Seeking Help As An Amateur

[JoshuaA]

How would I position a skimmer in such a tank?

Admittedly I don't fully understand the way they set up. Is there an in line hose using a pump and pumping the good water back in whilst removing the "skimmed" water into a reservoir. Is this independent completely of my filter using air pumps and hosing or does this need to be on a huge turn over also and some how intergrated?

Something like this?

 

[fishy55599]

dont think he will need his skimmer running constant IMO

He will if he has 4 or more fish in there. Remember it's a nano. More unstable system! Regular wc are key on nano's.

i dont have a skimmer at all-and been told if i do 25l change every week its fine

 

[JoshuaA]

I want to make sure the environment is as safe and suitable as possible if that means running a skimmer for 24/7 I don't mind, though if optional I would prefer it on a timer. Perhaps if possible skimming during the night time to reduce the noise pollution. Is that even possible?

 

[seffieuk]

Ah ha........so you are making the leap

The rio 125 is a perfect tank for your first marine, althought just want to check you havent run any copper in it?

The t5 lights will allow you to keep many different corals, softies and some lps. You might consider adding a blue and white aquaray, to give you some extra light and add some glitter you could also then use the blue for moonlights in the evening.

I run my skimmer 19/7 as I turn it off in the evenings, when I dose my redsea ammino acids etc (but we wont get in to that yet )

The skimmer hangs on the side of the tank, if you havent got a sump, which I havent - I run a deltec mce 600

Glad to have you onboard and looking forward to watching your progress Let me know if you want a buddy and I will organise it for you.

Seffie x

back Littleme

 

[Uriel]

You can run skimmer on a timer to go on and off as you please. You will get mixed opinions on whether you can/should run a nano with a skimmer. My view is the more rubbish you can remove from the water between water changes the better. Marine fish are used to very stable enviroments and the more stable an enviroment you can provide the happier your fish will be. Most skimmers run silently or as good as. and i can only see the noise being an issue if you have your fish tank in your bedroom. Which i do and it doesn't really bother me.

Orca/boyu do a 125l Plug and play which is a cube, so not overly obtrussive as another option. A lot of people here praise them.

 

[HappyGeorge]

On skimming, my systems run about 16 hours a day.

On Nano skimming, I ran a 20G without a skimmer for 6 months which never showed a result on Nitrate or Phosphate, even took water to the LFS to test. My tank was over stocked (I now know) with 2 clowns and a Chalk Goby, a shrimp and a CUC .
I ran filter floss over the return intake, which I washed every 3-4 days and did a 10 litre change every week.

Peoples experiences vary and what works for one won't work for another but IMO skimming isn't imperitive 24/7 and there are tests that support as well as conflict with this.

 

[JoshuaA]

In response to Seffie the only copper that has been present in the tank is from what was in my tap water and what has been in Seachem Trace and TPN+. I've been keeping cherries in my tank which are normally sensitive to copper but I have yet to see any issues.

If you could arrange that I have a buddy that would be great, It's going to be a slow process to start with because I'm going to have to buy a tank to move my tropical fish to probably a 94L that I was intending for marine to be. I have a 40L though I don't think that is suitable for the fish stock that needs moving, however that 40L will become spare so I could possibly use that for water preparation rather than a large bucket right?

Am I right in assuming that if I'm only going to run my skimmer selectively I should at the bare minimum have it going at feeding time? If it's quite I would happily run it all day, if its noisy and required I will run it all day... you catch my drift.

Thank you for a warming welcome from everyone by the way

 

[JoshuaA]

So progress is under way I'm bidding for a 60 Elite tank + stand to move my tropical's around which would be suitable for them, I'm probably going to go all out to win this as I want a stand so I can use my external 205 (I can't stand internals now lol).

Anyway so I'm drawing up an equipment list and I would like people to contribute and comment on my decisions so, here goes what I have in my mind now.

Equipment

• Filter - 1400L/H APS External (Will need Filter media, what should I be using in a marine? I have spare ceramics but is that needed?)
• Heater - 150W
• T5 Lighting Bar 2 x 28w ( though I need Marine bulbs, can someone help me source them cheaply I got given a quote of £25 a bulb! Though Juwel were sneaky with their length...)
• Skimmer ( I'm obviously wanting an external something that might hang on the side of the tank or back I don't mind, can someone help me here?)
• Power heads - I'm going to some new ones am I looking around 2500L/H flow rate for this tank then? Possibly split between 2 rather than one?)
• Hydrometer ? Refractometer (sp?) Which one should I be getting?
• Test Kit - I have an API Freshwater, I'm informed the only test that won't work is the pH one however I am willing to invest in a new kit if it is needed.

So what interests me is what I need to be packing into this filter, my filter comes with a built in 9w UV light which has been on constantly and I can honestly say it may have made a difference though there's so many variables it's hard to put a definitive finger on this one! So should I be running activated carbon/phosphate remover constantly when trying to keep clowns/coral? What else, some fine floss/sponge, ceramics for bacteria? Anything else?

Obviously sand... what kind of sand? Argos play sand? Or am I looking for a more specific type this time round?

I will have a spare 35L tank for water changes so I can circulate the water and warm it up over night for preparation of the next day's water change if that will be suitable.

 

[Uriel]

Equipment

• Filter - 1400L/H APS External (Will need Filter media, what should I be using in a marine? I have spare ceramics but is that needed?)
  Do you have this external already spare or are you thinking of buying one ? I wouldn't buy a external filter specifically for a marine tank. If you got a spare one use it, but if not i would spend the money else where. LR and skimmer are going to be your filtration now.
  
  
• Heater - 150W
  1 heater is fine but i prefer to run 2 smaller ones. Heaters can fail and lock in the on position and boil your tank. This doesn't happen often but it only has to happen once for you to never want it to happen again.
  
  
• T5 Lighting Bar 2 x 28w ( though I need Marine bulbs, can someone help me source them cheaply I got given a quote of £25 a bulb! Though Juwel were sneaky with their length...)
  I think iquatics so tubes that will fit juwel light bars.
  
• Skimmer ( I'm obviously wanting an external something that might hang on the side of the tank or back I don't mind, can someone help me here?)
  I would reccomend a deltec MCE 300. There expensive but deltec is a well respected brand.
  
• Power heads - I'm going to some new ones am I looking around 2500L/H flow rate for this tank then? Possibly split between 2 rather than one?)
  Yeah a couple of smaller power heads is better than 1 big one. As for brands I'm not really in a position to reccomend any.
  
• Hydrometer ? Refractometer (sp?) Which one should I be getting?
  Refractometer
  
• Test Kit - I have an API Freshwater, I'm informed the only test that won't work is the pH one however I am willing to invest in a new kit if it is needed.
  I like the salifert tests. They are expensive but you can pick up the ones you want as you go along.

So what interests me is what I need to be packing into this filter, my filter comes with a built in 9w UV light which has been on constantly and I can honestly say it may have made a difference though there's so many variables it's hard to put a definitive finger on this one! So should I be running activated carbon/phosphate remover constantly when trying to keep clowns/coral? What else, some fine floss/sponge, ceramics for bacteria? Anything else?
If you do decide to run an external I would run Live Rock rumble and add Phosphate remover and carbon as necessary

Obviously sand... what kind of sand? Argos play sand? Or am I looking for a more specific type this time round?
You need a argonite sand. Normal sand (argos play sand) isn't suitable


I will have a spare 35L tank for water changes so I can circulate the water and warm it up over night for preparation of the next day's water change if that will be suitable.
As long as it hasn't been used with any copper treatments this should be fine.

 

[JoshuaA]

Thank's for the response,

The 1400LH filter is one I already currently have on my Rio 125, when I downgrade my tropical tank that will be running of my spare Fluval 205 filter.

I do have a 50w and 75w heater that could be used if that would be enough energy to run the tank at optimum temperature, though if that would double the chance of the heater causing the tank to boil in a failure wouldn't it?

Skimmer/Bulbs/Sand/Refracto - Thanks, I'll look into them!

Finally... About this copper issue, just how much copper are we talking? I've been running this tropical adding plant ferts into tanks which have cherry shrimp in with no ill effect though I've never used a copper treatment or anything. I believe the amount of copper in these TPN+ etc when diluted in the tap water is negligible but would it have any ill effect? Obviously the tank will be cleaned.

 

[Uriel]

Thank's for the response,

The 1400LH filter is one I already currently have on my Rio 125, when I downgrade my tropical tank that will be running of my spare Fluval 205 filter.

I do have a 50w and 75w heater that could be used if that would be enough energy to run the tank at optimum temperature, though if that would double the chance of the heater causing the tank to boil in a failure wouldn't it?

Skimmer/Bulbs/Sand/Refracto - Thanks, I'll look into them!

Finally... About this copper issue, just how much copper are we talking? I've been running this tropical adding plant ferts into tanks which have cherry shrimp in with no ill effect though I've never used a copper treatment or anything. I believe the amount of copper in these TPN+ etc when diluted in the tap water is negligible but would it have any ill effect? Obviously the tank will be cleaned.

Although the chance of one of the heaters failing is higher with 2 heaters. A low power heater even permanently locked on is going to take a long time to push the tank temperature up to dangerous levels. This gives you more oppurtunity to notice the issue and rectify it before you lose stock.

As for the copper I really don't know enough about the fertiliser and the safe levels for marine invertabrates to help. I do know that copper has leeching properties which is why you do copper treatments in a QT or hospital tank.

 

[JoshuaA]

Ok, got ya. Good point a 50w or 75w will probably just be able to maintain the temperature by itself alone if one failed and if one boiled the other would turn off and it probably wouldn't increase at a fast rate.

So powerheads...

I currently have this one in my freshwater which can be used for marine as my soon to be tank won't be big enough to accommodate it without ripping up the substrate. Should I look at getting something like this for me to make up to the 2500LH aim + a bit more?

Edit: Looks like I've secured a 60L to downgrade my tropical to, a little upset as I just found out my crypts have sent out their first runners and my amazon swords have grown 6/7 plantlets in the last week. Got to get preparing the substrate then!

 

[woody88]

You can run skimmer on a timer to go on and off as you please. You will get mixed opinions on whether you can/should run a nano with a skimmer. My view is the more rubbish you can remove from the water between water changes the better. Marine fish are used to very stable enviroments and the more stable an enviroment you can provide the happier your fish will be. Most skimmers run silently or as good as. and i can only see the noise being an issue if you have your fish tank in your bedroom. Which i do and it doesn't really bother me.

Orca/boyu do a 125l Plug and play which is a cube, so not overly obtrussive as another option. A lot of people here praise them.

I agree. Great little tanks. You can modify the hell out of them easily too.

 

[seffieuk]

Iquatics now make juwel compatible tubes - buy two, get one free and its blooming good delivery as well

 

[JoshuaA]

Hmm interesting as I only have room for 2

Well the project is starting to gather steam I've just acquired a 60L replacement tank for the tropical fish which can be moved, the Fluval 205 is up and running (to test for leaks on tank and filter) and then in the next week or so I might transfer them over after I sifted out the tropica substrate from the big tank. A little sad that this is the end of the journey for that tank though a new one begins soon. After all the tropical fish said to me in a dream... it's ok Josh you can move us.

Juwel Rio 125 will now definitely be the tank to use!