So Its Begins! The Tank Is Empty And Ready To Go

[superman1]

everyone has there own way of mixing salt etc etc or doing water changes.. personally doing water changes will differ for everyone so you should expect to hear different stories..

it all depends on stocking etc etc.

the way i did it was (if your not in a rush) just mix the first batch of water in your tank. have the heater where you like it. place the powerheads on either side and just drop about 5kg of salt in the tank and just leave it for a little while. then test...

if its under then drop a bit more in..

my 200litre to bring it to 1.025 if i remmeber correctly used about 5 or so kg.

 

[seffieuk]

Mark, if I can do it, you sure as hell can

Most people mix their salt water in the tank for the first time

Getting it to the right SG is easy, just get yourself a decent refractometer

Grad yourself a pen and pad of paper and start writing down, plans, how to, and tips, you will be suprisde how it mounts up

Paitience is the name of the game in the marine world - which suits most of us down to the ground, as the planning is half the fun

And, the only stupid question is the one not asked

so, lets have a bit of a recap:

You have got your 400 tank
Skimmer Deltec 600
Powerheads, Koralias - sorry cant remember how many or which ones, can you let me know
You are looking around for a tank breakdown for live rock
D &D Salt

so now make a list of what else you need

so to start off:

How are you going to get your RO water, lfs or RO unit - an RO unit will very quickly pay for itself

We are more than happy to help you achieve that marine tank, just take things slow

Seffie x

 

[mark1979]

Mark, if I can do it, you sure as hell can

Most people mix their salt water in the tank for the first time

Getting it to the right SG is easy, just get yourself a decent refractometer

Grad yourself a pen and pad of paper and start writing down, plans, how to, and tips, you will be suprisde how it mounts up

Paitience is the name of the game in the marine world - which suits most of us down to the ground, as the planning is half the fun

And, the only stupid question is the one not asked

so, lets have a bit of a recap:

You have got your 400 tank
Skimmer Deltec 600
Powerheads, Koralias - sorry cant remember how many or which ones, can you let me know
You are looking around for a tank breakdown for live rock
D &D Salt

so now make a list of what else you need

so to start off:

How are you going to get your RO water, lfs or RO unit - an RO unit will very quickly pay for itself

We are more than happy to help you achieve that marine tank, just take things slow

Seffie x

hey seffie

yep i have as follows.

400L tank
mce600 skimmer
d+d salt
i already have t5's i thought i had t8's but i thought wrong,lol
d+d refactometer

i was going to get koralia's but u quite like the tunze units,what are they like? this 1 in particular "Tunze Nanostream 6045"

would i need 2?

i think i need 40kg ish i live rock,so i may look for a breakdown tank for the cheaper option!!

my lfs is next doot to where i work so RO isnt a problem. i thought about buying an RO unit but do they need to be hard plumbed to the mains?

can you advise my of a good RO unit thats reasonably priced and does the job?

i also ave the api salt water test kit,what other kits do i need to start with?

 

[seffieuk]

hey seffie

yep i have as follows.

400L tank
mce600 skimmer
d+d salt
i already have t5's i thought i had t8's but i thought wrong,lol
d+d refactometer

i was going to get koralia's but u quite like the tunze units,what are they like? this 1 in particular "Tunze Nanostream 6045"

Not big enough for your tank - the Korallias are a grreat pump - there are some new big boys on UR at the moment for sale

would i need 2?

If you get the Korallias, get three - next we need to think about what size you need, this will vary according to what you want to keep, corals or fish only and soft corals or hard or a mixture. If you can afford it get the biggest and best you can now, it will save money in the long run - however saying that there is always a good second hand value on korallia etc pumps. so you could go for three K3 or K4 for the moment

i think i need 40kg ish i live rock,so i may look for a breakdown tank for the cheaper option!!

Yep, check on UR

my lfs is next doot to where i work so RO isnt a problem. i thought about buying an RO unit but do they need to be hard plumbed to the mains?

Yes, but it is easy, just sits under the sink and can plumb straight into a mains pipe or you can get a y connector and fix it to the wshing machine drain

can you advise my of a good RO unit thats reasonably priced and does the job?

Take a look at ROman - decent one will have a DI unit as well, should cost you about £85 - get two ball valves as well

http/www.ro-man.com/shop/product_info.ph...e67265f2bf10031

i also ave the api salt water test kit,what other kits do i need to start with?

Most of us on here use salifert - but if you already have the marine kit stick to that for now. when you need to buy anymore get the salifert ones. You will need test for: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, magnesium, phosphate to start with

Seffie x

 

[ben1987]

you can fix ro to outside taps, although your meant to keep the membrane wet all the time and flush it regular.

 

[mark1979]

can you advise my of a good RO unit thats reasonably priced and does the job?

Take a look at ROman - decent one will have a DI unit as well, should cost you about £85 - get two ball valves as well

2 ball valves? sorry but buy them seperatly or that unit comes with them?

does that salifert kit have all them test in it?

will 2 koralia's be k seeing as my fx5 is a pretty good force too?

i just seen the prices on the salifert kits,do you have to buy them all seperatly? if so anywhere thats cheaper,lol

 

[Ian H]

would imagine it would depend on the size you go for, does the fx5 have a spray bar? with no media in there just LR rubble i would imagine it would give off a good amount of flow! rather than 2 big pumps you may be better with 3 or 4 smaller ones along the length of the tank this way more of the rock will be getting a flow.

Make sure you get loads of pics up when you start

 

[seffieuk]

2 ball valves? sorry but buy them seperatly or that unit comes with them?

buy them seperate from ro man, they will be what you use to keep the membrane wet

does that salifert kit have all them test in it?

No, you buy them seperate, yes and they are expensive but reliable

will 2 koralia's be k seeing as my fx5 is a pretty good force too?

fx 5 is what? and how much flow does it have per hour?

i just seen the prices on the salifert kits,do you have to buy them all seperatly? if so anywhere thats cheaper,lol

I bought mine off fleabay

Seffie x

 

[Ian H]

the fx5 is a filter:

http/www.warehouse-aquatics.co.uk/index....=3921&cid=0

it gives out 2,300 litres per hour (more than i thought!) and with no media in there it will be pumping very fast!

 

[seffieuk]

the fx5 is a filter:

[URL="http/www.warehouse-aquatics.co.uk/index....=3921&cid=0"]http/www.warehouse-aquatics.co.uk/index....=3921&cid=0[/URL]

it gives out 2,300 litres per hour (more than i thought!) and with no media in there it will be pumping very fast!

ah ha, thanks

ok, next decison then is what are you going to keep in your tank.

FOWLR
Reef soft corals
reef hard corals
reef mixture

Your answer will give us a clue to how much flow you need.
If you go for 30/40 x per hour you could have most things as long as your lighting was good.
20/30 x soft corals and a few hard, like Euphyllias (my favourites)
20 x soft corals such as mushrooms and fish only

so, you have 400 ltrs of water

40 x 400 16000
30 x 400 12000
20 x 400 8000

Go for as much flow as you can afford - more is most defo better

so, in my tank I currently have the Skimmer, which I can't currently remember the flow of, my polario 22000 and a koralia 4, 4600, so I have 26000 ltrs per hour - more than enough and I haven't even counted my skimmer

Seffie x

 

[SkiFletch]

I by no means meant to think you were a lazy fishkeeper mark. Heck I know I try to keep my own tanks as hands-off as possible. Things do etter when I'm not in there messin around with things. A good ref tank can be pretty fire-and-forget once you get enough experience under your belt. Initially, it's a lot of reading and learning, but you can really make some beautify stuff with a reef.

 

[Ian H]

Also just to add, dont feel like you have to have hard corals, theres loads of softies avilable that look stunning, its what im going for and find them fine, would rather save some money and have softies than have to spend loads more for hard corals and in the end just think "hmmmm i could have a reef tank with softies look just as good"

 

[SkiFletch]

Agreed with that Ian. I've seen some STUNNING sofite only tanks out there. Takes a while to mature and really grow them in but once they do, wow

 

[ben1987]

theres a few awesome ones on that reefvideos that was linked on here the other day

 

[mark1979]

i think i will have to go for the softie/ few hards tank setup

so 20/30 do you think?

or can i get the 30/40 setup,ready for if i ever want hard's?

so then,powerheads.how many of what do i need?

i would love 1 which has the settings so you can slow it on feeding times and other things. there probaly expensive though?

also by the way,i may have 2 mce600's,so 1 will be up for sale soon,my gf picked 1 up for me 2nd hand when she visited her parents