My First Saltwater Tank

ohh, and don't forget to ask one of us to come help you set up the tank if you are worried about not getting the overflow to work right ..... Or, even better, visit a few people's tanks who do have overflows, ask them questions, and ask them to simulate a power outage, then you will be able to see first hand what we are talking about with self-starting drains, etc.

It seems you are patient. If you want you can have your local fish store custom order a 90 with drains placed wherever you want. I ordered my 120 with 2- 1" drains 4" down from the top and 14" from the sides. Im going to put screens on the openings and call it a day. My water returning from the sump will come over the top of the rim of the display tank and into the tank. The water leaving the tank will go down the drains into the sump. All I need to do is make sure i have enough space in the sump for the water to drain down into if the pump stops. My drains flow 800+ gph I believe. I will be feeding the water back in @ 700gph. Even if 1 drain gets blocked Im covered.

Thanks guys, lots of stuff to consider

Pat you said that sand sifting Gobies would mess up a dsb. Does that mean that I couldn't get hermit crabs if I went with a dsb since they sift the sand?

If you are doing dsb for nitrate reduction, you want to put it in the sump where nothing can disturb it. Im doing a 5" dsb in my 120g for my jawfish and shrimp gobies to play in. I think it really depends on what you want to get out of the sandbed. I'll let Pat answer here, but I dont think hermits dig alot.

Like Eddie said hermits don't dig holes, just scrape the surface.

I however am no dsb expert, it's just one of the many options to consider. There area some here that swear by them, while others swear at them.

If I ever do one it will be remote and not in a display tank.

The info I have gathered on dsb's is mixed. Some say 3" of fine sand is plenty for nitrate removal others say 6" minimum. Some say leave the sand bed in a sump with no creatures touching it, and others say place nassarius snails, conchs, and other diggers in there to keep it stirred. I have considered all that I have read and plan on having a 5" with my jawfish and gobies in the DT, and a 4" in my fuge with nassarius, dwarf planaxis, and fighting conchs. I will be able to tell you how I make out after it is up and running for a year. This is about all you can do with alot of things in this hobby. There are so many opinions. When I decided to try to grow mangroves there was not alot of info about them. I bought 100 and I placed them in different spots to see how they grow best. It's trial and error. One thing I can tell you, is that I know the mangroves do filter the water. The ones in my turtle's filter are growing much faster, and I have to clean the turtles tank and filter less often. So now when I read an article and it says mangroves arent good at filtration and arent worth it, I stop reading and throw out any other info provided by that person on mangroves. I know they filter. I dont know how much, but they do work. This is how it will be with much of the process of building our reef tanks. You go along and say, "I know that isnt true, this guy is full of crap!"
I wont listen to someone who has had all of their jawfish die in 3 months. If you have fat happy jawfish that have been in your system for a year, Im all ears! Teach me please.
Look at the tanks of people who keep dsb's and ask what their nitrates are, and ask what other filtration they use. I did my research in this manner and this is why I am placing the snails in my sump in my dsb. That said, my opinion doesnt matter much on the subject, because I havent actually done a dsb with snails yet. As far as Im concerned im a reefkeeping greenhorn, with big plans and a head full of enough info to be dangerous.

We should all research things before we do them.

Research
Make an equipment and a stocking list.
Research
Build a relationship with your fellow reefers.
Research
Ask questions at your LFS, if they offer to sell you something to fix every problem you may need to move on to another LFS.
Research

I think you see where I'm going with this.

My tank plan isnt on the same planet as it was when I started. The more you research the more you see possible flaws in your plan. Also the more you learn the more you can modify your plan for the better. I never thought of growing Montipora on a magnet attached to my tank wall, until I saw estanoche do it. I didnt know I could even keep montipora with lps and softies until I saw her tank. In this case my plan got better, and the info I learned added to my stocking list, instead of taking away from it. I am enjoying this stage of the process. Have fun. Write down all of the fish and inverts you would want to keep and look at it. Doing that has directed me towards which questions I needed to ask.

Hmm well I will definitely have to continue researching the DSB. After reading all these comments, its good I like researching about aquariums or I would really be screwed

So do you guys add nutrients or vitamins in the water on a regular basis? If you do, what are they for and are they suggested for me?

Also when I get my tank, and it has successfully cycled, I think I am going to start with basic inverts like hermit crabs and snails. While the tank is cycling should I put them in my quarantine tank? How many should I get for a 90 gal and what species are recommended? Are there any other easy to keep inverts like them I should have to start?
Thanks!

Reefcleaners.org I spend alot of time on their website. Ton of info there. Enjoy. They are one of our sponsors.

They have info on their opinion of dsb and on which snails to keep and which snails not to keep. As well as macro algae for fuges, infact that and melevs reef should give you everything you need to know about fuges. Melevs will tell you how to set one up and reefcleaners will tell you what to put in it.

Thanks a lot Variko!

Cool stuff there isnt it?

Yea lots of great info!

So do you guys add nutrients or vitamins in the water on a regular basis? If you do, what are they for and are they suggested for me?

Most of the stuff you need is in the salt mix. This get replenished during water changes. People with stony corals check and add calcium as needed. I dont believe anything else is needed.

Originally Posted by kimon201

So do you guys add nutrients or vitamins in the water on a regular basis? If you do, what are they for and are they suggested for me?

Other then foods for fish ect... no

Originally Posted by kimon201

Also when I get my tank, and it has successfully cycled, I think I am going to start with basic inverts like hermit crabs and snails. While the tank is cycling should I put them in my quarantine tank? How many should I get for a 90 gal and what species are recommended? Are there any other easy to keep inverts like them I should have to start?
Thanks!

Sure, you can QT the clean up crew. Most people dont but its best to QT anything wet. As for what should be part of your clean up crew, if you do hermits then only get the small blue legged hermits. There are a bunch of different kind of snails you can get. Most get turbo or margaritas and if they have sand something like nassarius snails

Ok great thanks! How many snails/ hermit crabs should I keep if we do get the 90 gallon?

Originally Posted by kimon201

Ok great thanks! How many snails/ hermit crabs should I keep if we do get the 90 gallon?

as many as will survive - I've found mine slowly die of over the years, I usually find myself buying 30-50 snails every couple of years.

I prefer to go with the smaller snails too (nerite, nassarius, cerith), and no crabs. Crabs like to eat things, and may pick at a coral that just needs some TLC, but isnt dead yet, and the bigger snails poop more - which means more algae, so to control my algae levels I like the smaller less poop-ie kinds