New to SW - Help setting up 100 Gallon

MisterMiniS · Jan 28, 2013

Hello reef2reef,
After many years of desiring a SW tank, I am finally in a place in my life where I can support the needs on one. First, I will be picking up a 100 gallon tank next weekend. I have done about as much research as possible over the past few months/years, but do have some questions as I have no personal friends/people I know with a SW tank as well needing some help planning things out. First off, this will be a reef tank. Coral is more important to me than fish, so they have my priority. Fish come second and will only be added if they are reef safe. Let's get started:Water: I have access to a nice RO/DI system, so that is not an issue.
Tank: It is a 100 gallon long (18" deep) glass tank. It is NOT reef ready. It will need to be drilled. I will need some suggestions on that, but basically, I was planning on having the little separator in one of the corners with holes on the top of it for overflow and then drill two holes int he tank for the plumbing.
Refugium/Sump: Need help on this. I know you can make your own, but I'd rather just pay extra and get a pre-made setup. Any suggestions?
Skimmer: I will definitely be running a skimmer
Heaters: I have read that it is best to have multiple smaller ones rather than one correctly sized one, so I'll probably go that way as it makes sense.
Pumps: Seeing as I will have coral, I'm guessing 1500-2000 gph is decent (going off a 15-20x rule of thumb)
Rock: I have not decided how much will be dry and how much will be live, but a total will be about 100-150 lbs.
Sand: I'm going for a medium base of a few inches...mix of live argonite and the rest non-live
QT Tank: Need suggestions on this as I will be using one.
ATO Tank: again, suggestions/tips appreciated.
Backups: I will have some battery backups as I have access to some.
Lights: LED's! State a case if you think something might be better.
Am I missing anything? Thanks for the help!

chefb_5 · Jan 28, 2013

Every thing seems great the one thing I would change or you will need is bigger powerheads like 3000gph and some where between 1700-2000gph. the rule of thumb is there is no such thing is too much. Specaily when it comes to having SPS (hard coral) so if you can get bigger powerheads that would be a plus. Skimmers you want to make sure you do one rated +1 of how many gallons you have in total. So you have a 100gallon + sump you would want to get a skimmer rated for 180-200 gallons.

ReeferBob · Jan 28, 2013

What is your budget? Check out sumps by Eshopps. Check out glass-holes for your overflow. They have complete kits including the drill bit. Make sure your tank is drillable - if not the glass will shatter when you try. That is a 6' tank? If so you'll need to plan your powerhead placement for proper flow. Maybe consider a surge tank. All sand will become live after4-8 weeks. Same with rock. Look at the Tunze ATOs with a Brute food-safe trash can as a reservoir. Get your own RODI system. Backup batteries will not do much - consider a generator instead. All you need for QT is a 20 gallon tank, bare bottom, HOB or sponge filter. Fill as needed for QT.

Use a screen top, not glass tops on the tank. After all is said and done, it will probably be cheaper to get a pre-drilled tank. Also 100 is an odd size, what are the dimensions?

Don't put any livestock in for at least 4 weeks. Wait 4-6 months for coral.

MisterMiniS · Jan 28, 2013

Thanks for the good info! As for my budget, it is kinda whatever it needs to be. I'm not dropping 5k off the bat on fish/corals/setup, but if I am spending 2k for all hardware/sand/rock I'm cool with that. I've done some looking into glass-holes already and will likely use them. I confirmed that the tank is only tempered on the bottom, so drilling should not be an issue. As for the tank dimensions, it just said 100g and to the best of my knowledge it was 5' long and 18-24" deep. It did come with glass tops, so thank you very much for saying to use screen tops! It does have a little middle partition made of glass to prevent bowing, but that is permanent.

20 gallon QT - noted
no backup batteries, generator instead - noted
RO/DI system - have access to one from a well (read: unlimited free water) - check

Few questions:
1) My sump would be about 30 gallons, right? Assuming so, 100 gallon display, 30 gallon sump, does that mean that my skimmer needs to be rated for 200g (100x2) or 260g (130x2) or something entirely different?
2) Same as above, should powerheads be rated for DT only, or DT + sump?
3) Thermometers - instead of 1 big one, maybe 3 little ones is my plan, but they should likely go in the sump, right?
4) Lights - I plan on going LED, but is there any benefit to having a LED/T5 mix?

Thanks!

clownfish83 · Jan 28, 2013

hello, i am new to this 2 i started with a 55g and a 30g in a couple days im getting a 120g... for the QT tank i was gonna use my 10g but also the fish i get arnt huge monsters lol if you have a craigslist in your area you can get a 10-30 pretty cheap. Live rock is not!!! cheap i read that you should get 1lb of live rock per gallon!!!! i calculated that for my 55 and was like holly sh***!!!! what i did was i added live rock a little at a time not all at once. Also if you have a pet store or an aquatics store near you sometimes they have already mixed saltwater which can sometimes be cheaper i went with that where i live it was .79 per gallon. im excited for you!! i love this hobby everything about it is interesting and there is always something new to learn!

Also before i started reading about it as much as i have now lol i made the HUGE mistake of starting my tank with damsels my damsels are happy as can be BUT they own the tank lol they are very agressive fish wise since you are wanting a reef tank, when you go to get your fish make sure they are PEACEFULL hahaha believe i had world war 3 in my tank for 48 hours tried to move a couple of rocks and yeah that was no help i returned the most agressive damsel yesterday but i love my damsels dont regret getting them but they are the reason why i now have to get a 120g tank... its so they can have there very own 55g hahahaha much luck to you!!!

eagle · Jan 28, 2013

I just got pukani dry rock from bulk reef supply. Its the best i ever seen. Very lightweight and porous. Big rocks too. I recommend it.

MisterMiniS · Jan 29, 2013

Dang, clownfish83, I like the enthusiasm! As for rock, I will be doing a mixture of dry and live, but have not decided on a ratio. Any suggestions? If that pukani dry rock is porous, I'll probably stick to about 1 lb per gallon. Thanks for the suggestions!

carsonroberge · Jan 29, 2013

I would not try drilling tempered glass.. I've heard it's hard to do I may be wrong though.

Kheebl · Jan 29, 2013

As far as rock goes get most of what you need in dry rock the. Just get a few pieces of live rock to seed the dry rock. In my 75g tank when I set it up a few months ago I used ~65lbs dry rock and maybe 10lbs live rock. All of my rock is now live rock with all sorts of critters in it. I do have more rock in my tank that I just threw in the sump for extra filtration but I only bought that because I got probably 40lbs for $20 from a fellow local refer.