davematthews
11-28-2007, 5:50 PM
I'm sorry, this will be long, and there are no cliff notes...
Ok...this is my first venture into reef (I had a fish only saltwater tank years ago) and this seems like a very informative site with lots of knowledgeable people. I have read and studied for the last few months trying to learn all I could and finally set up the tank about a month ago...the more I read and studied the more confused I became, because there are so many different opinions. So I decided to just start adding to the tank and learning more as I go. I thought that turned out to be a bad idea ( as in, I put the live sand in first, used tap water instead of ro water and bought an expensive canister filter when I probably didnt even need one).
Anyway, yesterday I go to the most highly recommended lfs I could find where I purchased about 50lb of live rock. The guy who owns the store is a biologist who basically tells me that he has kept reef tanks for over 20 years and never used anything but tap water, and has never added any kind of additives to any of his tanks. He does a 30% water change monthly. His contention is that all necessary additives or nutrients are already in the salt mix used during the water change and buying these extras is a huge waste of money because you can accomplish the same thing by doing a 30-50% water change monthly. Needless to say I feel more confused than ever....
So my tank when finished will be set up this way.....305 fluval canister filter, 300w heater, Sea clone 100 protein skimmer, 2 Hydor Koralia #3's, and an Orbit 520 watt compact fluorescent. Currently only the canister filter and skimmer are running, the rest is on its way. Am I missing anything that is desprately needed? I asked about a sump and he said it would have no adverse effect on the system if I didnt run one, that it was strictly optional and I could run my reef system without it without consequence??? I guess I'm not really asking specific questions, just if my system were set up this way would I be ok?
Here are a few pics of the rock once I got it home last night....also I think I have a starfish in there as well....any chance he actually makes it?
Any comments, opinions, or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Ok...this is my first venture into reef (I had a fish only saltwater tank years ago) and this seems like a very informative site with lots of knowledgeable people. I have read and studied for the last few months trying to learn all I could and finally set up the tank about a month ago...the more I read and studied the more confused I became, because there are so many different opinions. So I decided to just start adding to the tank and learning more as I go. I thought that turned out to be a bad idea ( as in, I put the live sand in first, used tap water instead of ro water and bought an expensive canister filter when I probably didnt even need one).
Anyway, yesterday I go to the most highly recommended lfs I could find where I purchased about 50lb of live rock. The guy who owns the store is a biologist who basically tells me that he has kept reef tanks for over 20 years and never used anything but tap water, and has never added any kind of additives to any of his tanks. He does a 30% water change monthly. His contention is that all necessary additives or nutrients are already in the salt mix used during the water change and buying these extras is a huge waste of money because you can accomplish the same thing by doing a 30-50% water change monthly. Needless to say I feel more confused than ever....
So my tank when finished will be set up this way.....305 fluval canister filter, 300w heater, Sea clone 100 protein skimmer, 2 Hydor Koralia #3's, and an Orbit 520 watt compact fluorescent. Currently only the canister filter and skimmer are running, the rest is on its way. Am I missing anything that is desprately needed? I asked about a sump and he said it would have no adverse effect on the system if I didnt run one, that it was strictly optional and I could run my reef system without it without consequence??? I guess I'm not really asking specific questions, just if my system were set up this way would I be ok?
Here are a few pics of the rock once I got it home last night....also I think I have a starfish in there as well....any chance he actually makes it?
Any comments, opinions, or suggestions are greatly appreciated.