[Mattfish]

Our new setup was done by a great group of people in Milpitas, CA. They're sticklers on details, and FWIW, I though I'd pass on some of their recommendations as a guide, since I know that when I started (only 6 months ago, so I'm still a newbie), I went back and forth on all sorts of things.

Water changes - ours is a 130 with a maybe 50 gallon sump/fuge. We were told we should do 20 gallon water changes every week for the first 3 months, then, if we wanted to we could fall back to 20 gallons every other week, although weekly was still better.

Cleaner Crew - 36 hermit crabs, 36 turbo snails, 10 nassarius snails for the tank, replaced every 3 months, and 12 each of the hermits and turbo's for the fuge, nassarius optional for there, again, added back in every 3 months, to allow for die off.

They used very well cured rock - for our original tank we used uncured Fiji and thought we were doing great. When they emptied our old tank, we found some incredible worms, large crabs, etc. I learned a lesson that store-cured is much better - the unwanted hangers-on were causing (crabs) and would have caused (worms) severe problems as we kept going if we hadn't changed.

Temperature - 77 to 79 degrees - no higher. Now that there's a chiller in the system, we don't have to worry about it going over. During last summer, we had daytime spikes up to 85 degrees that undoubtedly hurt our corals.

Rock arrangement - originally, we put about 140 lbs. into a 125 g tank. This one probably has more like 70. The difference is a whole lot less places where nitrates build up. The sludge we saw when the tank was emptied was amazing - there were places we just couldn't get to for cleaning, making serious problems.

Sand bed - at least 3" deep. Our last tank was probably 2 1/2" but we didn't know to clean the sand better, plus with so much rock, we couldn't get to most of it.

Sorry Native - another book on the forum, but these were important lessons learned for us. I probably need to go back and revise my Zen List someday too....

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Mike,you have to know that we all apreciate your input either as crib notes or book form lol.And the book recomendation was a seriuos one.You are very well spoken and easy to understand.I cat wait for the next chapter.While there are some who mistakenly declare revision as inconsistancy I think it is agood thing and shows that you are still learning.

[Mattfish]

Hey,

I appreciate the comments - even at this late hour! I can't help the "book form" as you know, but I like the replies - I laugh at myself constantly - it's good to know I've got company!

As for the learning, I'd like to think I'll never stop learning. Plus I hate getting things wrong - I'll do it over and over again until I get it right, just cause it'll bug me until I do.

But thanks Native - I really do appreciate the back and forth - it makes this place fun, and keeps the seriousness out of it.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Mike,it might interest you to know that there are those among us who do not appreciate my humor,comments or me lol.However I am not disuaded from my path or my methods.I will continue to read the written word from all who are willing to write,and I will continue to pass along what I have learned in hopes that it may help others.

[Mattfish]

I get the same thing - as a guy in sales, I've had a few sales managers tell me to cut out the jokes and only be serious. In my opinion, those are people who either take themselves too seriously, or need to get a life.

Naturally, humour needs to be considerate, but if I can't laugh at myself, who's else is qualified?

Anyway, you manage to find the amusing side of life, and if people can't handle that, it's their problem. Life's too short - you look for the opportunity to have a little fun in your comments and I, for one, appreciate it.

[glampka]

You 2 guys want to go have some fun???

[Mattfish]

Ah, input the frozen north....... Good Morning!

[glampka]

Semi frozen!! We can still see grass out there. You're up early - all excited about the tank & taking a ton of pictures ?

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Why Gary,what did you have in mind?lol

[Mattfish]

Originally Posted by glampka

Semi frozen!! We can still see grass out there. You're up early - all excited about the tank & taking a ton of pictures ?

The grass you see may be left over from the 60's..... According to the weather report, you guys are probably under 6 feet of snow.... But no, up working on my website, due to the fact that the painkillers for my back keep me awake for reasons unexplained by medical science.....

Originally Posted by NATIVEVAMAN

Why Gary,what did you have in mind?lol

Now I know it's time to go to bed and leave you two to it.....

[glampka]

I was looking to go on a hunting expedition & find some poor soul who we could have some fun with. You know like the mated LR thread!!!

[Mattfish]

Yeah, I saw that one. BTW, I have a customer in Des Moines who wanted to take me deer hunting and had an antler cap for me... did I already mention that?

[stephaniesquires]

Originally Posted by glampka

I was looking to go on a hunting expedition & find some poor soul who we could have some fun with. You know like the mated LR thread!!!

I could post something about my sandbed producing bubbles if you guys want to run with it!!!

[stephaniesquires]

Originally Posted by NATIVEVAMAN

Mike,you have to know that we all apreciate your input either as crib notes or book form lol.And the book recomendation was a seriuos one.You are very well spoken and easy to understand.I cat wait for the next chapter.While there are some who mistakenly declare revision as inconsistancy I think it is agood thing and shows that you are still learning.

Ditto - as one who is still at the beginning of this adventure, I too appreciate hearing about your experience...

[Mattfish]

Originally Posted by stephaniesquires

I could post something about my sandbed producing bubbles if you guys want to run with it!!!

Steph, I think I can speak for a lot of us when I say that Gary would appreciate it. Most of us would too, but Gary lives in a place so cold, they get 3 days of sunshine a year, and don't come out of their ice caves much....

[stacef]

Originally Posted by Mattfish

Yeah, I saw that one. BTW, I have a customer in Des Moines who wanted to take me deer hunting and had an antler cap for me... did I already mention that?

Hey Mattfish,
I would definately take your customer up on the Des Moines hunting...There are some very large white tail bucks here! I am actually working on getting my dad an out of state license to come here for next year! If you are a hunter, These are some of the largest I have seen, and I grew up with a hunting family. I hope you take him up on the offer!

[Mattfish]

The customer, who is an avid hunter and a really nice guy (the deer in his area come right onto his backyard, and are almost a nuisance, they're so plentiful), was actually making fun of me as a city boy , with the antler cap joke. If you think about it, going hunting for deer with an antler cap on is a great way to get an early retirement.....

Being a New Yorker, gone to California when I was 18, I've never had much opportunity to hunt, and am always interested in his stories, but this one was a test on me to see if I was paying attention....

Anyway, he's mentioned it's a great year for hunting, and he's constantly at or near the limit, so he doesn't even have much more room to store the meat.

[stacef]

Oh gosh, I understand not having room for the meat! We have two floor freezers FULL plus our regular freezer...You should go out there with him, and just watch, you don't have to shoot one, it's really a great experience to have at least once. By the way, Don't wear the antler cap! :P hahah. Definately an early retirement, that you will not be collecting on.

[Mattfish]

I was hoping to get the chance to go out and watch, but the trip got postponed due to priorities. But I'm sure I'll be out there in January. Everyone's so nice out there it almost makes me nervous!

But I won't be wearing the antler cap. Kinda like looking for jackalopes.....

[glampka]

Originally Posted by Mattfish

but Gary lives in a place so cold, they get 3 days of sunshine a year, and don't come out of their ice caves much....

Say what???? We get at least 5 days of sunshine!

So what kind of deer were you going after - 2 legged or 4 legged??

[Mattfish]

Yeah, but at least 2 of those 5 days are still sub-zero.....

And the two-legged kind are dears, where the 4-legged ones are deers.... I've never bagged a 4-legged one, but then my my wife has warned me about the whole deer/dear subject anyway....

That's what a NYC Public School education taught me....

[Jeremy0322]

I guess this is a question and a statement then. I am not a huge fan of having a ton of Live Rock in a tank because it seems to me like it takes away from alot of the space in the tank. I am more than likely going to be getting a Reef Ready 65 and was thinking about doing 50lbs of Live Rock in the display and then just having some awesome flow through the rock to get the water moving. Would that be enough or should i get another 25lbs...

[stephaniesquires]

Originally Posted by Jeremy0322

I guess this is a question and a statement then. I am not a huge fan of having a ton of Live Rock in a tank because it seems to me like it takes away from alot of the space in the tank. I am more than likely going to be getting a Reef Ready 65 and was thinking about doing 50lbs of Live Rock in the display and then just having some awesome flow through the rock to get the water moving. Would that be enough or should i get another 25lbs...

The best part about setting up a tank is that you get to build it...* try it with the 50 and if you want more, add more

[Mattfish]

When we got our first tank in May, I assumed that it was at least a 1 for 1 - i.e., for a 125g tank, at least 125 lbs of rock were needed. I also thought I wanted to cure it myself.

Since then, I learned two things:

• less rock is much better in my opinion - this leaves a better designed region for corals, etc, and it leaves more space for fish to roam, therefore, potentially more fish as well. Also, less places that didn't get flow, and therefore were collection points for nitrates and crap. Some hiding space for fish is good, of course, but in our case, we had a whole lot of space we couldn't see into where fish and stuff were totally out of sight, and it faced the back wall of the tank.
• Curing the rock myself was an incomplete process - when we dismantled the first tank, we found amazingly large worms, in addition to the large crabs we had which killed fish and other life. In my opinion, hitchhikers are often bad, rather than good. Id' rather have hitchhiker-free cured live rock and add the life forms in by choice, than end up with some of what we had. Those worms in particular would have caused continued problems for us.

My typical long-winded answer, but better to start with less, but well-aquascaped rock - you can always add more later. But we started with too much and were constantly taking rock out - a waste of money, and some guilt, plus, we never got to an aquascape we liked.

Go to the lfs, pick out some particularly nice pieces with good shapes, even if they charge a little more, and you'll be much happier with what you design. And

[Mattfish]

When we got our first tank in May, I assumed that it was at least a 1 for 1 - i.e., for a 125g tank, at least 125 lbs of rock were needed. I also thought I wanted to cure it myself.

Since then, I learned two things:

• less rock is much better in my opinion - this leaves a better designed region for corals, etc, and it leaves more space for fish to roam, therefore, potentially more fish as well. Also, less places that didn't get flow, and therefore were collection points for nitrates and crap. Some hiding space for fish is good, of course, but in our case, we had a whole lot of space we couldn't see into where fish and stuff were totally out of sight, and it faced the back wall of the tank.
• Curing the rock myself was an incomplete process - when we dismantled the first tank, we found amazingly large worms, in addition to the large crabs we had which killed fish and other life. In my opinion, hitchhikers are often bad, rather than good. Id' rather have hitchhiker-free cured live rock and add the life forms in by choice, than end up with some of what we had. Those worms in particular would have caused continued problems for us.

My typical long-winded answer, but better to start with less, but well-aquascaped rock - you can always add more later. But we started with too much and were constantly taking rock out - a waste of money, and some guilt, plus, we never got to an aquascape we liked.

Go to the lfs, pick out some particularly nice pieces with good shapes, even if they charge a little more, and you'll be much happier with what you design. And remember to leave space so that you can get a mag-float in between the rock and the edge of the tank - we learned how to grow really stubborn algae before learning that....