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New tank

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DIDYSIS View Drop Down
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    Posted: May 06 2013 at 2:49pm
I just picked up a aqua pod system 24 gallons (monster tank took all 15 min to fill, drain, and towl dry, for my test fill lol ) and I am looking to get new light bulbs for it,
Stock-
One 32 Watt 10k/6.7k
One 32 Watt 460nm /420nm

Should I stick with this or get 2 of the 10k/460nm units?

Plan to grow soft corals, hammer, toad stool, anemone, just playing with it at this point and will be looking for more advice as I go I have done a salt take before with just fish but its been years, freshwater tanks at this time are my real joy stock wise.  

I already have a few tanks that I can upgrade to when I am ready to do so.

I am also going to buy some new fans, a new pump about 300gph, and see what I can do with it before I decide what I want to do in the future.   Are the fans really needed at all? I plan on just buying some cheap conputer fans and if they get me 6 months to a year great they are 5.00 and one would probably be enough I would think.

Should a y loc line setup with 2 jets be enough flow variety or should I order a little power head? Or just leave one jet comming off the back wall  

Also one of my freshwater tanks use to be a reef and im thinking of using that sand by removing it from the fresh tank(currently running as fresh) and putting it in here then adding live rock or should I really get new live sand?

Also will taking media from a freshwater tank speed up the cycle period in a saltwater tank by putting the media into the reef system?

Also do I really need ro water, all my tanks don't get filtered water at all, our water here is great my fish get it 24/7 and love it.
 
Also do you recommend buying live rock from someone around here or KSL or what store is the best price for product. 

Thanks all for any advice or tips


Edited by DIDYSIS - May 06 2013 at 2:52pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HPballer76 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 06 2013 at 3:11pm
I have a 24g aquapod that is currently running. When I had the stock lighting on it I ran 1 50/50 10k/ actinic bulb and 1 actinic bulb and that seemed to give it pretty good color.



This is with both of the above bulbs on




Just the actinic


And just the 50/50


You definitely will want to run a fan to keep heat inside the top down. I replaced my fan with one from mediabaskets.com and also run their media basket with filter floss, chemi pure elite, and purigen.


I ran a locline setup with 2 jets as you mentioned and also a small powerhead near the bottom of the tank facing up.

As far as the sand goes I personally wouldn't use the sand from your freshwater tank. Starting with new sand will most likely cause you less headaches in the end. I don't think the media from the freshwater tank will speed up the cycle. To my knowledge fresh and saltwater bacteria are different.

It would be best to use Ro water, I know some people get away without it but I personally wouldn't run a saltwater tank without using Ro/Di .

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksmart Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 06 2013 at 9:17pm
Hello and welcome!

No I wouldn't use the sand from a freshwater tank. Not sure if you ever dosed any medicines in your freshwater or not but there are some chemicals "safe" for freshwater tanks but cause a lot of issues in a saltwater setup. Either way I would just get some new sand. You could probably find someone that has some utah sand that has been cleaned and would give you a good deal on it. Once you have some sand for your tank you could go get a cup of live sand from someone (I'm sure anyone on this board would give you a cup) to help seed your tank.

Both this site and/or ksl are good places to find live rock and corals and other stuff you may want/need from your reef. There are benefits in buying new though like new "dead" rock wont come with any unwanted hitch hikers. I've started with dead rock on both my most recent setups and have no regrets.

I don't think the media from a freshwater will help out the salt in anyway and again you can get some sand from another hobbiest that you can seed your tank with. You could probably even get some water from someone doing a water change...

"It would be best to use Ro water, I know some people get away without it but I personally wouldn't run a saltwater tank without using Ro/Di ."

+1 ^^

one of the biggest things I've learned in this hobby especially is taking short cuts will end up costing you more down the road.

Good luck and dont forget to get pictures up :)






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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DIDYSIS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 06 2013 at 10:24pm
Thank you both for the information very helpful,

Im going to order my pump and lights then look heavy into finding some sand and rock for the tank.  Seems like good rock is sometimes hard to come by so could be fun.

I hope that I will find someone that is willing to spare some sand and a rock or two from a system that is setup well that way maybe I can  jump start my system, I always share media from my freshwater tanks to jump start everything and get them going instantly so unfortunately I will not be able to do that here as all my friends are into freshwater tanks.
 
So I have been looking around today and found that I can get a dual 10K bulb and then a dual actinic or the others,  can someone advise me what might be the best option to try. 

A. Dual 10K, Dual actinic
B. 10K/6,7K, Dual actinic
C, Dual actinic , 10k/actinic
D. Your preference, I am open to ideas to grow coral with what I got to work with. 

Even thought about moving the fixture a little to fit the 40 watt bulbs but think I could get other things to fill later if I need or want to play with something other then the stock setup.
 HPballer saw your setup with the Par 38 LED light how did you like that?

I am probably a different tank before I ditch the top cover but adding an led strip that is a 10K with blue would not be too far off adding into this hood unit very easily.

Ill get pics up when it looks less like an empty tank, and has at least water/sand/rock.   
Thanks again for the input.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote badfinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 06 2013 at 10:44pm
If you want rock with lots of " life" on it go to live rock and reef. If you are worried about bad hitchikers, go dry rock and seed from someone elses tank. I used a 1lbs piece to "seed" my 8gal nano from there and loved the differnt type of life that came in with it. But its also my "dirty" tank, not sooo well manicured

In saltwater, you can't rush stuff as quick as your hoping. But you can make it go faster.

Also I think hpballer gave great advice on the lights. I like a "bluer" tank, but you can always buy an extra 50/50 just incase you don't like the look
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DIDYSIS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 06 2013 at 10:55pm
So do corals not really need the extra white and more blue would be fine, or more white is better?  sorry that was my thought but I didn't say it in the other post. 

Edited by DIDYSIS - May 06 2013 at 10:56pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote phys Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2013 at 1:12am
Corals do need white light.. They do have photosynthetic responses to more than just blue. Also it helps to show color.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DIDYSIS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 09 2013 at 8:32am

Looking over the local classifieds someone got a tank from a friend and was going fresh water so needed to send the salt water stuff on its way and as always nothing was taken care of in the tank really well and had been taken down for many hours with the fish in a water pitcher, so I figured I could do better and grabbed my tank and set it up with some salt and threw the filter stuff in it and went to grab the fish with some rock, figured the rock would be able to maintain the water ok and I would make it work. Got the substrate and rock and single tomato clown and ran home, the fish was in super hot water as he had put a heater into the water pitcher, it seemed like 95+ when I felt the water, so put him in a bag to soak for 30 minutes and threw the rock, base and some of the water into the tank to mix. Well long story short here we are 4.5 days later. And the fish still lives and seems very happy to my amazement. Ordered some new salt mix (reef crystals) as my other was super old and a solid rock in the bucket but its salty. Got new bulbs on the way with a reef test kit and hopefully I will turn this into a nice little reef after sometime. Just debating if buying an ro filter setup is worth it with such a small tank, or get distilled water, or if I can get by for a little with water from the tap.  I plan to upgrade later at some point but for now we will see. I have other tanks to keep me very busy. Hopefully the old rock and base are doing the job and I can push along with new salt mix and getting some stuff going fast as that's the fun of a tank is adding all the cool stuff, Im sure I will be asking for a little help as I have not done a salt tank for a while,

I know my heater is a little overkill but I just wanted to make sure the tank was not too cold,  as of yet I really do not think it has run once as the tank keeps heat really well, new fans will arive tuesday along with everything else.   I am running a 300gph main pump and a 200ish gallon powerhead on a wave maker in the tank to keep a little variety for flow.
 
Now I just need some crabs as I can already see some hair growth on some parts of the rocks.  Look like it to everyone else?
Do you think its too early to add snails to the tank??
Also should I add more rock as its the main filtration or could I keep it at this and plan for corals to fill ?  I know I could add a good bit more at this point, 
If I add rock should I get some good rock from like Rock and reef in west valley, off another member, or dry rock and what I have already will seed it ok?  any and all ideas will be appreciated.
 
 
 


Edited by DIDYSIS - August 09 2013 at 8:50am
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