New Member Needs Lots Of Help

[Fishywalton]

Firstly, Hello.


I have found a 330l tank I am keen on which I intend to buy next week,

I am totally new to fish keeping but My brother has a Marine tank so I know they need quite a lot of work with water changes ETC..

Rather than keep asking my brother I thought I would come here for my help as I have had a read of quite a threads on here and you guys an gals seem to know your stuff

I need some help getting started - As I said I have found my tank. (330L)

What else do I need in the way of power heads, Live sands, Live Rock, RO water unit ....

Can Someone give me a list of bits I can be buying ready for my tank

I want to run the Live rock as the main filter system with a sump for the skimmer. I intend to keep corals and fish


Cheers

 

[nick87]

to the forums.

A 330ltr tank is a good size to start with and a sump is even better.

As for stuff you can buy now, pretty much everything.

powerheads (atleast 6600lph of flow), protein skimmer (Deltecs are good), test kits, refractometer, RO unit, salt, lighting (T5 minimum for corals).

Nick

 

[PaBucsFan]

Welcome to the forums. I am fairly new to the the marine side as well, they can definitely help you out here. One major thing I have learned is NO live sand as it is a waste of money! The experts on here will tell you which equipment is best as nick87 has above me.

 

[seffieuk]

to the forum and the salty side of the hobby - tell us what you already know and what you plan on buying and we will help you out

Seffie x

 

[xxBarneyxx]

For a full reef system:
Basics

• Test kits (must have): Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate
• Test kits (Recommended): PH, Phosphate, Magnesium, Calcium
• RO Unit or reliable source of RO water (would recommend getting an RO unit unless you can get RO off your brother ).
• RO containers for storing spare RO water.
• TDS test meter for checking RO water quality.
• Good quality brand of salt (I personally use Red Sea coral pro but there are a lot of good brands out there).
• Buckets.
• Large container for mixing salt water.
• Phosphate removal media (roaphos for example).
• Large and small nets.
• Gravel vac.
• A load of 5mm airline tubing with adjustable valves and a few 1 way valves. always comes in useful for something.
• Some course/medium sponge. Use this at the beginning of the sump as mechnical filtration. Also useful to put around the return pump if it vibrates to help lessen the noise. Make sure it is regularly (at least every 2 weeks) removed and washed well.
• Refractometer for testing salinity.
• Marine putty (for sticking rocks together and for sticking corals in place). Look on ebay as its cheaper then your LFS.
• A second job to pay for the addiction

Equipment

• Sump Tank (not sure if already included).
• Return pump from sump tank (size depends on how much flow you want in tank and what size overflow you have).
• Lighting. This depends on what you are planning to keep and the dimensions of the tank. The choices are really either multiple T5 Tubes or Metal halide. If you have a lot of cash the LED is worth considering but they are still extremely expensive for that the provide. This probably needs a topic all by itself but have a look on here as we have had many discussions on the pros and cons of each type (I will try and find some links for you later).
• Powerheads - Again depends a bit on what livestock you want but for a reef tank you want between 20-30 times the tank volume in turn over. So between 6400LPH and 9600LPH. Personally I would go for 2 or 3 powerheads over just one as it helps create random flow, stops dead spots from forming and gives you a backup in case one should fail. Korallia and tunze are some of the best.
• Heater - 300w should do unless you are in a very cold house.
• TC10 temp controller - Having had a heater malfunction and kill a load of my livestock I would strongly recommend getting one of these. http/www.forttex.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=13
• Skimmer - Look for a second hand deltec ideally. There are some cheap alternatives which do work well but it really is a minefield area and a lot of skimmers are just junk. Ask around a lot on what other people are using.
• Small/cheap power heads and heater for mixing water. Its a good ideal to get a powerhead that you can fit a hose to so you can pump the water straight from teh container into the tank. Makes water changes easier.
• Liverock - Would say you need about 30-40KG depending on tank dimensions and personal taste. I would highly recommend not doing what most of us do and build a wall of rock along the back of the tank. This creates a lot of deadspots and also doesn't give a lot of room for placing corals. Try to keep the rock structure as open as possible. The idea being you get as much water flowing around each rock as possible. Also don't put the rock up against the back or sides of the tank as this instantly creates dead spots in the flow.
• Sand - Believe it or not is option (unless you have fish/critters that needs sand to live in). Don't get "live" sand. Just any Aragonite based sand will be fine.

I think that covers everything. If I missed something I'm sure someone will be able to add to it.

 

[Fishywalton]

Thanks for the replies peoples, Thats some list of stuff

Had a rethink and spoke to my LPS about a custom tanks with a sump and a cool water return which comes up behind the bottom of the LR to help with dead spots and flow