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Thread: Newbie to marine

  1. #41
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    Re: Newbie to marine

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    Quote Originally Posted by dkk08 View Post
    Interestingly your office layout sound very much like my previous office layout... and I upgraded from a 1ft tank to a 1.5ft cube tank and managed to keep corals/fishes for about a year plus before downgrading to a FOWLR(Fish Only With Live Rock)... the only hassle is topping up of water due to the big air con above... I could get a temp of 22-25 deg and on weekends I had to depend on a fan as they off the aircon over the weekends (as we only work 5 days week)

    Do bear in mind that firefish are great jumpers and a cover might be necessary, mushrooms and zoas are find but do take care that zoas can be nasty when they die off...

    just some of my past experience... oh and yes its definitely feasible...
    Thanks for the tips Malcolm My office has people working on Saturday (not me though), so I think temperature wise I may be alright without a fan over the weekends. My only worry is really the lack of a filter and whether it will pose a problem.

    Another concern I have is outbreaks. Planted tanks are rife with problems in relation to algae outbreaks in a new tank that require a lot of maintenance to prevent/get rid of. Is there such a problem with marine?

    My focus is really on keeping it as low maintenance as possible. The toilet is very far away (and with 2 doors that require scanned pass to enter/exit). In the above setup, without even a filter to maintain, it's only a matter of changing 5-7 liters of water a week and topping up evaporation. That seems doable for me as I can just get 2 of those 4 litre fruit juice container and mix up the salt mix at home and bring to office.

    (My alternative would be to abandon the thought of marine and go with a simple wild betta/apisto set up - but it would involve a filter and maintenance, which is what is making marine more attractive to me at the moment)

  2. #42
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    Er.... When did Desmond become Malcolm? :P
    A Friend is one who is Faithful, Reliable, Inspiring, Encourager, who is Neutral when handling conflicts and helps to Develop you as a person.


  3. #43
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    Oops sorry! I saw the quote attribution in his sig (Malcolm X) and didn't read to the end of the sig! Sorry Desmond!

  4. #44
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    Hi bros! Mind if I join in the marine tank *expedition* trip? I'm also a newbie looking to start on marine! So now gathering info by reading articles online etc.

    Is the trip over already? If not, can count me in? I don't mind driving around SG for this learning trip. By the way I stay in Changi area...
    Yecch!

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    Re: Newbie to marine

    Quote Originally Posted by Desewer View Post
    Hi bros! Mind if I join in the marine tank *expedition* trip? I'm also a newbie looking to start on marine! So now gathering info by reading articles online etc.

    Is the trip over already? If not, can count me in? I don't mind driving around SG for this learning trip. By the way I stay in Changi area...
    does that means we have a driver? hehe
    A Friend is one who is Faithful, Reliable, Inspiring, Encourager, who is Neutral when handling conflicts and helps to Develop you as a person.


  6. #46
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    Quote Originally Posted by Altum_lover76 View Post
    does that means we have a driver? hehe
    I hope so!
    If you've learnt, teach, if you have, give.
    Don't walk behind me as I might not lead, don't walk in front of me as I might not follow. Walk beside me, as my friend.
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  7. #47
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    Guys, kindly indicate your interest level at http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...369#post560369.

    Thank you.
    A Friend is one who is Faithful, Reliable, Inspiring, Encourager, who is Neutral when handling conflicts and helps to Develop you as a person.


  8. #48
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    Marine tanks do have a fair share of aglae issues when not managed well especially new tanks.
    E.g using tap water for top up or salt mix do encourages diatom blooms.
    It's simple...but no one said it will be easy

  9. #49
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    Thanks kagenesti How about if I use NSW? I do have a RO/DI system, but it's for freshwater so my storage bin has ketapang leaves soaked in it...not suitable for marine!

  10. #50
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    NSW for top up will be good... at least better than using tap water.
    Anyway a simple system is possible with a nano/pico tank but we cannot run away from the initial frequent need to maintain the tank, especially in checking the water parameters etc.
    And of course we all will be often tempted by the urge for upgrades eventually As the system gets more complicated like from a simple FOWLR to SPS reef tanks the maintainece needs also changes.
    It's simple...but no one said it will be easy

  11. #51
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    anyone can recommend what kinds of corals are good to handle by beginners, i have chiller with a 1 feet tank

  12. #52
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    for beginners i will recommend soft corals like zoanthids and some common mushrooms.
    They are relatively hardy
    It's simple...but no one said it will be easy

  13. #53
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    I was from sgreefclub before discovering AquaQuotient.

    My take for beginners in marine is start small - as in low budget. I started with a 2ft tank with a simple overhead filter - the whole system lasted about 2 months before the parameters go completely out of control. Of course if you start to add on skimmer, lighting and other equipment, the cost goes up and you can have a self-running system for a long time. Daily or weekly maintenance is important for marine tanks, such as water change and such. My simple FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock( on a 2ft tank with a 2ft sump is running now for 4 years with just simple skimmer and lighting. I don't have corals or anything so that the up-keeping of the tank is low. If you want a reef tank then the equioment list will increase and the equipment cost and operating cost and maintenance cost will increase. It depends on you.

  14. #54
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    hi guys

    we originally planned for a marine learning trip in october 2010 which never materialised due to unforeseen circumstances. i would like to update you guys on what i've done since then.

    besides decommissioning my planted tanks and equipment (the money from these sales did not go into my marine budget; rather i had a separate budget for the marine startup) i also sourced for used items from sgreefclub forums.

    i am currently running a 3x2x2 with overflow and sump. the sump is slightly shorter than 3ft to fit inside my cabinet, and it has only 2 compartments - one for the overflow filtration and another large compartment for my return pump, skimmer and what-not. my tank is a FOWLR setup and it's been running since mid-december... about 2 months.

    here's a breakdown of my spending.

    $100:-
    3x2x2 tank, cabinet and sump. transport was my dad's toyota rush. i had to make 2 trips, one for the cabinet and sump, and one for the tank. any larger and i'm sure it won't be able to fit in the back.

    $300:-
    lighting - 3ft fixture with 2x150W MH and 2x21W T5 (i'm not using this at the moment)
    lighting - 3ft fixture with 2x21W T5
    40-50 kg of live rock
    5-7 various new and used pumps of different flow rates including a 2500 lph sunsun that i use as my return pump (i had no use for the other pumps so are keeping them as spares)
    all items in this group were bought used from one bro who decomm'ed his 3ft tank.

    $80:-
    Beckett skimmer (used from sgreefclub)

    $90:-
    rio 5400 lph pump for the skimmer (i bought this new)

    $15:-
    coral chips and sand from iwarna at pasir ris fish farm

    $80:-
    seawater delivery from iwarna

    $60:-
    tunze wavemaker, used from another forum bro.
    i originally bought a tunze 6060 from him and it was rated at 5000 lph but i guess it was too strong. he eventually posted a 6045 for sale and i got it at the same price $60. the earlier 6060 i sold for $50 and got a Powder Blue Tang FOC from the buyer worth $35. hence my net spending here is 60+60-50-35=$45 hehehehe or $70 if you exclude the PBT.

    various damsels, surgeonfish, angel (died from not eating) etc. less than $50.

    Hence my total spending on my tank so far is 100+300+80+90+15+80+70+50=$785

    my water top-ups are bought from iwarna at $1/bag of natural sea water. i know that eventually topping up this way will cause the salt level to rise in the tank but so far it seems as if the tank is doing fine. i have significant salt deposits above my waterline so i'm hoping this will help balance out the added salt from the NSW topups.

    i hope to go into LPS, currently i'm saving for an LED light fixture but will have to read more on this before i venture. don't want the tank to crash due to incompetent hobbying.

    p.s. i don't measure my tank parameters. never have, even for my planted tanks, and probably never will.

    the objective of my post is to inform fellow bros that a sub-$1k marine tank is do-able, if you are going for FOWLR. i don't have a chiller and no fans either. all that will add to my electricity bill which is currently very nicely balanced at $120/mth for a 4-room flat.
    Yecch!

  15. #55
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    if your tank is a FOWLR only tank you dont even need 2x150W MH(your fish everyday having suntan ), as you mentioned you plan for LPS in future use, then chiller might be coming into the picture soon. cheers.

    MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! TIME TO LAY BACK AND RELAX!
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  16. #56
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    Yeah thats what happens when you rush a purchase hahaha...

    I didnt know what i wanted to do when i bought the lights. But now that im doing just a fowlr, the mh is just collecting dust. Bleargh.

    Lps corals are more forgiving on light, i heard. But i have to agree that chiller needs to come into the picture sooner or later!

    Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
    Yecch!

  17. #57
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    Get a refractometer, important to gauge your salinity. Do not get those cheap floating or those plastic hydrometer. Also important to have is the Pinpoint Salinity Monitor 53.0 mS Calibration Fluid. Use this fluid to calibrate your refractometer to 1.026, your lps will appreciate this.
    If you've learnt, teach, if you have, give.
    Don't walk behind me as I might not lead, don't walk in front of me as I might not follow. Walk beside me, as my friend.
    Mohamad Rohaizal is my name. If it's too hard, use BFG. I don't mind.

  18. #58
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    bro BFG thanks for the tips. will read up more (invest also!) and ensure stable salinity when i decide to move into LPS.
    Yecch!

  19. #59
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    Re: Newbie to marine

    hi guys, mind if I post in here. I'm intending to set up a 1.5ft pico reef tank. Bioload should be low in it from what I see. hope you guys can advise more.

    1) 1.5ft cube tank with 10mm thickness

    2) red sea prizm skimmer

    3) eheim liberty 100 HOF

    4) DSB of 4inches. (was wondering if it's deep enough)

    5) Illummax Compact 1.5ft PL light

    My propose occupants in the tank would most likely be a pair of clown fishes. Due to the small tank space, I'm not sure wad other fishes I can add in. Pls advise.

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