Doing The Research, I Think I Have Info' Overload!

[Jozlyn]

Here goes, the tank will be approximately 440lts. The cabinet/stand will be purpose built by my husband if I can ever figure this stuff out! Over the last couple of weeks I've read so much stuff that it's starting to fall out of my head! I've found that even the pinned topics on here seem to assume some prior knowledge, of which I have none (apart from FW)

What hardware do I need and at what capacity ie I need 2 powerheads (I think) but what size?

How much LR?

What type of substrate?

Lighting?

Sump?

Overflow?

Clean up crew, what and how many of each?

Umm, there's probably more questions but I can't think of any more at the moment!

P.S. Answers in metric please

Thanks for the help

 

[leecara]

im just guessing but you will need 440 litre turnover in 4/5 time hourly with power heads so i would reccomend 3 tuze or tmc power heads going to 5000 gph all together(some1 can be more accurate)

for lights are you going with reef with corals or no corals-with corals i would suggest a metal halide overtank lumainre or 4-6 t5s (the tank M.halide would be better)

get as much or as little as you want for LR but there is a rule saying x amount of lr for x amount of water for a good filtariton

i would have a skimmer i suggest a tmc v2 600
i would then add a ehiem classic external filter and some other external filter
then i would add a uv sterliser

and if you are in as hot place or where it gets hot in the summer i would suggest going for a chiller -espically if you are going to add corals

you can add a sump if you want if you can build room i would have a 40-50 gall sump for that tank and then you can place all your filters and a skimmer in that if you can i would suggest drilling and plumbing the tank or if not i would use an overflow to get down to the sump

i would have a variety of snails first. like turbos, cerith,nassrius,trochus and magarita snails about 10-15 of each then i would have a 15 also red leg hermits(these are the safest hermits to get. as they will not kill the snails) then some type of shrimp like 2 cleaner shrimp and 2 pepermint shrimp and some/a star fish if you want
i think thats thats about it

also welcome to the salty side

i have a 340 litre marine tank and my only regret is that i should of drilled and plumbed it and had a sump but my dad wouldnt let me as i was spending a bit to much cash lol

 

[andywg]

From 440 LPH, you would want to look at around 10-20 times per hour, so say 4,400 LPH. This can be reduced if you use tunze stream style powerheads which are less directional with their flow (no needle-like jet of water movement). If you get a wavebox, you could get by just with that and maybe a powerhead in the 2,500 to 4,500 LPH area.

I myself would use a Tunze Wavebox and a Tunze Nano Stream 6045. The nano stream is on 24/7 at 4,500 LPH, and the wavebox will move all of the water back and forth across the tank.

Flow rate ultimately depends on the type of tank you want and the stock in it.

Everything else you have put down ultimately depends on what sort of tank you go for. A deep water pred tank is very different from a reef drop off tank, and the requirements of each are just as different.

 

[Jozlyn]

hmm thanks, more food for thought.

What do you mean by "drilled and plumbed it", I must've missed something along the way?

I think I want a reef drop off tank. We want some "Nemo's" (clown fish), a "Dory" look-a-like (a Yellow Tail Blue Damsel Fish) a Six Line Wrasse, a scarlet skunk shrimp, an emerald crab and corals. I haven't chosen any corals yet as all the ones I've looked at in here, that I've liked so far are a bit on the toxic side!

Am I right that as far as SW fish go they all seem to be "one of" unlike a lot of the FW fish which are schooling.

Are there any SW plants?

So far I've only looked on this site for info' on tanks and inhabitents. I'm guessing there's more tho! Any recommended?

 

[SkiFletch]

There are some saltwater plants, usually macroalgaes like chaetomorpha and culerpa. You can also get Halimeda which is a calcifying macro algae which looks much more like a "plant" than other macros.

You are correct that most saltwater aquarium fish are individuals only. There are some exceptions though. Chromis, bar gobies, and anthias are commonly available schooling species. You can also mix wrasses of the cirhillabrous, and parachilienus genus, provided they are different species. I keep a C solorensis, P octotaenia, C labouti, and a C exuisitus in the same tank . You can keep multiples of Leopard wrasses (macropharyngodon genus) if you like, usually 3-5 of them.

beware the yellowtail damsel, they often turn aggressive. Although in such a large tank it should be fine, you never know.

I'd have a look through liveaquaria.com and saltwaterfish.com for a listing of fish and some basic info on their care. At least you can get some ideas from there

And on the coral front, just about all corals have some form of toxin/stinging/defense mechanism. Its their way of defending themselves on the reef, else they be eaten. If you take precautions and handle with gloves and wash your hands after handling them, you'll be fine

 

[Jozlyn]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all of the help.

Tank's a long way off yet, but I'm sure I'll be around asking plenty of questions along the way.

 

[leecara]

dory fish are the regal tang or blue hippo tang

 

[Jozlyn]

dory fish are the regal tang or blue hippo tang

Yep, I know that, that's why I said a "Dory look-a-like"

 

[leecara]

but you said in brackets yellow tail blue damsel anyway it dont matter now lol

 

[Jozlyn]

but you said in brackets yellow tail blue damsel anyway it dont matter now lol

Sorry I really didn't make myself very clear did I, easily done on the internet.

I've done some research on the Regal Tang and I've decided that I'm not going to get one, but as the family still wants a "Dory" I'll go with a Yellow Tail Blue Damsel Fish as they look somewhat similar.