Getting my 110 started off on the right foot

[georgeortiz]

Hi guys!
I have put all the plumbing in place. Sumps/Fuge/pumps/skimmer all ready to go. I am just waiting for my RO/DI and TDS meter to arrive. These are the steps I am going to take:

mix and fill the system with seawater

buy my live rock 10 to 20 lbs ( already have 90lbs base rock) and maybe some green chromis to get the ammonia started in the tank and fuge

Get sand and some calupera from an established tank for some other good stuff to add to the system

Run my lighting for 30 minute increments a day building up to the 8hrs for halides and 12 hours for flourescents

Wait and Wait some more and watch my test results for ammonia,nitrite,ph,and spec gravity, and eventually nitrate

Is there anything I am missing? Is there anything I have to dose from the beginning (except the introduction of organisms to get my culture started) to get going and how soon do I need to do it?

I plan on keeping softies to start with and I designed my system for flexibilty so the better I understand my setup I can move up to the more challenging types of corals. Here is what I am runnig just in case some one is currious: 20 gallon fuge lit 24/7 ,20 gallon sump,110 tank internal overflow, DIY countercurrent skimmer,2 250 watt 6500 k, lights actinic flourescents.

[alexwolf]

20 gal sump sounds small in case of backflow, but I could be wrong. I have a 29 gal on a 135 and I need a bigger one because if the power goes off, it overflows, and if i keep the water level down then the pump sucks air. Just my 2 cents though

[georgeortiz]

thanks for the 2 cents. I have already done a test run of the setup before I set all the tanks in the enclosure. I tested in the event of the power loss and my internal flow has a durso to make sure the over flow does not occur. My fuge is also setup so that it will not over flow to the sump but of course this is a non issue since the durso eliminates the flooding.

I am really coming from the standpoint of what steps in the process of establishing the biological parameters should be established in the tank for it to be an optimal enviroment for the organisms I want to keep.

[Gator]

you should be able to turn on your lights becasue you dont have any animals. the lighting should help to start things off

[matt]

George;

Sounds like you're on the right track, and it looks like your system will be great. I suggest you do not add any fish for a while. Don't worry, you'll have bioactivity to get the nitrogen cycle going. I also suggest you get as much live sand, that's stuff loaded with micro-critters, not the stuff in bags at the local fish store. You can get great stuff from Tim Marvin, you can also order activators from IPSF and Inland Aquatics. Ideally, you should do all of this. What you want to do is allow a strong population of sand critters to develop before you add any fish or other predators. Go ahead and run your lights as normal; maybe a slightly shorter photoperiod, but much more than 30 min/day. After a couple of days, you can also begin to feed the sandbed; a little phytoplankton, some decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, maybe some cyclopeze. Once your nitrogen cycle has stabilized, add some snails, but I strongly suggest you stay away from hermits. If you're buying cured liverock, which would be better, your cycle will be very brief; maybe hardly noticable. That's a good thing. Your tank will be biologically and chemically ready for a fish load when any residual die off from the rock has had a chance to completely pass through the system, and when your sand bed has a viable micro-life population and a decent crew of detrivores, primarily bristleworms.

You can keep an eye on the Ca and Alk levels, althought they will probably fluctuate for a while. Have you decided how you're going to replenish Ca and Carbonate? You'll have to get that set up; maybe dose some KW to get the coralline going. Most important, though, is the build up of the sand bed population. Check out IPSF and inland aquatics for stuff to do this.

[georgeortiz]

Thanks Matt,
I was hoping someone would bring up the fact that I needed to consider my Ca. I have heard that I should use a kalk reactor insted of the Ca reacor. What do you think? I have thought about getting one of those kent marine steady drip setups. I thought this would address those issues at first. So should I get this going as well from the start? I have FO experience only so I am unexperienced with the addition and implementation of the other elements to the tank. How should I incorporate this into the maintenance of the tank? Would the steady dose method solve these issues? What do you suggest? It sounds like I should get these variables addressed from the inception of the system. I thought I would have to wait until the tank was established until I got the tank stable.

[matt]

Whether to use a kalk reactor, or any sort of KW drip, as opposed to a Calcium reactor is a debatable issue. For now, at least, KW will be perfectly sufficient, as you will have a low calcium drain for quite some time. But, I'd hold off on adding too much KW for a while; let your Ca and Alk levels stabilize, and your tank ph without the addition of KW. Those kent marine drippers work okay for KW, but only if you mix it in a separate container, let it settle, then transfer the clear liquid to the dripper. Otherwise it will clog very quickly. You can also bring your levels up with a 2 part additive, or just use calcium chloride and baking soda. This would suffice for balancing the Ca and carbonate in the new seawater.

Eventually, as your calcium demand increases due to calcification of corals n your tank, you'll probably want to consider either a kalkreactor or calcium reactor. Since you built your skimmer, I'm sure you'll be able to build either of those devices; they're simpler than a skimmer.

[georgeortiz]

Matt,
Can you give a list of products I should get? I am sure everyone has differing opinions on what they use. Unfortunately there are so many it is hard for me to discern what works well and what doesn't. My goal is to get a stable tank within a reasonable amount of time. What would products would you use. Oh yeah I am not a millionaire so I need to keep it reasonable . Anyone else is free to jump in.