Thinking of Marine Tank

[ah fat]

You do need a skimmer, you'd be surprise what mine pull out of the water. Substrate wise, I am using Grade 1. Not too 'light' that my wavemaker would easily push around the tank. You'll need-

Tank and sump,
stand,
skimmer,
skimmer pump,
return pump,
pump for water circulation in the tank,
salinity meter ( to gauge the salinity of the saltwater ),
light set ( T5 with ATI tube, 1 white, 1 blue tube ),
Salt mix ( Tropic Marine, Marine Environment ),
distilled water ( don't use tap water ),
sea water ( if you don't want to buy distilled water and salt mix ),
test kit ( ammonia, nitrate, nitrite,phosphate,ph ),
chiller ( if you going to buy coral ),
timer,
magnet cleaner,
fish food ( hikari frozen mysid shrimp ),
live rock,
sand,
pvc pipe ( connect the tank to the sump ),
hose ( connect the return pump to the chiller to the main tank ),
hose clamp,
thermometer.

These are the items you may need. There might be others that I have missed out. Please do your homework and research in order to have an idea to maintain your setup.

i believe he is trying to go for low cost setup. recommending the most high end stuff is good as it will ensure things work out, but do offer cheaper alternatives as advice. ha.

[ah fat]

err..

dn need skimmer ah?
. me thinking of a fish and live rocks only tank..

thanks in advance

skimmer or not depends on a lot of things.
1. your budget - got money than best to have skimmer, the cheaper airstone skimmer though not as efficient will cost you 10bucks

2. your tank size - small tanks like 1ft to 2ft will not need much skimming since you cant really fit any good skimmer in and its small and easy for water change which is a cheaper alternative
frequent water change is also a good thing in terms of restoring trace elements without additives

3. your bioload - a 2 ft tank with less than 3 fish wouldn't have much things to skim. but if you are going to overload a tank than skimmer is extremely impt.

got a few type of skimmer
airdriven - works by pumping air out of a airstone around 10 bucks for brands such as dymax, AA and 40 bucks for better brands. its not as efficient and require monthly change of air stones

venturi - suck air as water flow thru. commom in brands such as weipro and prizm. weipro require a pump which will creat heat in your tank. a weipro 2011 plus a pump will be ard 60buck. a prizm is a slim design hang on skimmer. new one 180plus, 2nd hand ard 100

needlewheel - better technology than venturi though i still not pro enough to know how it works.

my 1ft tank run on a 10bucks airdriven skimmer with 3 fish, a shrimp. but i barely squeeze the skimmer in and also after some modifications. lazy to change water so frequently.
skim yellowish water only

i suggest you do more reading before deciding what is required for you.

[blackghost]

oo.

thanks guys for the input..

me been doing research. well.. quite alot actually.. and sometimes diff sources states different things..

so that's why i come here to get information..


i've tried the airstone filter for 10 plus.. for my first setup. didnt see a big diff..

i've also seen a hangon skimmer. around 20-30 dollars. .but cant remember the brand? can i go for that? instead of going for those above 50 brands?

[ah fat]

oo.

i've tried the airstone filter for 10 plus.. for my first setup. didnt see a big diff..

i've also seen a hangon skimmer. around 20-30 dollars. .but cant remember the brand? can i go for that? instead of going for those above 50 brands?

don't understand what you're talking about
airstone filter = ??? skimmer?
how big tank you intending?

hangon skimmer as in?? airstone, venturi.. else can't recommend.

[blackghost]

orh.

i will check out the brand and get back to you.

[blackghost]

hi guys. this is the skimmer i was talking about. 35 bucks



can use?

then also.. i've got a question.. currently.. me thinking of a fish only tank..den wat if i wanna venture in low-maintenance corals. since i'm purchasing a light set, maybe i should invest in a little bit more to get better lights for the corals.

me thinking of T5s, if i do get this light. what kind of corals i can get? maybe you guys can provide me with pictures or point me to the right website

[Ahzai]

bro , www.sgreefclub.com

[ah fat]

hi guys. this is the skimmer i was talking about. 35 bucks



can use?

then also.. i've got a question.. currently.. me thinking of a fish only tank..den wat if i wanna venture in low-maintenance corals. since i'm purchasing a light set, maybe i should invest in a little bit more to get better lights for the corals.

me thinking of T5s, if i do get this light. what kind of corals i can get? maybe you guys can provide me with pictures or point me to the right website

this skimmer i also never hear any reviews before. but this is a venturi skimmer. have a spoilt one which i failed to repair. ha

depends on what corals you are going into.
i have tried star polyps with only those table lamps with a 16w white bulb successfuly.
soft corals do not need very strong lights usually.
t5 also got normal output and high output. a high output one will already allow you to go into LPS.
it also depends on the placements of your corals.
eg. place those light demanding types on the top.

for corals you should also look into temperature. better lightings usually = more heat. corals need preferably 28 and below. but i usually between 28 and 29. ha.

[blackghost]

so T5 HO.. the HO stands for High Output..

then what do LPS means?

[ah fat]

Large Polyp Stony corals i think. such as bubbles and hammer

go www.liveaquaria.com to check out the different corals id

[blackghost]

thanks guys for the help.

me now in the planning stage. my brackish tank just hit the 1.21SG mark. so its now a marine tank. added a blue knuckle hermit. seems to be doing fine. no live rocks as of yet. and no light, and no protein skimmer

by the way in my tank, the inhabitants are 2 Green Spotted Puffers, 1 Blue Knuckle Hermit and strangly, 1 Guppy.

the Guppy seems to be doing well in the high salt. been alive for 2-3 weeks now. it was actually from Freshwater before i started converting in to brackish. but i cant seem to net it as its too fast and small for me. so his been in there for few in high sg levels.

[EvolutionZ]

Marine guppy?
do update more on your marine guppy...

[Ahzai]

guppy from fresh water to marine tank ? please dont do that to the poor little fellow!

[BFG]

Certain species of these guppy eg mollies are sometimes used in marine tank. They are used to help the tank cycle and to consume some algae in the marine tank. I have seen some giving birth in marine tank too.

BUT, as far as I know, mollies prefer calm water and a marine setup usually has high water movement. Since mollies are from freshwater, they do not know or are aware of predator living in the live rock. I believe the ones I have seen was preyed upon by predation living in the live rock. The owner never found the dead body of the mollies he had kept. It's more than 10pc originally bought in the 1st place and the population increase when a few of the female gave birth. But after a month or so, the number dwindle. I can't say whether it's due to the unseen predator living in his tank or that the mollies has finally succumbed to the salinity level of the salt water.

[blackghost]

i scooped all the guppies i had and transferred them to a 1.5 freshwater tank.

except for this guy, i can never manage to net it.. i think, its used to darting around as they are two other predators in the tank.

will try my best. tried alot of methods, using two nets, switching off the lights, tried occupying it with food (while slowly inching the net)..

but.. HEY! if he survives, then i guess i will be first in the world to have a marine guppy.

[izzat]

Sorry if you have mentioned it before, what is your glass thickness?

Better be on the safe side before anything happens

[blackghost]

errr. the thickness is 0.5cm - 0.6cm

why? does it matter? how so?

[izzat]

What is the width and height of the tank? Is there any eurobracing along the tank?

I am afraid that if the glass thickness is too thin, your tank might bow in future.

[blackghost]

err..width is 1ft height is 0.45. what is bow?

[ah fat]

err. can be 0.45ft for height.
you making a pond? ha