Just getting started!!

[deadfish]

Hi everyone, I've had a tropical setup for the last 2 years and have decided to move up to marine. I have a 30 gal tank and was planning to use my Rena XP3 external filter along side a Prizm skimmer, I don't have room for a sump. My end goal is more towards corals etc, than fish and I was wondering if there was anything else I can add to aid filtration? I'm on a tight budget and in no rush to get everything running as I'd like to get it right first time. Any tips or help would be great!!

[tendar]

Well if you want to do it right the first time then skip the prizm skimmer and get the Aquac Remora skimmer with a MaxiJet1200 5 times better skimmer for less than double the price. Other thing is good live rock and your ready to go.

[deadfish]

Hi, Thanks for the reply, thing is I already have the Prizm (got it cheap!!) What about the filter will it be O.K? I would also like to know how much Living rock I should have? my tank holds 30 U.K. gals. Last of all, can anybody give advice on what additives I may/may not need as this is a bit of a grey area. Once again any help/advice is greatly recieved!!

[DaveC]

You could probably get away with the Rena filter for the time being, but most that setup reef tanks, and especially corals prefer the live rock, live sand method...using the correct amounts no other filtration is needed nor recommended...Tendar makes a good point..corals need good to excellent water conditions to thrive and grow...exporting excess nutrients goes a long way toward that goal...although you may get by with the prizm, eventually you may want to upgrade....some people have many hundreds of dollars in just corals in their tank and want do not like trusting all that money on a skimmer that is not up to the job...as far as additives....to start off with you probably will not need anything...a good salt with regular water changes will keep your water parmeters just fine....as your tank matures and you add more corals and live rock and coralline algea starts growing you will need to keep an eye on your calcium and alkalinity....this is where a calcium reactor gets close to a must piece of equipment...I started dosing the 2 part B-ionic's which was great and kept my 125 with lots of SPS right where I wanted the calcium levels to be, but I was going thru at least a gallon of each part per month....a reactor was cheaper to run...but just keep one thing in mind no matter what you decide...DO NOT dose anything unless you have tested your waters to determine the levels in the first place...you may be doing more harm that good....good luck..

DaveC

[deadfish]

Hi again, you've given me alot of info in the last post and now I have more questions!! Which variety of salt do most of you use? I've been told to use Instant Ocean, Also you talk about ditching the Rena once my live rock/live sand has kicked in but I was planning to use it for biological filtration, is this a wise move? Last of all, as I only have a small tank I've been told it will be harder for me to keep my water chemistry stable, anyone agree/disagree? More info on calcium reactors would be good!! Thank you for all your help!!

deadfish

[DaveC]

Instant Ocean salt is one of the more popular salts, alot use it and swear by it so you could not go wrong using IO..back to the Rena filter....if you have the correct amount of Live Rock that is really all you need for filtration in a reef tank...and yes you could remove your Rena...a very large portion of the reefers only use live rock and their tanks thrive wonderfully....most will use between 1 to 1.5 lbs of live rock per gallon...some people opt for Marshall Island rock as it is more porous meaning more surface area for bateria to live so you could get away with alittle less rock, which would leave more room in the tank...but this rock is more expensive than the run of the mill Figi rock...if you plan on going in this direction the best thing to do if a new tank is to add all the rock at once and let it cycle....if a mature tank and adding rock to that then be very careful that the rock is already cycled so you will not experience any ammo spikes which could play havoc on your tank and inhabitants....my local fish store has decent figi rock that is cycled and would have no problem dropping a piece in my tank if needed...do know about yours...you could alway have them test the water in the live rock tank to see how cycled it really is...as we know LFS are not the most knowledgeable or dependable people at times...also make sure you use fine sand for your sandbed and not crushed coral...makes a huge difference..

DaveC

[deadfish]

First things first, I'm based in the U.K and have been trying to source live rock, so far I've only found the figi rock(cured locally-I've had a tour of there set-up) I'm not really keen on getting my rock via mail order any info on this would be good!! Sand wise I've gone with Caribsea Argonite (sugar sized) and was going to put a 60mm bed in rising to about 80mm at the back, is this deep enough? As for removing the Rena I'm not really sure now??? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif Maybe I'll just play it by ear? Thanks for all the Help

[deansreef]

i like oceanic salt. it has near seawater levels of calcium and alkalinity

[tileman]

There is nothing wrong with figi rock, and if you trust their setup, I would go with it, Also this way you can pick the rock that you want , if you mail order , you have no choice

[deadfish]

Hi there everyone!! Been a while since my last post, I've now got my tank up and running. I added some Living Rock a couple of days ago which seems to have settled in, I've noticed that it has alot of rock/triffid anemones on it and was wondering if I should try removing some of them??? Anybody got any tips/help on this?? Apart from this everything else seems to be O.K!!

[Terry B]

Hi Deadfish,

LOL, that is a good name for someone just getting started. You might want to change your name once you get your tank going good. LOL. I thought that you might find a couple of links to good articles for new marine aquarists. Try these out:

http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/becoming_a_better_aquarist.html

http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/feed_your_fish_better.html

http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/quarantine_methodology_1.html

HTH,
Terry B

[deadfish]

Hi Terry B,
Thanks for the links!! Got some solid info from them!! (did you write them?) My tanks been running now for just under 2 months, and everything seems to be going O.K check out "up and running" elsewhere on the forum. Any chance you can clear something up for me, I was wondering wether or not I should be doing water changes, all I have in tank are 2 small clowns and 2 small pieces of coral ( tested my water yesterday all O.K ) what do you think?

deadfish...........I quite like my user name LOL

[cheerncougar]

you shouldnt do a water change until your nitrates get to around 20 ppm, then do a 20-25% water change

[deadfish]

Hi there, at the moment my nitrates have been hovering at around 10ppm, all the macro and micro algae seem to be keeping it in check? I was also wondering about the calcium level, which I've been keeping an eye on the last couple of weeks, at the moment it too seems to be holding steady at around 400-450ppm. I've also been reading about kh levels and have read that if left they will settle to about 7dkh which should be O.K


deadfish..............hope not!!!!!!!