Got the 80 Gallon in Place. Now...NEED HELP! Equipment List?

G

guitareefs

Premium Member
I have emptied the 80 gallon out, have it in place. I have a tub full of rock with some new saltwater and some old saltwater from previous setup. The rock has a small issue with GHA and has a few rock anemones. I am starting over with this tank and am TAKING MY TIME THIS TIME :D

1) Should I empty out all water from rock tub and fill with fresh saltwater and keep the rock in the tub with a powerhead circulating until I'm ready for the tank to be compleltey set up or put rock in tank with water and keep it circulating?

2) Sand...I am emptying out what sand is in there and totally cleaning it out. I never use anything to clean, just RO/DI water and paper towels, so don't worry about me using any chemicals or anything. Will that be a problem if I don't get all the sand out? And how long should I leave a freshly emptied tank empty?

Thanks

Jeff
 
Basically you are cycling your rock in the tub. If it has a GHA problem, I would start with all fresh made saltwater. Get rid of all the maybe excess nutrients in the water. Wash it off with a powerhead too. Manually remove as much GHA as you possibly can, and scrub it with a toothbrush or something.

Then put your rock and new saltwater in the tank to cycle. Don't add sand until after the cycle. I wouldn't turn on any lights for the entire cycle period as well. Hopefully this will knock out the GHA problem while your tank is cycling.

As for the freshly emptied tank... once it's clean (and you didn't use chemicals) I don't see why you would need to leave it empty. Start your plan in motion!
 
Jeff,

I hate the Rio. I think most would agree they are unreliable and can ruin a tank. I don't know what kind of flow you're looking for... but I would assume something like a Quiet One 3000 would be fine for you.

Quiet One's are a) quiet, b) energy efficient, c) small footprint, d) put off little heat.

I love them!
 
Ok, so I'm used to the simple way of doing things in this hobby...cheap coralife hydrometer, cheap hang on back skimmer, couple of maxi jets for circulation and I was set.

Now, I wanna do this right this time. I have an 80 gallon tank. I want a mixed reef with some SPS and a couple Anthias.

I've got the sump, pump, skimmer down. Now...

Testing salinity- I saw a $50 dollar refractometer from Dr. F&S. Are refractometers what I need for testing salt level?

Test Kits- What are good reliable testing kits?
 
I think those refractometers are fine. I haven't used that one. I would think a refractometer would be better than any hydrometer. Just my opinion.

As for test kits... I guess it depends on what you want to spend. Seachem has good test kits... API is probably ok for things like ammonia and nitrite. I won't lie, I have used them for PH and Nitrate too.

I've never used Salifert... but they are known as some of the best. Of course, then they had a bad Alk test out there, and now they've been bashed pretty hard for it.

I've heard good things about Elos, but they're expensive. I would say Seachem would be reliable and decently priced. Again, opinion.
 
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