Aquarium set up help!

[arabianmagicat]

Okay, so a saltwater set up has been passed down onto me since my boyfriend's brother moved to Korea. My boyfriend picked it up last weekend and I set it up.

The rock Is 15 year old live rock, and there are some zoas, feather dusters, and a toadstool leather coral. And the snowflake clownfish!

He gave us a 30 gallon but I wanted something bigger, so I bought a 60 gallon with a sump. I included a picture of the lights that came with the set up, but I think I am going to get these lights...

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/332869105483

So I need advice on how to set up a tank with a sump! This is both first saltwater tank, and first tank with a sump.

 

[SPR1968]

Well I can see it has water in it and great pictures by the way. Have you cycled it yet?

The following article will be very helpful for you to read, and if you need any advice just ask and the guys/gals on here will be happy to assist.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

And welcome to R2R as well!!

 

[arabianmagicat]

Well I can see it has water in it and great pictures by the way. Have you cycled it yet?

The following article will be very helpful for your to read, and if you need any advice just ask and the guys/gals on here will be happy to assist.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

And welcome to R2R as well!!

So the tank with water is the 30 gallon one we were given. About a third of the water was mixed up with the salt to 1.025, then added the sand, then the rock and rest of the water. So no problems just far, except I don't have a working light for it. The last picture was taken a couple minutes after adding the sand, which is why it is so cloudy. I just haven't taken a better pic yet!

We move into the house this weekend, and I've been too sick and working too much to set up the new tank. I'll have to empty the 30 gall do I can move the 60 gallon in its space, ugh.

 

[ScottBrew]

Unless you have plans to black out the window during the day, I would suggest a location not in front of a window to avoid unwanted algae issues. Replace the entire hose from the return pump to the nipple with a single piece of hose. It looks like the clear hose is just pushed inside the black hose and clamped, that's a disaster waiting to happen. Look up a durso overflow or a stockman standpipe, that's the pipe that allows water back down into the sump from the tank. If you just have an open top pipe it will be very loud, gurgling and such as air rushes down the pipe with the water. Good luck, welcome to R2R and enjoy!

 

[Aquavaj]

You really don't need a light at the moment. Just get stuff transferred over first. Decide now if you want to keep the old sand or get new. If you want new then make sure you have it before starting.

1. Go to Home Depot or some hardware store and pick up one of those plastic bins/totes. I picked up a few 27g ones for like $10ea.
2. Drain the water into the bin and move all rocks into the bin. If you're planning to do this within a day then you won't need a heater or powerhead for circulation.
3. Remove sand and rinse it well if you're reusing. Discard if you're using new.
4. Move old tank and set up new one in its place. Make sure everything is level. Install the standpipe for the drain. Make sure heater doesn't directly touch sump walls as it can cause a hot spot and crack the glass.
5. Add sand, rocks and then fill. You likely won't have to cycle since you're using live rock but it's better to confirm by buying a bottle of ammonia chloride and dose according to instructions. If ammonia is 0 within 24hrs you're good to go. Just don't go on a shopping spree for fish and corals just yet though.

If you need any specific details or have questions just ask.

 

[arabianmagicat]

So the water level went down and the heater stopped working - temp dropped and clownfish died, as well as mushroom coral. Sucks. So. Starting new.

Unless you have plans to black out the window during the day, I would suggest a location not in front of a window to avoid unwanted algae issues. Replace the entire hose from the return pump to the nipple with a single piece of hose. It looks like the clear hose is just pushed inside the black hose and clamped, that's a disaster waiting to happen. Look up a durso overflow or a stockman standpipe, that's the pipe that allows water back down into the sump from the tank. If you just have an open top pipe it will be very loud, gurgling and such as air rushes down the pipe with the water. Good luck, welcome to R2R and enjoy!

Thank you for the tip! I am going to he researching that tonight. I'll have to look up videos of how to set one up. And I will move it to the side so it is not in front of the window.

 

[arabianmagicat]

Thank you! What is the advantage of keeping old sand vs getting new live sand? There is debris all in this live sand.. and now dead bridle worms curled up. I feel like maybe it's time to switch..it just looks dingey. Thank you for the tios!

You really don't need a light at the moment. Just get stuff transferred over first. Decide now if you want to keep the old sand or get new. If you want new then make sure you have it before starting.

1. Go to Home Depot or some hardware store and pick up one of those plastic bins/totes. I picked up a few 27g ones for like $10ea.
2. Drain the water into the bin and move all rocks into the bin. If you're planning to do this within a day then you won't need a heater or powerhead for circulation.
3. Remove sand and rinse it well if you're reusing. Discard if you're using new.
4. Move old tank and set up new one in its place. Make sure everything is level. Install the standpipe for the drain. Make sure heater doesn't directly touch sump walls as it can cause a hot spot and crack the glass.
5. Add sand, rocks and then fill. You likely won't have to cycle since you're using live rock but it's better to confirm by buying a bottle of ammonia chloride and dose according to instructions. If ammonia is 0 within 24hrs you're good to go. Just don't go on a shopping spree for fish and corals just yet though.

If you need any specific details or have questions just ask.