adinin
New Member
Hi Everyone, been a long time lurker on here, but im getting a tank going again and thought i would tap the collective knowledge on here. I had a 20 gallon tank that went very well about 6 years ago, well enough that i was about to upgrade to a 125, but then my living situation changed and i had to scrap that plan. The 20 gallon crashed when there was a week long power outage, and i broke it down rather then starting over. I recently got the urge to start a tank back up (and a really nice new saltwater shop opened up right by me, im drooling over all his corals), and still have all of my equipment laying around, so some is getting reused, and im picking up new toys as i go.
My current plan is to use the 40 breeder i had gotten to use as a sump for the 125, and therein lies the first big question. Its been stored in the garage for the past 3-4 years, should i be worried at all about the condition of the tank? Its never had water in it, but the temps its been stored in are easily in the low negatives to the high 90's. The silicone feels nice and flexible, but I dont know if the horror stories of old tanks failing are just from a different/older type of tank and are blowing things out of proportion.
Second, my RODI system has just been sitting, any worries there? It has only had a few hundred gallons though it, not a whole lot of use with just the 20 gallon tank it fed previously. Ive seen that they should be used every few months to keep everything working right, but again, is it just old superstition or not. Its one of the next things on my list to get running before the tank starts up, so either way ill hook it up and see what comes out of it...
Lastly is my stocking plan, im mostly into corals, but it would be nice this time to have some fish now that i have a bit more room in the tank. Im thinking along the lines of a pair of clown fish, a blenny, maybe a goby or two (clown and watchman) with a pistol shrimp to pair with. The coral beauty angels have always caught my eye, but again i keep seeing conflicting things about having them in a 40 gallon. Live Aquaria says 55+ gallons to keep one, others say the 40 breeder is fine, so im on the fence about them. It would be great to have one, but I dont want to get it if its way to small an environment for one.
Im mostly in a holding pattern right now waiting for parts to ship, the acrylic i ordered to build the AIO part of the tank is taking forever. As fun as it will be to get everything wet, ive had these niggling questions about stuff, so instead of searching threads for stuff thats tangentially related to my issues I figured id ask directly... Any advice or opinions is welcome, im still getting back into the reefing mindset.
My current plan is to use the 40 breeder i had gotten to use as a sump for the 125, and therein lies the first big question. Its been stored in the garage for the past 3-4 years, should i be worried at all about the condition of the tank? Its never had water in it, but the temps its been stored in are easily in the low negatives to the high 90's. The silicone feels nice and flexible, but I dont know if the horror stories of old tanks failing are just from a different/older type of tank and are blowing things out of proportion.
Second, my RODI system has just been sitting, any worries there? It has only had a few hundred gallons though it, not a whole lot of use with just the 20 gallon tank it fed previously. Ive seen that they should be used every few months to keep everything working right, but again, is it just old superstition or not. Its one of the next things on my list to get running before the tank starts up, so either way ill hook it up and see what comes out of it...
Lastly is my stocking plan, im mostly into corals, but it would be nice this time to have some fish now that i have a bit more room in the tank. Im thinking along the lines of a pair of clown fish, a blenny, maybe a goby or two (clown and watchman) with a pistol shrimp to pair with. The coral beauty angels have always caught my eye, but again i keep seeing conflicting things about having them in a 40 gallon. Live Aquaria says 55+ gallons to keep one, others say the 40 breeder is fine, so im on the fence about them. It would be great to have one, but I dont want to get it if its way to small an environment for one.
Im mostly in a holding pattern right now waiting for parts to ship, the acrylic i ordered to build the AIO part of the tank is taking forever. As fun as it will be to get everything wet, ive had these niggling questions about stuff, so instead of searching threads for stuff thats tangentially related to my issues I figured id ask directly... Any advice or opinions is welcome, im still getting back into the reefing mindset.
