First Saltwater Tank Setup List

blalaw87 · Apr 17, 2021

Good Evening,

I am looking to set up my first saltwater tank and have ordered my tank and some accessories and am trying to get a complete list together and make sure I have everything ready. I am looking at some of the following options but nothing is set in stone except the tank and some of the accessories since it is all in one. So any advice is welcome!

Part of the Red Sea Reefer 425XL:

425XL Tank
2x Reef Led 90
S600 Protein Skimmer
2x Reef Wave 25 Wavemakers

These items are on order and the lfs I put my order in said they are out of stock but they said it could take anywhere from a week to a month or more but that gives me time to get everything else I need before the tank gets here.

Core Components

Heater: I am in Florida getting ready to go into the summer so I have not looked into any heaters yet but I am still trying to decided on a heater since I see everyone has their own preferences but any advice would be welcome!
Return Pump: Sicce SDC 7.0
- I am a little worried here but I don't know if I should be. This said the min to max is 800 to 1900 GPH and the recommendation from Red Sea for the 425XL is 1060 gph. With the head pressure going from the sump to the top of the tank I know that will drop and I don't know if it would be worth it just going up to the 9.0. I was basing this off of the lph chart and head pressure chart on the Sicce website but I could of been reading that wrong.
Rocks: I am looking at getting about 80 - 120 lbs of the CaribSea Live Rocks. I think that will give me some playing room for the aquascape instead of worrying about not having enough pieces
- I was thinking about doing Live Rocks since I am local here in central Florida and I know that their are some options in this area but for my first tank I think going with the dry rock my help me out a little bit.
Sand: CarbiSea Live Sand
RO/DI Water Filter: 6 Stage BRS RODI System
- I was thinking about doing my own RODI setup in my house since I will have a little bit larger of a tank and it would just be easier than hauling around a bunch of buckets to the lfs

I know that there are some other smaller items that I need that are still necessary but I think what I have listed above are the big purchases. I have another section called accessories below that I believe are needed as well:

Accessories:

Salt for mixing
Testing Supplies
Dosing Chemicals
Magnetic Scraper
Water Changing Tools
RO Water Storage Containers
Small Quarantine Tank (Waiting till after I get tank cycled for this)

I don't have any specifics for any of the accessories I am looking at doing this research on those items in the next week or so.

Thanks for any advice and suggestions!

Jekyl · Apr 17, 2021

I would argue that live rock will help your system rather than hurt it. That goes into personal preference though. If I lived in Florida I would be doing the whole thing in KP or gulfliverock.

blalaw87 · Apr 17, 2021

My only concern is with all the hitchhikers. Or is it just something that can be considered a worthwhile learning experience? It does sound like from all the reading I have done it is a lot more interesting to have and observe live rock when setting it up.

piranhaman00 · Apr 17, 2021

Definitely start with live rock.

BeltedCoyote · Apr 17, 2021

Congrats on your first build! After two years I’m in the final stretch of my own!

as far as your return pump goes, I’m not sure if there’s a consensus on the best flow rate, but it seems the recommended amount for your tank is well within the capabilities of your pump. So that should be fine.

I’m not familiar with your wave makers/circulation pumps but I’ve heard good things in passing. Same goes for your lights.

as far as dosing goes, the easiest way to know what you need is to have a game plan for livestock. For example, my plan is to have a true mixed reef with three levels/areas. Lowest portion of the tank will be ‘shrooms and zoas, mid will be lps (Favia, euphylia, goniopora, maybe some scans), top will be sps (inicially birds nest, pocilapora, pavona, montis, eventually maybe a few acros). The reason I recommend figuring out your livestock list is it will give you a better idea of your tanks needs. It also will help determine what sort of flow and aquascape you need.

as far a live rock goes, especially since you’re in Florida, go for it! I live in Indiana so I’m doing a mix of live and dry. Dry for aquascaping and live for biodiversity. Since you’re local to most of the LR vendors, you could certainly get more without having to pay for shipping. In any case, as long as you are prepared to isolate the rocks to look out for the occasional unwanted hitchhiker, it’s a great option.

mdb_talon · Apr 17, 2021

Sounds like a good plan. I dont know anything about the return pump you mention, but with DC pumps my advice is error on the side of getting too big...can always turn them down.

Make sure to get a refractometer....and if anything like my clumsy self a truckload full of towels will come in handy.

Jedi1199 · Apr 17, 2021

For heaters you will need 3 at least. 2 for the tank (primary and backup), and 1 for your water mixing station. I wouldn't go overboard here, basic inexpensive ones will do the job just fine. I use Top-Fin digital heaters. easy to use and inexpensive. I like the digital ones myself as it makes it much easier to dial in the same temp for my water change station and my tank temp.

For your water change station, here is what I use. I have a 32 g Brute can for the main collection can, and 2 20 g cans. the 1st 20g holds the heater and circulation pump so I always have a supply of ready to use water. The other can is on wheels and is the one I use to actually do my mixing and water changing. I have 3 small water pumps for the water station. 1 to move water from the "cold" can to the "ready" can. 1 to go from the "ready" to the "Mixer". And finally, 1 to go from the "mixer" to the tank.

For the QT tank... I would set that up now. You will want that setup and cycled before you are ready to add any livestock to your main system. The longer the better IMO. Plus, if you set it up now, you could possibly have a couple fish in there to watch while you wait for your new main display to show up and cycle...