Oscarfish.com

Well, i have my 2 freshwater aquariums up and running for a while now, its time to enter the saltwater world ( yes i'm addicted to this stuff....lol). I was gonna start small with a 15 gallon tank i have sittong around, but i know that would not satisfy me, so if im gonna do this im gonna do it the right way. Heres the list of what im thinking. Please feel free to recommend anything if you can.
I dont want to say money is not an issue, but like i said i want to do this right.

Im gonna stay away from coral at first, but from what i have been reading, i will get there one day.

1.) A 125 gallon tank

2.) A Bashsea bio-fuge (this thing is sick) heres a you tube link to one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCJCWFkM8m8
I was thinking of building my own, but i can pick one of these up for $370.I would use live rock in it.

3.)A Bashsea Blue Demon skimmer. Its a new skimmer they came out with. Also Bashsea is made in Michigan.

4.) Im gonna get a RODI water system, not sure what one yet, any recommendations?

5.) Lighting- im not sure yet. Any recommendations?

I also have a few questions if you could be kind enough to answer, thanks in advance

1.) overflow- not sure what one to get, also what return pump to go with it?

2.) If i was to put heater in the sump, how many and what wattage would i need?

3.) Do i also put live rock in tank with pump for water movement?

That should do it for now thanks again

Sarge

sarge5121976 wrote:4.) Im gonna get a RODI water system, not sure what one yet, any recommendations?

5.) Lighting- im not sure yet. Any recommendations?

I also have a few questions if you could be kind enough to answer, thanks in advance

1.) overflow- not sure what one to get, also what return pump to go with it?

2.) If i was to put heater in the sump, how many and what wattage would i need?

3.) Do i also put live rock in tank with pump for water movement?

I recommend Bulk Reef Supply RODI unit. It's what I use and I've been pretty happy with it.

Lighting will depend on what type of tank you intend to set up... If you are going to run FOWLR for a year or so then I would just go with some T5's. The 10000K/Actinic bulb combo will yield the best color and is most suitable for a saltwater setup.

Overflow/Pump? No idea. Sorry, lol.

The heater size is a good question too. I would assume you would need one strong enough to heat the entire system volume so 125 + the size of your sump.

Live rock should be in the display tank and in the sump. The more the better. It should at the least be in the display though IMO - to function as territory and shelter for your fish.

Welcome to the dark side my friend. Saltwater is truly captivating. I can honestly say that I am hooked for life. It breaks my heart to say it but I think there may be a day when I don't have an oscar, but I think I will always be running a reef tank. So what kind of fish are you thinking? What type of substrate? When do you hope to have this bad boy up and running? Have you read my article about the transition between freshwater and saltwater? If you haven't, I'd like to hear some feedback from you. http://www.oscarfish.com/article-home/f ... water.html

I don't think it would hurt to have a heater powerful enough to heat the tank. If anything you can mess with it a little to get the temperature right. All else fails you just put it on a timer.

For lighting I would say either a t5 set up or some LEDs strips. Either way I think you should go ahead and make a canopy for the tank and put them in there. Then when you dive into corals you can add some halides or more LEDs to the hood and keep your previous lights as supplements.

As for an overflow, is your tank drilled? If not I would recommend getting it drilled. May cost some money, but a little safer than a siphon over flow. As for a return pump, that is going to depend on if you have any gadgets and gizmos set up in the sump line. Another factor is the height of the tank and stand combined, but I would imagine you will be in the 600-1000gph range( besides high flow is better than low flow in sw)

You will want to put live rock(LR) wherever you can fit it. In saltwater the porous rocks of the tank are going to act as your primary filter and will hopefully seed anaerobic bacteria that will break down nitrates into harmless nitrogen. Therefore, using the theory of "never to much LR" it is possible to never have to do tank maintenance other than top offs. However, this takes time and won't happen for several months.

As for RODI, I have no idea

Welcome to the salty side of Ofish

~RuSh~ wrote:

sarge5121976 wrote:4.) Im gonna get a RODI water system, not sure what one yet, any recommendations?

5.) Lighting- im not sure yet. Any recommendations?

I also have a few questions if you could be kind enough to answer, thanks in advance

1.) overflow- not sure what one to get, also what return pump to go with it?

2.) If i was to put heater in the sump, how many and what wattage would i need?

3.) Do i also put live rock in tank with pump for water movement?

I recommend Bulk Reef Supply RODI unit. It's what I use and I've been pretty happy with it.

Lighting will depend on what type of tank you intend to set up... If you are going to run FOWLR for a year or so then I would just go with some T5's. The 10000K/Actinic bulb combo will yield the best color and is most suitable for a saltwater setup.

Overflow/Pump? No idea. Sorry, lol.

The heater size is a good question too. I would assume you would need one strong enough to heat the entire system volume so 125 + the size of your sump.

Live rock should be in the display tank and in the sump. The more the better. It should at the least be in the display though IMO - to function as territory and shelter for your fish.

Welcome to the dark side my friend. Saltwater is truly captivating. I can honestly say that I am hooked for life. It breaks my heart to say it but I think there may be a day when I don't have an oscar, but I think I will always be running a reef tank. So what kind of fish are you thinking? What type of substrate? When do you hope to have this bad boy up and running? Have you read my article about the transition between freshwater and saltwater? If you haven't, I'd like to hear some feedback from you. http://www.oscarfish.com/article-home/f ... water.html

Thanks for the input Rush, I have read the article and infact it sparked my interest into doing this, i always thought saltwater might have been too much, but after reading that and doing more research, i think i can handle it...lol

Buehler wrote:I don't think it would hurt to have a heater powerful enough to heat the tank. If anything you can mess with it a little to get the temperature right. All else fails you just put it on a timer.

For lighting I would say either a t5 set up or some LEDs strips. Either way I think you should go ahead and make a canopy for the tank and put them in there. Then when you dive into corals you can add some halides or more LEDs to the hood and keep your previous lights as supplements.

As for an overflow, is your tank drilled? If not I would recommend getting it drilled. May cost some money, but a little safer than a siphon over flow. As for a return pump, that is going to depend on if you have any gadgets and gizmos set up in the sump line. Another factor is the height of the tank and stand combined, but I would imagine you will be in the 600-1000gph range( besides high flow is better than low flow in sw)

You will want to put live rock(LR) wherever you can fit it. In saltwater the porous rocks of the tank are going to act as your primary filter and will hopefully seed anaerobic bacteria that will break down nitrates into harmless nitrogen. Therefore, using the theory of "never to much LR" it is possible to never have to do tank maintenance other than top offs. However, this takes time and won't happen for several months.

As for RODI, I have no idea

Welcome to the salty side of Ofish

Thanks for input Buehler


Didn't really think of a canopy , but might just do that.

I do not have the tank yet and might try to buy one with an overflow, but if not , what do you think of attempting this http://glass-holes.com/700-gph-Overflow-complete-kit-gh700kit.htm they have a 700gph and a 1500gph

And i will load this baby up with som live rock...lol

Great find on the overflow site! Just from what I read on there and my basic knowledge of flow in a reef tank I would recommend using the 1500 gph model. I think you will benefit from the larger turnover.

Okay, so i started to purchase for the tank, i will update this purchase list as i add to it.


1.) overflow- http://glass-holes.com/1500-gph-complete-kit-gh1500kit.htm?productId=7

2.)RODI system- http://www.airwaterice.com/product/1TYPHOONIII/TYPHOON-III-AQUARIUM-RODI-75-or-100-GPD.html

updates to follow

lol and so it begins(bum bum bum)

Hook it up with some of that RODI water up North here. j/k

Jon M wrote:Hook it up with some of that RODI water up North here. j/k

Feel free to make the long trip down for some of the RODI water.

A quick question for everyone, i should get a power head for the aquarium, right? Im looking at Hydor Koralia's, should i get 2 smaller one or 1 larger one for 125 gallon? What sort of flow am i looking for?

At least two large powerheads. I use 2x 1,300gph wavemakers in just a 40g. Pretty much the flow has to be adequate enough for ALL of the water in the tank to be moving at all times with no dead spots in the tank. I personally would grab at least 3 decently powered powerheads for a 125g tank.

The reason for all the movement is this is the process of how the sw tank has it's own "natural" filtration. The live rock is so porous it can contain LOADS of bb and the water constantly moving moves the water through the rock like a HOB moves water through the media in the HOB with the bb. Your live rock is essentially media for bb and u want the water to be flowing through it continuously. It's all rather cool when you start to look into it.

sarge5121976 wrote:Okay, so i started to purchase for the tank, i will update this purchase list as i add to it.


1.) overflow- http://glass-holes.com/1500-gph-complete-kit-gh1500kit.htm?productId=7

2.)RODI system- http://www.airwaterice.com/product/1TYPHOONIII/TYPHOON-III-AQUARIUM-RODI-75-or-100-GPD.html

updates to follow

3.)lighting - 2 of http://www.marinedepot.com/AquaticLife_T5_HO_Light_Link_Fixture_Marine_24_Inch_T5_Fluorescent_Light_Fixtures-AquaticLife-AK01138-FILTFIT54U-vi.html foor now...lol

I agree with Jon. You'll want at the very least, 2 large powerheads. I've seen some SPS reef tanks with 4 running and a wave maker .

The lighting will suffice. It's the right price and will last for a long time should you decide to stay FOWLR. And if you do decide to go reef you haven't spent too much money on lighting already.

And the way that those lights work if you do go reef then you can just by more of the same fixture and they link together. Really a cool design actually.

Since im gonna go about this the right way, probably knowing eventually im gonna go reef, im thinking of doing 2 echotech vortech mp40's, or should i go 1 mp40 and 1or2 koralia's? thoughts?

The vortechs are a very high quality product, however, where is the tank going? If it is in a living area, from what I understand they are kinda noisy. Something else to consider is a close loop system. They are simple enough, and much more functional. I am putting one in my next tank upgrade.

Buehler wrote:The vortechs are a very high quality product, however, where is the tank going? If it is in a living area, from what I understand they are kinda noisy. Something else to consider is a close loop system. They are simple enough, and much more functional. I am putting one in my next tank upgrade.

The tank will be in the basement, so no worries about noise. I will have to research this closed loop system you speak of.

got my rodi water system installed in my basement utility room, i love this thing.
I buy a few items a week, hopefully i will use tax money for tank and stand, still not sure what size tank to get yet....

sarge5121976 wrote:

sarge5121976 wrote:Okay, so i started to purchase for the tank, i will update this purchase list as i add to it.


1.) overflow- http://glass-holes.com/1500-gph-complete-kit-gh1500kit.htm?productId=7

2.)RODI system- http://www.airwaterice.com/product/1TYPHOONIII/TYPHOON-III-AQUARIUM-RODI-75-or-100-GPD.html

updates to follow

3.)lighting - 2 of http://www.marinedepot.com/AquaticLife_T5_HO_Light_Link_Fixture_Marine_24_Inch_T5_Fluorescent_Light_Fixtures-AquaticLife-AK01138-FILTFIT54U-vi.html foor now...lol

4.)salt (160 gallon bucket)- http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4685+4856&pcatid=4856

5.)power head for mixing saltwater and tranfering - http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4586+23760&pcatid=23760

6.) test kit - http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem.aspx?idproduct=AP3313&utm_source=autoemail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=autoemail20&utm_content=autoemail20&utm_campaign=autoemail

7.) refractometer - http://www.marinedepot.com/Marine_Depot_Aquarium_Pro_Refractometer_Refractometers_for_Saltwater_Aquariums-Marine_Depot-MD2103-FITEOPRF-vi.html

Sounds like you are well on Ur way!

Just saw the rodi photo post. I would say get a wide tank and dont worry to much about height. I am contemplating a 48" x 48" x 13" tank from glasscages just so i can have some room to spread things out. I guess I'm saying if you r looking at a 55 go 75 i got a 55 and it being narrow sucks.

im actually looking at a 125, but wondering if the extra height of a 150 would be worth it? Or should i just go with a 180

Extra height= Extra light. Simple. What are the dimensions on the 180?

Buehler wrote:Extra height= Extra light. Simple. What are the dimensions on the 180?

6' X 2' X 2'

Im thinking the 125 though, unless i can talk myself into the 180 gallon. Hepl me talk myself into it....lol