Just what I thought, how can one seperate the good from the bad in such a tiny unit!?
So I found a tank, now what!?
- Thread starter Croaky
- Start date
Just what I thought, how can one seperate the good from the bad in such a tiny unit!?
Tobes
Retired Moderator
In my opinion, uv filters are a waste of time. Rather quarantine all livestock for 6 weeks and you should not get anything introduced into the tank that needs to be uv'd.
Good bacteria is more important to me.
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Must agree on hundred % UV is a waste of money, have a friend that had one coupled and he was getting cyno on the sustrate and we could not find the cause. we did some work on the tank and never connected the uv again and the problem went away, a week later we connected the uv again and whala the stuff came back.mmmmm shut it down again and now its gone with the wind. So IMO I would rather spent the cash on something else.
my applogies chicka, i was typing way too fast and too late at night....make that a peanut worm and heres a pic for ya
Sorry for replying a bit late. things you'll need to run a marine tank:
Tank and sump (you got it)
Lights
Return pump
Flow pumps
Skimmer
Heaters (two is better than one incase of a failure)
RO unit
Refractometer or hydrometer to measure salinity
Drum for make up water (waterchanges) and airstone or small pump
Salt
Test kits - ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH, kH and later, phosphates, calcium, magnesium
fish food
Good quality live rock
Substrate
NO BIO-BALLS
NO CERAMIC RINGS
Light for sump if you want to have chaeto in there
Plumbing
A power back up system of some sorts
Patience
Hope I didn't forget something
That sounds good, although the flow is determined by the corals you keep - SPS needs high flow and strong lights and LPS needs medium flow and not so strong lights as they are generally deeper in the ocean.
Return pump of 3000-4000lph is fine and 4-6 flow pumps inside.
If I wanted more automation I'd add a Kalk stirrer and a Carx right?
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Tobes
Retired Moderator
Only need either the one or the other, not neccessary for both.
Tobes
Retired Moderator
Each has its own benefits. Carx is not really needed if you don't have a SPS setup. I have the info(pros and cons) at home, will see if I get a chance to post it for you later. Just a bit busy...
Thanks Tobes!
Ha ha deleted it before Crispan saw my post - the wonders of the "delete" button ..... Now we know Crispan was not concentrating on his post - he had his mind on a nice warm peanut butter toast so late in the night .....
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except for the sump off courseOk, things are moving along at a decent enough pace at last and I've decided to start with SPS, softies, inverts and a few fish in the tank.
Tank, stand hood, cabinetry and sump arrived from Durban, with a calcium reactor, thanks Andreas!
Sump front wall got damaged en transit so I've stripped off the broken bits and am ready to replace the whole piece. Still pondering the sump baffle system...
Collected a Reef Octopus / Reeftek DNW250 Recirculating Protein Skimmer and a Reef Octopus / Reeftek KR-140 Kalkwasser Reactor from Vishaal this morning, thanks Vishaal! That's pretty much it for mechanical filtration (the skimmer) anybody correct me if I'm going about this the wrong way!
Chemical Filtration will be a calcium reactor with Zeovit.
Biological filtration will consist of a 750mm 550mm DSB and an algae scrubber at least 700mm by 450mm in conjunction with LR in the DT. I might have some Chaeto if the scrubber leaves enough nutrients for it.
Lighting? I'm getting there, I was thinking maybe 3 or 4 MH 250's at 14000Kand 6 54w t5's with 4 6500K CFL's for the scrubber...
Plumbing? I have some pumps on the way, when I have them I'll put all the parts in their final place and work it out from there...
So I'm just waiting for a call from someone about an RO unit, some sand and LR before I can start cycling this 1.8m tank.
Pics will be up on Sundayish, my camera was lifted by house painters a couple of weeks ago and insurance is being a pain, I figure I'll just buy one out my own pocket.
Tank, stand hood, cabinetry and sump arrived from Durban, with a calcium reactor, thanks Andreas!
Sump front wall got damaged en transit so I've stripped off the broken bits and am ready to replace the whole piece. Still pondering the sump baffle system...
Collected a Reef Octopus / Reeftek DNW250 Recirculating Protein Skimmer and a Reef Octopus / Reeftek KR-140 Kalkwasser Reactor from Vishaal this morning, thanks Vishaal! That's pretty much it for mechanical filtration (the skimmer) anybody correct me if I'm going about this the wrong way!
Chemical Filtration will be a calcium reactor with Zeovit.
Biological filtration will consist of a 750mm 550mm DSB and an algae scrubber at least 700mm by 450mm in conjunction with LR in the DT. I might have some Chaeto if the scrubber leaves enough nutrients for it.
Lighting? I'm getting there, I was thinking maybe 3 or 4 MH 250's at 14000Kand 6 54w t5's with 4 6500K CFL's for the scrubber...
Plumbing? I have some pumps on the way, when I have them I'll put all the parts in their final place and work it out from there...
So I'm just waiting for a call from someone about an RO unit, some sand and LR before I can start cycling this 1.8m tank.
Pics will be up on Sundayish, my camera was lifted by house painters a couple of weeks ago and insurance is being a pain, I figure I'll just buy one out my own pocket.
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great to hear youve got the tank (and that andreas managed to sell it) best of luck with the cycle
) best of luck with the cycle
Singularity
Hmmm amper!
Yes you can.
Yes Croaky - you can cycle the tank without - and personally - I think that 4 x 250 watt would be overkill.... you can have a fantastic tank with 2 x 250 watt metal halides, over the 1.8 meter tank..... Together with the 6 x 54 Watt T5's......