Heavyweight's Inaugural Reef Tank Thread!

[Heavyweight]

Hello All!

This will be the thread where I will share my trials and tribulations as a tenderfoot reef enthusiast! I have paid for everything and am just waiting for the weather to clear up a little bit before picking it up from the LFS and bringing it home. We have been going back and forth on where to put it...

Should we put it in the living room where it will be seen the most?
Should we put it in the dining room where it will be out of the way a bit?
Will the LED lights interfere with TV watching?
Should we be worried about having it on an external wall or near a window?
Will my wife try to kill me in my sleep if I spend any more money?

I will be rummaging around in these forums for answers over the next week or so and also watching some videos (the BRS series on setting up their 160g tank seems a good place to start!) I will be posting more information and pictures here in the coming days but here is what I have so far:

75g Seapora Rimless Aquarium and Stand
2 x AI Hydra 32HD Lights
1 x Red Sea Reefwave 25 Gyre Pump
1 x Sicce Syncra Silent 3.0 Return Pump
1 x Eshopps RS-100 Sump
1 x Aquatop 400W Titanium Aquarium Heater

I also picked up a 10g aquarium kit to use as a quarantine setup!

Is it bad that I am already thinking towards my next (larger) tank? BAD ERIC BAD!!!

 

[HD_Reefer]

Should we put it in the living room where it will be seen the most?
Should we put it in the dining room where it will be out of the way a bit?
Will the LED lights interfere with TV watching?
Should we be worried about having it on an external wall or near a window?
Will my wife try to kill me in my sleep if I spend any more money?

1 - Yes! It will be admired more in the common room, just make sure you have plenty of room around it
2 - It's a piece of living entertainment, no reason to put it out of sight unless that's the only space it fits.
3 - They will, but really only if you're TV viewing angle shows the tank in the background. If not, you'll get used to the ambient lighting after a while.
4 - Absolutely! Exterior walls can be fine if your foundation has the proper support and the walls are properly insulated. If you put it near a window, you'll be fighting extra algae growth forever!
5 - Yes, I worry about this every night before bed....is tonight the night!

 

[Heavyweight]

1 - Yes! It will be admired more in the common room, just make sure you have plenty of room around it
2 - It's a piece of living entertainment, no reason to put it out of sight unless that's the only space it fits.
3 - They will, but really only if you're TV viewing angle shows the tank in the background. If not, you'll get used to the ambient lighting after a while.
4 - Absolutely! Exterior walls can be fine if your foundation has the proper support and the walls are properly insulated. If you put it near a window, you'll be fighting extra algae growth forever!
5 - Yes, I worry about this every night before bed....is tonight the night!

We have decided that we need it in the living room... if we are going to put this kind of money into something we don't want it tucked away in some spare, rarely used, room. It will be on the same wall as the TV is... I hope that the lights aren't too distracting (they are facing downward after all!)

It will be on an interior wall with the floor joists running perpendicular underneath so we will just try to get it laying across as many as possible.

I have test kits, plumbing, sand and salt... what else am I missing that I am not thinking of? (I also have about 90lbs of live rock I am getting from a friend but I am not sure how much is useable.)

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I know you've already paid for the lights, but wanted to say the reef led series are tucked back up in the body and you have to be way under them to get it in your eyes. Just food for thought.

I just tested a few lights including the AI because the tank is in front of a very low couch.

Went with the reef led 90s.

 

[HD_Reefer]

We have decided that we need it in the living room... if we are going to put this kind of money into something we don't want it tucked away in some spare, rarely used, room. It will be on the same wall as the TV is... I hope that the lights aren't too distracting (they are facing downward after all!)

It will be on an interior wall with the floor joists running perpendicular underneath so we will just try to get it laying across as many as possible.

I have test kits, plumbing, sand and salt... what else am I missing that I am not thinking of? (I also have about 90lbs of live rock I am getting from a friend but I am not sure how much is useable.)

The only thing left that you'll need to start it is patience! Depending on the status of the live rock, you might decide to go with dry rock and some seed bacteria, plus ammonia source.

After you get it up and running, keep the lights off until you have coral in there that need it. Skimmer would be the next move after adding fish, but it's not totally necessary. Good filtration and cleaning the socks/filter floss will help tremendously.

 

[Heavyweight]

I know you've already paid for the lights, but wanted to say the reef led series are tucked back up in the body and you have to be way under them to get it in your eyes. Just food for thought.

I just tested a few lights including the AI because the tank is in front of a very low couch.

Went with the reef led 90s.

It was definitely between the Hyrdras and the ReefLED 90s. I still have the receipt so if we hook it up and it is too bright I will take your advice and swap 'em out!

 

[Heavyweight]

The only thing left that you'll need to start it is patience! Depending on the status of the live rock, you might decide to go with dry rock and some seed bacteria, plus ammonia source.

After you get it up and running, keep the lights off until you have coral in there that need it. Skimmer would be the next move after adding fish, but it's not totally necessary. Good filtration and cleaning the socks/filter floss will help tremendously.

I know for sure the rock is dry ATM... it came from his son-in-law's saltwater aquarium he bought. He has repurposed the aquarium and some of the rock into an African cichlid tank and he is giving me the leftovers for free! He is also throwing in a JBJ SK-45 skimmer for free as well although I don't know if it is useable for my 75g tank. Thoughts?

 

[HD_Reefer]

I know for sure the rock is dry ATM... it came from his son-in-law's saltwater aquarium he bought. He has repurposed the aquarium and some of the rock into an African cichlid tank and he is giving me the leftovers for free! He is also throwing in a JBJ SK-45 skimmer for free as well although I don't know if it is useable for my 75g tank. Thoughts?

If its dry now, you will need to bleach & cure it before putting it in your tank. If not, all the dead organics on the rock will cause you some serious heartburn!

That skimmer is probably too small in the long run for your system, but it will at least pull out some of the waste until you start getting a heavier load and need to upgrade. Go bigger, but not too big. Most of the skimmers are rated for tank size and bio load, get one that matches medium to heave load for your total system volume. Go to big and there won't be enough skim to keep it running, go to small and it won't be able to keep up.

I was looking back through your list and noticed only 1 heater. I won't knock AquaTop, I have 2 that have been running perfectly for over a year now without issue, but I would recommend getting a second heater as a backup and a heater controller like the InkBird. If a heater fails, your tank fails. Their cheap and no reason not to have the redundancy. The controller will be an extra failsafe in case the heater thermostat fails; it will keep your system from cooking!

 

[Heavyweight]

If its dry now, you will need to bleach & cure it before putting it in your tank. If not, all the dead organics on the rock will cause you some serious heartburn!

That skimmer is probably too small in the long run for your system, but it will at least pull out some of the waste until you start getting a heavier load and need to upgrade. Go bigger, but not too big. Most of the skimmers are rated for tank size and bio load, get one that matches medium to heave load for your total system volume. Go to big and there won't be enough skim to keep it running, go to small and it won't be able to keep up.

I was looking back through your list and noticed only 1 heater. I won't knock AquaTop, I have 2 that have been running perfectly for over a year now without issue, but I would recommend getting a second heater as a backup and a heater controller like the InkBird. If a heater fails, your tank fails. Their cheap and no reason not to have the redundancy. The controller will be an extra failsafe in case the heater thermostat fails; it will keep your system from cooking!

Does the backup heater have to be the same size as the original? I think I over-bought on the original to make sure it wasn't struggling to keep up (it is rated at 125G.)

 

[HD_Reefer]

No, it can be smaller. I have 2 500w Finnex on mine and keep one set to 1 degree lower than the other. That keeps the backup heater from being on all the time, hopefully extending its life.