Thinking Of Going Marine.

[kev0101]

At the moment I am running a 5x2x2 planted Discus/community tank.

The tank has a Arcadia T5 over head luminare lighting.

Filtered by an Eheim 2080 external filter.

The water for the current setup is RO/HMA mixed in a 100l water but pumped into the tank via a pond pump.


What I would like to archive is a reef type setup with live rock covering the back and one side of the tank. Not quite sure of fish as yet. But I think more smaller fish than 3 or 4 larger ones.

My plan is to remove the external filter, make a sump and drill the tank. This is the easy part. Now on to the questions


1. Will my current lighting be sufficient? Obviously I would have to change the bulbs to marine ones.

2. The live rock. Can I use more base rock than live rock? Will the live rock seed the base rock? If so any idea of time?

3. Rock again I see a lot of tank photos with the rock going almost right to the top of the tank, How is this archived? Dose it rest on the glass?

4. The sump. Since I will be designing and making it from scratch could someone be so kind and point me in the right direction of some examples. The only thing is that I am restricted by the stand to 3 feet in length. So I will be making it tall as apposed to long.

5. Skimmers, Can someone recommend a good one? It would have to sit in the sump.

6. suggestions? Sure I've missed something, or quite a lot of things

 

[ben1987]

Hey, welcome to the nut house

1. Will my current lighting be sufficient? Obviously I would have to change the bulbs to marine ones.

How many tubes does it have and what corals would you like to keep. At two foot depth SPS corals, nems and clams would probably be a no-go under T5 lighting. If you have a few tubes then soft corals would be ok with maybe LPS a bit higher up.

2. The live rock. Can I use more base rock than live rock? Will the live rock seed the base rock? If so any idea of time?

You can use base rock or reef bones aswel as live rock. The more of the non live rock you use the more patient you will need to be. This rock could take 6-12 months to start to act and look like live rock. you will probably also get bad algae blooms. I would reccomend majority live rock.

3. Rock again I see a lot of tank photos with the rock going almost right to the top of the tank, How is this archived? Dose it rest on the glass?

There are many ways to aquascape a tank. From resting the rocks on eachother like a jigsaw. Using miliput which is a sticky paste you mix together which sets quite hard. Drilling rocks and using arylic rods and cable ties.

4. The sump. Since I will be designing and making it from scratch could someone be so kind and point me in the right direction of some examples. The only thing is that I am restricted by the stand to 3 feet in length. So I will be making it tall as apposed to long.

your best way to look at sumps is to decide what you would like to keep in it. the most common are probably 3 section ones.

5. Skimmers, Can someone recommend a good one? It would have to sit in the sump.

for a 5x2x2 you need a pretty big skimmer, the usual tip is to work out your total water volume. Tank + sump then x 2. Aim for a skimmer that is rated double your volume. Deltec would be nice on this. But TMC V2 skimmer would maybe be a cheaper alternative. Look out for 2nd hand ones.

6. suggestions? Sure I've missed something, or quite a lot of things

Research what you want to keep first. Then we can help you finalise an equipment list. Buy what you will need once rather than buying 2 or 3 times. I did this as i rushed into it at the start not knowing what i wanted to have.

 

[youngfisher]

Wow.
Another one to join us!
I have only just joined the salty side, but all I can say is..
GOOD LUCK!
Keep us updated remember pics!

YF

 

[kev0101]

How many tubes does it have and what corals would you like to keep. At two foot depth SPS corals, nems and clams would probably be a no-go under T5 lighting. If you have a few tubes then soft corals would be ok with maybe LPS a bit higher up.

4x54w tubes. As things progress I may or may not upgrade the lighting. At the moment I have set aside a budget of around £1000. Although I don't mind overstepping this it would be nice not to.


You can use base rock or reef bones aswel as live rock. The more of the non live rock you use the more patient you will need to be. This rock could take 6-12 months to start to act and look like live rock. you will probably also get bad algae blooms. I would reccomend majority live rock.

There goes the budget. I was hoping to save a bit here. But if its needed don't suppose there is much choice.



There are many ways to aquascape a tank. From resting the rocks on eachother like a jigsaw. Using miliput which is a sticky paste you mix together which sets quite hard. Drilling rocks and using arylic rods and cable ties.

So would I be better off making a stand (of sorts) for the rock and lining the back of the tank with egg crate?



your best way to look at sumps is to decide what you would like to keep in it. the most common are probably 3 section ones.

You see this is where I am struggling, Im not really sure. I have been looking at various sites over the last few weeks and still not got the faintest idea. The only stipulation is that there will be a pair of clown fish in there (otherwise the budget will not be cleared by the other half) But I would like to make it in a way that would be possible to expand at a later date.


for a 5x2x2 you need a pretty big skimmer, the usual tip is to work out your total water volume. Tank + sump then x 2. Aim for a skimmer that is rated double your volume. Deltec would be nice on this. But TMC V2 skimmer would maybe be a cheaper alternative. Look out for 2nd hand ones.

Thanks, from what I have read this is not an area that I wish to skimp on.


Research what you want to keep first. Then we can help you finalise an equipment list. Buy what you will need once rather than buying 2 or 3 times. I did this as i rushed into it at the start not knowing what i wanted to have.

Again still not sure, guess I will keep looking.

Wow.
Another one to join us!
I have only just joined the salty side, but all I can say is..
GOOD LUCK!
Keep us updated remember pics!

Cheers, I will be making a journal as things progress. The ones already here have given me a lot of ideas, and it's nice to give something back

 

[ben1987]

4 x T5s will be ok for quite a few corals.

i used an egg crate stand to make a cave if you look at my journal.

as for sump il pm u

 

[ben1987]

ok it wont let me PM and i cant say it on here as its a link to another site

 

[SkiFletch]

melevsreef.com for some great sump construction ideas . Beware making it too tall... You'll ultimately need to work inside it and you'll want to easily be able to get your hands/arms in there. Cause if you make maintenance inconvenient, it just won't get done.

One reccomendation since you're drilling. Install dual drains, each capable of handling the flow from the return pump for redundancy and safety. Cause it's not IF something clogs the drain, it's WHEN

 

[kev0101]

melevsreef.com for some great sump construction ideas . Beware making it too tall... You'll ultimately need to work inside it and you'll want to easily be able to get your hands/arms in there. Cause if you make maintenance inconvenient, it just won't get done.

The main reason for making it tall is simply to add water volume, I think it would be nice if it would hold 35+ gallon. Not overly worried about access as the stand has 4 foot (ish) of clearance inside.

Looking at some of the examples on melevsreef I may even split the sump into two, with an removable inlet chamber above the main sump. But there is a fair bit of work to do design wise before I even think of building it.

One reccomendation since you're drilling. Install dual drains, each capable of handling the flow from the return pump for redundancy and safety. Cause it's not IF something clogs the drain, it's WHEN

The plan is to do somthing like BigC's drain Here.



One more thing, (At the moment ) Power heads. I'm not really to keen on having them attached to the sides/back of the tank. Would if be a feasible option to hide them in between or behind the rock?

 

[bae1994]

in have a couple under my rocks to keep the flow going but also have some on the glass to give coral movement

 

[SkiFletch]

You can hide them, but maintenance can be a pain when you do...