About to go Feet Wet-Have to questions

[joeyprice]

I'm finally putting the finishing touches on a 100g tank that has been sitting dry for 2 years. I have lighting, sump, return pump, power heads skimmer and heaters and 2 smaller media reactors I plan on running GFO and carbon in. I know I'll need an ATO, and I'm working on that and I'd really like to put a CA reactor on it rather than mess with dosing. So the question I have....

Should I wait until I have ALL the hardware squared away before I put water in it? Once its full and in place it is obviously not going to be easy to move, how hard is it to add a CA reactor or 2 part doser and an ATO without access to the back of the system?

Thanks,
Joe

 

[lmm1967]

you are more than likely months away from needing to dose or a CA reactor. I'd say the same about GFO - you need an ATO day 1.

I'd build it, fill it and get it up and running with what you have.

How hard it is to add equipment later depends a lot on your setup. Most of your equipment will need cleaning and maintenance so hopefully it's not too hard to work on.

 

[ZapataInc]

Welcome to ARC and to the hobby. Glad to have you.

I agree with @lmm1967 that you are months away from needing the reactors and CA reator or doser. But the ATO is paramount. The thing with an ATO is the size of the reservoir and where you want to place it. I personally haven't seen any ATOs that have to plumb into the main system, it's usually just a sensor and a small pump that goes directly into your return chamber of your sump.

Are you planning on the GFO because you don't have room for a refugium?

I finally added a doser to my 90 gal system after having it run for almost 8 months and that's with a good number of coral. I love it. If I ever go the CA reactor route I do have room to add it in as I built my own stand with growth in mind.

Also I want to add is have you test filled the tank to make sure there aren't any leaks? I only ask this because you said the tank was sitting around for 2 years. That's plenty of time for the silicone to degrade since it was dry for that time. Well I'm assuming that it was dry for the two years.

 

[joeyprice]

Yes, I've filled the tank, it doesn't leak. My sump plumbing was another issue entirely. I had several joints that I just plain forgot to glue up. Everything is water tight now. A lot of what I got came from a guy that was moving, which is why i have things like reactors long before I need them. The only reef I've kept in the past was back in the 90s, they were covered back then, so the evap was much slower. I'll put an ATO on the immediate to do list. Thanks for chiming in.

Joe

 

[ZapataInc]

Yes, I've filled the tank, it doesn't leak. My sump plumbing was another issue entirely. I had several joints that I just plain forgot to glue up. Everything is water tight now. A lot of what I got came from a guy that was moving, which is why i have things like reactors long before I need them. The only reef I've kept in the past was back in the 90s, they were covered back then, so the evap was much slower. I'll put an ATO on the immediate to do list. Thanks for chiming in.

Joe

Please add some pictures. We love pictures.

 

[joeyprice]

Its not much to look at right now, about to fill it with tap water and see if I can get the overflow to siphon and dial in the return pump while the RODI does its thing. The lights are not mounted yet either.

 

[joeyprice]

Here it is with the hose filling it up. Yes, my living room is orange, it looks better in person

 

[ZapataInc]

Here it is with the hose filling it up. Yes, my living room is orange, it looks better in person

Nice. It looks like you can have a refugium in that sump. So I would suggest looking into that rather than running GFO. But again that is a personal preference. I like to do things as natural as possible. But there are plenty of people who don't run a refugium that have awesome tanks.

 

[joeyprice]

Refugium were exotic experimental type things when I was last involved, not even sure how to set one up. Right now I'm just trying to get a steady water level in the stupid overflow. These gate valves are TOUCHY!

 

[ZapataInc]

Refugium were exotic experimental type things when I was last involved, not even sure how to set one up. Right now I'm just trying to get a steady water level in the stupid overflow. These gate valves are TOUCHY!

Lol. Yes they are.

 

[joeyprice]

So fuge....marinepure, chaeto, pods and a light in the center chamber?

 

[ZapataInc]

I would put the fuge in the first chamber...the center one for your skimmer.

 

[joeyprice]

I would put the fuge in the first chamber...the center one for your skimmer.

Should I use rock, or does the MarinePure really work? If so, should I get one giant block, or the little cubes? How many?

 

[ZapataInc]

Should I use rock, or does the MarinePure really work? If so, should I get one giant block, or the little cubes? How many?

That is just a personal preference again. I dont have any Marine pure in my sump. I just have some ruble rock. It does the same thing as the Marine pure just doesn't look as clean.

 

[Steve Burton]

I used Marinepure blocks in my 72 sump, they are pretty soft and tend to crumble to powder over time. I hear the balls are harder but haven't tried them. In my frag tank sump I used Brightwell xport blocks, they are much harder and have held up well. I also use mesh bags filled with Seachem matrix to fill some free space in all my sumps.