Marine Filter Question

[Tiamat79]

Hi I got a River Reef 94l Aquarium the other day and I am hoping to set up a marine system.
I know some people get rid of some of the stuff that comes with the tank filters so my questions are as follows:

1) What should I keep or get rid of?

2) What should I replace it with?

This is a list of filter stuff that came with the tank:
1 Bag of plastic Filterballs.
1 Black Foam Block.
2 bags of ceramic Bio-Media.
1 bag of Active Carbon.
1 fine Filter Wool pad.

Thank you for your advice

 

[Morri]

Easy get rid of it all

Replace with proper marine carbon (seen the other stuff turn to mush)

Add some rowaphos to remove phosphate

Add a skimmer to one of the chambers

leavve the rest clear

 

[seffieuk]

Tiamat to the salty side - dont forget to take loads of photos as you set-up etc

Seffie x

 

[Tiamat79]

Don't worry I will have lost of pictures but I do need a new camera. Any recommendations?

I have looked on a number of forums and a lot of people with the same tank as mine say they can't fit a Skimmer in because the cup needs to be above the water line.
I've been told that water changes once a week is a good alternative would this be ok?
I'm a little scared to do any major mods to my tank.

Also I have been told that I can save some money on LR by supplementing it with Ocean Rock. How accurate is this? Will it become LR over time?

I have some stuff on order like a small RO 50gpd unit, a small bucket of Red Sea Coral Reef Salt and a Refractometer. (I was told I'd be lucky to get half the stated gpd out of the RO unit but I don't have a lot of space for water containers, maybe 2-3 at the most so I'm ok with that.)

Would it be better to get CaribSea Arag-Live Reef Sand or normal marine sand?
Can anyone recommend any online stores that deliver to the UK?

All my lfs are fw but there are a few nice not so lfs that do marine. I have to use public transport, so for things like Sand, food, Medicines, filter bits ect... it's better if I can get them on line

I've seen a few Marine tanks on a number of forums that use the same tank as my one and I hope I can get mine to look as nice as theirs

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Sounds like you are off to a good start and have obviously been doing your research which is the most important bit when it comes to keeping marines.

Regarding the skimmer. Yes you can run without one (I have in the past) but after using one and seeing how much crude it pulls from the water I wouldn't want to run without one again. You could get a hang on the back skimmer and slightly mod the hood to fit it in. Might not look very pretty but it will definitely do the job. Not sure on how that tank is made but there are some very small skimmers you can get.

Another alternative would be to drill the tank with an overflow and add a sump. This will give you more water volume and somewhere to hide the heater and skimmer.

Don't get live sand. At best you are paying extra for it (it isn't possibly live). At worst I have know people who have had ongoing issues with phosphates and nitrates caused by it.

Not bought a great deal online really. fishmansfrags and H2ocorals are supposedly very good for livestock. Don't go anywhere near bluezoo aquatics, I had a nightmare with them getting some new lights.

You can supplement LR with ocean rock and eventually the ocean rock will become live. Try to get the lightest, most porous ocean rock you can. Ideally you want to get reef bones as this is basically dried out LR and will work a lot better then ocean rock (which tends to be too dense to be really good for filtration). I have some Ocean rock in my tank. The stuff that has been in there over a year you cant tell apart from the normal LR now. It can take awhile before it really blends in though.

 

[Morri]

I thought I had seen people fit a TMC V2 to the RR`s will check again

 

[Tiamat79]

I thought I had seen people fit a TMC V2 to the RR`s will check again

I did see someone that had Cut the lid to make an area for the Cup, but I'm worried about messing up the tank so I'd rather not do that. I'm happy to make water and filter floss changes once a week for now until I find one small enough