So after 20 years out the hobby, I sold my boring 1yr old malawi tank, and bought a second hand tank, sump and cabinet for R2000. 1,2 x70 x70, Sump 1,2m.
Back Again after 20 years
- Thread starter dubediver
- Start date
Had a Aquamedic Turbo Floater 1000 from 20 years ago, using that as my skimmer.
Went to buy a 2nd hand light from a guy, he has a complete marine tank, all brand new , never used, bought a Sicce return pump for R500, 4 T5 light fixture R1000, and heater r250. Ready to rock and Roll.
Went to buy a 2nd hand light from a guy, he has a complete marine tank, all brand new , never used, bought a Sicce return pump for R500, 4 T5 light fixture R1000, and heater r250. Ready to rock and Roll.
A question please help : How bad is it to use tap water for the first fill ?
20 years is a long time. A lot has changed in that time.
as mentioned, tap water is OK for testing purposes. Get yourself RO water or even own RO unit and some drums and you will have a lot less algae issues in the beginning.
as mentioned, tap water is OK for testing purposes. Get yourself RO water or even own RO unit and some drums and you will have a lot less algae issues in the beginning.
hmmm, okay, you convinced me, suppose not taking short cuts is safer. Man, thats a lot of water 500L + sump.
Okay, used RO water. Tank up and cycling
The way I see it, I do biological( large coral ), then my algae should take out whats left, then fine filtering through sand bed, then anything left over is skimmed out. Did some research and most people do agree with you, but mostly for water levelling purposes.
Your large coral chunks are going to have all their pores filled with detritus, and you are going to have serious water quality issues.
You really should skim first, to enable the bacteria to colonise the space on your biological media without being covered in detritus.
You really should skim first, to enable the bacteria to colonise the space on your biological media without being covered in detritus.
I hate being stubborn. I am running a dry trickle system in my overflow, which should minimize on detritus. I know I need to clean it regularly , as well as my bio balls in my external canister. I just think I am going to run as much filtration as possible , till I have enough healthy live rock. Then slowly remove all and just skim. There are a few changes I will have to make soon, but will do them all at once. getting decent live rock at a reasonable price is quite a task.
Thanks for all the input. I listen to everything . I welcome comments and critics, and any help in this is a godsend.
so far , two weeks, NO2 & 3 zero.
It is a plastic mould. I am hoping it will become covered in algae.
does anyone use an ultrviolet / blue light to look at their corals at night ?
Also, got a led strip from China market, works like a dream. Thanks