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addicted2cichli 
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Joined: September 25 2004
Location: United States
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 Topic: tank set up
Posted: March 24 2005 at 10:48am |
Hey guys and gals.
I wasnt sure where to post this but........This is my first post on here and I have a few Q's for how to start a salt water tank.First, Is there a place on this forum that explains the tank set up process ?second,What are frags ? are they coral or the live plant thingies,(I am very new to this salt water stuff  )third,any info to get me started in the right direction would be greatly welcomed and appreciated(sp ?)
Thanks in advance for all your help
Edited by addicted2cichli
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Scott Lund
He who laughs last is the slowest
10 gallon nano reef
soon to be 29 gallon reef
Evanston,Wyoming 1-307-783-5926
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Ghetto Man
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Joined: February 12 2004
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Posted: March 24 2005 at 10:57am |
Where are you located?
We're all glad to help (maybe even overly eager to help)
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addicted2cichli
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Posted: March 24 2005 at 11:06am |
I live in Evanston, Wyoming. Its about 1 1/2 hours away from Salt Lake.I lived in SLC for 25 years.I moved up here 7 years ago.I am down in SLC about twice a month or so.
I just dont know were to even start with this tank. I love learning new things about fish and such so if you guys could give me all the info you have that would be great. By the way my name is Scotty
Edited by addicted2cichli
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Scott Lund
He who laughs last is the slowest
10 gallon nano reef
soon to be 29 gallon reef
Evanston,Wyoming 1-307-783-5926
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Mark Peterson
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Joined: June 19 2002
Location: Murray
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Posted: March 24 2005 at 11:23am |
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You are doing great to be able to find this website. We can help you through every aspect of it. There are traditional ways to set up a marine/reef aquarium and there are newer useful ideas being brought up all the time. Those ideas can save you a lot of time and trouble and get you setup with an operating tank within a week rather than waiting for the traditional 4-8 weeks.
You are definitely in luck. There is a person from this forum living in Evanston that may be willing to have you over to learn in person how to do it right the first time.
If interested, call the number below or PM me and I'll invite him to call you.
The next time you visit SLC call me to see my set-up and get some free sand and rock, along with some LS, LR, and a lot of LW, a move which will save you a bundle of cash.
LS = Live Sand
LR = Live Rock
LW = Live Water
Frag = coral animals or algae propagated from a larger colony/specimen
Edited by Mark Peterson
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Crazy Tarzan
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Location: Riverton, WY
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Posted: March 24 2005 at 1:57pm |
Try reading the FAQ section of this message board. Frags are
pieces of corals. Do searches on this message board also for any
items you might want to know about, you can find a ton of info.
Also just ask questions. No one will get mad at you and you will
get many answers from lots of different people--some might have
different thoughts, but most will agree.
Step One--decide how big a tank you want, then increase the size by at least 50%  .
Step Two--figure out where you are putting the tank, and then make sure you have access room around it etc.
Step Three--decide what you would like to have in the tank--Fish only,
fish with live rocks, or a reef set up (lots of corals and fish).
If you want a reef tank you need to decide what kind of corals (sps,
lps, or soft) you would like and the lights you need to keep that type
of coral.
I probably just made more questions for you, but hope this helps.
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Was that in there yesterday? Casper--WY windier than ?
Down to a 20, soon to double or nothing
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Carl
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Joined: September 17 2003
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Posted: March 24 2005 at 2:22pm |
I would suggest that you do a  Search for keywords like setup or new orthings like that. There have been several threads where people put in their suggestions to new hobbiests.
You can also try to PM Travis. He lives up there and is around occassionally. he has done REALLY well and is quite knowledgeable.
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In Syracuse
"I believe that forgiving them is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting." - Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf
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j's55
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Posted: March 24 2005 at 2:39pm |
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Josh Zorn
45G reef
lots of tropical plants
Cell it 910 3924
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fj40fax
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Joined: November 04 2004
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Posted: March 24 2005 at 3:47pm |
I would visit as many tanks as possible, and ask those who care for them the best and worst things they did. There are always simple little things that would make a huge difference later on. I wish I had made my canopy 3" taller so adding Metal Halides later on would have been so easy. The more tanks you vist the better of an idea what you want in the end and plan with that end in mind. A fish only tank can be pretty inexpensive, and you can add rock and lights and calcium dosing and everything else a little at a time if you want to end with a reef, as long as you have that end in mind from the beginning. When you have to re-buy stuff it is very frustrasting (spending $250 on lights to replace them in a year with a $300 light you could have bought the first time).
Fax
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Fax 318-3632
90g 2x250W 14kK MH
Sump, Fuge, G3, UV, O3, ACIII
Pleasant Grove, UT Across State Street from the Purple Turtle
Adjustments and Massages for Frags!
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flyboy62800
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Joined: March 10 2005
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Posted: March 28 2005 at 8:56pm |
Hey I thought I would add some general rules of thumb for a reef system to help you understand what you will eventually pay for and add to your tank. If I know all of this before I started it would have helped me avoid a few worthless purchases.
To clarify I am no expert and there are tons of different opinions out there.
You'll want to have a shallow 1" sand bed or a deep sand bed 4" (recommended by some for reef systems) a 1" sand bed is about 1-1.5 lbs live sand (LS) per gallon. Approximately $2.00/lb
For the live rock (LR) you'll want 1.50-2 lbs per gallon. Make sure you know how to “cure” this because it can cause problems. Approximately $5.00/lb, curing takes weeks and is basically allowing the dead stuff on the rock to be removed.
Lighting should be 3-5 watts per gallon. Your choices are metal halide (MH $$$), Very High Output Fluorescents (VHO $$), or Normal Output fluorescents (NO $). They determine what corals you can grow.
The total circulation of the tank should be 12-6 times per hour. To determine this add up the filter and the powerhead ratings they are list in gallons per hour. Ideally you'll want a turbulent flow in your tank, for example two powerheads opposes each others flow.
Lastly are the water parameters. The temperature should be around 76-80 degrees, salinity (amount of salt) 1.023-1.026, and pH should be around 8.0 to 8.3. The most important thing is to try and create a stable environment. Having a bigger tank helps this.
Don't get lazy and acclimate your livestock (slowly introduce them to the tank).
Sorry for long post but like I said I wish I knew this stuff to avoid my mistakes and sometimes the local fish store (LFS) isn’t helpful.
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Crazy Tarzan wrote:
