Hi! :) New to saltwater and this forum! 135 Gal Reef

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expo703

Member
Hi! I have been out of the hobby for a very long time and actually had piranhas before in a 55gal tank i'm jumping back in with saltwater and never have done saltwater before. I have had my tank now for about 3 weeks and knowning nothing about saltwater have been reasearching as much as I can online. I found a decent deal on craigslist for a acrlyic 135gal. Questions! I'm on northside of chicago what are good LFS? I want to do a reef tank so far I have most of everything I need any advice would be nice :) 100lbs of live sand, idk how many lbs of rock ~ 100lbs I went minamlistic look(plan on getting a purple tang and I know they like swimming room). I plan on doing softies, LPS beginner corals(hammer, frogspawn, mushrooms, torch). Pair of clowns, goby, idk what else.

I had 0 equipment and still don't even have a net yet lol here is what I got! (it has been 2 weeks still no ammonia spike..)

4 pieces of live rock about 12-13 pieces of dry rock
100lbs of live sand
Tank volume is about 160gal
72x18x24 so ~135gal + sump
2 - 3rd gen hydor's 1350gph
ai director
Vertex omega 150
herbie overflow 3/4" drain with 1"emergency
5.0 sicce pump
3 hydra 26's
tunze ATO
syphon + cobalt mj 12 pump
magfloat for acrylic
scraper for acrlyic
2 150watt heaters from finnex with controller
Picked up 6 stage brs rodi with water saver and a brute 32 gal garbage can so far filled it up! PSI is ~ 50 should I get a booster?

Any suggestions on equipment?

live stock (I know i want to do @ least 1 pair of clowns and really love purple tangs (1) and yellow tangs(1) hopefully I can mix them? Also like fire red shrimp and skunk cleaner shrimp!

I'm totally new to salt water my sand would work well with sand sifting gobys so maybe a few of them?
Any other suggestions?

My clean up crew will be (From reefcleaners.org they suggested i go with ) :

100 Dwarf Ceriths - small effective cleaners
23 Nassarius
38 Florida Ceriths
35 Assorted Hermits
30 Nerites
3 EMerald Crabs


I'm thinking a anemone in the future like a BTA? (6months or so down the road)

Corals? I have no clue - easy stuff like LPS and softies? Zoa's are awesome looking but I read some scary stores about them poising keepers so I might not do those.

Help me build my tank i'm a newbie!

View attachment 12959


Thanks,
 
Crued

Crued

New member
Learn and apply the rule about opinions and a55holes... That being said, my .02 for success is do not start off with used sand and rock. Buy new sand 1/2 dry 1/2 live and use man made rock. If you are going with live rock, buy from a reputable source and again, not from another reefer. Take your time starting the tank up. You are unlikely to be able to have both of those Tangs, Tangs are pretty aggressive towards their own species.
 
E

expo703

Member
Crued said:
Learn and apply the rule about opinions and a55holes... That being said, my .02 for success is do not start off with used sand and rock. Buy new sand 1/2 dry 1/2 live and use man made rock. If you are going with live rock, buy from a reputable source and again, not from another reefer. Take your time starting the tank up. You are unlikely to be able to have both of those Tangs, Tangs are pretty aggressive towards their own species.
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Yeah If I get a purple tang it will probably be the last fish I get from what I was told they can be aggressive. - I already got live rock and live sand from LFS only about 40lbs of live rock i think I can't remember the weight and a 60+lbs of dry rock.
 
jrpark22000

jrpark22000

Premium member
Welcome to CR and to saltwater, you're going in head first at 135gal :D

Q1. I'm on northside of chicago what are good LFS?
A. Here is a thread with most of the LFS and a map of their location.
http://www.chicagoreefs.com/forums/showthread.php/213-Local-Fish-Stores-in-Chicagoland

Q2. 4 pieces of live rock about 12-13 pieces of dry rock
100lbs of live sand
Tank volume is about 160gal
72x18x24 so ~135gal + sump
2 - 3rd gen hydor's 1350gph
ai director
Vertex omega 150
herbie overflow 3/4" drain with 1"emergency
5.0 sicce pump
3 hydra 26's
tunze ATO
syphon + cobalt mj 12 pump
magfloat for acrylic
scraper for acrlyic
2 150watt heaters from finnex with controller
Picked up 6 stage brs rodi with water saver and a brute 32 gal garbage can so far filled it up! PSI is ~ 50 should I get a booster?
Any suggestions on equipment?

A. Your list looks pretty good. It's going to be expensive to get such a big tank up and going, my .02 is to take it slow. A booster isn't a bad idea if you have the budget for it. The more pressure you have the more effecent the system will be.


Q3. live stock (I know i want to do @ least 1 pair of clowns and really love purple tangs (1) and yellow tangs(1) hopefully I can mix them? Also like fire red shrimp and skunk cleaner shrimp!
I'm totally new to salt water my sand would work well with sand sifting gobys so maybe a few of them?

A. That's a decent list to start off. As you progress in the hobby your likes will change. Starting off with a low stocked tank will help you fit the new fish later.

Q4. My clean up crew will be (From reefcleaners.org they suggested i go with ) :
100 Dwarf Ceriths - small effective cleaners
23 Nassarius
38 Florida Ceriths
35 Assorted Hermits
30 Nerites
3 EMerald Crabs

A. John knows his stuff. The only thing I'd recommend different are trochus snails. They can right them selves and reproduce well in our tanks.

Q5. I'm thinking a anemone in the future like a BTA? (6months or so down the road)

A. I'd wait until 6 months of stable tank parameters, which isn't likely to be 6 months after your tank finished cycling. It'll take some time to get the hang of parmaters. Large swings will Cost you a lot in livestock.
 
E

expo703

Member
jrpark22000 said:
Welcome to CR and to saltwater, you're going in head first at 135gal :D

Q1. I'm on northside of chicago what are good LFS?
A. Here is a thread with most of the LFS and a map of their location.


Q2. 4 pieces of live rock about 12-13 pieces of dry rock
100lbs of live sand
Tank volume is about 160gal
72x18x24 so ~135gal + sump
2 - 3rd gen hydor's 1350gph
ai director
Vertex omega 150
herbie overflow 3/4" drain with 1"emergency
5.0 sicce pump
3 hydra 26's
tunze ATO
syphon + cobalt mj 12 pump
magfloat for acrylic
scraper for acrlyic
2 150watt heaters from finnex with controller
Picked up 6 stage brs rodi with water saver and a brute 32 gal garbage can so far filled it up! PSI is ~ 50 should I get a booster?
Any suggestions on equipment?

A. Your list looks pretty good. It's going to be expensive to get such a big tank up and going, my .02 is to take it slow. A booster isn't a bad idea if you have the budget for it. The more pressure you have the more effecent the system will be.


Q3. live stock (I know i want to do @ least 1 pair of clowns and really love purple tangs (1) and yellow tangs(1) hopefully I can mix them? Also like fire red shrimp and skunk cleaner shrimp!
I'm totally new to salt water my sand would work well with sand sifting gobys so maybe a few of them?

A. That's a decent list to start off. As you progress in the hobby your likes will change. Starting off with a low stocked tank will help you fit the new fish later.

Q4. My clean up crew will be (From reefcleaners.org they suggested i go with ) :
100 Dwarf Ceriths - small effective cleaners
23 Nassarius
38 Florida Ceriths
35 Assorted Hermits
30 Nerites
3 EMerald Crabs

A. John knows his stuff. The only thing I'd recommend different are trochus snails. They can right them selves and reproduce well in our tanks.

Q5. I'm thinking a anemone in the future like a BTA? (6months or so down the road)

A. I'd wait until 6 months of stable tank parameters, which isn't likely to be 6 months after your tank finished cycling. It'll take some time to get the hang of parmaters. Large swings will Cost you a lot in livestock.
Click to expand...
sweet thanks!
 
E

expo703

Member
sorry guys I meant blue tang , regal tang, "dory" not purple tang!! I really want a blue tang + yellow tang they will live together right?
 
madjoe

madjoe

Premium member
expo703 said:
sorry guys I meant blue tang , regal tang, "dory" not purple tang!! I really want a blue tang + yellow tang they will live together right?
Click to expand...
In that tank its possible maybe best to add em at same time and dif sizes
 
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madjoe

madjoe

Premium member
expo703 said:
Which fish should be bigger and the same time? I heard add the regal tang/blue tang last? Since its more aggressive?

thanks!
Click to expand...
Yellows can be mean also by adding both same time nobody has territory established less mean should always be bigger imo . I had both in a 75 gal and didnt fight i got lucky should be easier in your size tank .
 
Sawdonkey

Sawdonkey

Premium member
That doesn't look like a beginner tank. Nice work so far. It seems you've been doing your reading. Your equipment list looks good to. Now all you need is a little patience. That's the hardest part.
 
E

expo703

Member
madjoe said:
Yellows can be mean also by adding both same time nobody has territory established less mean should always be bigger imo . I had both in a 75 gal and didnt fight i got lucky should be easier in your size tank .
Click to expand...
okay both at the same time cool! they should be around the same size? which is less mean ? regal or yellow tang?



That doesn't look like a beginner tank. Nice work so far. It seems you've been doing your reading. Your equipment list looks good to. Now all you need is a little patience. That's the hardest part.
Click to expand...
Yeah I really have and I was going to do a 55-75 at first but I had a 7 footwall it was going on and I felt like screw it if i'm going to put this much time and $ into it might as well get a 6 foot tank lol probably not the brighest idea!!

Ordered a Apex Controller today! My vertex 150 is breaking in been 24 hours still overflowing! :(
 
98silverado

98silverado

Well-known member
The apex is probably my favorite piece of equipment I own. Love being able to control everything and monitor it all from my phone or where ever I am. And welcome
 
E

expo703

Member
My Vertex Omega 150 is still overflowing. I raised my egg crates in my sump so the skimmer is sitting in about 7-7.5 inchs of water now.. If I leave the cup on without the cap its still splashing a little so I just removed it fully. The water level is still to high in the cup. (the whole thing is filled with water lol) I will let it run for a few days like this fully open?

I filled this tank up about 3 weeks ago with tap water with prime and have ATO with rodi water. Would this effect it? It says water conditioner can make it overflow but that was 3 weeks ago? Should I get a mesh filter sock and throw it in my sump and run some carbon will that help remove prime and make the skimmer relax?
 
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