New reef tank

Hello all, my wife and I just purchased a used 58 gallon saltwater setup from Aquatic Environments.  A little background on my wife and myself, we used to have a 30 gal freshwater with cichlids until I got deployed to Iraq.  We had always wanted to do a reef tank, and we have the ability to now.  From what I can tell the tank is an Oceanic Ultimate 58 gallon, with a Pro Clear Pro Wet/Dry 75 sump w/ built in skimmer and a Rio 1700 return pump.  There are 2 power heads installed: 1 is an Aqueon 950 and the other appears to be a Hydor Koralia 1400 perhaps (no markings on it).  The heater that came with it is installed in the sump.  The light above is a 6 bulb t5 ho, possibly made by Aqueon.  Approximately 58 - 60 lbs of live rock and 60 pounds of sand.  We just got everything put together and running on Monday , 11 June, 2012.  With a little bit of research and plenty of help for Aquatic Environments, my wife and I feel pretty comfortable with such a large burden.  My only concern is the with the sump, the water level is a good 6 inches above the water line mark on the sump.  I fear that in the case of a power failure it will backfill enough to overflow.  I have tried various nights of the overflow box and no real change in water level in the sump.  I was wondering of anybody has any words of wisdom.  I will post pictures of sump and tank and components when I get home.  Thanks for any advice and wisdom.  I hope this venture turns into a blossoming hobby since my wife and I enjoyed freshwater so much.

 

Welcome and congrats on the tank. Please post pics when you can . I am sure everyone would love to see it . I am sure there are people here with the expertise and know how to help you out.

 

Welcome! And you should be able to just let the water evaporate over the next few days or however long and it'll go down. A good rule of thumb I've always used is to shut the power off to the tank and let the water drain from the display down to the sump til it stops, fill it up as high as you want it to be, so if you lose power this is the highest it'll be. Then turn it back on and mark on the sump where the water level should be at max.

 

Thanks all for the responses.  Here are the pictures now that I am home to upload them.

 The basic live rock aqua scape, thinking of adding a few more pounds of live rock, I think it looks a little sparse.

Here is the sump and you can see the water level several inches above the water level indicator.
 The back half of the sump with a built in protien skimmer.

Hydor Powerhead of some kind, I believe to be the 1400, larger then other ones i have seen.
Will take some water samples tonight and update the levels. 
Feel free to follow along while my wife and I get this tank up and running and look forward to any advice and wisdom.

 

I think you have just the right amount of rock in that tank. Look great. I would like to see more pics of the sump though IMO you really only need to have enough water in the final chamber to cover the pump. I would say your next best purchase would be a automatic top off.

 

@mthomp

That's what thought of the sump as well, it just started to fill up higher while running and seems to hold steady. By the way the sump is a Pro-Clear Wet/Dry Pro.

 

Just a quick update, I believe I solved the dilemma of the sump. I removed some of the water from the sump after turning everthing off, and readjusting the inner box of the overflow. Also found a few riders that came along with the live rock are starting to show up.

 

Water Levels after 48 Hours are :
Temp 78.8F
Specific Gravity 1.025
Calcium 600 ppm
Phosphate 0.5 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
dKH 9%
Ph 8.4

Lots of particulate air bubbles in water though.

 

Probably a dumb question, but since we're new at this (I'm the wife.../DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/hehe.gif) what's an automatic top off?

 

First off, welcome to the hobby.. I have that same sump. I dont use it anymore, but it worked great for me for many years... As with the little air bubbles you see, they are probably from the skimmer and the trickle of the water from the 2nd chamber falling down and flowing over to the return pump.. That blue sponge before the pump usually takes care of most of them but not always.. I actually removed that sponge and after awhile I didnt see many bubbles.. Anyways the tank looks good...

 

This should help

http://www.marinedepot.com/dosing_pumps_top_off_jbj_ATO_automatic_top_off_water_level_controller-ap.html