Isolation Tank?

[Tie]

Hi... Brand new to the Reef community. I'm jazzed to find a community of experienced supportive Reefers! Always been a HUGE fan but never took the plunge till now. I've read the Saltwater Aquriam for Dummies, Setting up a Saltwater Aquarium, and I'm 3/4 through a verry imformative and awesome book called Natural Reef Aquariums.

All this reading and planning has lead me to purchased a 72 Gal. Bowfront All-Glass tank w/built in overflow, a wet dry bio-ball filter with built in proteen scimmer, a Coralife dual light system. I am looking to set up an Indo-pacific reef tank. I know this is a huge commitment and can't wait to get started. I want to do it all right so I'm trying to map it all out before I poor a drop of water in the tank.

Couple of questions ....

First I know I need an Isolation tank. I've read and been told by the dealer it's a must for a Reef tank owner. I've read that a 10Gal is sufficient but the dealer recoomended a 20. What size do most of you guys use? And what equipment do you run? I would rather keep it simple but I don't want to cut corners and end up getting bit in the long run.

Another thing. My dealer said he reccomended leaving any new fish in the isolation tank for a month and said he would treat them all with a copper solution just to make sure they don't bring something like ick into your Reef tank. It sounds a little extreem too me? I've read to leave them in for a couple of week and if they are doing well then you're good to go. Never heard of treating all your fish with copper before introducing them into your Reef?

Any suggestions or ideas? Love to hear from you guys!

[Reefland]

Hi Tie, Welcome to Reefland!

Glad to hear you have been doing some reading before you take the plunge; research is the key to success in this hobby. For some additional recommended reading, take a look at our bookstore:
http://www.reefland.com/bookstore.php?s=

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist : A Commonsense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists

Book of Coral Propagation, Volume 1: Reef Gardening for Aquarists
Aquarium Corals : Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History


Those are my personal favorites.

For a couple of quick comments; you should read more about the use of wet/dry filters, more importantly the use of bio-balls or any bio-media in them. A search on this site for bio-balls should bring up lots of good discussion. The short of it is they trap waste, which leads to nitrates. The only solution for this is the constantly clean them which in turns, kills most of the bacteria population living in them which makes them useless.

In regards to a Quaratine Tank; they are a very good idea. A 10 gallon tank set-up very basically is fine. Leaving any new fish in it for a month is a good idea but I wouldn't constantly medicate it, only if needed.

Kind Regards,
Scott Z.

[Tie]

Wow! Sounds like Bioballs are bad idea. I see pple have a lot of problems with them. I'm not sure.. do I even need this wet/dry filter? Should I just remove the bioballs and use live rock in the media bin that the bioballs are currently in instead? Or should a take this thing back and get something else? I cannister filter perhaps? or something like this? ---> http://www.aquariumwaterfilters.com/RODI/Mako.html

I plan on putting plenty of live rock in the tank itself. I'm thinking around 80lbs to start? Does that sound good? I want to build it up. I like the tanks with lots of live rock spanning most of the tanks background. Thay just creat such a natural look.

Also, from reading it sounds like I may need more circulation?

Another thing, I saw someone suggest not using crushed correl and use sand instead. I have 2 large bags of the correl but if sand is better then I'll go exchange it. Petco sells live sand that comes in sealed bags full of sea water and sand. It's expensive but would a mix of dry and this wet sand be a good idea? Or just all wet? How much sand would you use for a 72gal tank?

Thanks, in advance! I wish my dealer was as up on stuff as you guys!

[Poseidon]

Skip the "live Sand" in a bag, not much alive in there!!.. Get the sand and there is debate on this, but I would get enough to leave a 3" deep layer of sand on the bottom. Make sure to get Aragonite based. Carrib Sea is one source, and depending where you are, you might be able to get "white play sand from the Carribean...." at a Home Depot... MUCH cheaper.

The link you provided goes to an RO/DI filter that you would use to "make" freshwater ready before adding the salt mix. That is NOT a filter you can use for your tank. Personally I use a big ol protein skimmer and some Macro algaes for nutrient Export. (So idon't have the film algae's in my tank) And of course LOTS of LIve rock.

Ninong got some Beautiful rock from www.palmettoreefs.com and you can also get great reef critters from www.reeftopia.com and most of your supplies can come from www.premiumaquatics.com I have used Reeftopia and Premium alot myself and there prices are FANTASTIC, and Ninong experience with Palmetto sounds excellent. So that should get you started and save you a LOT of cash over buying your supplies from a LFS (local Fish Store) that sounds like he might not even have a clue himself on how to set up a successful reef tank.

[Valclore]

If your going to get into this hobby it would be a very good idea to get a RO/DI unit for your water supply to filter out all the bad stuff clorine, metals, etc, etc... and a 30-35gal water storage container for instant access to mix saltwater or top-off your tank. I'm sure you read that you don't want to use regular tap water it will lead to a major "bad" alge problem.. I would stay with the wet/dry filter and loose the bio-balls they do have a tendency to add nitrates to the system. And you can put your heaters, chiller, probes and all your odds and ends into them. I myself use a 44gal rubbermaid on mine and it works great! The protein skimmer, Buy the best one you can afford that is overrated for your size tank e.g. tank size 75gal look for 150gal+.. I found it's better to choke it back if you need to than having to go buy another one!!!

Here's a look at the new refugium.. "Made it out of our old sump"

[Reefland]

Tie,

Wow! Sounds like Bioballs are bad idea. I see pple have a lot of problems with them. I'm not sure.. do I even need this wet/dry filter? Should I just remove the bioballs and use live rock in the media bin that the bioballs are currently in instead? Or should a take this thing back and get something else? I cannister filter perhaps? or something like this? ---> http://www.aquariumwaterfilters.com/RODI/Mako.html

The bio-balls are a bad idea. This leaves you with a couple of options though. First you could remove the bio-balls from the unit and just use the wet dry filter as a sump; only down side here is you probbaly paid pretty good money for this wet/dry filter.
Option two is to return the wet/dry and just pick up a standard size aquarium (20 gallon is what I use) to use as a sump which can hold your protein skimmer (a must have IMO) and your heater(s) and return pump(s).

As mentioned, the link you posted is to a RO/DI unit which is used to purify tap water for aquarium use. They remove all of the impurities from your tap water which can lead to unwated algae and other problems with long term usage. The 5 stage unit that you linked to is very nice, but the 4 stage unit is a bit cheaper and is what most reefkeepers use:
http://www.aquariumwaterfilters.com/RODI/Barracuda.html

I plan on putting plenty of live rock in the tank itself. I'm thinking around 80lbs to start? Does that sound good? I want to build it up. I like the tanks with lots of live rock spanning most of the tanks background. Thay just creat such a natural look.

The amount of liverock you use is a personal preference, mostly. The more rock the better so going with 1 to 1.5lbs per gallon of water depending on where the rock was collected from is a good reference.

Also, from reading it sounds like I may need more circulation?

The amount is pretty dependant on they type of coral you plan to keep. Right off the bat you should look at trying to move around 1000 gallons per hour with a mix of your return pump and some powerheads in the tank. If you plan to keep SPS corals then you will probably want to look at moving that up to 1500 - 2000 gallons per hour. When you look at this, be creative and think in terms of volume and not velocity.

Another thing, I saw someone suggest not using crushed correl and use sand instead. I have 2 large bags of the correl but if sand is better then I'll go exchange it. Petco sells live sand that comes in sealed bags full of sea water and sand. It's expensive but would a mix of dry and this wet sand be a good idea? Or just all wet? How much sand would you use for a 72gal tank?

Thanks, in advance! I wish my dealer was as up on stuff as you guys!

Crushed coral substrate has a tendancy to trap detritus therefore it should be syphoned through often. Deep Live Sand Beds are an alternative that actually "process" detritus so long as the proper infauna has been added. Nothing your going to find at Petco is going to work here; really think that stuff in a bag for who know's how long is really "live"?

Regards,
Scott Z.

[Tie]

So... Lot's of LiveRock. Sand not live sand. Use RO\DI water. For now I'll just go to wallmart and get it out of the dispenser. The cool 4 step or 5 step will have to wait.

As for my wet/dry I guess I'll turn it into a sump? Will this be big enough? I could take it back as suggested but I'm thinking by the time I get all the other stuff to make the sump I'll end up spending the same? It was like $320.00 but it has a built in Skimmer. Here is a pick of it.




Like I said I don't mind keeping it if it's going to end up costing me near the same money. But really the main thing I'm conserned with is setting this thing up "right". I guess my question is what do I keep in here and what do I take out? Do I need to modify anything else? What about the blue filters? They stay or go? Or should I keep this thing set up the exact same way but just use live rock in place of where the bio balls go?

Here is a pic of the tank and all the stuff I have for what it worth. I'm really open to suggestions from you guys. I see your tanks, I read your results and I tell you if someone has a better idea and wants to tell me exactly how they would set this thing up I'm totaly open. I'm not rich but I have been saving for a long time and I have some money saved up to do this right.

[Valclore]

IMO Return the wet/dry and get you a large size rubbermaid to go under the stand. Use the extra money to get a GOOD protien skimmer w/pump to put in the rubbermaid and a return-pump that is a little larger than your tank overflow is rated for so you can run any extras you might want to add later. You can always use a ball valve to throttle it back a little. The substrate, go with a smaller grain size. I tried to use the same stuff you have and it created a few problems with alge, nitrates and such. But, if you go to small "oolittic" the return could blow sand all over so be careful...