Catch and release Caribbean tank

[ReefCatcher]

UPDATE. I became temporarily overwhelmed with all the decisions i had to make on equipment. I have to order everything to be shipped by boat, so it takes weeks to arrive. I have no water yet. Here is what has been added or changed

• decided to take 140 gallons of water right from the sea on the same day i scoop up ALL my sand, live rock and live fragments. (this day will be very intense, but I have the pump/buckets/tank/truck ready). I have a site for white sand selected and another site for 1" coral fragments and broken seashells.
• The freshly defined goal of the tank is softies, urchins, brittle stars, upside down jelly, feather dusters, anenomies, and a wide range of green and brown plants found near sandy bottom sites with mixed hard pan and eel grass
• 2 800 gph submersible wave maker pumps
• ASM G-2 protein skimmer with sedra 3500 pump
• 29 gallon refugium
• Mag 12 return pump (not ordered, but almost)
• pile of dried coral fragments in the yard just waiting for go-time
  
• IM STILL STUMPED on my choice of a light

Im very grateful for the feedback ive had. It has helped me navigate some of the choices i had to make. The last time I did this we used undergravel filters with power heads and florescent lights

 

[Bronc]

Welcome aboard!! I've always dreamed of moving down there and having a catch & release tank plumbed into the ocean.

 

[BoneXriffic]

UPDATE. I became temporarily overwhelmed with all the decisions i had to make on equipment. I have to order everything to be shipped by boat, so it takes weeks to arrive. I have no water yet. Here is what has been added or changed

• decided to take 140 gallons of water right from the sea on the same day i scoop up ALL my sand, live rock and live fragments. (this day will be very intense, but I have the pump/buckets/tank/truck ready). I have a site for white sand selected and another site for 1" coral fragments and broken seashells.
• The freshly defined goal of the tank is softies, urchins, brittle stars, upside down jelly, feather dusters, anenomies, and a wide range of green and brown plants found near sandy bottom sites with mixed hard pan and eel grass
• 2 800 gph submersible wave maker pumps
• ASM G-2 protein skimmer with sedra 3500 pump
• 29 gallon refugium
• Mag 12 return pump (not ordered, but almost)
• pile of dried coral fragments in the yard just waiting for go-time
  
• IM STILL STUMPED on my choice of a light

Im very grateful for the feedback ive had. It has helped me navigate some of the choices i had to make. The last time I did this we used undergravel filters with power heads and florescent lights

Welcome! On the lighting i admit i am not a led guy, however goven the choice betweern a marine land led and t5, t5 all day. It will grow anything you can find. Where as I am skeptical about marine land leds

 

[ReefCatcher]

It's nothing special. The skimmer is off because I'm getting ready to clean it.

thanks again for your response and for your list of equipment that you use. I am going with the refugium and skimmer, as you suggested. I just posted an update on equipment and other choices that are made or pending

 

[ReefCatcher]

Welcome! I'd make sure the hitchhiker critters on the rocks don't eat coral before you add any. Good luck and great idea!

I think im just going to have to get comfortable with a high level of uncertainty. We have no pet stores. Im going to start off with rock and hitchhikers before adding any corals....probably just softies and inverts for starters. I think unwanted guests and explosions of pesty plants/algae are going to just be a part of my life

 

[ReefCatcher]

Welcome! On the lighting i admit i am not a led guy, however goven the choice betweern a marine land led and t5, t5 all day. It will grow anything you can find. Where as I am skeptical about marine land leds

Im looking at a hydra 52 right now. I was suffering from sticker shock on some of the T5 lights, but i just found the Corallife AqualightT5 that might be what I need.
All my coral will be collected and many of the hard corals here are federally endangered here. I am a terrestrial ecologist and will probably stear clear of federal permits and/or sneaking it. Im still not sure if i should go with a used Hydra 52 or the 48" Corallife T5

 

[Sahye]

Welcome to the hobby.
Myself i have this type of aquarium, which does not only have advantage.
1. Ich will be a constant bother so wait for yr tank to cycle for at least 1 month so ich life cycle end.
2. Get a uv sterilizer so that if u tank water from sea u can kill off any pest in it.
3. ALWAYS quarantine yr fish that u get from wild else get fish which are pretty resistant.
4. Try to imagine a way to maintain a stable water temperature in summer.
Hi from Mauritius.

 

[ReefCatcher]

Hi sayhe. Thanks for the input. If you dont mind, I will send you questions once in a while. Right now i dont have any plans for fish for a while, as im going to start on the inverts for a while

Did you use sea water or instant ocean?
What type of light do you use?
did you put your live rock and frag.s in at the same time as the water?
what type of UV filter are you using?

 

[Sahye]

Hi sayhe. Thanks for the input. If you dont mind, I will send you questions once in a while. Right now i dont have any plans for fish for a while, as im going to start on the inverts for a while

Did you use sea water or instant ocean?
What type of light do you use?
did you put your live rock and frag.s in at the same time as the water?
what type of UV filter are you using?

for first i used sea water to seed the tank then i switched to salt to prevent any pest to get into the tank, waited some 3-4 weeks before adding anything in it.
On the first day i filled the tank with sand and water and then waited for the water to get crystal clear then i added some live rock in the tank.
Am using a pretty cheap uv light of china

 

[meir]

for first i used sea water to seed the tank then i switched to salt to prevent any pest to get into the tank, waited some 3-4 weeks before adding anything in it.
On the first day i filled the tank with sand and water and then waited for the water to get crystal clear then i added some live rock in the tank.
Am using a pretty cheap uv light of china

Pictures??!!