Newbie To Marine

[blue422]

hi anyone...everyone, had kept tropical for quite a few years and now wish to start with marine..i have read a bit looked up a bit and heard a bit! however still confused . i wish to set up to start a fish only marine tank of 150 litres i intend to use live rock in the required poundage an external filter tetra tec and possibly a protein skimmer red sea prizm...now the questions: do i need the skimmer as my local shop says no and he has a number of marine tanks with undergravel filter only circa 18 years!! when do i put the cured live rock in? do i use lighting with this or not during maturing process?
two 24 inch t5 will i need more to keep the live rock? if i decide to change to some easier inverts later will i need more light reason only 24 inch, tank is 31 inch long. but quite tall thats where the 33 gallons comes from. also the tank has an internal filtration system but it only does 400 litre an hour i understand it requires at least 10 times per hour help please

 

[jeasko]

hi anyone...everyone, had kept tropical for quite a few years and now wish to start with marine..i have read a bit looked up a bit and heard a bit! however still confused . i wish to set up to start a fish only marine tank of 150 litres i intend to use live rock in the required poundage an external filter tetra tec and possibly a protein skimmer red sea prizm...now the questions: do i need the skimmer as my local shop says no and he has a number of marine tanks with undergravel filter only circa 18 years!! when do i put the cured live rock in? do i use lighting with this or not during maturing process?
two 24 inch t5 will i need more to keep the live rock? if i decide to change to some easier inverts later will i need more light reason only 24 inch, tank is 31 inch long. but quite tall thats where the 33 gallons comes from. also the tank has an internal filtration system but it only does 400 litre an hour i understand it requires at least 10 times per hour help please

Ok several questions here, firstly my understanding is that the LR doesnt need lighting itself the lighting really only becomes relevant when you start adding corals so regards to lighting sounds as though it shouldnt be a problem, even most inverts are not that fussed about lighting, having said that if you can afford to I would upgrade lighting now so if you decide to keep corals it wont be a prob later on down the line

as for filtration sounds like your getting confused with flow in the tank produced by powerheads which should be somewhere around 20 x the volume of the tank the filter itself wont be a problem with 400LPH
flow through it.

As for skimmer its a controversial subject as they will help to improove the water quality in any tank but if you head for hard corals you will almost certainly need one, the LR (Live Rock) will help filter the water and remove unwanted substances but as i have said before to others if you can afford go with one as its only really going to beneficial as the skimmer will help with future problems such as phosphates (biggest contributing factor to algae) one down side to a skimmer is they tend to be noisy, most important to all of this is regular water changes and monitoring your water paramters.

As for adding the LR if there is no live stock in the tank you can add it in whenever you want but it would be good to check your water paramters (nitrite nitrate amonia being the verry important ones at this stage) and make sure your readings ae inside acceptable levels before adding fish as it may be fatal for the fish, most people tend to add CUC (Clean Up Crew) first off as they tend to be a bit more hardy and alot cheaper should things go wrong, as for time scale as long as your using RO water i would be inclined to leave it 1-2 weeks with just the LR in it before adding in anything else this is of course provided the LR is properly cured. if not I would add it and wait atleast 4-5 weeks before doing anything else.

One other pointer for you is is would probably be good if you used a phosphate remover such as rowaphos from the outset to try and keep any algae under control.

 

[yorkcoparamedic]

I am new to marine tanks as well. You are going to get a variety of answers my friend. Take the best sounding ones along with what you have read and learned elsewhere and get to business. Its part of the fun and learning process. Get whatever euipment you plan on using and hook everything up in the tank.

If you are starting with a new/used empty tank. You can purchase the LR first, clean it good with RO or distilled saltwater and then place the LR in the tank. Mix your saltwater and top off the tank. Plug everything in. Set the heater for about 78F. Check your SG and make sure it remains between 1.022 --1.026. If your LR is already cured you can put it in when ever you like, it will help set up the biofilter quicker. There are several chemicals that you can use such as Cycle, Buffer, Stability, and Prime. All of those will help speed up the biofilter or you can go natural and wait the entire month out for cycling. Buffer however will help keep your pH at 8.3 and Alk in the area of 1.6 to 2.0.

While your LR is curing in the tank you are going to monitor your NH3, NO2, N03, PH4 levels. Each will spike and then drop in order as listed. There are really good articles around for further reading on this. And a lot depends on the purity of the water you mix. Most tap water is going to have moderate to high levels of N03 and will start you towards early algae growth. Use RO water if you can or purchase distilled water until you can get a RO unit. Once all the levels above are 0 or very close your tank is cycled.

The lighting that you have sould be fine for cycling the tank with the rock in it. But you are going to need more light. If you want to use T-5's get at least 4 tubes that run the entire the lenght of the tank and make sure each light has its own reflector. The lights should be 10,000K daylight bulbs. You can even make one of them Blue 03 Actinic for deep light penetration to the bottom of the tank. Plus it really gives off a nice glow IMO.

As for filtration. In the uncycled and new tank I dont think you can have enough filtration. I have read several articles citing this both ways. Some say lots of filtration and others do not. Some say protein skimmers and others say dont bother. I say go with your gut, protect your investment, and throw out at least another $100 for a protein skimmer. It's not going to hurt.

Here is my post and adventure in setting up a tank...enjoy.
My Tank

 

[blue422]

I am new to marine tanks as well. You are going to get a variety of answers my friend. Take the best sounding ones along with what you have read and learned elsewhere and get to business. Its part of the fun and learning process. Get whatever euipment you plan on using and hook everything up in the tank.

If you are starting with a new/used empty tank. You can purchase the LR first, clean it good with RO or distilled saltwater and then place the LR in the tank. Mix your saltwater and top off the tank. Plug everything in. Set the heater for about 78F. Check your SG and make sure it remains between 1.022 --1.026. If your LR is already cured you can put it in when ever you like, it will help set up the biofilter quicker. There are several chemicals that you can use such as Cycle, Buffer, Stability, and Prime. All of those will help speed up the biofilter or you can go natural and wait the entire month out for cycling. Buffer however will help keep your pH at 8.3 and Alk in the area of 1.6 to 2.0.

While your LR is curing in the tank you are going to monitor your NH3, NO2, N03, PH4 levels. Each will spike and then drop in order as listed. There are really good articles around for further reading on this. And a lot depends on the purity of the water you mix. Most tap water is going to have moderate to high levels of N03 and will start you towards early algae growth. Use RO water if you can or purchase distilled water until you can get a RO unit. Once all the levels above are 0 or very close your tank is cycled.

The lighting that you have sould be fine for cycling the tank with the rock in it. But you are going to need more light. If you want to use T-5's get at least 4 tubes that run the entire the lenght of the tank and make sure each light has its own reflector. The lights should be 10,000K daylight bulbs. You can even make one of them Blue 03 Actinic for deep light penetration to the bottom of the tank. Plus it really gives off a nice glow IMO.

As for filtration. In the uncycled and new tank I dont think you can have enough filtration. I have read several articles citing this both ways. Some say lots of filtration and others do not. Some say protein skimmers and others say dont bother. I say go with your gut, protect your investment, and throw out at least another $100 for a protein skimmer. It's not going to hurt.

Here is my post and adventure in setting up a tank...enjoy.
My Tank

thanks i will ask more questions soon...no doubt!!!!!!!!

 

[blue422]

hi anyone...everyone, had kept tropical for quite a few years and now wish to start with marine..i have read a bit looked up a bit and heard a bit! however still confused . i wish to set up to start a fish only marine tank of 150 litres i intend to use live rock in the required poundage an external filter tetra tec and possibly a protein skimmer red sea prizm...now the questions: do i need the skimmer as my local shop says no and he has a number of marine tanks with undergravel filter only circa 18 years!! when do i put the cured live rock in? do i use lighting with this or not during maturing process?
two 24 inch t5 will i need more to keep the live rock? if i decide to change to some easier inverts later will i need more light reason only 24 inch, tank is 31 inch long. but quite tall thats where the 33 gallons comes from. also the tank has an internal filtration system but it only does 400 litre an hour i understand it requires at least 10 times per hour help please

Ok several questions here, firstly my understanding is that the LR doesnt need lighting itself the lighting really only becomes relevant when you start adding corals so regards to lighting sounds as though it shouldnt be a problem, even most inverts are not that fussed about lighting, having said that if you can afford to I would upgrade lighting now so if you decide to keep corals it wont be a prob later on down the line

as for filtration sounds like your getting confused with flow in the tank produced by powerheads which should be somewhere around 20 x the volume of the tank the filter itself wont be a problem with 400LPH
flow through it.

As for skimmer its a controversial subject as they will help to improove the water quality in any tank but if you head for hard corals you will almost certainly need one, the LR (Live Rock) will help filter the water and remove unwanted substances but as i have said before to others if you can afford go with one as its only really going to beneficial as the skimmer will help with future problems such as phosphates (biggest contributing factor to algae) one down side to a skimmer is they tend to be noisy, most important to all of this is regular water changes and monitoring your water paramters.

As for adding the LR if there is no live stock in the tank you can add it in whenever you want but it would be good to check your water paramters (nitrite nitrate amonia being the verry important ones at this stage) and make sure your readings ae inside acceptable levels before adding fish as it may be fatal for the fish, most people tend to add CUC (Clean Up Crew) first off as they tend to be a bit more hardy and alot cheaper should things go wrong, as for time scale as long as your using RO water i would be inclined to leave it 1-2 weeks with just the LR in it before adding in anything else this is of course provided the LR is properly cured. if not I would add it and wait atleast 4-5 weeks before doing anything else.

One other pointer for you is is would probably be good if you used a phosphate remover such as rowaphos from the outset to try and keep any algae under control.

thanks,
external filter, is it needed?
or will skimmer and internal and live rock enough? or as chuck says never enough?

 

[chrissaysyes]

That sounds like plenty to me. Although I'd use the external and skimmer and leave out the internal. Still though, the majority of your filtration will be done by the live rock.

 

[blue422]

hi anyone...everyone, had kept tropical for quite a few years and now wish to start with marine..i have read a bit looked up a bit and heard a bit! however still confused . i wish to set up to start a fish only marine tank of 150 litres i intend to use live rock in the required poundage an external filter tetra tec and possibly a protein skimmer red sea prizm...now the questions: do i need the skimmer as my local shop says no and he has a number of marine tanks with undergravel filter only circa 18 years!! when do i put the cured live rock in? do i use lighting with this or not during maturing process?
two 24 inch t5 will i need more to keep the live rock? if i decide to change to some easier inverts later will i need more light reason only 24 inch, tank is 31 inch long. but quite tall thats where the 33 gallons comes from. also the tank has an internal filtration system but it only does 400 litre an hour i understand it requires at least 10 times per hour help please

Ok several questions here, firstly my understanding is that the LR doesnt need lighting itself the lighting really only becomes relevant when you start adding corals so regards to lighting sounds as though it shouldnt be a problem, even most inverts are not that fussed about lighting, having said that if you can afford to I would upgrade lighting now so if you decide to keep corals it wont be a prob later on down the line

as for filtration sounds like your getting confused with flow in the tank produced by powerheads which should be somewhere around 20 x the volume of the tank the filter itself wont be a problem with 400LPH
flow through it.

As for skimmer its a controversial subject as they will help to improove the water quality in any tank but if you head for hard corals you will almost certainly need one, the LR (Live Rock) will help filter the water and remove unwanted substances but as i have said before to others if you can afford go with one as its only really going to beneficial as the skimmer will help with future problems such as phosphates (biggest contributing factor to algae) one down side to a skimmer is they tend to be noisy, most important to all of this is regular water changes and monitoring your water paramters.

As for adding the LR if there is no live stock in the tank you can add it in whenever you want but it would be good to check your water paramters (nitrite nitrate amonia being the verry important ones at this stage) and make sure your readings ae inside acceptable levels before adding fish as it may be fatal for the fish, most people tend to add CUC (Clean Up Crew) first off as they tend to be a bit more hardy and alot cheaper should things go wrong, as for time scale as long as your using RO water i would be inclined to leave it 1-2 weeks with just the LR in it before adding in anything else this is of course provided the LR is properly cured. if not I would add it and wait atleast 4-5 weeks before doing anything else.

One other pointer for you is is would probably be good if you used a phosphate remover such as rowaphos from the outset to try and keep any algae under control.

ive also read that you should rinse filter media with freshwater to kill some of the bacteria otherwise they can causeproblems is this true??


thanks,
external filter, is it needed?
or will skimmer and internal and live rock enough? or as chuck says never enough?

 

[jeasko]

Have to say I would never wash filter media in fresh water as it may get rid of bad stuff but it also gets rid of much more good stuff, i'd stick to washing in water from the tank.