Fluval Edge 46L Reef Project

[peter212693]

Hello all,
 

Im slowly starting my fluval edge 46l reef project. Im getting all the bits together ready but go on holiday for a week at the end of March so will be holding off on the live rock and sand untill I get back. Ive got a 200l tropical tank but wanted my own little piece of the ocean! I have spent the last month reading and researching this and ready for the challenge!


So far I have the following:

- Fluval Edge 46l tank
- Koralia Nano 900
- 50w Jager heater
- Lighting Upgrade
- Purigen and Bio-Phos 80 ready for the filter
- API master Reef and Saltwater test kits
- 50GPD 4 Stage RO/DI unit (With inline TDS meter)
- STC 1000 temp controller wired up ready


Still to order:

- Hand held TDM meter
- Refractometer
- Couple of containers to store some RO water


Once I get back from holiday I will grab 5kg of live rock, sand and salt and start the cycling

I really cant wait to get started with this, im like a kid at Christmas. Its all setup ready but empty at the moment

I do have a couple of questions if anyone can help:

Will 5kg of live rock be enough?
What should I be looking at for a CUC? (I think I want a peppermint shrimp to try control aipatasia but what else?)
How much sand am I likely to need?
Whats the general rule of thumb for adding salt to the water and how much? (Mix before adding to the tank, one cup of salt per gallon, etc?)
 

Any other advice or anything else you think ive missed let me know



Thanks for all the help so far but im sure you all will be helping me as the project continues!



Here is a couple of pics of the setup so far:



Lighting upgrade-

STC1000-

Full setup-

Pics are not the best as they where taken on my phone but you get the idea.



Thanks for reading

 

[Donya]

Will 5kg of live rock be enough?

 
Start with about that much and see how it looks. LR density is quite variable. 5kg of high-quality, porous stuff would certainly be good as a starting amount and possibly as a final amount depending on exactly what you are able to get.

How much sand am I likely to need?

 
What do you want to keep? If you just want sand to have the pH/KH benefits and to have it not look barebottom, then you'll want to go for no more than 1" deep probably. But, if you want an animal that builds burrows in the sand, such as a pistol shrimp or some gobies, then it would need to be deeper. 

Whats the general rule of thumb for adding salt to the water and how much? (Mix before adding to the tank, one cup of salt per gallon, etc?)

 
The salt mix should have instructions on it. Mix according to that and then adjust as necessary.

 

[peter212693]

Thanks
 
Im thinking of keeping LPS corals and softies with maybe two common clowns. I understand once the clowns age they will outgrow this tank but I plan on having a bigger marine tank further down the line (when space allow!) Would 2 clowns and a gobie be ok with a CUC?

 

[RCA]

I like the look of the light unit, what is it please and where did you get it from?

 

[peter212693]

I like the look of the light unit, what is it please and where did you get it from?

Dropped you a PM

 

[DrRob]

I've been picking up water containers at Halfords, always worth a glance as they sell them fairly cheap for caravans.

 

[peter212693]

Cool, thank you!
 
What would you think I would need? Its 46L so will fill it first time with RO and then add sale but then I will be doing 5L (10%ish) changes weekly so thinking I will only need a 5l tub for the changes and a little one to keep some for top offs? Or is it best to have maybe a 20l full of RO incase of an emergency?

 

[Donya]

I understand once the clowns age they will outgrow this tank but I plan on having a bigger marine tank further down the line (when space allow!)

 
Sorry to be blunt here, but the formula of "I'll get X and get a bigger tank when it gets too big" is a bad plan for any animal and any tank. It's one thing if you already have more than one system set up and want to grow an animal in a smaller tank where it's easy to manage, but without that it's too easy to fill the space with something else or have the fish grow faster than you're ready for. You should always wait until you have the space and then get the animal. While some people do keep clowns in tanks in this size range, it's far from ideal, particularly as a first marine tank (smaller = harder) and personally I would never recommend clowns in anything smaller than twice the volume you've got. There are fish that are better suited to small tanks, namely some small gobies and pistol/goby combinations, but if your main goal is fish then you really need to be looking at a bigger tank. Small tanks like this are most easily done invert-only or with very small fish that aren't the classic sort most people go for.
 
 

Its 46L so will fill it first time with RO and then add sale but then I will be doing 5L (10%ish) changes weekly so thinking I will only need a 5l tub for the changes and a little one to keep some for top offs? Or is it best to have maybe a 20l full of RO incase of an emergency?
 
If you've got space, it's usually less bother to store as much as you've got space for. The thing you'd want to store for emergencies though would be saltwater. Salt mixes take several hours to become stable usually so it's best to let the solution sit overnight aerated before it comes into contact with animals. 

 

[peter212693]

Thanks for your advice. How long can I store saltwater for it is was in a bucket with a lid on?

 

[peter212693]

Bit of an update on the tank
 
Now I go on holiday tomorrow but I jumped the gun and already have my live rock :whistling:. I went to the LFS and they had some really really nice rock so couldnt resist.

So I have 5kg of live rock and im using Red Sea Coral Pro Salt. Its been up and running a week now so will see how it is when I get back from holiday next Saturday. Ive been adding ammonia up to about 0.5-1ppm a couple of times now and this is been eaten up withing 24 hours and slowly raising the Nitrate (no nitrite shows) so hopefully its looking good!

Couple of down falls, one being there are a couple of aiptasia but hoping the peps will sort this when I get my CUC. Also had one rock with 7-8 Hydroids on it so boiled it before it got out of control but its all part of the fun!

What CUC would you all recommend for this tank when the time comes?

So the fun began with waiting for the RO unit to produce enough water to fill the tank:

Keeping the live rock alive while the RO did its job:

Here are some pics of how it stand now:

One of the nice hitchhikers!:

Any advice is welcome as usual and I will update when I get back from holiday. If my rock is eating up the ammonia all the way to nitrate that soon am I close to my CUC do you think? Also will the koralia 900 be enough or is it worth upgrading the the 1600? (I will be keeping softies and LPS)

Thanks

 

[sashar]

Could you tell me about your lighting upgrade. I have a DIY in place right now for mine, but It's too clunky and takes away from the Tanks beauty!

 

[manxnorton]

Hello m8,
Been avidy watching everything I can, learning as much as I can.
Mark got my brain ticking...
A Fluval Evo 52L Marine aquarium- MAYBE! lol.

Bri