Wanting To Dive Into Marine

[indir-emir]

Hi everyone,
Thanks for looking in advance Im wanting to move into the marine side of fish keeping hobby
As it look very interesting and rewarding. For starter, i just want to start with FOWLR and move into corals slowly.
I have a 90USG/340L aquarium, running a sump (not sure on how much water it holds but could find out if necessary).

First question is, would it be okay if i bought something like 20 KG of live rock, and stock a pair of clowns (missus really wants some ). And slowly increase the amount of live rock as i go along, then add more fish eventually.

Second question is, which i probably could have asked elsewhere, how high above the water level should i have MH lights which im going to purchase very soon?

Also, is a protein skimmer a must have for a tank my size? If i was doing larger water changes once a week?

Thats all i can think of for now

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Indir

EDIT: Forgot to add, i will use base rock to fill the rest of the tank (once i can find some). Having issues finding base rock for some strange reason lol.

 

[seffieuk]

Hi everyone,

to the salty side of life

Thanks for looking in advance Im wanting to move into the marine side of fish keeping hobby
As it look very interesting and rewarding. For starter, i just want to start with FOWLR and move into corals slowly.

Ok

I have a 90USG/340L aquarium, running a sump (not sure on how much water it holds but could find out if necessary).

Fantastic sized tank to start

First question is, would it be okay if i bought something like 20 KG of live rock, and stock a pair of clowns (missus really wants some ). And slowly increase the amount of live rock as i go along, then add more fish eventually.

Buy all your live rock at once, even if it means you have to wait longer - if you dont you risk having mini cycles. You will need 37 kilos for your tank, remember the rock is your heart and lungs and it pays to get this right. Start looking round for a reefer breaking down a tank, there are bargains to be had most of us buy some goods second hand, often means you can get better equipment as well

We all love clowns, just remember to buy two juvies




Second question is, which i probably could have asked elsewhere, how high above the water level should i have MH lights which im going to purchase very soon?

I'll wait for one of the other salties to answer this - I havent got MH

Also, is a protein skimmer a must have for a tank my size? If i was doing larger water changes once a week?

IMO yes, believe me you will not want to be doing weekly water changes on a tank that size - start looking for a Deltec mce 600 or a 500

Thats all i can think of for now

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Indir

EDIT: Forgot to add, i will use base rock to fill the rest of the tank (once i can find some). Having issues finding base rock for some strange reason lol.

I wouldn't bother - if you find a reefer breaking down a tank you can afford to get all live rock

Seffie x

 

[indir-emir]

Thanks for the reply seffie. Changed mind about the MH lights so going to use 220watts of compact flourescent lights... Hope this is ok? :\ Clarification please?

Well since rock here in australia is like $12-15 a kilo in LFS's. Online its about $8-10. If im lucky i find it for about $5-6 if i buy 50kg or more from reefers. And that comes to about 250 So i was hoping to get some dry rock (non live, live rock? lol) and get some live rock to seed and wait for the tank to cycle. Would this be okay, if i didnt introduce fish? Unless ofcourse i find a good deal.

Few more questions:
What sort of salt is good for marine use, must start searching?

How much, and what kind of, substrate do i need to cover 48" by 18" to a depth of 4"? (couldnt really find a calculator for this)

Also, is it okay to use tap water and condition it to get rid of copper, sulphate, chlorine etc etc?

Oh, and what kind of WPG am i looking at as a rule of thumb for corals?

Think that is all for now Thanks again.

Cheers,
Indir

EDIT: Forget about my question regarding dry live rock. Have rung around LFS and it turns out i can buy live rock from people online for same, or even a bit less. So im going to buy like 40-50kg live rock depending on price once i actually set up.

 

[indir-emir]

No one able to help out a want to be very soon mariner?

Cheers,
indir

 

[seffieuk]

Thanks for the reply seffie. Changed mind about the MH lights so going to use 220watts of compact flourescent lights... Hope this is ok? :\ Clarification please?

all according what you want to keep?

Well since rock here in australia is like $12-15 a kilo in LFS's. Online its about $8-10. If im lucky i find it for about $5-6 if i buy 50kg or more from reefers. And that comes to about 250 So i was hoping to get some dry rock (non live, live rock? lol) and get some live rock to seed and wait for the tank to cycle. Would this be okay, if i didnt introduce fish? Unless ofcourse i find a good deal.

you could do this, yes, but it will take a long time

Few more questions:
What sort of salt is good for marine use, must start searching?

A good marine salt, reef crystals, h2 Ocean etc

How much, and what kind of, substrate do i need to cover 48" by 18" to a depth of 4"? (couldnt really find a calculator for this)

why do you want it so deep? - you will need aragonite

Also, is it okay to use tap water and condition it to get rid of copper, sulphate, chlorine etc etc?

No, as you intend keeping corals - start with RO water to avoid high levels of baddies

Oh, and what kind of WPG am i looking at as a rule of thumb for corals?

You will need t8s for softies, T5s better, you can keep softies and some hard or metal halides

Think that is all for now Thanks again.

Cheers,
Indir

EDIT: Forget about my question regarding dry live rock. Have rung around LFS and it turns out i can buy live rock from people online for same, or even a bit less. So im going to buy like 40-50kg live rock depending on price once i actually set up.

thats what i would do

Seffie x

 

[indir-emir]

Thank you for the reply Seffie.

I will just buy live rock, as its same price (from local reefers i find online) as it base rock is in LFS. hehe. On a positive note also, my parents have offered to MAYBE pay for the live rock So cross your fingers for me I know i am.

Is Queen a good skimmer brand? Found a reefer online that would part with one for $50 AUD. He is using it on his 4x2x2 tank. Queen turbo skimmer? Said he couldnt find the model of it though :\

I thought the 4 inch depth was good to have a DSB in the tank, but now from looking around a little more, it appears the DSB should be in the sump? Anyone able to help me out here? Little confused.

Well i have some power compact fluro lights (which im pretty sure are T5s) coming at the moment, which total 220 watts. That is about 2.5-3wpg, before and then after rock placement. Would this be good enough for any types of coral?

Oh, also, is the standard 10,000k lights good for coral? Or will i be replacing these for marine lights?

As for salt, would this salt be good? Decent price for 600L worth. (sorry if im not allowed to post this link, mods please remove if im not).
http/www.guppysaquariumproducts.com.au/marine-salt/marine-aquarium-ocean-salt-20kg-600l/prod_545.html

Sorry for all the questions :\ Dont want to mess this up, and am really keen on getting this right the first time around.

Thank you,
Indir

 

[seffieuk]

Thank you for the reply Seffie.

your

I will just buy live rock, as its same price (from local reefers i find online) as it base rock is in LFS. hehe. On a positive note also, my parents have offered to MAYBE pay for the live rock So cross your fingers for me I know i am.
fingers crossed

Is Queen a good skimmer brand? Found a reefer online that would part with one for $50 AUD. He is using it on his 4x2x2 tank. Queen turbo skimmer? Said he couldnt find the model of it though :\

sorry, not heard of this brand

I thought the 4 inch depth was good to have a DSB in the tank, but now from looking around a little more, it appears the DSB should be in the sump? Anyone able to help me out here? Little confused.

very few people have a dsb in their tanks unless they are keeping things like jawfish. Some have dsb in their sump, but this becomes a pain to clean, a couple of people have had remote dsb in a bucket which works better as easier to clean. I would suggest you use an inch or so of snad in your tank and maybe look at remote dsb when you have a little more experience

Well i have some power compact fluro lights (which im pretty sure are T5s) coming at the moment, which total 220 watts. That is about 2.5-3wpg, before and then after rock placement. Would this be good enough for any types of coral?

Yes, most softies and some hard corals like euphyllias

Oh, also, is the standard 10,000k lights good for coral? Or will i be replacing these for marine lights?

you can use these for the life of the tubes, which is about six months, then replace them for marine tubes (only be able to keep mushrooms etc

As for salt, would this salt be good? Decent price for 600L worth. (sorry if im not allowed to post this link, mods please remove if im not).
http/www.guppysaquariumproducts.com.au/marine-salt/marine-aquarium-ocean-salt-20kg-600l/prod_545.html

Never buy a salt unless you know the content, in particular, magnesium, calcium etc. Have a look around at different brands then compare the content table - you want to get the highest mag and calcium as you are going to have corals

Sorry for all the questions :\ Dont want to mess this up, and am really keen on getting this right the first time around.

dont be sorry, we are here to help and enjoy you set up a great tank

Thank you,
Indir

Seffie x

 

[indir-emir]

Thank you again Seffie

Well i guess the DSB is out, which is good because it saves a bit of money

How much, roughly, aragonite (which im having a tough time finding actually) will i need to fill the tank about an inch? 4ft x 1.5 ft.

And i guess ill have to keep looking for a skimmer. Thanks for the help there.

Oh also, would i be able to use water from the beach in the tank for top ups? To much water to lug around to do the initial fill lol.

Ok heres one thats not quite on topic But either way here goes lol. Im moving house in about 2months (i thin itll be closer to 3 though). Would it be better if i just waited till i moved? Im really keen on the getting the tank up and running. But i don't want to end up killing off half the tank because of my excitement

Back to the researching.

Thank you,
Indir

 

[seffieuk]

Thank you again Seffie

Well i guess the DSB is out, which is good because it saves a bit of money

yeah, agree with you

How much, roughly, aragonite (which im having a tough time finding actually) will i need to fill the tank about an inch? 4ft x 1.5 ft.

Dont think you will need more than a 20 lb bag of something like Caribsea bahamas. I went and looked on your ebay and you are right, there is no aragonite sand on there, which is odd, could it be called something else in your neck of the woods - think I would go down to my lfs and see what they call it

And i guess ill have to keep looking for a skimmer. Thanks for the help there.

I like the deltec, look for a second hand one

Oh also, would i be able to use water from the beach in the tank for top ups? To much water to lug around to do the initial fill lol.

Its all according - take a sample and test it for phosphates etc - obviously you would make sure it was not near a discharge pipe - but yes, you can use sea water from the beach as long as you are sure it is clean - you could probably find a website that gives the water quality of the beach near you

Ok heres one thats not quite on topic But either way here goes lol. Im moving house in about 2months (i thin itll be closer to 3 though). Would it be better if i just waited till i moved? Im really keen on the getting the tank up and running. But i don't want to end up killing off half the tank because of my excitement

Well, if it were me, I would wait, collect stuff and look out for bargains, moving house is stressfull enough without trying to move a tank as well - but it is do-able

Back to the researching.

Enjoy, half the fun of a new tank is the researching and making new mates

Thank you,
Indir

Remember, patience is a virtue on the salty side

Seffie x

 

[jeasko]

sorry to butt in on this thread but just wanted to add a bit about lighting for you, firstly 10,000k is fine for marine but check to see if it has an estimated burning hours on the packaging that comes with it, most flourescent tubes will last you 12 months without to much loss of output, but also are you having actinic tubes as well as you will be putting everything under stress on wake up and lights out, some of your fish (probably not clowns as most common ones are tank bred) will come from the wild and will be used to gradual lihgt increase and decrease, so it would be good not to stgress them out to much.

just for your info Mh lighting has no real guide lines on height above the water, most people will go with 8-10 inches but it will depend on tank size and number of lamps in the unit as you will want to get a reasonalbe light spread.

also if you want to buy 20kg of LR and add to it this wont be a problem at all provided you buy properly cured LR from a repuitable LFS, you may have a very minor amount of die off on the jounrney home but no one I know has had any problems with the tank cycling again after adding more LR but that said though I agree with Seffies comments that it is easier to buy all your LR in one go and could potentially save a lot of trouble if your LFS sells you LR thats not properly cured, i guess it all comes down to how much risk you want to eliminate from the start and the more questions you ask the more you'll get to understand this hobby

 

[seffieuk]

I'm afraid i disagree on two points:

Marine tubes T5/8 have a life of six months, they then start to lose full spectrum very quickly, which I found to my own cost but which is wideley written about.

Adding live rock from a lfs is like flipping a coin, you can't tell which side its going to land on - is your rock going to be fully cured and have no die off, is it going to have a small amount of die off which your tank can handle or is it going to cause major spikes the only 'safe' way of doing this is having a second tank/holding vat and keeping the rock in that and testing until you are sure the rock is completly cured

Living on the salty side of life soon makes you very cautious - it is better to wait, wait and then wait some more until you can set up correctly rather than make costly mistakes, costly in time, money but mostly the life in your tank.

Seffie x

ps butt in all you like - thats what makes this forum tick

 

[indir-emir]

Thank you both for the replies And its not butting in, its helping out

I have compact fluro lights coming in tomorrow some time Am going to mount them and use them on my fresh water set up until i move. Have also decided that i would put of startin up till i move even thought id much rather have it up now

Also, is it possible to use any other substrate apart from aragonite (such as crushed marble), while having the same benefits (ph buff, etc)? I will be going to LFS very soon to speak with them about substrate also, have one that has been relaible for me Knows her stuff luckily.

Imon the look out for all sorts of bargains now And making sure to put away a little each week to have enough for all the live rock (40-50kg is what im going to get, that sound ok?) once i move

And saving up for a decent skimmer for now Then (in no order) refractometer, salt, test kit(s), substrate, and thats all i can think of right now lol.

Just got a question though. Are all them "propogation" tools necessary? Or can i just use my hands (dont mind geting them wet ? By this i mean for corals (i think lol).

Also, is there any fish that would fit into a ~10G tank? Want to conver this little one too haha. Addicted and i havn't even started my salt tank yet

Cheers,
Indir

 

[indir-emir]

Bumpity for questions in previous post.

And to let everyone know my light arived today Has made he tank ALOT brighter lol. Its a greeny, yellow colour to it.

4x 55 watt PL HO(High output?) compact fluro lights! Look great.

Oh, are these possible to switch with the lights tat are used in houses because the one i have seems to be able to fit some of the ones i have seen.

Cheers,
Indir

 

[indir-emir]

Bump :\