Live Rock

[nikmon]

iv just started my marine tank and am in the process of seting up i wanted to use live rock as my main filtration method with my skimmer but my local fish shop have told me that if i do this i wont be able to have many fish in my tank as the live rock isnt very effecient at filtration.is this true? my tank is only 3ft/2ft/2ft and i was hoping to get at least 30kg of live rock maybe even more. any coments or help will be very much appreciated as im new to marine tanks.. thanks.

 

[seffieuk]

to TFF and the salty side of life

First: change your lfs

Live rock is the heart and lungs of your tank, you need to get this bit right, right from the start.

you have a nice size tank to start your adventure: 340 litres so for your heart and lungs you will require approx 37k of live rock to filter your tank and make it look glorious as well .

But lets take a step backwards, what kit have you already got and what are you planning on keeping?

Seffie x

 

[nikmon]

to TFF and the salty side of life

First: change your lfs

Live rock is the heart and lungs of your tank, you need to get this bit right, right from the start.

you have a nice size tank to start your adventure: 340 litres so for your heart and lungs you will require approx 37k of live rock to filter your tank and make it look glorious as well .

But lets take a step backwards, what kit have you already got and what are you planning on keeping?

Seffie x

already got a skimmer and light that came with the tank. got it off a friend who had stoped using it. bin to the local fish shop this morning and bought test kit,hydometer(not sure spelt that rite), salt(red sea max brand), wave machine,and fine sand. not sure on wot fish i want theres alot to choose from the girlfriend wants clown fish and regal tang(finding nemo). was also told i must use ro water? and not use tap water even if i use a dechlorinator? how long should i wait til i put the live rock in my tank? alot of questions sorry.

 

[seffieuk]

Don't ever be sorry for asking questions

so, you have your tank, skimmer,lights, hydrometer - take that back and buy a refractometer , you have a wave machine? what make and flow? You will require a basic turnover flow of x 20 so approx 7000 litres per hour. Make sure you get at least three powerheads for a tank that size unless you are going for vortechs.

Sand - what sand is it?

Lights - what lights are they, t8, T5 etc and how long is it since the tubes were changed? What tubes are they?

Do you intend keeping corals?

What test kits have you bought - most of use salifert, you will need, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate to start with.

Water - you will need RO water, It is a royal pain to mix 350 litres of the salty stuff - i cheated when setting up my 400 litre and bought it from lfs - BUT, i knew what SG the water was sold at and the TDS reading - buyer beware, lfs have been known to sell water that is not much better than tap water!!! This gets you off to a bad start!!

So as soon as we have the answers to the above we can get you started with you tank .........woo hoo

Have everything in place first - you have to learn patience very quickly here on the salty side. But in answer to your question, as soon as you have the salty stuff in your tank, it has reached the correct temp and SG and has lots of lovely flow through it for 24 hours you can add your live rock first and then the sand.

Seffie x

 

[Morri]

3 x 2 x 2 is a nice size starter tank clowns will be no issue Regal Tang will be way to big for this size tank sorry as they are a 12" fish have a look through the Journals on here to see what people keep and ask a lot of questions and take things very slowly