# New 90 Gal Saltwater tank..Advice?



## MsRobin (Jun 1, 2013)

I just put together my 90 gallon tank i have a FLUVAL fx5 filtration system for it its been running for about a week now ive kept a pretty close eye on my levels and everything seems like it right where it needs to be my waters crystal clear the only thing i have in it so far is sand and i mixed in some crushed coral.can anyone give me some advice on what the best thing for me to start out with putting in it, ive done a lot of research but im still not 100% sure :/
( i dont know if this matters and might sound stupid)
( but its an upright tank,)
(not a cube. its deep tho)

any help it would be appreciated 
Thanks :-D


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## shireelf (Aug 19, 2012)

I've just started with salt water too. Are you planning to do a reef or fish only tank?


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## wake49 (Jul 2, 2008)

I personally would ditch the canister. They are detritus traps that turn into nitrate factories if they are not cleaned at a minimum of weekly. The design of a canister filter is to turn nitrites into nitrates, and this is detrimental to Alkalinity and Calcium, and you will be fighting this for the life of the aquarium.

Are you planning on doing coral, or is this a fish only?

Welcome to the forum!


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## MsRobin (Jun 1, 2013)

It's going to be both we've put about five pounds of live rock in the tank to start out with and two striped cardinal fish to start the process, purple alge from the Rock has already started to grow a little into the sand and the fish haven't seemed to be changed by that.. But I've been checking all the levels and nothings really changed from when we started.. Thanks for the advice of the canister ill definitely clean it at least once a week or more. If there's anything else I should know.. Let me know thanks 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## MsRobin (Jun 1, 2013)

We're gonna do both.. The guy at the store said we have to figure out what fish are reef friendly so we've been researching that I really want a few bigger fish in the tank but I'm sure that they'll eat the smaller ones so that seems out of the question ..
What about you ? Reef or just fish? 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## shireelf (Aug 19, 2012)

I'm doing a reef. I've got 25lbs of rock in my 75gallon tank right now with a fiji blue devil damsel and two blue chromis. I've got a canister filter right now with too, we got it under the advise of a friend who also does salt water. I've been watching my levels and so far they have been fine with me cleaning it once a month and doing water changes weekly. I've got an algea bloom right now so that is killing my calcium levels. At this point the algea bloom is normal so I'm just waiting it out. Good luck and keep us updated.


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

Feel free to ask questions as they come up as I am sure there will be alot of them.What is the lighting over the tank you currently have and do you run a good skimmer.These two things can really determine the types of corals you can support.


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## wake49 (Jul 2, 2008)

MsRobin said:


> It's going to be both we've put about five pounds of live rock in the tank to start out with and two striped cardinal fish to start the process, purple alge from the Rock has already started to grow a little into the sand and the fish haven't seemed to be changed by that.. But I've been checking all the levels and nothings really changed from when we started.. Thanks for the advice of the canister ill definitely clean it at least once a week or more. If there's anything else I should know.. Let me know thanks
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I would put at least ninety pounds of live rock in the tank. Your biggest forms of filtration in a marine tank are: Live Rock, Live Sand and a Protein Skimmer. Aerobic (oxygen feeding) bacteria present in the Live Rock convert Nitrites to Nitrates and anaerobic (low-oxygen feeding) bacteria present deeper in the Live Rock convert Nitrates to Nitrogen Gas (which leaves the system naturally).

Since you have a mix of crushed coral and regular sand, I will not get into Deep Sand Beds and their benefit in home aquaria. I do not reccommend you converting what you have into a Deep Sand Bed, because the crushed coral will be detrimental to the function of the sand bed. If you want to read up on Sand Beds and their denitrifying abilities, here is an article: Ron Shimek - Deep Sand Beds

Badx is right, you need a good light and a good skimmer to keep coral. You also need to make sure that Calcium and Alkalinity levels stay within their respective "safe zones": Calcium needs to be 400-450 ppm and Alkalinity needs to be 8-12 dKH. Because Nitrates have a direct effect on the reduction of Alkalinity in a home aquarium, you need to make sure you have a good skimmer since you do not have the benefit of a denitrifying sand bed. 

I personally run a 4" Deep Sand Bed, 25 lbs of Live Rock and a Prizm Skimmer (I am not as worried about the skimmer since I rely on my sand bed to do all the work of denitrification) in my 20 gallon. I use a 30w LED light (that can be a little "spotlighty"), a 100w heater and two 240gph powerheads. I just started stocking this tank, have crabs and snails in it now and am putting two clowns and a goby in this weekend. I like to run a tank empty for a month before adding fish, as to make sure that my Alkalinity and Calcium levels stay consistent and my dosing schedule becomes regular. I know that adding fish will change the dosing schedule, but I don't run the protein skimmer until a few weeks after I add fish so that it has something to skim.


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