Live Rock & Water

[Stonker]

Ok, you've almost given me all the knowledge I need between you, but I have more questions!

1) I'm going to use live rock. What I want to know is, does this speed up the tank preperation in any way? Initially I was going to use a fliter, and prepare to wait about 6 weeks.

2) If I want to add some base rock which could also be seeded, what do I need to be looking for?

3) Secondly, what is so different between tap water and water from an lfs? I know it's got nasties in it, but what exactly?
A friend of mine has a huge filter which he uses to filter out metals etc before it goes into his Koi pond. Would this be sufficient to use in a reef tank?

4) From the setup below, is there anything I may be overlooking?

Thanks for your help so far. I'll be posting some pics as soon as the tank is setup

Planned setup:
28 gallon tank (restricted by space in the house)
2xT5 lumminaire
Skimmer of some kind
Cannister filter for phosphate removal etc (no media)
Live rock (roughly 10-15 kilos)
Base rock (seedable)
Standard marine sand

 

[steelhealr]

1) if you use good live rock, your tank can be cycled as quickly as immediately or under one week. Using a filter will take a long time and may give you a nitrate problem

2) Base rock is usually heavy, dense and not a great filter ..if you need to save money, I guess you could go that way. Nothing like using all good lr tho'

3)Tap water contains phosphates and nitrates, a setup for bad algae blooms. Test it. My tap water last fall contained 20 ppm nitrates...enough to kill. The nitrates come from fertilizer washoff and contamination...and our water was voted best in the area. You're just asking for trouble if you use straight tap water...even some filters on the tap don't get rid of it

4) Items missing:

Powerheads for circulation
thermometer
marine test kit, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, alkalinity and Ca2+
marine salt..unless you are buying for the lfs
algae scraper/magfloat
siphon/bucket for water changes
hydrometer or refractometer

....to start. SH

 

[Chac]

Hi S

I will answer your questions in the order you asked

1)Completely Cured Live Rock will defo speed up your cycle time (I have recently had a change of mind of the lth of time req.) I always used to give my tanks 3 - 4 Weeks from the time of adding the Life Rock to adding any livestock, Now however after more reasearch I would say that if you use 100% Live Rock or a L/R - Reef Bones Mix the cycle COULD be cut down to around 2 weeks, but remember to Test your water & also keep records (I would persoanlly also throw a frozon shrimp in to get the amm. going and feed the LR)

2)The only Rock Substitue I would use or recommend is Reef Bones, I persoanlly wouldnt add Tuffa, Grotto, Ocean etc. rock to any of my tanks

3)This one depends on how good your local Tap water is, generally (UK anyway) Tapwater is not trusted for use on marine Systems due to a high concentration of Phosphates will will give you algea that would resemble the size ofTriffids, there are loads of nasties in tap wtare and that is the reason I and most Salties use RO (Reverse Osmosis) Water, this is processed by a RO Unit that is a glorified filter that strips the T/W of the nasties and make it usable on a Marine tank
Check this out http/www.ro-man.com/

4) Does the T5 Luminaire come with White & Blue (Actinic Lighting

Skimmer I would say either an Aquamedic Bio-Star Flotor or a Deltec MCE600

Skimmer, both very good skimmers

No Powerheads, Test Kits have been listed

Hope this helps

Are you UK or US based

Del

 

[Stonker]

Hello and thanks for the help again
I did have most of the listed equipment in the back of my head rattling around somewhere
I'm in Manchester, UK.
The Luminaire has 2xT5 tubes, but it doesn't specify what shade of the spectrum they are.
The guy in the shop has said that I can choose. What do you recommend? I'd like to get some corals at some point.
The tap water in my area seems to be ok, but I'll test it asap and post the results, that way you can tell me how many fish I will put to death and how quickly! I'm joking by the way, but it will be interesting to see the results.

 

[Chac]

Hi S

I would still give serioud concideration to only usinr RO Water for Inital setup, top ups & Changes as IMO if you us tapwater, you will end up just fighting to stop your tank being covered in bown or green algea


If you are just going for soft corals at the mo, I would get a simple White & Blue light setup, softies dont need any special lighting

 

[Stonker]

Ok, you've convinced me now all I need to do is find a local shop which supplies it

 

[Chac]

I'd be surprise if there arent any TBH, all of the shops in my area do even the ones that only sell Trops.

Good luck Pal

 

[maestro]

The nitrate level here where I live is 50ppm!

no wonder I only drink bottled.....lol