Kinda new, Kinda not

[Brian110]

So I got in to saltwater tanks november 04. I kinda fell into it. My sister's boyfriend was selling his setup for $200! 110 gal, Iron stand, overflow, 2in. crushed coral bed, wet-dry sump, 2 ft. T-5's and about 10lb of rock. he also had a bubble wand on it, going the entire leingth of the tank. there were chemicals he told me had to be dosed all the time and the fish stock... a tomato clown (now gone) a bi color angel, a domino damsel also gone. Both those fish were killed by a niger trigger who snapped and went on a crazy frenzy when he started getting teeth. he also ate a blood shrimp and an emerald crab. So basically after a little over a year of undoing all of his bad, and I mean BAD advise, I've begun to realize why he sold me the tank. He had no clue as to what he was doing. Not that I do, but he told me the tank was reef ready! It didn't even have 1 power head in it. I've been doing what I can to get the tank to reef capable standards, and have a few things on my list to buy.

1) RO/DI filter... he told me tap water was fine... right.
2) a deeper sand bed... Once those bio balls are out I need to re think the de-nitrification.
3) bigger sump/fuge... it only has a 10 gal!!!!! barely fits the wet/dry, skimmer and return pump.
4) more flow... I have now about 800 gal/hr. of powerheads. plus return pump (500/hr - head loss).
5) more rock... Currently I have 50-60 lbs and am talking to LFS about getting some base dead rock. I'm gonna cook it and cement it to a nice rock setup, try and make it open and well flowing.

What to do first????
I have a very limited budget,(single dad, bankrupt, dead beat mom not paying support, long story.)
I'm looking at the ro/di as the first one. but the sump is a close second. I can do that cheeper. My nitrate levels kinda peak at 40ppm or so and drop after I do a water change, (once a month 20 gal). I have a host of things to do. the biggest thing is that I do have some fish,(bi color, 2 dominos, 2yellowtail damsels) 20 or so snails, and 15 hermet crabs.
kind stumped. any Ideas where to start? I know what I want to do but just kinda looking for a push in the direction to start with.

Thanks, I think this is a great little community that is more about growing the hobby and education than the other site I was with before. I'm looking forward to being a part of it!

[CarmieJo]

Hi Brian110 and :welcome: to TR.

It sounds like you have the potential for a beautiful tank on your hands and that you are headed in the right direction. I would definitely advise you to go the base rock way. Since you already have some LR the base rock will become live in a short time. I can recommend Marco Rocks a TR sponsor. I just got a sample piece of their signature Fiji rock and a box of rubble stone from him that included some really nice size chunks. The rock is light and very porous.

Since your bio-load is light I would start removing the bio-balls a little at a time from the wet/dry even before you add any rock or sand. Give your tank time to catch up after each removal. Given your bio-load I think that a bigger sump, while desirable, is not critical. I run a converted wet/dry as my sump and I have caulerpa in the compartment that would have held bio-balls. If you could do something like this the macroalgae would help reduce your nitrates. BTW, denitrification takes place in both the sandbed and in your LR.

Having your own unit is convenient and the quality is entirely under your control but you could buy RO / DI water at the LFS or RO water at grocery stores or Wal-Mart.

You are at about them minimum for flow and an additional powerhead or 2 would be good. I'm running about 900 gph in my tank and am going to be changing the powerheads in my DT for a couple of the new Tunze Nanostreams.

[Brian110]

I was thinking of trying the maxijet mod I saw on Reefvideos.com, Cheep and easy. I'm big on the DIY stuff, if I can get away with it. I have too much directional flow and am looking for bigger exausts for one of my powerheads. I'll look into the base rock from that site. thanks for the heads up.

L8R

[gwen_o_lyn]

Welcome to TR :)

I would take out the bubble wand if you haven't done so already. I can't explain the "why" but they aren't good in saltwater tanks.

I agree with Carmie in that you should start taking out the bioballs.

Consider taking out the crushed coral and replacing with sugar sized sand. This will help with nitrates since crushed coral has a smaller surface area and traps detritus.

If your tank is only fish, then I'd say hook up the sump. Before you make the final decision, you will want to know the TDS of your tap water. Mine is low so I *could* getaway with tap water in a FOWLR setup, but if you have high TDS, then that would move the RODI up in higher priority. If you don't have anything to test your TDS, possibly check with the local reef club. Reef clubs are great for getting free frags too! Definitely a way to say money in the long run and meet great people.

What age is your child? Is he/she excited about the tank projects?