New tank Build, Need input

[verynewatthis]

caferacermike
well i used the 1500's on my old 80 and i had trouble with the sand blowing all over the place....i guess i can use them and just close up the water vents on them...
as far as the lights....i think i may just use the 10K for the faster growing...you make a good point....ty...

and hobogato do you have two of them controlers?? is that how you make 2 go up when you have 2 going down..

And tony....i was not trying for a DSB....i do want to do one in my Fuge,...but the 3inches for the MT was just a round number to me...but if i do 1 inch i think the flow will move it some and ill see the tank bottom....plus i love that silly shrimp that digs all the time for his buddy the gobie...that is the coolest thing to me..lol...

Lonestar...i love a lot of flow...just dont like the sandstorms....do you use a thicker grade of sand for your tank?? Someone has to teach me how to point pumps...if i point them at the rocks...the coral get mad....if i point them across the tank...it goes off the glass and moves sand...if i point them up....well the wife gets mad...lol...ya i did do that once....but it was not as bad as when i was new and tested my mag 12 in the kitchen sink...that was so stupid...my wife still doesnt let me live that one down...

oh ya...does anyone know where some southdown is??

rich

[Willow]

If you need help with the rock; I live just outside of Copperas... could always drop by and give you a hand..

I haven't been able to find Southdown locally yet... I'll check again next week when I'm in Killeen... ya never know what Home Depot or Lowes might get in... I know some people were using the white playsand from Home Depot... but i don't even know if they got it in this year or not...

[LoneStar]

Well I'm going bare bottom :shades so no sand will be in my tank. I don't like the way it gets in the water column....plus its too much of a pain.

Fine tuning pump placements is an art. It just takes practice. Most of the time I recommend placing the powerhead pump on the back corners, aiming towards the center of the tank. From there its just a matter of placing the 1 rock onto the sand to prevent it from blowing around ;)

As for southdown 'type' sand, its going to be hard to find it down here in Texas. Alot of our sand sold in stores is silica based, only for the fact that is what we have a lot of in this region. Best bet would be to find someone with a southdown stockpile or hook up with a LFS to see if they can order you some CaribSea aragonite sand. Maybe if you order enough of that, there might be a price break in it for ya.

[brewercm]

I use the CaribSea reef grade sand and it doesn't cause as much problem as the fine sugar size. If you are going with a DSB you probably want the finer stuff though. If not, I'd do like Tony mentioned and go with a 1" decorative sand bed and use a thicker in your sump if you want. Of course I'm bias because this is what I'f done with mine.

[mathias]

Personally I would keep a deep sand bed in a larger fuge and if your going to do nothing but sps do a bare bottom so that way you can use whatever powerheads in all different type of flow setups.... no need to worry about a sandstorm.... and I would run the lights maybe 6 hours out of the day while your gone. put a piece of shrimp to start the whole cycle process and leave it alone.... just let the wife clean out the skimmer and top off water and let it cycle go through a whole algea boom and let it sit... then when you get back purchase a cleanup crew get the tank up to great parameters.... then start stocking and change the light cycle then....



most important part of this whole hobby is patience....


and with lights personaly I love my 400 watt xm 20k bulbs... I get good growth not speedy growth but my tank always looks so colorful...

[hobogato]

caferacermike

and hobogato do you have two of them controlers?? is that how you make 2 go up when you have 2 going down..

yep, 2 controllers and 4 2600s

[verynewatthis]

Willow
that would be great if you could lend a hand with setting up the rock. It looks like ill be home the first week of Aug for my R and R....i was told yesterday that i should fly out of here on the 2nd...

Lonestar
I have seen some very nice bare bottom tanks but my wife loves having sand and she kinda wears the pants and all...lol....plus i love that stupid shirmp that digs all day for his gobie.... As far as sand goes....maybe some of the austin people will post of some LFS that stock sand and the prices.../fingers crossed

brewercm
I agree about having the DSP in the fuge....the sand in the MT will just be for the wife and the shrimp..... But the fuge will be in the 40 Gal sump....i plan on having 1/3 of it for the fuge..and having the sand about 6inches deep....so the sand should be 12X6X18 L,D,W i hope this is enough to help the MT's params..

Mathias
kk 6 hrs a day when im gone....the only reason im running them is so the wife does not have to look at a dark tank all day. Im wondering if the tank will need dosing while im gone...for caraline to grow...or do yall think the water changes should be good tell i get back....

Okay Maybe someone from Austin will jump in here and let me know about the LFS.....Names...Who has sand...who has Cal reactor media...who is the biggest sps dealer...thank you ahead of time....
Rich

[mathias]

I wouldn't worry about water changes or any of that because the first cycle is going to throw everything off of wack...