New 40 gallon tank

[sigma]

Hello all,

I was recently given a 20 gallon high tank with thoughts of making it into saltwater, probably fish only. I have mixed the water and was about to put in some argonite or live sand when my neighbor calls me up saying he is giving away his 40 gallon tank, looks like a cube. I don't want to spend too much money so I can really only afford one tank. I already purchased an Emperor 170, a 125w heater, a powersweep 214, and a Seaclone protein skimmer.

Is there any advise anyone can give as to what I should do. If I got the 40 gallon I would put live sand and live rock in it, but I would I have to up the lighting for the live rock. I wasn't planning on putting more than 15-20 lbs of rock in at first. PLease help.

 

[bgraber]

Um lights right off the bat aren't That important.. Look online as you can get some pretty sweet deals on 24" Power Compact setups or VHOs.. Unless you plan on keeping stony corals, power compacts should be fine..

 

[sigma]

Right now I am leaning towards the 40 gallon, just because I'm new and realize the bigger the tank the "easier" it is. So far I am thinking about 50lbs of half live sand and have "dead" argonite. 10 or so pounds of base rock and another 10 of live rock. I will probably put in a damsel or two to help the cycling, but how long should I wait to add some inverts. I was thinking a coral banded or peppermint shrimp and some snails, or even a starfish.

You said lighting isnt that important, but how many watts are necessary for this tank if it is only having this much live rock, I believe the hood comes with a 20w flourescent. Do the inverts need special lighting too?

 

[bgraber]

Dont bother "helping the cycle" with the damsel.. Live rock with any life on it at all will do what you need. When it comes time to take out the damsel, which will happen if you want any other fish in there, you're going to play hell trying to get it out without removing the rock.. Live rock is all you need to cycle. And there shouldn't even be that much of a cycle unless there is alot of decaying matter on the rock..
No special lighting for the inverts.. I've had snails and hermits living in a 40 gallon trash can(new of course) for almost a month now waiting on my new tank to get setup.. 20 watts is all I have over my 16 gallon bowfront and everyone is doing fine. No coralline growth that I can see but the macro algae(chaetomorpha) is growing a bit..

 

[sigma]

I have been playing around with the thought of using a sump for this system, to allow me to grow into a reef system. The problem is, I really dont know what the sump entails other then pumping water into a tank below the main tank, some plants, and filters in the sump, then pump the water back up to the main tank. Im guessing a 10 gallon tank could be used as a sump for this system.

 

[Navarre]

If you want to use a sump then you might need to drill your main tank (although you can get divices to allow the water to overflow to the sump below).

There are many benefits to using a sump.
1. You can place your heaters skimmers etc down here out of the way of your fish and inverts etc. (ever seen the damage a heater can do to a nsil when it turns on and the snail cannot get off in time )

2. A good place for gorwing macro algea which in turn is great for reducing nutrients. (Nitrate)

3. Good for puting troublesome fish or inverts. If you have a fish thats bullying others then it can be placed here where it cannot harm the others whist you decide what to do with it. (the same can be said for fish that are being bullied etc)

4. The sump will increase the volume of the tank. for example. a 100 gallon tank with 30 gallon sump = 130 tank! This is volume of water only. Dont confuse this with swimming room.

 

[sigma]

The live rock I would be getting would not be for filtration..at first. As I said before I would probably only get 10 or so pounds initially. That being said, besides a protein skimmer, what other type of filtration would be adequate. A power filter?

btw...this is what I will most likely be doing, I hope to then graduate to using a sump or refugium after I save some more money.

 

[sigma]

Probably a few months down the line

 

[bgraber]

DItto what Navarre said.. I'm putting a sump with an overflow box(no drilling required) on my new 75.. I only have a 10 gallon tank available at the moment but would like to have as big of a sump as possible. A friend is setting up a 75 for a sump for his 110 gallon.. Make sure you use baffles in the sump to make an area in the middle where water flow is cut back.. Otherwise everything will be flying around in there due to the pumps water flow.. Look up DYI marine sump on google and see what you come up with..

 

[sigma]

the stand for the tank has no bottom, but with all the wadded weight from the sand and rock, should I put a plywood bottom or trust the manufacturers