Tank Takeover

[jess02]

I’m taking over someone’s setup and would like to know if anything needs to be upgraded or adjusted. Would love any input you guys have:)

This is what it comes with:

Tank & Equipment:
• 29 gallon tank + 29-37 gallon stand (5 months old)
• Al Prime 16HD light
• Aquafuge 2 (medium) hang-on-back refugium with lots of Chaeto
• AquaClear 30 filter
• Hygger powerhead with nem guard
• Two heaters with InkBird temperature controller
• Live sand (5 months old)
• Marco rock (3-4 years old, mature)

Extra stuff:
• Submersible pump
• Frag Kit
• Reef Crystals Salt
• Automatic feeder
• Hanna salinity checker
• Tunze powerhead

Livestock:
• 2 paired clownfish (5 years old, bonded - spawning every few weeks)
• 1 pajama cardinal (1.5 years old)
• 4-6 rainbow bubble tip anemones (smaller)
• 4 green chalice corals (one over 7" in diameter)
• 4" rock covered in green star polyp
• 3 scarlet favites (various sizes)
• 3-5 white tip toadstool leather coral
• 3 small neon green tip hammer coral
• 3 pink pocillopora
• 5-6 yellow bird's nest
• All corals purchased from Tidal Gardens
• A few Astrea, bumblebee, and other small snails
• 2 conches

 

[edsbeaker]

Hi Jess, welcome!
Seems like a nice setup!

There are three things that I notice missing from your list.

First, some reliable test kits for nitrate and phosphate. You may want to get kits for alkalinity and calcium too. It’s possible that water changes alone may be enough to keep their levels in range, but as the corals grow you may have to dose alkalinity and calcium.

Second, what are you using for water? RODI is the best option if you are not getting water from another source.

Third, an auto top off system is something you may want to get. It will add water from a reservoir so as it evaporates from the tank throughout the day the salinity remains the same. Salt doesn’t evaporate with the tank water.

 

[jess02]

Hi Jess, welcome!
Seems like a nice setup!

There are three things that I notice missing from your list.

First, some reliable test kits for nitrate and phosphate. You may want to get kits for alkalinity and calcium too. It’s possible that water changes alone may be enough to keep their levels in range, but as the corals grow you may have to dose alkalinity and calcium.

Second, what are you using for water? RODI is the best option if you are not getting water from another source.

Third, an auto top off system is something you may want to get. It will add water from a reservoir so as it evaporates from the tank throughout the day the salinity remains the same.

Thank you! I’m very excited for this journey!

I plan to use this for my testing

As for the water, I plan on buying RODI and already mixed saltwater from my local reef stores for now until I’m out of an apartment.

Would it be possible for me to manually add water or would I need an ATO system right away? If I do add it manually, how often would I do it?

 

[edsbeaker]

You can definitely add fresh water by hand as long as you do it enough that salinity levels fluctuate, I’d say once a day would work. When I began my first reef tank years ago, there was no such thing as an Auto Top Off system. As long as you don’t have to be away from the tank for a couple of days you’ll be good.

Happy to hear that you are getting an RODI system. It will pay for itself over time!

You probably will not be happy with ATI test kits. They are on the bottom of every reefers list. It is highly unreliable. Most reefers use either the Hanna checkers, Sailfert, or Red Sea Pro kits. I think the majority use Hanna Checkers for Nitrate, Phosphate, and Alkalinity, and Sailfert for Calcium. A lot of us do not test much for magnesium since most tests are not very reliable for it. But Sailfert should give you an idea of your levels.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions!

 

[jess02]

You can definitely add fresh water by hand as long as you do it enough that salinity levels fluctuate. When I began my first reef tank years ago, there was no such thing as an Auto Top Off system. As long as you don’t have to be away from the tank for a couple of days you’ll be good.

Happy to hear that you are getting an RODI system. It will pay for itself over time!

You probably will not be happy with ATI test kits. They are on the bottom of every reefers list. It is highly unreliable. Most reefers use either the Hanna checkers, Sailfert, or Red Sea Pro kits. I think the majority use Hanna Checkers for Nitrate, Phosphate, and Alkalinity, and Sailfert for Calcium. A lot of us do not test much for magnesium since most tests are not very reliable for it. But Sailfert should give you an idea of your levels.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions!

Gotcha, I’ll make sure to get Hanna Testers instead. How soon should I test my tank after the move? The tank will be taken down and then put back up at my place, I’m sure everything will be off and unstable for a bit. I’m just not sure how long to wait to test it to make adjustments?

 

[W31Olds]

Jess , that sounds like a nice established tank. I don't know how far you need to move it, but you need a moving plan as I would be worried about a tank crash. I would have extra SW and RODI on hand ready to go and a bunch of buckets and some air stones and pumps. If the someone you mentioned is helping they should have some knowledge to help. If not and your new, If I were you, I would consider hiring professionals. Reason being you have quite a bit of stuff in that tank. I would also be learning as much as I could to increase your chance of success.

 

[edsbeaker]

The one thing I might suggest you not reuse is the sand. Sometimes stirring that up and moving it lets a lot of detritus escape and causes an ammonia spike. Its up to you, but just buying a new bag of sand, or rinsing the old sand really well until the water runs clear are good options.

The Hanna testers that most get are pictured below. There are three different ones for phosphate, but the majority get the Ultra Low one shown here. The nitrate and alkalinity only have one available for each. They are pictured in the bottom right corner.

When you first get it set up you will probably want to keep an eye on ammonia for the first couple of weeks. The live rock, as long as it stays in water the entire time, should prevent a small cycle, but I would still just test it, either take a sample to an aquarium store every few days, or buy a cheap test for ammonia. The ATI one you can get away with, but lots of times it registers .25 ppm when there is 0 in the tank, but if it gets any higher be prepared to change about 50% of the water.

After that I would just check parameters, salinity, nitrate, phosphate, alkalinity and calcium once a week.

Have you had prior experience with reef tanks before?

The above idea from @W31Olds is a really good idea if you haven’t dealt with a reef tank before. You can have a Saltwater Aquarium store move it. It may be worth it. It is a big job and you will need quite a few buckets, containers and experience, otherwise I would also leave it to people that are from the industry.

 

[jess02]

Jess , that sounds like a nice established tank. I don't know how far you need to move it, but you need a moving plan as I would be worried about a tank crash. I would have extra SW and RODI on hand ready to go and a bunch of buckets and some air stones and pumps. If the someone you mentioned is helping they should have some knowledge to help. If not and your new, If I were you, I would consider hiring professionals. Reason being you have quite a bit of stuff in that tank. I would also be learning as much as I could to increase your chance of success.

The move will be thirty minutes away. Luckily, the owner has offered to help me with the moves so it takes the stress off of me and the livestock. I will be getting multiple jugs of the RODI and premixed saltwater two days before the move to be prepared and I’ll come with about 3-4 buckets.

 

[jess02]

The one thing I might suggest you not reuse is the sand. Sometimes stirring that up and moving it lets a lot of detritus escape and causes an ammonia spike. Its up to you, but just buying a new bag of sand, or rinsing the old sand really well until the water runs clear are good options.

The Hanna testers that most get are pictured below. There are three different ones for phosphate, but the majority get the Ultra Low one shown here. The nitrate and alkalinity only have one available for each. They are pictured in the bottom right corner.

When you first get it set up you will probably want to keep an eye on ammonia for the first couple of weeks. The live rock, as long as it stays in water the entire time, should prevent a small cycle, but I would still just test it, either take a sample to an aquarium store every few days, or buy a cheap test for ammonia. The ATI one you can get away with, but lots of times it registers .25 ppm when there is 0 in the tank, but if it gets any higher be prepared to change about 50% of the water.

After that I would just check parameters, salinity, nitrate, phosphate, alkalinity and calcium once a week.

Have you had prior experience with reef tanks before?

Yes I will be getting new sand. The owner recommended I do so and just save about a cup or two of the old one to add in. So should I test it the day after the tank has been set up?

I’m very new to SW tanks but Ive had freshwater ones before. I’m understanding that they’re very different and SW requires more work. It’s a lot of information all at once but I’m slowly navigating through.

 

[Mach42]

Careful with stirring up the sand too much as it can release all kinds of bad stuff into the tank if it hasn't been regularly cleaned. If you are going to take all the sand out of the tank to move it, I'd suggest waiting on some other folks to chime in with advice to prevent any nutrient and debris release problems. This might be a chance to get a good rip-clean of the sand done, a la Brandon429's specialty.

Edit: Just a few minutes too late. Heh. Just take it slow, and while it does require more work, ask lots of questions or do a bunch of research before making any changes. I got my first salt tank last year coming from planted freshwater, and there's a good deal more to know.

Talk the seller's head off. Find out their feeding, dosing, and maintenance habits.

 

[edsbeaker]

Yes I will be getting new sand. The owner recommended I do so and just save about a cup or two of the old one to add in. So should I test it the day after the tank has been set up?

I’m very new to SW tanks but Ive had freshwater ones before. I’m understanding that they’re very different and SW requires more work. It’s a lot of information all at once but I’m slowly navigating through.

Having had freshwater you are familiar with cycling a tank and what to look for at least. That should help, but after that things are pretty different.
If you haven’t found these links yet, let me suggest the Sticky section in the New to Saltwater sub forum. There’s lots of good reading there.
Also Bulk Reef Supply has some great videos too. Just go to the linked website, scroll down to the very bottom and you will see a list of topics you can click on. Under quick links is one named education, and filled with videos that can help you out. Good luck with the move!!!

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/new-to-saltwater-reef-aquariums-post-here.130/
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com