65 replies to this topic

[Iamsam]

Well after removing all my old tanks I have finally got a new one,
it’s a juwel vision 180 as can be seen here http://www.juwel-aqu...sion.htm?cat=10.
my purpose behind this thread is to try show other people that setting up a marine tank is not that much work and not that expensive, thus I will include rough prices (cant rember exact), its going to be a bit of experimental tank, I don’t plan on using any mechanical chemical or biological(bar live rock) filtration I also wont use a skimmer

well I got the tank and stand on Tuesday, added lime sand as a substrate (15$ for a 20kg bag only needed half)
as I am using a metal halide I have pulled the whole top off, including the t5s it comes with, I bought the MH second hand so there were pretty cheap, But to buy brand new they would defiantly have been the killer of this set up.

I filled it up Wednesday night with tap water and synthetic salts, at 70$ for a bucket that does 240L, I also added 2 eheim aquaball pumps (60 each), each rated at 650l/h plus the jewel tank that comes with the filter which is another 600l giving me 1900l/h so just over 10 the tank volume an hour, i am planning on adding a couple more power heads for water movement

and tonight I brought the live rock home, now this was the expensive bit, with live rock retailing at 14$ a kg and i ended up adding 30kgs, you can do the maths but its all now in place.
its still cloudy but here’s some pictures,

well my photobucket account just died so i shall add the photos tommorow
will keep u updated

[golden_dase]

Good Luck Sam

Your set-up can be considered as a "high budget" basic set-up. my experiment will be "low budget" basic set-up... hehehe

[golden_dase]

Any pics Sam?

[Iamsam]

im working on it, photobucket is not liking me but soon i promise,

[golden_dase]

I'm starting my "low budget marine tank" next week and want to see how yours is before I start mine... hehe

[Iamsam]

i must warn you all i am not a photographer, as you will see by the next few images::

my favorite new pumps the eheim aquaball


the tank + limesand


FIlled with water


the pumps again


the lighting


messy room


all rocked up- although i dont like how it looks and plan on redoing most of it


some of the first corals





and 1 of my new mandarine pair (NOT IN THIS TANK- but in a smaller quartine for next few months unitll big tank is all happy and healthy-)

[golden_dase]

I thought you said you're not going to use a skimmer? Yet.. you have one set-up at the back of the tank..... please explain..

By the way, looking good mate.. keep up the good work.

Cheers!

[dazzabozza]

That's not a skimmer it's the built-in internal filter that comes with the Juwel tanks.

How much are the Eheim aquaballs? Is the output jet quite narrow and strong like a traditional powerhead or wide like a Tunze stream?


Dazza

[jack]

your mum must love you for all that mess

[Iamsam]

I thought you said you're not going to use a skimmer? Yet.. you have one set-up at the back of the tank..... please explain..

By the way, looking good mate.. keep up the good work.

Cheers!

at that stage i hadnt decied weither i was planning on using one or not, you will notice in the later pics i have pulled it of tho.

How much are the Eheim aquaballs? Is the output jet quite narrow and strong like a traditional powerhead or wide like a Tunze stream?

they were about 60 from memory they come with 2 diffrent heads so you can have either the narrow or the wide output, i used the wider out put as i find it gets a more random distributed flow around the tank, instead of just blowing directy against the corals.

[joop]

why did you take the skimmer off its importent to have it on during the first months becouse of the dead loss from the live rock?
and id lower the metal halide if i wer you becouse ther not the brightest m/h you can get

[Iamsam]

why did you take the skimmer off its importent to have it on during the first months becouse of the dead loss from the live rock?
and id lower the metal halide if i wer you becouse ther not the brightest m/h you can get

i took the skimmer off as i cant be botherd using one,they take out more good stuff from the water than bad, and yes i know i need to lower the mh its up the high from when i had my 5x2x2 there and i havent yet had a chance to do it

[dazzabozza]

Looking at the photos the MH lights seem to be penetrating quite deep already at that height. I assume you have 2 x 150W? For 180L that should be ample.

[golden_dase]

i took the skimmer off as i cant be botherd using one,they take out more good stuff from the water than bad, and yes i know i need to lower the mh its up the high from when i had my 5x2x2 there and i havent yet had a chance to do it

Dude... you said the following in "marine discussion>nice addition": Just as you have liverock dosent mean u dont need a skimmer, actually it works more the other way.
I would deffenrly recommend using a skimmer they are a wonder in marine tanks

Why the change of mind???

Just so you know, A LOT of people are reading this "Marine Discussion" with interest because 1) they might have experience to share or 2) They're looking at setting up marine and want to see results from other people's experience whether it's a full marine set-up or just a basic one...
Mate, please be clear on the topics....so to help others understand better...

Cheers!

[Iamsam]

Dude... you said the following in "marine discussion>nice addition": Just as you have liverock dosent mean u dont need a skimmer, actually it works more the other way.
I would deffenrly recommend using a skimmer they are a wonder in marine tanks

Why the change of mind???

Just so you know, A LOT of people are reading this "Marine Discussion" with interest because 1) they might have experience to share or 2) They're looking at setting up marine and want to see results from other people's experience whether it's a full marine set-up or just a basic one...
Mate, please be clear on the topics....so to help others understand better...

Cheers!

becouse what i recommend and what i do are to diffrent things , for a beigner a skimmer is a great thing to use, but i want to try this tank with out one, ive used skimmers on all my other tanks and to experament thought i would give it a miss on this one, dont bother trying to understand me, not even i do

[Ado1968]

I was always under the impression that the coral needed better water conditions.
When I did my marine I let it cycle in for about 4 weeks with just the live
rock before i added and coral or fish.

[Iamsam]

Looking at the photos the MH lights seem to be penetrating quite deep already at that height. I assume you have 2 x 150W? For 180L that should be ample.

yes 2 150's and 2 small power compacts, they do need to come down a bit tho,

[Iamsam]

I was always under the impression that the coral needed better water conditions.
When I did my marine I let it cycle in for about 4 weeks with just the live
rock before i added and coral or fish.

Ammonia or nitrite does not affect corals, fish i will need to wait for but not long, due to the good quality of the live rock i have got it should be cycled in a couple of days

[Ado1968]

I cant see how it will be cycled in a couple of days,
your going to have ammonia and nitrite spikes as the
living rock settles in.

[joop]

becouse what i recommend and what i do are to diffrent things , for a beigner a skimmer is a great thing to use, but i want to try this tank with out one, ive used skimmers on all my other tanks and to experament thought i would give it a miss on this one, dont bother trying to understand me, not even i do

honestly man having corals and no skimmer is a disaster and an expensive 1 at that iv got a fully stocked coral reef n 1 day my skimmer stoped working without me knowing and it whent downhill fast

and skimmers dont take out more good stuff than bad if the stuff so good why is it a brown sluge in the skim cup and anothe bonus with the skimmers is yo can conect an ozoneizer to it wich is a must for most highly stocked marien tanks

coral neeed the most pure water you can give them especialy sps corals they will die with to much nuetriants in the water