Beginning A New 30" Marine Tank

Hi all! I've been lurking around this section of the forum for quite a few weeks now. I've been following other people's nano journals and Googling/using the foum search function until I'm blue in the face! Though I still have lots to clarify through more reading and I'm not going to rush anything.
At the moment I have a 30" x 12" x 18" tank with hood and cabinet, which I think works about somewhere between 25g and 29g? Not totally sure, but I think it's around that. The tank is currently being run as a planted tropical freshwater system and I am currently considering taking my fish and amano shrimp to my LFS for rehoming and starting a marine tank from scratch. I feel a bit mean "getting rid of" my current fish stock, because I get quite attached to my various critters, but my LFS is part of a reliable UK chain of aquatics stores (Maidenhead Aquatics) so I'm sure they'd find a decent home in no time. I might even get a bit of store credit, which is always handy!

I already have a Visitherm heater and I'll deal with lighting in a bit. I plan to keep fish, live rock and some soft corals. My proposed shopping list of equipment is this so far:

• AquaC Remora Skimmer with Maxijet 900 (I know a lot of people with smaller tanks run their systems skimmerless and only rely on water changes, but I'd personally feel more comfortable knowing that I have a skimmer)
• Maxijet 1000 Powerhead for flow
• Eheim Canister Filter

Which Eheim Canister would be best for a tank this size? Or is there a cheaper sort of canister filter that would pretty much do the same job? I want to turn the filter into a small fuge using a waterproof light with chaeto algae and maybe some live rock rubble and/or mud. Inspired by this thread: http/www.nanoreefs.co.uk/forums/index.ph...=985&st=120

Thanks in advance for helpful responses! I'm sure I'll bore you with many more questions in time

maybe swap the maxijets out for somehting like seio's or koralias. These dont have 'pinpoint' flow like maxijets and they dispurse flow more convetionaly. Maybe somethingto think about

OK thanks... thats definately food for thought. I will look into that

Anybody got any thoughts on which canister filter would be best for a tank that size?

*Bump*

Any thoughts on which canister filter I should be using for a tank this size? How many times over does it need to filter the water in an hour?

I'm using an Eheim 2217 form mine which isnt much smaller than yours,
With Rowaphos in a micron bag.

Thankyou. Always best to over-filter!

Edit: The Skimmer I'm looking at comes in a package with the MJ900. So I think I'll stick with that for the skimmer. But as for the main powerhead for flow, would a Koralia 2 be enough?

What would be best for a tank my size: the AquaC Remora, or the Nano Remora? And do I need a pump/powerhead to power it or does it power itself? Sorry... total n00b questions.

I would go with the nano version if it were me. Here's an american link with customer reviews for the smaller remora. comes with a maxijet pump.
http/www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idProduct~AC3431.html
Koralia 2 and the canister filter out flow should be sufficient I would have thought.
Regards
BigC

Thanks for posting the link... very useful

I see that the Nano Remora is designed for tanks between 5 and 25 gallons and the standard Remora is for tanks between 20 and 75 gallons. Which is why I wasn't sure which to go for. I thought it was a good idea to 'over skim' marine tanks? Is there any particular reason why you would reccommend the Nano Remora over the standard one?

Only because it's smaller profile and might be easier to fit in a tank. IMO, if you want to get into difficult hard corals, OR you're considering upgrading in the near future get the fullsized version. If you're just going to enjoy the tank you have and keep hardier livestock, the nano one will suffice.

have you considered the tunze nano? I havent been hearing many good things about the remora lately, they are hand made so sometimes people say they work great but other times they work terribly. Maybe it is all down to luck. Plus they are loud (there is a mod to fix this though but you have to do it every week).

Since you are living in europe, check out tunze.

If you do get the remora, there are mods to it, like upgrade the pump from a maxi-jet 900 to a maxi-jet 1200 or even a mag drive 3. As well as widening the intake pipe to get more flow. Dispite what aquaC says, these skimmers work better with bigger pumps since the more flow = the more bubbles, so they arent really that energy efficient.

My plan is to keep fish and soft corals... some zoanthids, maybe a leather toadstool, mushrooms etc. It's not impossible that I will want to upgrade (once bitten, so to speak). However, I don't see it happening for quite some time... so the Nano in which case?Sorry Musho, was typing when you sent that!The Tunze nano... I've not looked at it before. You've given me food for thought regarding the Remora though... thankyou.

want me to give you the reviews VIA pm? These are third party reviews of course.

Ooh yes please! Thankyou.

As well as considering the Nano Remora, I'm also looking at the Tunze Nano skimmer as a consideration. My only concern with the Tunze is how I would have it in my tank. My tank has glass at the top to allow for placement of sliding glass doors, so even with the doors removed the opening to the tank is smaller than the actual tank dimensions (hope you know what I mean). So it can't attach to the rim of the tank from the inside... because there is no rim! To illustrate my point I've drawn a crappy diagram of the top of my tank (minus the hood) from a downward perspective to show where the glass is (grey areas). The traingular hole on the left and the square hole on the right are very small and definately wouldn't fit the skimmer through... I couldn't even squeeze a Visitherm through the square hole!

So would I be able to fit a Tunze Nano in my tank? Or would a HOB be a better option?