24G Nano Cube Or 20G Fluval Fw Tank

[seffieuk]

Slight change of plan, now getting a Juwel Rio 125 with T5 lighting. The wife has finally given approval for a bigger tank, wooo!

Hopefully picking it up tomorrow. The plan is to set it up as fowlr, running one koralia 1 powerhead, keeping the juwel powerhead and filter box for the heater and rowaphos/lr rubble area. I was thinking of putting the lr rubble in netting for easy removal.

Good plan - but you will want two powerheads - one either end

Does the above sound ok? Would one coarse sponge help for detritus removal? Or should i remove the internal filter box, forget rowaphos and lr rubble and just rely on lr filtration and water changes?

Don't use any sponges - it really is up to you, i would keep it

What heater should i get? Not so sure about the jewel one's.

Rena smart heater is my heater of choice

Shall i paint the rear of the tank or apply a plain background with vaseline?

Paint
Sorry for all the q's, there will be a few more i'm sure!

Never be sorry for asking questions

Forgot to add, i will be adding corals at a later date so i want to get the tank set up now, run it for 6 months and then add some softies.

but you will not have to wait six months

Seffie x

 

[stevewood]

Thanks Seffie.

Would two Koralia nano's be ok? They're 900lph each. Giving me 15x turnover.

Regarding the internal filter box, i'm going to keep it in. As i won't be skimming or adding a sump it'll be a good space to have for lr/macro algae.

I've had to order the tank as they didn't have one in stock in the colour I liked, will be here thursday!

Made my first SW purchases today, a D-D refractometer and a 25 litre plastic tub with lid (ikea) which will sit under the tank for SW mixing.

As for RO, i'll be buying it for now. Once we build the garage/kitchen extension i'll set up a proper RO and SW 'factory'.

Not even thought about stocking yet, we both would like the obligatory pair of clowns, but the rest is yet to be decided. Realistically, with good maintenance and good lr filtration, how many fish will i be able to keep? Wifey gets carried away in the LFS pointing at everything, although i roughly know what we can't keep and the LFS is far too reputable to let me take fish away that they know I can't keep.

There's no going back now!

 

[Morri]

I would go for more like 20 -> 30 lph for circulation so maybe a K1 and a nano or 2 K1s

A few ideas on stocking TMC seem to have a few pairs of skunk clowns nice and small and really attractive in my eyes also seeing a lot of misbars

Percs stay small and are a good choice

Blennys are an excellent addtion bi-colours are nice flymo`s have great personalitys

Dartfish purple,Red and Helfrechi (if feeling flush)

pygmy angels some stunning options some can nip corals its a 50/50 chance if you get a nipper or not some times worth the risk for these fish

Goby`s are a good addtion and manyto choose from

Mandarins and Scooters are good fish but need extra care as they require plenty of copepods in the tank these can be brought and added these are needed even if the fish is eating frozen food

Damsels and dotty backs can be added but they are both known to be aggresive fish and will most probably upset your clowns

Tangs are a non starter tank needs to be 4 times bigger

Some of the smaller wrasse will be fine but needs to be reaserched first

A few things to bear in mind add stock slowly to allow your LR to adapt to the load also try and avoid impulse buying fish as some LFS may not give you good advise I have seen to many nanos with unsuitable fish in them

 

[stevewood]

Thanks Morri, that gives me a great starting point and don't worry, no tangs will be entering my tank!

As LFS's go i've fell lucky with where I live as they're a multiple PFK retailer of the year winner. I'll still take their advice with the proverbial pinch of salt, but I do trust them somewhat. Their advice seems to tally with what I read on the net.

As for the water flow, i'll wait till the tank's here and then decide as to which combination, I forgot about the powerhead that comes with the tank, it's 600lph. So 2 Nano's plus that is 2400lph = 20x turnover.

Targets completed this week: Convince the wife to let me go Marine and upsize tank , bought Refractometer, sourced RO and bought mixing tub

Targets for this week: Pick up tank , do some more fish research, rehome my lovely cories at the LFS , sell existing tank, test tank for leaks and then paint the rear.

On the painting, what type of paint works well for durability and ease of removal (if such a combo exists?)

 

[seffieuk]

Think you missed a Target for this week:

Keep wife very happy as this is an expensive hobby

Seffie x

 

[stevewood]

Lol!

She's not too bad with the expense, more the space that my hobbies take up!

I've invaded her understairs cupboard with a couple of mountain bikes and a telescope, and now i'm slowly taking over the living room with an ever-growing fishtank. 3 Years ago it was 25L, then 65L, then 90L and now 125L, spot the pattern?! Lol!

 

[seffieuk]

Indeed I do - i'm now at a 400 litre five footer

Seffie x

 

[stevewood]

Not sure i could fit that in my living room, 125 is about the max i want to push it, until we move!

 

[stevewood]

Wooo, new tank arrives tomorrow. Old tank sold today on ebay, Cories rehomed.

Went to my other LFS tonight and was told i may regret not having a skimmer.

Can someone convince me that my plans sound ok, and if not, what could i do to improve system stability?

 

[Morri]

A skimmer is in my opionion always a good option as it should remove more waste than water changes but I have seen some very succesful tanks run without if you can squeeze one in go for it if you cannot then 20-25% water changes will work as well (Even with a skimmer 10% should be done weekly).

 

[stevewood]

I'm used to doing 20-25% weekly changes so that's no major problem. I'm hoping my internal filter box proves to be a good refugium.

Time will tell, i'm going to stock slowly and monitor the water closely so I should be ok.

Thanks

Steve

 

[simonas]

Hi Steve

good luck with the set up, has the tank arrived yet?

I used Ronseal Royal Blue tile paint £16 from b&q

I;m made up with result

Not sure how easy to remove though, I once used nitramorz to remove a painted back to a tank and it was a pretty crappy job but doable

 

[steelhealr]

Keep wife very happy as this is an expensive hobby

No comment.....
SH

 

[stevewood]

Right, been a busy lad so no updates, until now..

The tank arrived

Got myself a V2 Nano Skimmer so decided to play with housing options

Against the filter

Against the filter side on

And finally, in the filter box! Stealth style

Perfect fit!

Next to paint the rear of the tank dreaded this bit

The paint - B&Q Tile Paint to be applied with gloss roller

Prep the tank

And paint.....

The finished product

More to come

 

[stevewood]

Next step, the egg crate.....

I was advised to raise it up so my critters can get in amongst it - Any thoughts?

Cutting the egg crate

How to raise it......?

'Feet' slide in to the egg crate, no adhesive required...

The end result

And finally, after carting 100L of RO from my LFS and getting 6.6kg of D-D H2Ocean Salt

How much salt goes in to saltwater!!!!!!! Next time I go snorkelling i'm keeping my mouth firmly shut!!

That's it for now, got the tank mixing with my 600LPH jewel pump, 1450LPH Newave Powerhead and a Koralia Nano - the new version which puts out 1600LPH.

Just as a side note, out of the two the Newave is much quieter so far, although i've read that the Koralia's quieten down.

Going away for 5 days now, the tank will be left on tickover - no lights, just one pump running. When I return it'll be Liverock time! Possibly the bit i'm looking forward to the most!!