New reef aquarist needs advice!

[Mortimir]

Hello!

This is my first posting to this group, though I have read through
numerous postings here via groups.google.com.

Simply put, I am considering starting my very first aquarium -- a reef
aquarium -- and I am trying my best to set up a good system that isn't
too extravagant or insufficient for my wants and needs. I am on a
budget, but I want to make the best decisions for longterm success as
opposed to short term convenience.

More to the point, I would very much appreciate it if you all could
look over my planned system and offer advice. Tell me if something is
not good, if something is too good, if something is missing, etc.
Tell me even if you only have an opinion different from what I've set
up. Every comment and suggestion will be extremely valuable to me,
and I thank you all in advance for your help.

To no further ado, here is my proposed system as I have planned it so
far:

40 gallon tank (36" x 18" x 16")

Tank cover

Tank stand

40 gallons salinated RO water

Current USA Orbit
Compact Fluorescent Light Fixture
(36”, 2x96W, (1) 96W Dual Daylight,
(1) 96W Dual Actinic, and (3) Lunar lights)

Seachem MatrixCarbon, 1 liter

75 Watt Ebo Jager Heater (two of them for a total of 150W)

Maxi-Jet aquarium pump (power head) MP1200 (295 gph)
(two of these facing each other for turbulence/wavemaking)

AquaC Remora HOT Skimmer w/MJ1200 pump

AquaC Remora Surface Skim Box – MAXIJET

20 lbs. Marshall Island Live Rock

20 lbs. Kaelini Tonga Live Rock

20 lbs. Fiji Live Rock

60 lbs. Carib-Sea Arag-alive Bahamas OOLite (Ultra Fine)

Premium Blue Refractometer – RHS-10ATC

Pinpoint Wireless Thermometer


Some specific questions I have are:

Have I allowed for enough lighting?

Can the Remora Skim Box adequately hold a bag of activated Carbon for
my chemical filtration?

Is my selection of live rock/sand weights and types good?

Am I forgetting anything?

For what it is worth, I want to be able to sustain as many corals as
possible without spending more on lighting. Is my lighting adequate
for sustaining a good number of coral, even if they require a
substantial amount of light? It is noteworthy, however, that I cannot
afford metal halide lighting at this time.

Thank you all very much. I will be looking forward to your responses!

Mortimir

[Mortimir]

Oh, I also wanted to ask how long a system like I've described can be
left unattended? Say, for instance, that I want to go on vacation.
How long could I be away without having someone feeding fish/inverts,
changing water, checking salinity/chemicals, etc.?

It occurs to me that the answer to this question might depend on the
type of life I have in the tank, and I'm not at all opposed to gearing
the tank toward a very low-maintenance system--if that is possible.

Thank you again for your responses.

Mortimir




On Sat, 29 May 2004 05:04:52 -0400, Mortimir >
wrote:

>Hello!
>
>This is my first posting to this group, though I have read through
>numerous postings here via groups.google.com.
>
>Simply put, I am considering starting my very first aquarium -- a reef
>aquarium -- and I am trying my best to set up a good system that isn't
>too extravagant or insufficient for my wants and needs. I am on a
>budget, but I want to make the best decisions for longterm success as
>opposed to short term convenience.
>
>More to the point, I would very much appreciate it if you all could
>look over my planned system and offer advice. Tell me if something is
>not good, if something is too good, if something is missing, etc.
>Tell me even if you only have an opinion different from what I've set
>up. Every comment and suggestion will be extremely valuable to me,
>and I thank you all in advance for your help.
>
>To no further ado, here is my proposed system as I have planned it so
>far:
>
>40 gallon tank (36" x 18" x 16")
>
>Tank cover
>
>Tank stand
>
>40 gallons salinated RO water
>
>Current USA Orbit
> Compact Fluorescent Light Fixture
> (36”, 2x96W, (1) 96W Dual Daylight,
> (1) 96W Dual Actinic, and (3) Lunar lights)
>
>Seachem MatrixCarbon, 1 liter
>
>75 Watt Ebo Jager Heater (two of them for a total of 150W)
>
>Maxi-Jet aquarium pump (power head) MP1200 (295 gph)
> (two of these facing each other for turbulence/wavemaking)
>
>AquaC Remora HOT Skimmer w/MJ1200 pump
>
>AquaC Remora Surface Skim Box – MAXIJET
>
>20 lbs. Marshall Island Live Rock
>
>20 lbs. Kaelini Tonga Live Rock
>
>20 lbs. Fiji Live Rock
>
>60 lbs. Carib-Sea Arag-alive Bahamas OOLite (Ultra Fine)
>
>Premium Blue Refractometer – RHS-10ATC
>
>Pinpoint Wireless Thermometer
>
>
>Some specific questions I have are:
>
>Have I allowed for enough lighting?
>
>Can the Remora Skim Box adequately hold a bag of activated Carbon for
>my chemical filtration?
>
>Is my selection of live rock/sand weights and types good?
>
>Am I forgetting anything?
>
>For what it is worth, I want to be able to sustain as many corals as
>possible without spending more on lighting. Is my lighting adequate
>for sustaining a good number of coral, even if they require a
>substantial amount of light? It is noteworthy, however, that I cannot
>afford metal halide lighting at this time.
>
>Thank you all very much. I will be looking forward to your responses!
>
>Mortimir

[Mortimir]

I also meant to ask how many fish I could house in the described
aquarium. I have heard some inch per gallon rules, but I understand
those aren't the best indicators. What is a proper indicator? How
can I go about planning the fish livestock of the tank? Is there a
limit to corals and/or other inverts that I can have in the tank?
I've been reading a lot about reef tanks, and I haven't found any
recommendations yet for the number of fish to house per unit of
anything.

Thanks again for the help, and I apologize for adding new questions
every few minutes...=)

Mortimir

[PaulB]

Probably too much rock. 60lbs is about the max for a 40 gallon, and Pacific
tends to be lighter for it's volume.

You will need a water top off system to leave it for an extended time.

The light should be good for anything short of SPS. If you mean a glass
tank cover you might want to think about ventilation.



"Mortimir" > wrote in message
...
> Hello!
>
> This is my first posting to this group, though I have read through
> numerous postings here via groups.google.com.
>
> Simply put, I am considering starting my very first aquarium -- a reef
> aquarium -- and I am trying my best to set up a good system that isn't
> too extravagant or insufficient for my wants and needs. I am on a
> budget, but I want to make the best decisions for longterm success as
> opposed to short term convenience.
>
> More to the point, I would very much appreciate it if you all could
> look over my planned system and offer advice. Tell me if something is
> not good, if something is too good, if something is missing, etc.
> Tell me even if you only have an opinion different from what I've set
> up. Every comment and suggestion will be extremely valuable to me,
> and I thank you all in advance for your help.
>
> To no further ado, here is my proposed system as I have planned it so
> far:
>
> 40 gallon tank (36" x 18" x 16")
>
> Tank cover
>
> Tank stand
>
> 40 gallons salinated RO water
>
> Current USA Orbit
> Compact Fluorescent Light Fixture
> (36", 2x96W, (1) 96W Dual Daylight,
> (1) 96W Dual Actinic, and (3) Lunar lights)
>
> Seachem MatrixCarbon, 1 liter
>
> 75 Watt Ebo Jager Heater (two of them for a total of 150W)
>
> Maxi-Jet aquarium pump (power head) MP1200 (295 gph)
> (two of these facing each other for turbulence/wavemaking)
>
> AquaC Remora HOT Skimmer w/MJ1200 pump
>
> AquaC Remora Surface Skim Box - MAXIJET
>
> 20 lbs. Marshall Island Live Rock
>
> 20 lbs. Kaelini Tonga Live Rock
>
> 20 lbs. Fiji Live Rock
>
> 60 lbs. Carib-Sea Arag-alive Bahamas OOLite (Ultra Fine)
>
> Premium Blue Refractometer - RHS-10ATC
>
> Pinpoint Wireless Thermometer
>
>
> Some specific questions I have are:
>
> Have I allowed for enough lighting?
>
> Can the Remora Skim Box adequately hold a bag of activated Carbon for
> my chemical filtration?
>
> Is my selection of live rock/sand weights and types good?
>
> Am I forgetting anything?
>
> For what it is worth, I want to be able to sustain as many corals as
> possible without spending more on lighting. Is my lighting adequate
> for sustaining a good number of coral, even if they require a
> substantial amount of light? It is noteworthy, however, that I cannot
> afford metal halide lighting at this time.
>
> Thank you all very much. I will be looking forward to your responses!
>
> Mortimir

[Mortimir]

On Sat, 29 May 2004 10:28:00 GMT, "PaulB" > wrote:

>Probably too much rock. 60lbs is about the max for a 40 gallon, and Pacific
>tends to be lighter for it's volume.


What would be the ideal amount of rock for the 40 gallon?

Also, since I last posted, I discovered
http://tampabaysal****er.com/package.html. "The Package" on that site
looks very nice to me. However, it recommends 80 lbs of live rock!!!
Granted, it is the Florida and Gulf rock, I think. Does that
"Package" look like a good option for me? Would the 80 lbs be too
much, or is the Florida rock denser? How does the Florida rock
compare to the pacific rocks I mentioned earlier?


>You will need a water top off system to leave it for an extended time.


Ah!--good point! I'll have to check into one of those.

Assuming I choose my fish and inverts carefully so as to maximize the
time they can be left alone -- and assuming I have the top off system
-- how long could I expect to be able to leave my tank unattended?


>The light should be good for anything short of SPS. If you mean a glass
>tank cover you might want to think about ventilation.


You mean to maximize gas exchange and such? I would leave the tank
uncovered, but will be getting a cat in a little under a month. I'd
hate to let my cat treat my tank as a buffet...=P Since I do need to
be able to cover the tank, are there some ways to improve the
ventilation while still keeping the cat away from the livestock?

Thank you very much for your help. It is greatly appreciated!

Mortimir

[Marc Levenson]

Hi Mortimer,

I think you have enough LR, but 80lbs is fine too. The more LR you have, the
better denitrification that can occur.

Your lighting of 192w of PC lighting is sufficient for anything you like, but
the light-demanding corals need to be near the top of the tank. I have kept SPS
and a Maxima Clam in my 29g with 165w of PC lighting for the past 2 years.

I doubt you'll be able to put any carbon in the skimmer's pre-box, as it is
designed to trap bubbles mainly. I don't even run carbon, but you could put a
small bag of it in the tank to passively absorb some chemicals. It would need
to be removed within a week, because it won't pull anything out after that.

You'll need test kits. I use Salifert for my normal tests: Nitrate, Calcium,
Alkalinity, Phosphate. I use a Pinpoint pH meter, because I don't believe any
of the pH test kits to be accurate (I've used a number of them).

Don't cover your tank with glass, because it traps heat. Build a canopy to keep
your cat out. There is a canopy on my site, if you'd like an example of one:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/tank/canopy.html

I wouldn't recommend leaving a tank unattended for more than three days.

Visit my site for more answers, linked below.

Marc


Mortimir wrote:

> Hello!
>
> This is my first posting to this group, though I have read through
> numerous postings here via groups.google.com.
>
> Simply put, I am considering starting my very first aquarium -- a reef
> aquarium -- and I am trying my best to set up a good system that isn't
> too extravagant or insufficient for my wants and needs. I am on a
> budget, but I want to make the best decisions for longterm success as
> opposed to short term convenience.
>
> More to the point, I would very much appreciate it if you all could
> look over my planned system and offer advice. Tell me if something is
> not good, if something is too good, if something is missing, etc.
> Tell me even if you only have an opinion different from what I've set
> up. Every comment and suggestion will be extremely valuable to me,
> and I thank you all in advance for your help.
>
> To no further ado, here is my proposed system as I have planned it so
> far:
>
> 40 gallon tank (36" x 18" x 16")
>
> Tank cover
>
> Tank stand
>
> 40 gallons salinated RO water
>
> Current USA Orbit
> Compact Fluorescent Light Fixture
> (36”, 2x96W, (1) 96W Dual Daylight,
> (1) 96W Dual Actinic, and (3) Lunar lights)
>
> Seachem MatrixCarbon, 1 liter
>
> 75 Watt Ebo Jager Heater (two of them for a total of 150W)
>
> Maxi-Jet aquarium pump (power head) MP1200 (295 gph)
> (two of these facing each other for turbulence/wavemaking)
>
> AquaC Remora HOT Skimmer w/MJ1200 pump
>
> AquaC Remora Surface Skim Box – MAXIJET
>
> 20 lbs. Marshall Island Live Rock
>
> 20 lbs. Kaelini Tonga Live Rock
>
> 20 lbs. Fiji Live Rock
>
> 60 lbs. Carib-Sea Arag-alive Bahamas OOLite (Ultra Fine)
>
> Premium Blue Refractometer – RHS-10ATC
>
> Pinpoint Wireless Thermometer
>
> Some specific questions I have are:
>
> Have I allowed for enough lighting?
>
> Can the Remora Skim Box adequately hold a bag of activated Carbon for
> my chemical filtration?
>
> Is my selection of live rock/sand weights and types good?
>
> Am I forgetting anything?
>
> For what it is worth, I want to be able to sustain as many corals as
> possible without spending more on lighting. Is my lighting adequate
> for sustaining a good number of coral, even if they require a
> substantial amount of light? It is noteworthy, however, that I cannot
> afford metal halide lighting at this time.
>
> Thank you all very much. I will be looking forward to your responses!
>
> Mortimir

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Mortimir]

Thanks for your response. I do have a question about the possibility
of leaving the tank while on vacation and such. Is there any sort of
automatic feeder or the like that you can set up with an automatic top
off so that the tank could be sustained for a while? If I cannot
leave a tank for up to two weeks I'm afraid I might not be able to get
one.

Thank you again for your help.

Mortimir

P.S. - Would it make any difference if the tank had only a very few
fishes or perhaps no fishes?



On Sat, 29 May 2004 22:36:01 GMT, Marc Levenson >
wrote:

>Hi Mortimer,
>
>I think you have enough LR, but 80lbs is fine too. The more LR you have, the
>better denitrification that can occur.
>
>Your lighting of 192w of PC lighting is sufficient for anything you like, but
>the light-demanding corals need to be near the top of the tank. I have kept SPS
>and a Maxima Clam in my 29g with 165w of PC lighting for the past 2 years.
>
>I doubt you'll be able to put any carbon in the skimmer's pre-box, as it is
>designed to trap bubbles mainly. I don't even run carbon, but you could put a
>small bag of it in the tank to passively absorb some chemicals. It would need
>to be removed within a week, because it won't pull anything out after that.
>
>You'll need test kits. I use Salifert for my normal tests: Nitrate, Calcium,
>Alkalinity, Phosphate. I use a Pinpoint pH meter, because I don't believe any
>of the pH test kits to be accurate (I've used a number of them).
>
>Don't cover your tank with glass, because it traps heat. Build a canopy to keep
>your cat out. There is a canopy on my site, if you'd like an example of one:
>http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/tank/canopy.html
>
>I wouldn't recommend leaving a tank unattended for more than three days.
>
>Visit my site for more answers, linked below.
>
>Marc
>
>

[Marc Levenson]

There are a variety of solutions to your situation.

A tank sitter, comes by daily to check on the tank and drop in the specific amount of
food you've assigned for each day of the week. (Small dosing cups are ideal to
control over-estimations by your sitter)
A tank service, usually offered by your LFS. They'll come out as often as you'll pay
them to. They know their stuff, and can fix a problem that a sitter can not.
A local hobbyist may do it for free, in exchange that you do the same for him when
he's going out of town. You can pay him, of course.

Auto top-off of water can be done with a lot of different systems. Basically you
need a large container (like a $7 *new* trashcan from Home Depot) filled with 30g of
RO/DI water. It slowly adds to your system via a float valve as evaoporation occurs.

More fish does put more stress on the tank, as they are pooping machines, but fish
can go several days without food. There are battery powered feeding dosers, that
work with pellet food.

Marc


Mortimir wrote:

> Thanks for your response. I do have a question about the possibility
> of leaving the tank while on vacation and such. Is there any sort of
> automatic feeder or the like that you can set up with an automatic top
> off so that the tank could be sustained for a while? If I cannot
> leave a tank for up to two weeks I'm afraid I might not be able to get
> one.
>
> Thank you again for your help.
>
> Mortimir
>
> P.S. - Would it make any difference if the tank had only a very few
> fishes or perhaps no fishes?
>
> On Sat, 29 May 2004 22:36:01 GMT, Marc Levenson >
> wrote:
>
> >Hi Mortimer,
> >
> >I think you have enough LR, but 80lbs is fine too. The more LR you have, the
> >better denitrification that can occur.
> >
> >Your lighting of 192w of PC lighting is sufficient for anything you like, but
> >the light-demanding corals need to be near the top of the tank. I have kept SPS
> >and a Maxima Clam in my 29g with 165w of PC lighting for the past 2 years.
> >
> >I doubt you'll be able to put any carbon in the skimmer's pre-box, as it is
> >designed to trap bubbles mainly. I don't even run carbon, but you could put a
> >small bag of it in the tank to passively absorb some chemicals. It would need
> >to be removed within a week, because it won't pull anything out after that.
> >
> >You'll need test kits. I use Salifert for my normal tests: Nitrate, Calcium,
> >Alkalinity, Phosphate. I use a Pinpoint pH meter, because I don't believe any
> >of the pH test kits to be accurate (I've used a number of them).
> >
> >Don't cover your tank with glass, because it traps heat. Build a canopy to keep
> >your cat out. There is a canopy on my site, if you'd like an example of one:
> >http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/tank/canopy.html
> >
> >I wouldn't recommend leaving a tank unattended for more than three days.
> >
> >Visit my site for more answers, linked below.
> >
> >Marc
> >
> >

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Mortimir]

On Sun, 30 May 2004 05:02:20 GMT, Marc Levenson >
wrote:

>There are a variety of solutions to your situation.
>
>A tank sitter, comes by daily to check on the tank and drop in the specific amount of
>food you've assigned for each day of the week. (Small dosing cups are ideal to
>control over-estimations by your sitter)
>A tank service, usually offered by your LFS. They'll come out as often as you'll pay
>them to. They know their stuff, and can fix a problem that a sitter can not.
>A local hobbyist may do it for free, in exchange that you do the same for him when
>he's going out of town. You can pay him, of course.
>
>Auto top-off of water can be done with a lot of different systems. Basically you
>need a large container (like a $7 *new* trashcan from Home Depot) filled with 30g of
>RO/DI water. It slowly adds to your system via a float valve as evaoporation occurs.
>
>More fish does put more stress on the tank, as they are pooping machines, but fish
>can go several days without food. There are battery powered feeding dosers, that
>work with pellet food.
>
>Marc
>
>


I'm not very comfortable with people coming in and out of my house
while I'm gone. Would I be okay to do the auto top-off and battery
powered feeding doser for two weeks or so? What would be the
drawbacks to doing this, other than the fact that if something goes
wrong I won't know until I get back? Is it very likely that something
would go wrong?

Thanks again!

Mortimir

P.S. - What would be a recommended tank-load of fish for me?

[Marc Levenson]

Yes, that is an issue. Two weeks is a very long time for something to go wrong, and it
might be fine for 13 days, or something could go wrong on day 1. Murphy's Law, you see...
;)

If you have homeowners insurance, and find someone reputable (the president of the local
marine aquarium society would be a great choice!), you shouldn't have to worry. Or you
could have your next door neighbor come over and learn with you for a while, then ask them
to walk over for a few minutes each day, just to make sure everything is running. They
have to go to their mailbox anyway, and they'd be halfway to your home by then.

One lady I met two years ago at MACNA told me how she was out of town and the neighbors
new the power went out in the neighborhood on her side of the street. They were so
worried about her tanks that when she got home she had a broken window with extension
cords going into her home. They plugged in all the plugs they could hoping to save her
tank.

She thanked them for caring, and gave them a key. ;)

Marc


Mortimir wrote:

> I'm not very comfortable with people coming in and out of my house
> while I'm gone. Would I be okay to do the auto top-off and battery
> powered feeding doser for two weeks or so? What would be the
> drawbacks to doing this, other than the fact that if something goes
> wrong I won't know until I get back? Is it very likely that something
> would go wrong?
>
> Thanks again!
>
> Mortimir
>
> P.S. - What would be a recommended tank-load of fish for me?

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Richard Reynolds]

because you want the ability to go away for up to 2 weeks, and because you dont have a
tank now. you might look into a lightly stocked FO or FO with inverts, setup, they can be
setup with the thought of your absence in mind. you will want to limit which fish you
choose and you wont be able to have most corals which I did notice was a desired
attribute.

however you can set it up so its much more bullet proof, with less that can go wrong.
things like battery backups and auto topoffs are a must. a single auto feeder will be ok,
if it fails its not the end of the world.

--
Richard Reynolds

[PaulB]

It depends on the rock, but you need to think about how you will rockscape
your tank. How much open space do you want? Do you want open areas of sand
for keeping things like brain corals for instance? I would get 40 lbs and
then see how things look.




"Mortimir" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 29 May 2004 10:28:00 GMT, "PaulB" > wrote:
>
> >Probably too much rock. 60lbs is about the max for a 40 gallon, and
Pacific
> >tends to be lighter for it's volume.
>
>
> What would be the ideal amount of rock for the 40 gallon?
>
> Also, since I last posted, I discovered
> http://tampabaysal****er.com/package.html. "The Package" on that site
> looks very nice to me. However, it recommends 80 lbs of live rock!!!
> Granted, it is the Florida and Gulf rock, I think. Does that
> "Package" look like a good option for me? Would the 80 lbs be too
> much, or is the Florida rock denser? How does the Florida rock
> compare to the pacific rocks I mentioned earlier?
>
>
> >You will need a water top off system to leave it for an extended time.
>
>
> Ah!--good point! I'll have to check into one of those.
>
> Assuming I choose my fish and inverts carefully so as to maximize the
> time they can be left alone -- and assuming I have the top off system
> -- how long could I expect to be able to leave my tank unattended?
>
>
> >The light should be good for anything short of SPS. If you mean a glass
> >tank cover you might want to think about ventilation.
>
>
> You mean to maximize gas exchange and such? I would leave the tank
> uncovered, but will be getting a cat in a little under a month. I'd
> hate to let my cat treat my tank as a buffet...=P Since I do need to
> be able to cover the tank, are there some ways to improve the
> ventilation while still keeping the cat away from the livestock?
>
> Thank you very much for your help. It is greatly appreciated!
>
> Mortimir
>