neopole Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 hi all, i have been reading the forums for quite a while now, and have decided to make myself known. im 37 male, and am a rampant DIY'er. i live in the country on a small block. and i like aquariums, and other things..... my knowledge of fish i thought was quite extensive, till i started reading all the tech stuff here, and the links from here. i have had tanks all my life upto the last 8 years, and am now getting back into it again. most of my tanks have been cold water marine. ie stuff from the local beaches. and am now going to set up a big marine tank. trouble is, reading all the stuff on this site has made my a bit nervous!! because all my other tanks were set up so simply, using simple filters and airpumps, and buckets of saltwater and crushed shells, and add stock... no problem! and just basic maintainance. my tanks lasted for years like this with hardly any deaths. now i read all about protien skimmers, calc reactors, co2 thingies and these massive pumps circulating the volume of a tank 4 to 6 times per hour, to me this seems like overkill. because in my experience my tanks were fine using a fraction of this hardware. basically im just trying to make a rock pool, and keep it airated and clean of waste products. not IMHO build a sterile oceanic hospital. having said all that, i have no experience with tropical marine, which im guessing most of this hardware is for, and am guessing also that its because of the higher temps, making the bad bugs grow faster. but still ....4 to 6 times water turnover per hour!. my new tank that im planning will be aprox 2.4m long by 600mm by 600mm made of braced ply with 10mm front glass. siting on a 6 leg stand with adjustable feet. at this stage im planning on using a pond pump to pump water to an old bathtub or 2 which will be my sump. and will be stocking the tank with crabs, shrimp, anenome's, snails, limpits, shellfish, little sprats, seaweed and maybe a baby cray from the seahorse farm. the tank will be in a sunroom, so fluro lighting only for viewing at night. once set up and running i plan to convert all air and water pumping to alternate power ie wind and solar power. well thats me. comments welcome, so is critisim, also would like an explanation as to why water has to be cycled so often. i havent found an answer yet and am very curious, and hoping that my good fish experience so far hasnt been only luck. neopole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 welcome neopole, i'm sure you will find the answers to your questions on this site or through a member and being a tropical freshwater freak myself I can be of no assistance other than to welcome you here. most people congregate in the chat room round about 9-9.30 each night Ballistic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 Hi and welcome neopole. Must be something to do with the tropical side as I too kept a cold water marine with nothing but an AquaClear filter. My problem was overheating during the summer months. Our cold water marine was the most interesting tank we have ever had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGilchrist Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 Welcome to the fishroom Neopole only done freshwater myself, but I believe it is the corals that are so demanding in conditions and light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 welcome Neopole i have always said if it ain't broke don't fix it! i still us a lot of the old ways and when i had my salt water tank i never had any of the sales man toys as i call them and my tank was great. each to their own and what this site is about is learning and talking about your tanks and sometimes helping people. look forward to seeing you round Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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