A Random Assortment Of Questions

[CezzaXV]

Hey everyone,

I'm planning on converting to marine soon and have been collecting equipment. I originally decided I was going to go marine at Christmas, so I've had a few months of reading and research, but every corner I turn there's a few more questions that spring to mind. Hopefully you kind folk won't mind giving me some answers! They are somewhat random and all over the place.

1) I've been looking into substrate. I think I need to go for a shallow bed, no more than 2.5cm, but can someone talk me through my choices? I've not made any choices on fish or inverts yet so don't want to make any decisions that are going to inhibit my choices.

2) Another substrate question. I don't like the look of marine sand or gravel on its own, but I like the look of the rubbly reef substrate shown here: http/premiumaquatics.com/prodimages/tropiceden/te-sandgroup.jpg
I've not found a UK website that sells it so I don't think it's available here, but was wondering if I could achieve the same effect by just mixing aragonite sand (2-3mm?) with coral gravel? I'm not sure whether sand or gravel is more beneficial in a marine tank, so am happy to receive advice on this issue.

3) I've got two powerheads ready to go, a Koralia 3200LPH and a Newave 2200LPH, which is 34x tank turnover. However, the Newave one is a little noisy for my liking. It's not unbearable, but it's definitely there and it's in my bedroom. I have heard marine fish can benefit from lower flow at night, so I was wondering whether there would be any detriment were I to have it on a timer to turn it off at night?

4) I've ordered some clear silicone to sort the partitions in my sump. I had planned on using milliput to fix my live rock together, but was wondering whether I could use silicone?

5) I recently came into the possession of a Juwel 1000LPH pump. http/i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee195/CezzaXV/IMG_20130222_175258_zpsbbdc577d.jpg
The previous owner thinks it was from a filter, so one would presume that it's used to dealing with a bit of uplift. I was hoping to use it as a return pump. If it truly is 1000LPH it would give my sump approx 7x tank turnover, so it can afford to lose a bit of flow. Any opinions?

There may be more questions that come to mind later, but if anyone can answer these, it would help me greatly.

Thanks in advance.

 

[wildechild_01]

Hey everyone,

I'm planning on converting to marine soon and have been collecting equipment. I originally decided I was going to go marine at Christmas, so I've had a few months of reading and research, but every corner I turn there's a few more questions that spring to mind. Hopefully you kind folk won't mind giving me some answers! They are somewhat random and all over the place.

1) I've been looking into substrate. I think I need to go for a shallow bed, no more than 2.5cm, but can someone talk me through my choices? I've not made any choices on fish or inverts yet so don't want to make any decisions that are going to inhibit my choices.
 
Depth of Substrate is Entirely up to you, some people even run tanks without any.  Personally I prefer having sand in the tank, and it can definitely be beneficial to the tank providing more space for healthy bacteria to grow and allows for some fun species in your clean up crew and even fish.  

2) Another substrate question. I don't like the look of marine sand or gravel on its own, but I like the look of the rubbly reef substrate shown here: http/premiumaquatics.com/prodimages/tropiceden/te-sandgroup.jpg
I've not found a UK website that sells it so I don't think it's available here, but was wondering if I could achieve the same effect by just mixing aragonite sand (2-3mm?) with coral gravel? I'm not sure whether sand or gravel is more beneficial in a marine tank, so am happy to receive advice on this issue.
 
Okay, in my experience substrate is substrate.. now how large the substrate is can affect your livestock choices again, if you want some sand sifting species smaller may be better, i personally will not use sand again as i found my tanks were always quite cloudy with it especially with higher water flow in the tank.  I have a crushed coral mix...well... to be fair most white sand is crushed coral, but what Im getting at is something a little heavier than the fine sand but small enough that fish/snails/starfish, can move it around and sift it and it will fall back to the bottom rather than getting caught in the water column. Take a look at Live Sand at your LFS they should have something you like.. i would say my substrate looks most like the reef flakes in that link.

3) I've got two powerheads ready to go, a Koralia 3200LPH and a Newave 2200LPH, which is 34x tank turnover. However, the Newave one is a little noisy for my liking. It's not unbearable, but it's definitely there and it's in my bedroom. I have heard marine fish can benefit from lower flow at night, so I was wondering whether there would be any detriment were I to have it on a timer to turn it off at night?
 
Turning one of the powerheads off and night shouldn't be a problem at all.


4) I've ordered some clear silicone to sort the partitions in my sump. I had planned on using milliput to fix my live rock together, but was wondering whether I could use silicone?
 
You will probably have a hard time getting the silicone to hold the rock together, whatever you use be sure to do a bit of research to make sure it wont hurt the life in the tank.  My rock is just stacked in my tank with nothing holding it together, takes some time putting it together but if done right is good and solid.

5) I recently came into the possession of a Juwel 1000LPH pump. http/i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee195/CezzaXV/IMG_20130222_175258_zpsbbdc577d.jpg
The previous owner thinks it was from a filter, so one would presume that it's used to dealing with a bit of uplift. I was hoping to use it as a return pump. If it truly is 1000LPH it would give my sump approx 7x tank turnover, so it can afford to lose a bit of flow. Any opinions?
 
Best bet is hook it up and see how it does sometimes, maybe see if you can find one with a box or even search online to see what the flow rate is at different head heights, that said given the amount of flow your power heads this pump will be more just to keep water flowing through a sump i would assume to get it through a skimmer.   Depending on the flow you get with your return pump you may even be able to get rid of that noisier power head  

There may be more questions that come to mind later, but if anyone can answer these, it would help me greatly.

Thanks in advance.

Hope some of that helped... i havent been around here for a while but looking at upgrading so will probably be hitting up the journal again.. that said there may be some good equipment info in there too, i would have to go back and re-read it to see.