Starting A Marine Aquarium

[Truck]

wooh you dont need that,

3 hydor koralia nanos will be good

 

[omega59]

the nano one is 240gph? that will make it only 750GPH with 3, so it is less.

 

[Truck]

yes but it still equals 2400 litrs per hour, which is what your aiming for

 

[omega59]

oh okay, sorry for all the questions, i am just wanting to get this up and runing smooth as possible, and i am a newbie here. thanks for the patience.

 

[Truck]

no im in the same position as you im just starting my second nano up, i enjoy helping people

 

[omega59]

i can't wait for the thing to be setup. the anemone i will buy are young about 1 and half to 2 inches in length, so they are young to pair up they should be okay together.

 

[Truck]

by anemone i think you mean clownfish? make sue you get a mated pair. or juveniles, you have space to add a goby and/ or firefish but remember stock slowly

 

[karaim]

Okay, here is the list of stuff you need:

1) Salt Mix (obviously)
2) Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, PH, Alkalinity testing kit (and calcium, phosphate and magnesium if you're doing a reef setup)
3) Refrectometer (I think that's what it's called) - to measure salt content
4) Live Rock
5) Sand (optional)
6) Powerheads (I think 2 in a 30 gallon tank are fine). Don't get the Koralia 1200 GPH - these will BLOW YOUR FISH AWAY in such a small tank.
7) Skimmer (optional)
8) Heater (MANDATORY) - I don't know how your LFS could have told you that you don't need one
9) Buckets, nets, etc.

so is it better to just get a filter cycled, and save on buying live rock?? cus i have a filter already i can just swap the media.

A filter will probably not be able to handle the bioload of your tank (of course it depends on the filter and on the bioload).

 

[Truck]

can i just add you will need a power head for mixing salt water.

 

[karaim]

can i just add you will need a power head for mixing salt water.

I suppose you could do it manually, but it's so much easier with a powerhead.

 

[Truck]

if you did it manually water changes would take about half a day lol

 

[andywg]

when you add live rock, you usually test the water every day until you get a reading of
ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
and nitrates 10-20 ppm

then perform a 40% water change, wait 12 hours and test again if water stats are the same its safe to add some CUC and a few weeks later some fish!

I'm still not convinced by this order. It is well documented that fish have a far higher tolerance to nitrates and such than invertebrates. At the end of curing the live rock the tank is ready for an inhabitant. By adding such a low bio load as just a CUC then surely you will end up having the bacterial colony decrease before you add a fish and it has to catch up again. I always add a fish first as they are more resilient to the changeable conditions in a new tank.

 

[omega59]

karaim so 2 Powerheads that are 240gph each, will be too much?? i should get 2 1200gph?

 

[karaim]

karaim so 2 Powerheads that are 240gph each, will be too much?? i should get 2 1200gph?

I think 2 240 GPH powerheads put in opposite sides of the tank facing each other (to create more turbulance) would be sufficient for a fish only tank. For a reef tank, you might want a little more flow. You want AT LEAST a 10x flow for a fish only tank. That means if you have a 30 gallon tank, you want at least 300 GPH flow. With 2 240 GPH, you will have 480 GPH, which is 16X. In a reef tank, you want 20-30X flow, so anywhere between 600 and 900 GPH.

In my 120 gallon fish only setup, I have two (2) 1200 GPH Koralias and 2 returns from my sump (about 800 GPH each). That means my 120 gallon has 4000 GPH flow (1200 + 1200 + 800 + 800).

For your 30 gallon tank, you will have small fish I assume (clowns, etc.)? If so, the 1200 GPH will blow them away. I have a 4" emperor angel in my 120 and it gets blown away when swimming by the powerhead (and this is a strong fish). In a 30 gallon, your fish will be hit against the glass.

 

[omega59]

okay. i'm going to order the Hydor Koralia Nano Pump Powerhead 240gph, 2 of these to make 480GPH. I don't want any reef's. just sand, 2-3 fish, live rock, and some decorations for them to hide around.