Starting A Marine Aquarium

[Jimyfloyd]

Hi all,

Only joined recently and I'm putting together all the equipment as we speak to start my first marine up. I thought before I start shelling out even more cash that I'd post up and get some views/ideas.

Right so far I have:

Juwel Rio 125l tank (basically 3ft)
Juwel T8 lighting (these ok for just LR and fish?)
RO unit
Eheim 2222 external filter
Thermometer

I know it's not much, but I'm waiting for charterhouse to get their Red Sea max starter kit back in stock (apparently next week) and i will be then ordering:

Red sea starter kit
2x hydor 1 powerheads (shall i get nanos instead?)
100-150w heater (any recommendations?)
about 10kg of live rock.
Background (I wanted a simple dark blue but having difficulty finding one...)

I'm initially wanting to get that up and running for a month or so (or when the stats are ok) and then introduce a CUC and then in March hopefully add some fish (couple of common clowns) and if all that goes well i'll convert the lights to T5 and get onto corals.

Any advice is much appreciated and any pointers will be good! Especially about the hydor powerheads - will the 1's be too powerful for my tank?

Once i get started I'll try my best to do a photo diary of the setup!

Thanks,

James

 

[Duck and Dive]

dont forget a protien skimmer!!! don't leave it a month because the live rock may die off, just a week or 2 is long enough.

 

[mutantbigman2000]

Hi. welcome to the salty side.

I converted a juwel tank about 2 months ago.

I would stay with the koralia 1's you mention. if you move onto corals they will give you plenty of water movement plus they are usually cheaper than the nanos anyway.

If you do upgrade and go down the nano reef route you will need to upgrade the lighting. In my trigon 190 tank i kept the t8 lightbar installed and put actinics bulbs in it. 2 x 18 watts.

I fitted an interpet 2 x 36 watt t5 power compact into the hood. one under each flap. i use daylight blue bulbs in these.

I also fitted 2 tmc aquaray marine white led bars. These are a bit controversial on here with opinions for and against. i personally like them and the effect they have. they also help to keep the temps and running costs down.

I would definitely buy with a view to upgrading to corals though because once the bug bites it bites hard.

 

[Jimyfloyd]

Thanks for the hints & advice guys! Wasn't expecting such a quick response!

I was going to get the skimmer for when I get the fish - or do i need it with the LR as well?

Mutant - where can you get teh 1's for less than the nano's?? it's the other way round at charter house (and ebay) not that it matters as it's £3/4 difference each.

As mentioned previously I'll be hopefully posting pictures of the progress as I go along!

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

Hi, and welcome!

I have the same tank as you and this is my thread which I started a while a go. Although my one is going for corals. So the lighting won't be as neccisary.

Thread

You will need a protein skimmer, but in the first few pages I go onto having one

Hope this helps.

Tom.

 

[Jimyfloyd]

Thanks mate,

What skimmer do you have and how have you installed it? I wanted a hang on one but not sure if a tank like ours will take it?

Also look here for a Juwel T8 to T5 conversion - i will eventually do this: http/www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=268500

Any more advice fully welcomed

 

[rabbut]

You're not supposed to link to other forums

What is this Red Sea starter kit containing?

For protien skimmers that are HOB's, look at Deltec MCE500 and MCE600 as well as the AquaMedic units. Personaly, I've gone off the latter recently and would have the Deltec's in preferance, but each to their own

HTH
Rabbut

 

[Jimyfloyd]

Sorry - didn't know about the linking (thought it might help though!)

This is the kit: http/www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/cat...ter-p-1250.html

If the link doesn't work it contains:

* 10Kg Reef Base
* 7Kg Coral Pro Salt
* Hydrometer, Nitro Bac Starter
* Mrine Lab master test lab
* Calcium Pro test lab
* Buff pH & alkalinity stabaliser
* Calcium+3 -Calcium & trace element supplement
* MarineGro food (sample)

Thanks for the recommendations but they're a little over what i was wanting to spend really.

Am I right in thinking that you need the skimmer for the fish or is it for anything?

 

[mutantbigman2000]

thelivingseas.co.uk Used to be cheaper but are now the same price at £18.99 each.

 

[Crazy fishes]

I got the red sea starter kit when I first started out and IT IS INCREDIBLY RUBBISH!!!!! Please save yourself the pain and worry of using this terrible stuff and just buy the items from a different company. It screwed up my water chemistry (the salt is useless, table salt would be better), the tests are so wrong it would be more accurate to guess and nitrobac does not speed up anything. If you want a decent bacterial broth to get you going, try stability by Seachem it is absolutely brilliant. I have used it in three fresh water and a marine setup and in three days on all the tanks the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates were at the levels where fish and CUC could be added. The ONLY thing in that whole starter pack worth anything is the hydrometer, served me well for 11 months. However I found mine to run 0.004 lower than my refractometer; it measures 1.026 whereas the refractometer measures 1.030.

Hope this helps

Regards

 

[Jimyfloyd]

Well thanks for the heads up! That leaves me with a bit of a problem now - I was hoping that this "kit" would get me going with all the basics (tests, salt, substrate etc.) and for a good price.

So what now then? I'm probably looking at double the cost to buy individually compared to the starter kit....

mutant - sorry what's £18.99?

 

[Crazy fishes]

Buy salt in buckets it costs more in the short term but will save £££ in the long. I use seachem reef salt which sets me back about £50 but it lasts 6 months. My tank is 90 liters (24g) and I do weekly water changes, well this week have done three. All you need is a bucket of salt, some RO water, aragonite sand (don't bother with live sand), live rock and a hydrometer/refractometer. You don't dose with anything but alkalinity and if you later get lots of big hard corals maybe calcium. If you want a boost on the bacteria cycling then try stability but it is not necessary. The other equipment is pumps and heater. Simple eh??

Any more questions ask away

Regards

 

[JP-79er]

Hi,

I have also a Juwel Rio 125l reef tank and have carried out the following conversions and mods:

With the Juwel i started out with the standard internal filter wished i hadn't used it and felt the same in regards to external filters as they become nitrate factories unless they are used with just live rock in them (IMO). I found a person on Ebay who sell HoB refugirums and invested in 450mm long version and filled it with Calpura which along side my live rock in the main tank and a strong water flow provided by Koriela 1 are coping well with above average bioload for tank size and soft corals. This may be a better and cheaper option than a Ehiem filter and will help you have more of an influence over nutrient export in the tank.

If you are running the Juwel Standard T8 ligthing rail then Arcadia do direct replacment with T5's is around £80 i run with two marine whites in them and have added (although a bit tight i have mounted a T8 Antinic on a seperate ballast and timer for a night light under the front flap this helped balance the light out and prevents the tank from looking two red/orange in the red spectrums. This is not essential iten in fish only tank but once you get started most find it hard to resistbuying some corals. This is perfect for softs but not hard corals, i am currently keepngi a H.Malu Anemone under this with good sucsess.

Two Koriela 1's are fine and give good water movment in the tank but even i am thinking when i upgrade my tank further i will substitue one of them for a Koriela 2 purley for the corals only.

I use the TMC400 this comes with a rather large pump and requires carefull rock planning to hide up. I also have this on timer as skimmers a re noisy and run mine during the night and 1/2 hr during the day flush standing water through, this is so we can watch TV in peace. Note skimmer working shops seem amazinglty quient but because of the backround noise it blocks out how noisey they really are.

If you are getting an RO Unit you should also purchase a TDS meter to test the water comming out so you can monitor the water quality closely as this is a major element to keep thing healthy (poor water = big issues)


Water changes, initally i carried out 30litre water changes every two week for the first year as i was adding to my bioload but when i slowed down adding fish to the tank and levels were working nicely I change 30 liters every three weeks.


Best ask you boss for a pay rise because once you start going you just don't stop....LOL and also make sure go slowly i have heard to many disaster stories of people going to fast and losing control of the tank and levels and losing prescious livestock and also find a LFS that can give you good solid advise and supply of live stock i am sure some in the forum someone dosen't live to far way from you and can give some recommendations.

Slowly, Slowly, Catchy monkey is the key.

Good luck and have fun,

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

Thanks mate,

What skimmer do you have and how have you installed it? I wanted a hang on one but not sure if a tank like ours will take it?

Also look here for a Juwel T8 to T5 conversion - i will eventually do this: [URL="http/www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=268500"]http/www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=268500[/URL]

Any more advice fully welcomed

I should thimk the tank should take it. I havent installed it but Im going for this one Skimmer

 

[rabbut]

I think I've replied in another thread of yours already, but if not...

Skimmer itself good. Driving pump bad.

The supplied Rio pumps are prone to failing in ways that wipe the tank. Swap it for a MaxiJet MP 900 on that modle and you are away with a skimmer that will perform well for a good while

HTH
Rabbut

EDIT to add. A descent skimmer is very quiet. I would argue that TMC's aren't decent having had a few mates whom have had them fail...