Going Marine!

[yvez9]

Hi everyone, i've never really posted in the marine section before but i've been lurking around the section and other forums as well

I've been wanting a marine tank for 2 years now and finally, i'm going to do it

My neighbor has a 75 gallon marine tank he is shutting down and offered to give me enough live rock to start up my 20 gallon tank.
I now 20g isn't ideal but it's what i'll have to work with.

I already have a heater and a 65W powercompact strip

where i need advice is the following

I'm pretty sure around 20-25 pounds of rock will provide enough filtration


I will buy a 50/50 actinic/10,000K bulb
2 powerheads to total around 300gph circulation
crushed coral substrate (or bare bottom...)

the neighbor will also give me whatever corals i can keep if i want

I plan on keeping clown fish (ocellaris) (1 or 2) and a fire goby or some other type of small colorful fish
I'd like to keep snails and shrimps or crabs as well


is there anything i need to be careful when planning this or does this sound like a safe enough setup?

 

[Adrinal]

Hi everyone, i've never really posted in the marine section before but i've been lurking around the section and other forums as well

I've been wanting a marine tank for 2 years now and finally, i'm going to do it

My neighbor has a 75 gallon marine tank he is shutting down and offered to give me enough live rock to start up my 20 gallon tank.
I now 20g isn't ideal but it's what i'll have to work with.

I already have a heater and a 65W powercompact strip

where i need advice is the following

I'm pretty sure around 20-25 pounds of rock will provide enough filtration


I will buy a 50/50 actinic/10,000K bulb
2 powerheads to total around 300gph circulation
crushed coral substrate (or bare bottom...)

the neighbor will also give me whatever corals i can keep if i want

I plan on keeping clown fish (ocellaris) (1 or 2) and a fire goby or some other type of small colorful fish
I'd like to keep snails and shrimps or crabs as well


is there anything i need to be careful when planning this or does this sound like a safe enough setup?

If you have pc thats fine, go with them but if your buying new t5 or mh is the way to go.

Powerheads, 300gph is not enough. Look at some of the high flow low pressure pumps. I've just enjoyed a very long beer filled bonfire... so I only can tell you I use tunze nanos... but there are afew other pumps that could fit your bill.

I prefer bare bottom for ease of cleaning, but any of them will do.

HTH

 

[Musho3210]

i enjoy low flow more if i have LPS corals, what corals do you want?

 

[yvez9]

thanks for the responses

i have no clue which corals i plan to keep as i know next to nothing about them
i'm guessing i'll keep the kind that don't need much lighting as 65W is all i have for now

If I ever get more into it, i'll upgrade the lights i guess

what would a good waterflow be if 300 is not enough? more around the range of 400? I've read elsewhere that 15 times the volume was very good for a nano. i'll try to find these low pressure pumps but i'm kind of on a budget and the main reason for the tank is the clownfish

 

[Musho3210]

15gph, low light, lps are good, zoas and shrooms, other photosynthetic polyp type corals, those are all good with the right positioning.

Low pressure high flow is still something you should get though.

 

[yvez9]

is there any low pressure high flow that is available at petsmart?
that's the only place I know of where i'm going this weekend (i live in montreal and will be spending the weekend in sarasota, aquarium gear is basically 50% cheaper in the US) unless someone knows of a good place in sarasota or tampa?? i know there isn't any big al's

 

[Musho3210]

no, and petsmart is a rip off on pump prices, so i wouldnt get powerheads or heaters there.

 

[yvez9]

a rip off there is still a better deal then anything i'll get my hands on in montreal

 

[QuotheRaven]

perhaps cheaper to buy online then ? i'll be interested in this thread as i have my 20 g nano up now

 

[Musho3210]

yeah online it.

 

[yvez9]

well i looked up petsolutions.com and with shipping, wi'll come to the same price as buying it from petsmart, plus the customs fee so i'll just buy it there unless i don't find what i need.

i can't wait to get this project started!!!
thanks for all your input and help

 

[Musho3210]

then dont buy little by little online, buy it all at once, shipping gets cut down on ratio of shipping fee to product fee.

 

[yvez9]

i meant buying all the stuff online will end up costing the same as getting it shipper, plus i'll have to pay the customs.... that's why i don't mind paying a little more at petsmart

 

[SkiFletch]

Try bigalsonline yvez, they're a canadian drygoods site that tends to have decent prices. I'd really reccomend though looking for marine shops down there in florida. There has to be a ton down there. Maybe pick up a yellowpages or google search for some?

 

[yvez9]

I did find a shop in Bradenton, near Tampa, called Marine Dreams (http/jvlaquatics.com/). It is a mom and pop shop dedicated to marine supplies and fish
The owner was really friendly and got me everything i needed.

I don't know what their reputation is, but all the tanks were crystal clear and the fish and corals all looked healthy. His selection of powerheads and other accessories was quite limited but I still found what i needed at a very decent price. the fish are all quarantined for 14 days before being sold which is also a very good thing!

There Fiji live rock is also only 3.49/lbs


thanks for all your input folks!