Sanity check, and question.

H

hardaur

Premium Member
Hey all, I've been out of the hobby for about 5 years (have been in the hobby for an additional 10 or so). I'm setting up a new tank and want to run my plan by you guys to make sure I'm not too far behind on the latest.

The tank I'm setting up is a DAS 105g. The plan is for it to start out as a FO/FOWLR (light on the rock to start, growing as finances allow), then slowly (year or two) migrate to a reef (again as finances allow (lighting mostly)). Rationale is that wife is a major fan of "pretty fish", but not as big a fan of reefs. Figure about the time I'm ready to pull the trigger on a reef I'll be able to put up another FO tank.

Anyway, I have a sealife systems 150 w/d (unmodified at this point), a pretty large skimmer (THINK it's a PS-350 (pacific coast?)), 600gph HOB overflow, and some middle of the road T5 lighting (coming with tank, don't have details off the top).

The plan is to do a DSB in the tank of about 4 inches, modify the wet/dry (think it's about 13g) to a refugeum with an additional 4" sand bed, macroalgae with a overflow wall to the pumps. I'll pick up a cheapish 10g fluorescent light fixture to hang over it for the macroalgae. I'll also pick up some pods and worms for the refugeum. I'll, of course, take out the bio-balls and leave the filter material on the drip plate, and remove the sponge and plate separating the media area from the sump area.

I have a Rio 2100 that I'll put on the Skimmer, and a CA2200 I'll put as return with a ball valve (850gph pump I think, will have about 4' head on the return).

Finally, I'll also put typical "cleaning crew" in tank along with worms and pods.

Sound sane enough?

Also had a question, I'd seen some older conversations about using pulverized limestone from Home Depot. How did that stuff turn out for everybody/still recommend it? Does it help out with calcium, etc or should I supplement with argonite? Also, is that limestone stuff to dense for the entire bed (as opposed to layering with some larger stuff on top), or is it working out well on its own?

Also, what do you guys think about getting some of this http://www.whiz-q.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=whizq&Product_Code=10104
curing it and using it as the rock. Not worried about getting gorgeous cured live rock at this point, interested in saving a buck and letting the tank grow. Anybody had any bad experiences?

Another note about the limestone and tufa. I will have about 100lbs of good established sand ready to go (from a tank teardown, currently in another tank with a powerhead). So I should have a decent start on the curing side (along with rubble, etc I'll pick up).

Thanks for any feedback folks!

H
 
The pavestone limestone sand is a good product and I think several members have used it as have I. You just have to rinse the heck out of it and then rinse some more. Tufa stone makes a good base rock and will become live rock in time when seeded with other liverock and is very reasonable. Be sure to get some live sand from another member to seed you sandbed. :)
 
@Matt wrote:
Just a quick note said:
I agree with Matt on RIO's, they like to not restart.

Paverstone works fine, not as pretty as argonite but at .10 a pound vs $1 a pound it looks mighty fine to me.

Tufa rock will become covered in coraline fast , love the stuff, and you can make caves with a hammer and chissel.
Click to expand...
 
I've checked a couple Home Depots for the Pavestone, no luck. Anybody know where else to look? South of Downtown (either) is preferred, but whatever ; )

H
 
Ok, I may never buy live rock again. I picked up 60lbs of tufa yesterday (for a whole $25) and the stuff is GREAT! All they had were boulders, 10-15lbs peices, but it's really easy to work with. As a matter of fact, my biggest concern is how soft it is. I think it's also going to look very nice once it get's coraline, etc growth on it.

As far as the Rio pump, I know there not the greatest, and I guess I may go ahead and break down and get another. I'd planned on putting it on the skimmer because of reliability, but even that's a bit risky if I don't notice a problem.

Anybody see any other problems?

rckrzy1: Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out this weekend!

All, so I've continued doing my homework and I'm finding a WIDE discrepancy on recommended depths for DSBs. Anywhere from 3 inches with the pavestone stuff to over 6 or 7. I'm looking at 4, I don't want to go crazy for aesthetic purposes, but should I go deeper? And with the fineness of the pulverized limestone grain, am I going to run into real problems with gas pockets as I go deeper?

Thanks!

H
 
I'd say minimum of 4". Pavestone isn't a discrete grain size- it's got a lot of fine dust particles (hence the need to rinse it A LOT). I've got 6" in my fuge, and I don't have any issues with gas pockets.
 
I have ~4" of the pulverized limestone in my 75. Luv it. I got mine from the HD on 35W at Sycamore School RD. It's not with the other types of sand (playground, etc.). It's usually at the end of the shelves where the fertilizer is. Definitely rinse it till you think your done and then rinse it some more.
 
Mike, I called my local HD and asked for gardening, they DO have it. Like $3.49 for 50lb bag. I'll pick up some today.

As far as washing, I figure just dump some in a 5g bucket, and run water over it for a good while? Maybe about half a bucket at a time?

So anybody care to take a stab at how many pounds I'll need for a DAS 105g, let's say 5" bed? A rough ball-park is fine.

Also, can I get a confirmation that this stuff doesn't disolve and release calcium and such like Argonite? For a FOWLR tank should I worry about any other supplements to counteract this?

Thanks all! Extremely helpful info!

H
 
That sounds like a good plan, but also, you want to stir it up- it's a real mix of large and small particles.

Pavestone is chemically the same as aragonite, which is why folks like it (muuuuch cheaper alternative). It will break down if your ph drops too low, but that action helps stabilize ph.
 
Picked up 300lbs (don't suspect I'll use it all, but. . .) of the pavestone today. . .nice. I like it. It does take a ton of washing though.

Thanks again!

H
 
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