Setting Up a First Saltwater Aquarium

[atomicjade]

Hi everyone, I've been a member of this community for a little while and have had freshwater aquariums since I was a kid, but now I'm making a venture into saltwater. My boyfriend and I got a deal on a practically new unused 125 gallon tank and we are taking our time with reading as much as we can and preparing for it. I don't want to take any shortcuts and really make it into something we can take pride in. He is getting a custom welded steel frame and making a wooden cabinetry, I'm in charge of getting all of the accessories. I am debating over whether to incorporate a sump tank or not, I don't really understand how to set it up to be honest, and I don't know especially how to set it up to where in the event of a power outage it wouldn't overflow. At this point, a protein skimmer is definitely a must, and then also a canister filter and powerheads. I have the definite advantage of living in sunny southwest Florida and I planned on getting water and most possibly sand as well, and if its not obtrusive some rock pieces. I wanted a community tank with local native fish, my boyfriend on the other hand wants big aggressive fish but as you know... we normally get what we want thumbs2: and I want a variety of inhabitants including crustaceans and whatever else is compatible. I'm also not really sure what exactly to get as far as light goes, I do want live rock and live sand... would a set of two single tube or double tube fluorescent fixtures be preferable? And what kind of lights would make the best as far as productivity and viewability?

I'm sure I have a lot of other curiousities but its late and my brain isn't working a hundred percent, until then I am more than happy to hear whatever anyone has to say in terms of advice or caution. Thank you in advance!

[coachfraley]

With a tank that size, you pretty much HAVE to use a sump. If the tank does not have an internal overflow, you can use an overflow box. They are designed to maintain a siphon during a power outage.

It is going to be hard to give concrete equipment advice until you have decided what you want to do with the tank. Here are some questions you should think about:

1. Do you want corals?
2. If so, what kinds of corals interest you?
3. What kind of fish do you want to keep?
3. Do you have a mountain of money to invest in this?

The kind of lights, powerheads, and skimmer you choose will depend on how you answer those four questions.

My main advice is this...before you buy any equipment, research it (read reviews and ask people on this forum), and most importantly...DO NOT skimp on your equipment! You will end up spending more replacing junk, then if you just bought the good stuff to begin with.

Good luck! SW is a blast!

[AABatteries]

Coach pretty much covered everything about what we need to know before we can help with the equipment.

And about getting water and sand from the beach, bad idea. There is a good chance that it could be contaminated. So, just to be safe mix your own SW and buy the sand.

[kaimarkhirst]

Firstly, Congrats on your decision, ive ran FW setups for years, and now am going into SW. Ive started alot smaller and am going to a 155g custom later next year, but thats just me...

Planning.

Obviously youve got a plan, and Its going to start with a hang on the side overflow box and a sump...

Sump.

This sounds like a lazy way of doing it, but id get one made by your LFS that specialise in marines. There are suppliers out there that do this and its not that expensive. It works out expensive if you try and build your own, as youve got time, cutting expenses, materials, then if you get it wrong, youve pretty much got to start again. So id invest in a pre built one. You really want one that about 1/3 tank size...

Equipment.

Recently ive made this mistake into buying a peice of equipment that is just not quite right and that was the protien skimmer.. The reason was that the one I bought was one that ran off an air pump, and its noisy. Its good, but I could have done better for the money... My advice is to look at what your buying, look at reviews, be impartial on your decisions and look at what your needs are...

Tank Stock...

Live rock is one hell of an expenditure and there are two ways of cutting down the cost on this without cutting corners....... What I did was shop around, got prices and compared them as you do but there was one thing that I did notice and that was you all transported then home dry.. (Not submerged on water...) So I bought mine froma supplier that supplied shops so I got mine for less than £10 per kilo, which is a steal for fiji rock.... sames as my substrate. I bought live coral sand that was out of a tank that theyd taken apart, and I got 10 kilos for £10. Again the best price but not cutting corners.... My advice is, plan, there are loads of peeps that sell livestock and stuff for the tank, take your time.

Water...

Obviously with a SW this is abit more specialised. The LFS will say to you that "you can buy your water from here, or purchase the best in RO filters from us" or " were the best price around.." And all the rest fo the sales talk. I listened to them, took their advise away. Went hoem promptly got a water quality report from my local Authority, found that the quality is very good, and miced my own. No RO, No hiring berrels and transporting it home. Just bought some aquasafe tap water conditioner, Calcium Buffer, the usual test kits needed and mixed my own out of the tap... Obviously itll be different for you and you live in a diferent area than me, but the principle remains the same. Look at all your options, assess adn make a decision based upon fact, not sales talk....

Undocumented Features..

Im still discovering on this one. You can read all you want and prep as much as the best of them as I did. I read 5 books (2 on setups, 3 on species and livestock), internet, this forum, but nothing prepares you for when you actually start setting up. For instance..... My all in one setup came ready with equipment so I assumed that itll be ready once the cycle has finished.... WRONG..... I set mine up, monitored it for a week or so with the water in and the lights on and instantly found that the temparature when the halide came on for longer than 8 hours or so the temp raised a bit too much and the manufacturers, didnt make it easy to fit a cooling fan there to regulate this. SO ive had to adjust the lighting times with the timers and such. The protien skimmer. Works on an air pump and is noisy, manufacturers dont take than into account.. theres all this stuff, that creeps up on you that you dont read about, and find out as your going along... My advise is. Take your time. Be methodical about your planning, and dont be afraid to take a step back to take two steps forward in some cases...

Overall, there are basic rules to take from all of this, the one that sticks out to me is that everybody has told me that its dead expensive, ooohhh is hard work and all this. But ive found that its not more hard work that setting up a FW. Its more complicated and you need to be a bit more precise, but overall no more hard work than my Cichlid species tank or my RB Pirahna tank....

But one thing I will tell you. Nothing prepares you for when you get the live rock in, and turn the lights on. My god is it good looking!!!! Youll just stare for hours and im told it gets better!!!!!!! :hmm3grin2orange:

Anyways I hope this helps you and good luck. There are more peeps here that know more than me on this subject, so im sure theyll be more than willing to help out....

Kai

[AABatteries]

She should be able to get her LR and livestock cheaper since she's located in Florida. I imagine that the average price of LR there couldn't be more than $5. And livestock should be at least 10% cheaper than places further away from the beach.

[kaimarkhirst]

very good point.

Never thought of that since I live in the UK and itll be more expensive due to shipping. Gutted.

I get orrible rain, orrible governments, and orrible LFS prices compared to you guys!!!!:hmm3grin2orange:

[AABatteries]

LFS prices are a bit high up here in Ohio since we're so far inland. LR is killer though, $7/lb is the cheapest I can get it around here, if I want good stuff. I can get the cheap cured stuff for $6/lb.

[oldhead]

Welcome to the darkside:hmm3grin2orange: .

Take your time and do your homework, all else will fall into place. Below is a link to a site regarding sumps, how they work, and how to set one up in basic fashion. I would not recommend buying one as making your own is loads cheaper and I'm not kidding either. Not to mention you can customize it more to meet your specific needs. Ditch the plans for the cannister filter as I'm sure it's been mentioned already.


[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[atomicjade]

Thanks so much everyone for your responses. This is definitely a project in process and we are taking our time and will acquire all the necessary equipment over time, and I will be sure not to skimp. I have a bearded dragon in a 45g breeder but he is being moved into "the mansion" (my mom bought another 125g but a reptile tank from the same guy we bought our tank from to put "Mortie" the dragon in.. big enough for 3+ of them) and if his 45g holds water I was going to use that as a sump. If not I would probably get a large rubbermaid that would fit under the stand as a sump. Or in our case it'd probably be better if we got one already made, although I've been doing a bit of reading and am beginning to get a better grasp of how they work and are set up, its still not quite the same as actually seeing one work and how they are built and put together. But I have definitely added it to the list.

Forgive me if I am being ignorant or just don't understand, but I wanted to set up our tank as a native biotope, I did not want to buy fish or rock or sand or water. Not necessarily because I want to cut down on cost, but because I want stuff in my tank that not anyone else can get by going to the pet store or placing an order. I wouldn't infringe on laws regarding the collection of certain specimens, but those that are allowed I definitely wanted to incorporate local live rock, live sand, and the fish and crustaceans involved. My question being, if I had a tank full of local wild caught specimens, what would be the harm in using the sand and water that they are from? Especially since many live rock and live sand are cultivated from Florida anyway?

Another thing I wanted to know is opinions on the Berlin or Jaubert systems with a deep sand filtration.

And I know this is popular with freshwater aquascapes and I don't think I've seen it with saltwater, but does or has anybody used driftwood in their saltwater tanks? I ask because awhile ago I collected driftwood from the beach for my freshwater tank and have a very large piece left over from it that might look cool in this one. I'm not entirely sure though how it would fit in with the rocks.

So basically the list compromises of a protein skimmer, overflow box(or boxes), sump... how about a refugium? Would I need powerheads with a sump?

And.. I can't think of anything else right now. Ah well actually, does anyone know of a place where I could get a glass canopy and fixtures for this tank at a decent price? I still would like to know what fluorescents would be best. Thanks!