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View Full Version : New to Saltwater need suggestions


Rfr4evr
04/17/2012, 07:19 PM
Hi everyone I appreciate finding this site and thread and was curious what kind of information and opinions I can recieve.

I have found an add for a 230 imperial gallon ( 5'4" x 2' x 32") established saltwater tank.
It comes with a 90 gallon sump and also a 77 gallon sump, the 77 gallon is not being used at this point, but the 90 gallon is very tight for the cabinet and was going to be downsized to the 77 gallon.

The unit also comes with 100 pounds of LR and the only fish to accompany it is an eel.

This is the first I have had to do with saltwater systems but am very interested in getting into it and also realize this is going to be more or less jumping in with both feet lol.

I will also be retaining and reusing at least 50% of the existing established water.

Please any input would be appreciated.

Thank you all very much...

Collin

frothyspoon
04/17/2012, 08:24 PM
If you feel confident about it and it's a good price then I would go for it. I just suggest you get rid of the eel since they eat everything and wait a while with the tank running to do more research unless you have done a ton of research already. That is a pretty big tank so you better know what you're getting in to. Lots of live rock, big equipment and big water changes.

WetShepherd
04/17/2012, 09:29 PM
+1 on research. That's a big commitment. Make sure you are also ready to get an RODI unit if it's not being included - you'll be purifying a lot of water for your changes. In fact - you might want to have a plan for that before you pull the trigger. Where will you purify and how will you get the water to the tank/sump etc.

It also sounds like you're light on live rock. For a single eel I'm sure that's plenty, but if you plan to replace the eel with fish you might need to add more. My tank is smaller so don't take my word for it - just look into it.

Good job on retaining the water. If you are short on buckets, try asking your LFS if you can borrow some. They will either have a stack or will tell you where you can get some easily - at least that's been my experience.

GL and have fun. Oh and welcome aboard ;)

Rfr4evr
04/18/2012, 11:41 AM
I guess the next questions would be since basically to me the liverock is the most valuable to me as far as livestock that comes with the tank, what is my best option for saving the liverock and assuring its health? The plan at this time is to bring everything home at one shot but that can be changed if need to be to assure the health of the tank. Since 3 tanks are involved I would have one extra that I can probly bring home first and set up even in a quarenteen type deal for the live rock until the main tank and sump are in condition.

Only problem is that I think I would prefer to change it over from the 90 gallon sump to the 77 gallon sump. The problem with the 90 gallon sump is there is only a couple inches clearance from top of sump tank to bottom of cabinet hence why they wanted to change to the 77 gallon sump.

So that being said I'm thinking I may as well change it over asap rather setting up the 90 gallon and fighting to change things later on.

As far as the eel is concerned I would like to save him if possible since I do like them. But that is not a biggy. At this time the owners of the tank now say that he lives in the sump since he keeps escaping to the sump via the overflow.

Also getting this full unit I would like to install it as a wall unit more or less, I'd use the existing stand since its made for the tank and just remove the wall which will take 10 minutes and set it there and modify a bulkhead from the ceiling afterwards. So that being said since I wouldnt want to move a tank this size twice it would be nice to have a temporary tank set up for a day or 2 or however.

Although having the help to move the tanks in the house I'd have lots of help to clear the wall and remove it in short order.

Sorry for being long winded and full of questions but I am willing to commit to this tank big time and also confident that I can make it work. Oh and also I should add I live rural and all tap water is untreated mountain water, so as far as I've researched I may only have problems with intodusing algae to my tanks.
I am also running a water source to the tank for refilling and possibly even eventually a direct auto fill system.

I have had freshwater systems in the past and know what I'm doing there, but this would be a step up and a challenge.

As far as retaining the existing water I could save all if that would be more beneficial but transport for it all would be tricky since it needs to be transported 50km. Any suggestions regarding doing so that wouldnt cost a mint?

Thanks for any help.

Collin