Newbie with dosing questions, etc.

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pzuzu

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Sep 23, 2005
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Hello... I'm planning on starting a 55g reef tank. I wanna go very slow and am trying to collect as much information as possible before I start making purchases.

I do have a tank already, but nothing else. What I'm mostly curious about are the dosings of nutrients. I can't seem to find a standard guide that lets me know what I need to dose, best brands, etc. I am interested in growing different varieties of corals and was so was planning to get a 4x65wCF for lighting. Will this be enough light? Too much light?

If you have a link to dosing reference page, please attach it. I would like to buy all the nutrients and equipment before I start looking into buying sand, rocks, and creatures.

So far, I am planning on 55lbs of live sand, 110lbs of live rock...both from tampabaysaltwater.com. If anyone has any info on their live stuff, please let me know. They just seem to sound like the best investment.

Or even if you have a great dosing schedule/guide, I'd really appreciate it if you post it! But links are cool too.

Thanks for any help!
Fernando
 
I'm new to this too, and I also only have a tank right now, so I can't answer your dosing questions. What I can say is that from everything I have read, you are ordering too much live rock.

The best thing I've been told is to try to get about 1.5 pounds of live rock per gallon, or to make things cheaper, 1 pound per gallon of live rock and 0.5 pounds per gallon of base rock. You could even go with more base rock to make things cheaper, but it would take longer to get enough live rock going.
 
I do not think anything is wrong with 110lbs of LR in a 55G tank.

Wanted to add- as long as there are no dead spots within the tank.
 
I read some where that there could be problems if you have too much live rock. I can't find it now, but if I do find it, I'll post a link. Again, I am also a newbie, so I could be wrong.
 
Porthos said:
I read some where that there could be problems if you have too much live rock. I can't find it now, but if I do find it, I'll post a link. Again, I am also a newbie, so I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

This is true. If you have too much rock piled on each other (stacked heavily), it could cause dead spots. These areas can accumulate matter, food, sediment, etc.- basically become waste traps. In turn, this can attract micro-algae and cause poor water quality.
 
5xevy: What kind of measures should I take in order to ensure no dead spots? Is there an article you might know of? Or some basic suggestions? As of right now, I think I was planning on using only a protein skimmer for water flow. Should get a powerhead? Perhaps two of them?

Any help would be appreciated!

Also, any good sources for dosing routines/schedules...anyone? Best brands? Basic nutrients?

Thanks!
Fernando
 
hey. just answering your question. i guess it depends on the skimmer to see if you have enough water flow, but it usually isn't. but i would recommend getting a powerhead and it depends on what you get to how many to get. if you go with cheap powerheads then i recommend two of them if you get the expensive ones which usuallyare better then you only need one. i have a 55gl reef tank as well and in it have a hang on skimmer, Seio powerhead 1100gph, and a canister filter. I am currently building my stand and adding a sump to my system. so if you have any questions feel free to ask. im pretty sure 5xevy will give input on this too.

From experience Kent Marine is best brand for me for nutrients. I bought the bottle with all the nutrients in it. a little more pricey than the others sold as seperate nutrients.
 
pzuzu said:
5xevy: What kind of measures should I take in order to ensure no dead spots? Is there an article you might know of? Or some basic suggestions? As of right now, I think I was planning on using only a protein skimmer for water flow. Should get a powerhead? Perhaps two of them?
Click to expand...

Doing a quick search, I found some links regarding live rock. Some are suggestions how to build/stack them. Some talk about the dead spots. Some give advice on how much to put in- they do differ in opinions (1-1.5lb per gallon...no more than 1.75lb....no more than 2, etc.). It's usually suggested for reef tanks to have more LR per gallon that FOWLR (fish-only) tanks.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=16&cat=1990&articleid=2931
http://www.fishlore.com/live_rock.htm
http://starbulletin.com/98/07/24/features/story1.html
http://www.****************/information/live_rock.htm
http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/faq/11.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_aquarium

Halfway down the page on the above link, the paragraph that starts with the word "Refugium" might give you some insight as well.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/filterselection/a/aa111901_3.htm

Sorry, once I pasted the links I realized how many there were. :D

My buddy's tank just recently developed a large algae bloom. He bought a couple of pumps and stuck them under his rock stacks (and put them on timers) for more circulation. It really helped him and his algae problem is almost completely gone.

I have powerheads/sump/refugium. I have about 175lbs. of LR in my 150G, and about 200lbs of LR going into my 95G (as soon as it's cured!).
 
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