Advice for a marine beginner

[Emperor]

Advice for a marine beginner

Hi everyone,

It’s great to see the amazing results you’re all getting in your setups,

I am in Glenfield, and the stage I am at the moment is that I purchased tank (120CM Long X 45CM Wide X 40CM High), salt, live rocks, sand, heater, test kit, filter Aqua One FC1000 (but wishing to add sump), skimmer, lighting: T3 blue, T8 white and small fluro (not sure about specs) and all cycling since Sunday (test results from yesterday: P.H -7.6 AMMONIA-0.9 NITRITE -0.7 NITRATE – 9 SALINITY – 1021.5

Just few questions relating to current setup.

1. where can I get overflow box for a sump as my tank doesn’t have built in one, and what is the best sump setup (incl pump)

2. where can I get reasonable prices for live stock, and in particular hard corals, (Hollywood fish farm don’t seem to stock hard corals)

3. can I add “hardy fish†to speed the cycling process, and if yes; which one is “hardy�

4. is lighting sufficient for tank depth?

Any help would be appreciated

[dogmatix]

1. Hollywoods can order in a Tunze overflow box for you.

2. Jansens and hollywoods both have lots of hard and soft corals

3. No, no fish even for cycling for a good 2-3 weeks

4. Your lighting is not sufficient for any hard corals anyway

HTH

Ben

[reef]

where can I get reasonable prices for live stock, and in particular hard corals, (Hollywood fish farm don’t seem to stock hard corals)

What type of hard corals, i would be surprised Stores dont have hard coral, it could be just timing as stock comes in all the time.

where can I get overflow box for a sump as my tank doesn’t have built in one, and what is the best sump setup (incl pump)

To me overflow boxes are too risky unless drilled in.

Why do you need a sump? i noticed you did not mention protein skimmer which is the most important part in having a marine tank.

Get a hang on skimmer. and dont go cheap as water quality is very important .

can I add “hardy fish†to speed the cycling process, and if yes; which one is “hardy�

No need to add any fish when cycling just add some fish food evert few day and get a starter bacteria . Hollywoods have a product called startup by prodibio which has live bacteria.

Adding fish to cycle a tank is cruel and not required , you can add fish ater say 8 weeks.

lighting: T3 blue, T8 white and small fluro

If you want hard coral you will have to get much better lighting.

Get some t5s, hagen have twin t5s called hagen glo. get two so you will have 4 bulbs. should be able to keep most corals with that lighting set up.

One word of advice, DONT rush. take your time seeting up the tank , you will have much better results.

[wilson]

Advice for a marine beginner

filter Aqua One FC1000 (but wishing to add sump), skimmer, lighting: T3 blue, T8 white and small fluro (not sure about specs) and all cycling since Sunday

did say skimmer

[davidb]

um sorry dude you cant keep sps under T8. you will be able to keep lps and softies but minimum for sps is T5. most people would suggest metal halide though.

what skimmer are you running?

[Emperor]

Thanks for your feedback, the skimmer was purchased through trademe yesterday, and i am going to get it this evening it is "Seaclone Protein Skimmer-with a Maxi-Jet 1200 pump" which can work in sump or hang outside the tank.

btw, can metal halide light be purchased from hardware store, also how can i set a water proof lighting under the hood of the tank (the water evaporating and touching the existing lights? (see photo)

Dan

[davidb]

don't know if the seaclone will skim enough for stony corals man. stonys require pristine water conditions. it will be fine for soft corals though. na the lights they sell at hardwar stores are generally halogen. you need to get the metal halide fittlings to run metal halide bulbs. see- http://www.deepblueaquarium.co.nz/lights.htm. the 150 watt would be what you are after i reakon. check out some of the tank specs under "MY TANK" on the FNZAS page to see what you are aiming for

[reef]

did not see that you had a skimmer, but the seaclone is not up to it, cheap and nasty. might be for a 50L tank.

You really dont need metal halide, t5s will be more than enough to keep hard corals.

You can get the hagen glow ballast and end caps and put them in your hood.

[dogmatix]

I would go with the hagen ballast they allready come wired with water proof end caps . Like Reef said two of these will give you 4 tubes in total, more tan enough

[Emperor]

I bought a salt mix from HFF and got the salinity levels to 1023, after reading some posts about NSW and ASW I am seriously considering getting Takapuna NSW, but wondering about the UV process that kills parasites, where can I get this Uv sterilization device?

[wasp]

You can get a UV from several different sources, but to do it right in a marine tank you have to get a 40 watt one or higher, and one designed for marine not fresh, which will set you back at least 400 bucks.

I've been using water from Takapuna boat ramp for quite a few years & I don't use a UV.

As far as I know I have had no problems from it, but Reef and others are correct, it could cause problems but the tank owner does not realise, or attributes it to something else. The main thing is you don't just collect the water anytime it suits, it should be collected when the sea has been flat for a few days (offshore wind), and shortly before high tide. Bottom line the water should be very clear or don't bother. I get enough at one time to last several months, which means I can pick only the best possible times to get it.

[Emperor]

I get enough at one time to last several months, which means I can pick only the best possible times to get it

How do you store NSW and what quantity?

[wasp]

I just get it in 20 litre plastic bins, and store it in the garage. Don't bother with aeration or anything. In winter I'll put a heater in it overnight before putting in the tank, that's all.

Couple of things to be aware of re water chemistry, our water in NZ has a higher salinity than the water where our livestock comes from. Our NSW needs to be diluted with 10% fresh water to bring it where it needs to be. Also, calcium tends to be lower than ideal, magnesium can be low, and alkalinity is somewhere around 7 kh, so what I do is do my weekly water testing after doing the water change. If anything needs adjusting I'll do it then. In the tank, not in the NSW prior to adding.

Some people have found ammonia in NSW, although I never have. However if it contained ammonia at lowish levels it could still safely be added to the tank as the filtration system would deal with that. If levels where very high it could simply be left in storage till the ammonia is gone.