I Want To Change, But Can I.

[danon]

Hi,

Wanting some advice on where to start, been looking at the Nano reef tanks and am very impressed, some lovely looking tanks!!!
My question is, well there are a lot actually. Should i go for the orca 550 for example OR i currently own an AquaOne 980, Tank dimensions 98X60X47cm,
AQUARIUM volume 215litres. It is currently a Cichlid tank but i know someone who will buy the fish off me.

Is it possible to adapt this tank for the marine set-up?
Do i need a sump? I think the sump is a smaller tank, housed under the main tank! What is the purpose of this?
I would like live sand, live rock, corals and a few fish.

I am still very much in the 'thinking' stages and realise it will take many months of planning before actualy buying any equipment.It took about 5 months of planning the Cichlid set-up. Was up till the early hours this morning just reading articles on this forum and getting VERY confused!!!!

If it is easier to set-up a smaller tank ie the orca, then i would rather go down that route and sell the other tank, don't really have the space for both, wife would probably divorce me. Kids are on my side though.

If i use live rock and live sand, do you still need a filter?

Sorry to ramble on. There are so many questions to ask and all i can think about is rocks, fish, corals, sumps, skimmers, salt, testers, oh my think my head will explode!!!

Have received so much help on the Cichlid posts i am sure you will be as helpfull, thankyou in advance. Dan.

ps. I understand a Nano-reef system is under 20 gallons. For the same set-up in the AquaOne what is that called and am i ok to keep posting in here?

 

[ben1987]

a nano is usually 30 gallons or under, so if you used the aqua one then its just a marine tank lol.

Generally, the more water the more stable you are able to keep the tank. But the 550 has the advantage of being a nice little all in one job with not much equipment on show. I dont like to see tanks with loads on show, so if it was me id be looking to sump the other tank.

You dont need a filter if you use live rock. You need powerheads to create the flow though.

 

[owlbassboy]

hiya mate personally i would strip the aquaone and do it marine but have you ever used any copper treatment in this tank at any time?..... if you have you wont be able to keep any inverts.

you will probably need to upgrade the lighting to keep corals.

if you are going for live rock and sand the only thing you need is plenty of flow at least 20x the tank turning over per hour. i would recommend adding a skimmer tho as i found my stock looked a lot healthier when i added one to my nano.

i would see if a moderator could move to another section maybe the hardware section then when you start the switch you could start your diary in the marine journals section

 

[danon]

OK, thanks for the advice so far.

Only treatment i have used was Myxazin a few months ago.

So if i used live rock and sand i could REMOVE the trickle filter that is attached to the AquaOne hood?
Does a skimmer sit outside the tank, if so i would have to cut into the hood where the filter is, rendering it useless for future use, hence the question do i need the filter?

How much rock would i be looking at for the AquaOne?
WHAT is a sump? How does it work? Is it essential?

Thanks so far, got sooooooooooo many questions,
Cheers, Dan.

 

[owlbassboy]

a lot of people modify the hoods of the aquaone tanks for marines so they can add a skimmer know of one guy who added an overflow box to a sump in his best try googling it to get ideas or if i can find any of the threads (not even sure what site i seen them on) ill pm you a link