New tank for a newbie

[CLeadfootS]

Well I'm pretty much new. I bought a 125 gallon tank from a friend a couple years ago that he had running for 10 years to see if I enjoyed the hobby. I love it! My wife thinks I'm obsessed.

Well about a month ago I decided I wanted to upgrade my tank so I bought a new 150 gallon bowfront tank. I built a 29 gallon sump for a refuguim, my skimmer and return pump. My lighting is a coralife 48 inch 2 x 250 watt mh 20k bulbs with 96 watt pc lights and led moonlights. I am super excited to get this thing going!

I have a couple questions though....

1- I am going to order my live rock from liveaquaria.com. The standard Fiji rock. Is this a good rock to buy?

2- I was told to cure the live rock before putting in the live sand. Is this true or can I cure the live rock and live sand together at the same time?

3- once my cycle has ended I want to transfer all my livestock to the new tank. I have some green star pollups, about 7 fish and a couple anemones. What is the best way to do this? I have never set up a new tank from scratch and I heard you can't just put everything in there at once.

Thank you for any advice given to me. I have been reading these forums for a while now and this is my first post. I love seeing pictures of everybodys tanks so I'm going to try and post pictures of mine when I get a chance. Thank you again.

[bigdaddystar]

Wives always do think its an obsession

Curing is best in a separate container because what you are buying is worse than dead rock....it is stinky poisonous rock that knock you out just from smelling it......

If there is nothing else in the tank you can throw it in but do water changes and make sure it is circulating water...meaning running a pump...you can turn your skimmer on at this point too.....after a month and having done 2-4 water changes @25-50% you should be good

also, Save a buck and by dead rock for your base rock....all of the live rock that does not receive light is going to die anyway

[CLeadfootS]

Ya, there is nothing in the tank now. I wanted to buy 135 pounds of live rock and 160 pounds of the natures ocean bio activ black live sand. I have a bunch of dead rock in my old tank I wanted to put in the new tank as well. I'm new to the live rock though. My old tank uses bio balls.

[CLeadfootS]

Here are the pics i promised.....

[duncantse]

How big is that sump?

[bigdaddystar]

yeah bio balls are nitrate factories......

get the best protein skimmer you can afford....I use the vertex 250...its great
asm g2 or g3 would be great too...reasonably priced...and live rock...those 2 do most of the cleaning.....and then filter socks are good to use just make sure to change them out at least weekly...or again nitrate factories.

nice tank to start with

next up is lighting....with t-5 the more you can fit the better 6-8 bulbs....I use 3-250w radium halides though but t-5s are just as good especially for color with the right combo of bulbs

[CLeadfootS]

Sump was made out of a 29 gallon aquarium. I bought a boyu protein skimmer because my friend has one and recommended it. It's actually in the picture of the sump. Rio 3100 return pump. Coralife 2 x 250 watt mh 20k bulbs. The tank is lit up in the picture. I am going to buy my live rock very soon to get this thing going.

So does anybody know if I can cure the live rock and live sand at the same time in the tank? If not I will just buy the live rock now and live sand after the rock has cured. Thanks for the help everybody!

[O3reefer]

I have been told by several people that it is actually better to cycle everything in your tank, sand and rock. It wont hurt anything and will save you time by seeding the sand as well as the rock. Plus with a skimmer going the smell wont be that bad if at all. I am actually in the process of doing this exact thing. My tank is setup with about 70 lbs of sand, 50lbs live Fiji rock from blue water corals and 30lbs of dry eco rock from BRS. I have my aquascaping and everything running like normal, but its just going through its cycle. My levels are droping and almost done, but I am starting to get a brown diatom on sand and rocks. So go ahead and put everything in and get your tank going like you want it and just let it go through the cycle and your done.

[pentrix2]

Here are the pics i promised.....

Awesome new tank and wonderful job on making the sump tank!

[CLeadfootS]

Thanks guys! This tank caught my eye when I saw it. I have had it for a month now and I look at it all the time picturing what it will look like when it's all full of cool things.

Thanks for the info about the rock and sand. I'm going to the LFS to pick up the sand and will order my rock soon. I think I will post pics of my progress here. Now that I'm actually using RC instead of just reading it I can see how addicting this can be too! :D