Hi Everyone

JuanS

JuanS

Joined
15 Apr 2008
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Location
Krugersdorp North
My name is Juan. I've had my aquarium for +-20yrs now. Small (900 x 30 x 45) but it's been running succesfully for the past 8 years or so. The rest of the time I spent playing around, trying different systems etc. I finally decided to stick with what I've got: 2 anemones, 4 clowns, 4 tubeworms, 1 damsel, 1 mandarin. As you can see, no corals and only hardy fish (exept for mandarin probably) - AND THAT'S WHY I'M HERE!!!! Upgrade on the way!!!:thumbup:

The tank i'm planning needs to be custom built because of it's odd size but in the end will hold +-750l. The sump i'm planning will take about 250l - is this enough? This question might sound silly to some of you, but please bear in mind that i've never used anything else than a undergravel filter with two powerheads for filtration - not even a protien skimmer!

Before i started surfing the web and joining this site i was hell bent on using the same filtration system purely because i know and trust it so well, but obviously for this size thank it wouldn't be the best option. Plus the display tank will be used as a room devider so hiding equipment in it will be impossible.

Altough i do have experience in marine fish keeping i consider myself a beginner purely because of the lack of experience i've got with "modern" technology. Any help/suggestions especially on the sump will be highly appreciated.

Thanks!:wave2:
 
The use of UGF'a in the marine hobby are well documented especially in the early 90's. There was many cases of varying substrate depths and grain sizes being used.. I suppose with all things as time progresses there are more efficient ways of doing things, although it can get confusing when you 1st start out.

With regards to the sump, well, this is farily simple if the design is straightforward, the biggest benefit to having a sump is so that you can house equipment like skimmers, heaters and reactors should you ever choose to have any. The general rule of thumb is to have the water from the main display enter the sump where you have your skimmer which is highly recommended, then you can have space for a number of things, you may choose to have a settlement chamber, a refugium, a deep sand bed, a frag grow out area, an algae scrubber.. whatever you desire, and then a chamber to pump the water back into the main display.

The tank can be as complex or as simple as you make it, the more gadgets you have ( which we get addicted to ) can make like easier especially when keeping more difficult to keep species of corals.

I admire anyone who can keep a system running with a UGF for 8 years !
 
Hi and welocme you come to the best site all the best in your veture of new technology.Im brand new to the hobby dont have a tankk yet still learnig and find it extremly interesting with all the gadgets thats been used.All the best and as all the members would say"post some pics man"
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Welcome Juan :D
 
Warr7207 said:
Welcome Juan, 8 years, WOW :thumbup1:
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8 years - no problem!!:whistling: Seriously though, weekly water changes (about 20%) combined with montly substrate siphoning, plenty of H2O and no over-stocking keeps everything in check. Clown about 4 years old. Damsel 3.

My uncle (who introduced me to the hobby) ran a 6 ft tank with UGF - 2 powerheads and 2 air uplifts. He caught a Lionfish in Sodwana (not sure how legal it was back then - probably not). The fish survived in the tank for 15 years, eventually going blind.

Personally i think a small, simple UGF system is easier to run than a FW setup. Just keep stock levels low and good maintenance.
 
JuanS: welcome to MASA! UGF's aren't used much anymore in the marine world, I think the newer methods are effective and easy! Looking forward to hearing of your tank upgrades! ;)
 
Welcom to MASA JuanS
 
JuanS said:
Personally i think a small, simple UGF system is easier to run than a FW setup. Just keep stock levels low and good maintenance.
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Thats the secret,unfortunately when you see all the beautiful creatures available for our tanks it is so hard to not stock "full tilt".

Also corals make life way more demanding especially the Stony and LPS varieties.
 
Welcome to the forum (bit late, sorry dude) 8 years is some time, i'm sure you will be able to make a great contribution to the site:)
 
A very WARM welcome to MASA Juan! Sorry that I only got to see this thread now! This just goes to show! There are MANY people out there that we still don't know of - that is keeping REALLY interesting systems with INTERESTING equipment! ;-)

So - let us be your sounding board! Please post all questions, ideas and PICTURES for us to comment on and oogle at ;-)
 
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