Just Back in the Hobby

oldfishman · Dec 28, 2017

I have been in out of the hobby since I was 11 years old, I am now 73. I have had every thing from a 10 gal to a 300 gal tank over the years. In the middle 50's, before most of you were born, I was raising angel fish and sell them to pet stores. I got 25 cents for angles the size of a quarter and live barriers I got 10 cents each. I had a 50 gallon salt yearly in the 70's, under gravel filters for salt were the rage,
and then 125 salt. When the 125 broke I had it fixed and went back to a 125 fresh. I had a 300 gallon fresh for five years but had to sell when I moved. I have been out of the hobby for about 18 months and decided to go back. I have specific goals this time. My wife got my a JBJ 28 intermediary for Christmas with the understand I would not get carried away and try to keep it as stock as possible and try to set up a reef tank. She said the 300 was money money money !

I have never had a reef tank or corals so I have a few questions that I would like to post here as this is my first post.

Any recommendation for a heater for the JBJ tank?
Any recommendation as to the sand, I think I should stick to dry?
When cycling the tank should I run the filter and lights?
I am not too happy with ceramic pieces in the filter. What do others run? I was think charcoal, and then I don't know ??
What do you think about adding a starter for the cycling, I think API or others have something to shorten the cycle?
Do I nned both a fresh water and salt water test kit and any recommendations?
What are you using for a hydrometer or to measure the salt?

I know that is lot so thanks

Oldfishman

Crabs McJones · Dec 28, 2017

oldfishman said:
I have been in out of the hobby since I was 11 years old, I am now 73. I have had every thing from a 10 gal to a 300 gal tank over the years. In the middle 50's, before most of you were born, I was raising angel fish and sell them to pet stores. I got 25 cents for angles the size of a quarter and live barriers I got 10 cents each. I had a 50 gallon salt yearly in the 70's, under gravel filters for salt were the rage,
and then 125 salt. When the 125 broke I had it fixed and went back to a 125 fresh. I had a 300 gallon fresh for five years but had to sell when I moved. I have been out of the hobby for about 18 months and decided to go back. I have specific goals this time. My wife got my a JBJ 28 intermediary for Christmas with the understand I would not get carried away and try to keep it as stock as possible and try to set up a reef tank. She said the 300 was money money money !

I have never had a reef tank or corals so I have a few questions that I would like to post here as this is my first post.

Any recommendation for a heater for the JBJ tank?
Any recommendation as to the sand, I think I should stick to dry?
When cycling the tank should I run the filter and lights?
I am not too happy with ceramic pieces in the filter. What do others run? I was think charcoal, and then I don't know ??
What do you think about adding a starter for the cycling, I think API or others have something to shorten the cycle?
Do I nned both a fresh water and salt water test kit and any recommendations?
What are you using for a hydrometer or to measure the salt?

I know that is lot so thanks

Oldfishman

Welcome to R2R!!

welcome12_af875eaa887ed91c39e4c81c7d4fd966-0ed06ab93ea565647147c6beddbca4eb.gif

The cobalt heaters work good for the JBJ tanks, they're compact and work well.
You can go with live sand to help start your cycle, I prefer the Fiji Pink sand

You don't HAVE to run the lights during the cycle, you can but theres no benefit to it, but you'll want to run your filteration.
Alot of people will run carbon. For measuring salinity, your best bet is a refractometer. They can be gotten fairly inexpensive on ebay or amazon. You'll want the saltwater specific test kits. Hope this helps!

Lovemyreef2015 · Dec 28, 2017

Welcome to R2R. I like using live sand if you want sand. I like the Fiji pink as well. My personal preference is bare bottom.

redfishbluefish · Dec 28, 2017

Welcome @oldfishman to R2R. Please start a Member's Tank thread to document your build. As far as measuring salinity, I'd recommend a refractory.....specifically made for saltwater aquariums. Again, welcome

KJ · Dec 28, 2017

Welcome to R2R!!!

reef lover · Dec 28, 2017

Welcome to r2r! There's a plethora of info here to get you in the right direction!

mta_morrow · Dec 28, 2017

Welcome to R2R! This is a great forum with a wealth of knowledge!

4FordFamily · Dec 28, 2017

oldfishman said:
I have been in out of the hobby since I was 11 years old, I am now 73. I have had every thing from a 10 gal to a 300 gal tank over the years. In the middle 50's, before most of you were born, I was raising angel fish and sell them to pet stores. I got 25 cents for angles the size of a quarter and live barriers I got 10 cents each. I had a 50 gallon salt yearly in the 70's, under gravel filters for salt were the rage,
and then 125 salt. When the 125 broke I had it fixed and went back to a 125 fresh. I had a 300 gallon fresh for five years but had to sell when I moved. I have been out of the hobby for about 18 months and decided to go back. I have specific goals this time. My wife got my a JBJ 28 intermediary for Christmas with the understand I would not get carried away and try to keep it as stock as possible and try to set up a reef tank. She said the 300 was money money money !

I have never had a reef tank or corals so I have a few questions that I would like to post here as this is my first post.

Any recommendation for a heater for the JBJ tank?
Any recommendation as to the sand, I think I should stick to dry?
When cycling the tank should I run the filter and lights?
I am not too happy with ceramic pieces in the filter. What do others run? I was think charcoal, and then I don't know ??
What do you think about adding a starter for the cycling, I think API or others have something to shorten the cycle?
Do I nned both a fresh water and salt water test kit and any recommendations?
What are you using for a hydrometer or to measure the salt?

I know that is lot so thanks

Oldfishman

First of all, welcome home you will love it here!

I'll answer your questions below:

Any recommendation for a heater for the JBJ tank? I like Eheim, I imagine a 100 watt would be overkill but I like to overkill
Any recommendation as to the sand, I think I should stick to dry? If you plan to keep gobies or small wrasse, they appreciate sand. I also find that it makes the tank more handsome and natural, but there are other opinions. I always say I will try black sand but I've seen photos of how much detritus builds up and how obvious it is on black and change my mind -- but then again, white sand shows cyano and diatoms and other unsightly pests more. See?
When cycling the tank should I run the filter and lights? Yes, IMO. You may forget the filter but I always run all of the equipment, not sure I can provide a logical reason as to why other than simplicity?
I am not too happy with ceramic pieces in the filter. What do others run? I was think charcoal, and then I don't know ?? I run higher end pellet carbon if anything. Other than that, it's "sponge" for biological bacteria to colonize.
What do you think about adding a starter for the cycling, I think API or others have something to shorten the cycle? Dr Tims and BioSpira I have used int he past with great success. They can even prevent marginal ammonia entirely, but I dose 3-4 times instead of 1-2. I've found SeaChem Stability to be useless, and have no other experience with these products but I know others exist that are both "useless" and "fantastic".
Do I need both a fresh water and salt water test kit and any recommendations? No need for freshwater tests, but I don't test as much as I should -- I am not much help here. I will say that the test strips with multiple measured items are not very accurate, but can provide a ballpark if you're cheap like I was when I tested.
What are you using for a hydrometer or to measure the salt? Refractometer, it's more accurate. Hydrometers have a massive margin of error, you can kill fish and coral easily with hydrometers. I had one that read 1.023 and it was actually 1.031. Another "back in the day" that read 1.023 and when I tested with my new refractometer I had just purchased, it was 1.019!

Keep us posted with your build with lots of photos!

Legal Reefer · Dec 28, 2017

If you get a refractometer be sure to order some calibration fluid. I myself use caribsea live sand and live rock. Some people use no sand for ease of maintainence but I like a sand bed myself. I didn't use any additives to start my tank cycle, the die off from the live rock I used gave me an ammonia spike to start the cycle. Since I used all live rock my tank cycled fairly fast. Live rock is a big part of the filtration. That's just the way I chose to start my tank, there are several ways to go about it. Your in the right place to get plenty of good advice. The people in this forum have always been very helpful to me.

Oldsalt01 · Dec 28, 2017

As for test kits: Salifert and Red Sea are always reliable, if a bit pricey. API is ok, but inexpensive. They also include a "high-range" phosphate test in their "Master Reef Test Kit", but don't tell you that. To accurately measure phosphates (something you won't have to worry about until your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate cycle is about complete) you need a "low-range" test kit. I finally bought the bullet and purchased a Hanna Ultra-low range Phosphorus Checker, because my old eyes couldn't differentiate between 0.3ppm and 0.5ppm on the stupid color charts and it's made a huge difference in my chemistry readings. You don't have to spend a fortune on test kits, but like everything else, ya get what ya pay for. Like you, I'm an "old salt" (hence my forum name), did the under-gravel filters with crushed coral bottoms, hang-on-back box filters ( I finally threw away my old "Aqua-King" about 2 years ago. The motor was a mass of rusted steel), canister filters with "diatomaceous earth", and dead coral skeletons for "rock" back in the early 70's. Got out of it for about 14 years in the 90's and just got back in 2 years ago. My, how things have changed! This is a great forum, wonderful, helpful people, and a boatload of info. Pick our brains, don't be afraid to ask questions, and take things slowly at first. We want you to succeed. Welcome back to the obsession.