Planing To Start Marine Tank Setup

[MaNkiND]

I think I should also decided on what fish i shall be getting, which will help me with everything else. So these are the fish I think I might get:

- 2x Ocellaris Clownfish (Tank-Bred)
- 1x Six Line Wrasse (Reef-Safe)
- 1x Firefish (Could I also get a purple firefish?)
- 1x Yellowtail Damselfish
- 1x Kaudern's Cardinal

Yes, I know i will have to stock slowly. Will these fish be fine with each other? And what fish should i add first after the tank is ready. Also do i still need a sump, wavemaker, and skimmer for these fish?
Remeber I am definately going to add corals eventually, so are all these fish fine with corals and aenomes?

 

[MaNkiND]

Bump

 

[MaNkiND]

Does a sump also act as an filtering kind of a device?

 

[Aquascaper]

A sump increases the total volume of the system and allows a dedicated area for filtration, heating & skimming. The major beneift of a sump, aside from the increased volume, is that it can hide all the ugly equipment so that the main display tank is clear and as natural looking as possible. You can fill the sump with whatever you like really: DSB, Algae, Live Rock, Mangroves, etc. or a mixture. Aside from Live rock in the tank this is your filtration method.

If you decide to get a Halide light you will probably find that you will only need a single heater in the sump as the Halide will increase the water temp on its own. I have a 400w Halide above my 4' x 2' x 2' and that's plenty of light and heat, it's also set more over one end of the tank so there is two distinct light levels in the tank to cater for various corals.

I personally wouldn't even contemplate a wave-maker as you have to drop the water level in the tank to allow for the swell and this isn't really practical on anything smaller than a 6' x 3' x 2' (l x h x w) tank IMO, instead invest your money in decent powerheads such as Seio or Tunze.

 

[MaNkiND]

Thx aquascape
I saw your diagram of a sump on another post and i thought it really helped me.
Now that i know what a sump is, i have 5 questions:
- Do you have to drill a hole in the tank for your sump, or do some tanks already come wit that?
- How many gallons should my sump be if im going for a 72 gallon and its my first time with a SW tank?
- Is there a site with a diagram of a skimmer, or something that would really help me understand how a skimmer works. I know what it does, just want to know what it does.
- I have seen that there are like blackish-blue colored balls type of things in the sump. What are these things and whats the purpose of this?
- Could you put live sand and live rock in the sump, to give it a double filtriation, and also could you put a couple of invertebrates in it?

Thx every1, im getting to know so much, and this is really exciting

 

[Aquascaper]

- Do you have to drill a hole in the tank for your sump, or do some tanks already come wit that?

Some come pre-drilled but most are not, a decent diamond tip drill bit will set you back £15 - £20 but if you're not confident cutting holes in tanks a decent LFS will do it for a charge.

- How many gallons should my sump be if im going for a 72 gallon and its my first time with a SW tank?

Bigger the better. The bigger the sump the larger the total tank volume and therefore the more stable it will be. Also more room for filtration.

- Is there a site with a diagram of a skimmer, or something that would really help me understand how a skimmer works. I know what it does, just want to know what it does.

www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

- I have seen that there are like blackish-blue colored balls type of things in the sump. What are these things and whats the purpose of this?

Bioballs - some love them, some hate them. They enhance the surface area for filtration.

- Could you put live sand and live rock in the sump, to give it a double filtriation, and also could you put a couple of invertebrates in it?

Live rock in sumps is fine but you need to put in powerheads to increase the flow rate, sumps are quite sedate in the flow department. Live sand is a waste if money IMO as any substrate will be seeded by good quality Live rock over time. Putting Inverts in the sump is ok but really only necessary if they are doing a job. Sumps also make ideal quarrantine areas for problematic fish & inverts till you figure out what to do with them.

 

[MaNkiND]

www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html doesnt have a skimmer design

Would a 20-25 gallon sump be fine for a 72 gallon? Also can some1 explain me how exactly a sump filters the water? I heard that if you have a sump you dont need an additional filter ... am i correct?

-Thx every1 for all your effort

 

[Aquascaper]

Sorry, I read it as 'Sump' not 'Skimmer'

If you search the internet you'll find loads of DIY skimmer plans but it would be best to buy one. Essentially a skimmer passes millions of fine bubbles through a column of water which causes the dissolved organic waste to cling to the bubbles and be ejected out of the top to be collected and removed manually. This process recreates the natural action of waves throwing water over rocks, etc. and forming the foamy 'scum' you see on beaches after storms.

A sump of at least 10% of the total volume of the main tank should be aimed for, but as I said before - the bigger the better. Remember to allow enough room for back syphoning in case of a power cut otherwise it will flood.

A sump filters water by passing it through an area of algae, DSB, mangroves or Live Rock exactly the same way a 'normal' filter does. The bacteria and 'plants' remove nitrates, etc. and the cycle is complete. A sump alone is not generally recommended but it can work, again, the more filtration the better so if you can have live rock in the main tank as well.

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Those fish will be fine with eachother and reef safe. I have never had trouble with yellow-tails bullying other fish, but add it last just to be sure it wont become too territorial.

You will want a skimmer with fish only, and you will need the wavemaker when you get corals.

Those bioballs are hated by some because they cause nitrate buildup.

 

[MaNkiND]

Thx, i now know what a skimmer is. Just gotta google it to see how it looks
I'm definately going to have live rock and live sand in my display tank so i guess that counts as a filter. When i said any additional filters i meant like a canister filter or something. But from your answer, it seems that i wont be needing one
This is a newbie question ... what is a mangrove? And what is DSB, im guessing dead sand base?
Aquascape i really appreciate all the help

 

[crazyelece]

Mangrove is a type of plant that uses the nitrates to grow. Its a way to harvest nitrate out of the water.

DSB is deep sand bed, in theory it is believed that the deep area in a sand bed is oxygen deficiant and therefore has anerobic (I think this is the right type) of bacteria that converts nitrate to nitrogen. It is also a way to remove nitrate out of the water.

Personally I like to also use a canister filter as well as sump filtration in the case I ever need to add chemical filtration to the tank. If you ever need to run carbon it works well. It also backs up the main filtration and you can use the media to seed other filters like quarantine setups.

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

I say the cleaner the better. I run a skimmer and a canister filter, in which I have carbon and a mesh bag of aragonite to keep my pH up better.

 

[Aquascaper]

You will want a skimmer with fish only, and you will need the wavemaker when you get corals.

I agree about the Skimmer but MaNkiND is looking at getting a 72g (48x18x22), why on earth would he want to reduce the depth of the tank by 6" to allow for the swell produced and also lose upto 6" of width to fit the wavemaker?

As I said before, and this is JMO, a wavemaker is impractical and pointless on a tank smaller than 6' x 3' x 2' due to the modifications needed to run it. Spend the money on decent powerheads with a wave timer and get the same effect. There is no need for a wavemaker if you have corals, most marine aquarists survive without them and the people i've spoken to regarding them don't rate them at all. If you want to get as close to nature as possible fit a surge tank above the main tank.....great for the tank but will take up most of the wall above it

 

[MaNkiND]

First of i would like to say thx to every1 here who has helped me, expecially Aquascaper and RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah for being so nice and helpful
K so i think ill go with a powerhead with a wave timer. I'll also get a canister filter, because like every1 said the cleaner the better. I think i've got basically all my facts about equipment down. The only thing which im still confused about is about the SG. How do you set the specicfic gravity of the tank. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with a refractometer, or hydrometer. From what i know, i think a hydrometer measues the gravity, while a refractometer measures and adjusts it?
Also i was thinking if i have LR and LS how much LS will i need if i am planning to get invertebrates such as snails, starfish, maybe hermits, crabs. Havent really decided on my "cleaning crew" but estimately how deep should my sand be? Would 2-3" be fine?
I might be going to the lfs tommorow, and ill make sure to take a pic of the tank im getting. The lfs also has a display tank with LR, fish, invertebrates, and a few corals. The display tank is the same model as the tank im planning to purchase. I think they do have a wavemaker not sure. Ill take a pic of that also and show it to every1. Can't wait

 

[Aquascaper]

The Specific Gravity is set by adding or removing salt to the tank water. Hydrometers and Refractometers measure the amount of salt in solution and allow you to make fine adjustments to the SG level. Most manafacturers of Salt will have a rough guide for how much salt to use in a set amount of water to get a certain level printed on the packaging or in the tub. However, this is reliant on the temperature of the water and these values are also given but if you get a Refractometer then you don't have to worry about what temp the water is and this is a far better method.

On the subject of Live Sand, IMO its a waste of money that could be better spent elsewhere. Any substrate will become 'live' after time if placed in a tank with good quality mature Live Rock. For the money you'd be better off buying more Live Rock and getting normal substrate like crushed coral. It's advisable not to go deeper than 3" with your sandbed as tis is getting into DSB territory and, for the beginner, can cause huge problems if not cared for correctly. Aim for about 1kg of Live Rock per gallon and 1 snail/shrimp/crab per gallon for your cleaning crew, these don't have to be added all at once, I find the best way is to pick something up every visit to the LFS.