33 replies to this topic

[Brett93]

hey,

Just starting to really get back into fishkeeping..
and i have a blue planet 'atlantis', 140 Litres with the cannister filter thingy in the hood.
I am wanting to try a small marine tank with a few clown fish in there, just for a display tank, im hoping too keep it simple.

now the questions.

1) Is it worth even trying to set up a small marine tank like this? will it work? because of the low water volume from what ive read the water conditions is hard to keep stable?

2)In the hood of the tank it has a place where a blue planet skimmer can fit into this slot... where can i get one of these? and roughly how much are they worth?

3) i just want a couple of clown fish in there, i understand they do not need those enenome things?

4)I was going to go for live rock along with the filter in the hood for filteration ect.. is this okay?

5) Can i have any sort of things growing off the live rock.. or do they require special lighting..
The lights in the hood are : 2 x T5 13w 10,000K white.

6) From what i understand i will need:
skimmer ( been looking for the blue plannet one )
Live rock
Salt ( have no idea wich brand to go for )
Powerheads?

So if you can answer any of those questions it would be appreciated. Or if you can help me by giving me some Links to read up on that would be great! and of coarse any tips would definently be helpfull.
and im only considering it.

Cheers,
Brett

[Neakit]

You sound like your going on the right track there mate, If your only after fish only you won't need special lights. The lights you have will suffice for some soft corals but thats it, also if you wish to you could change one to an atinic globe to give coral(if you put any in there) fluresance and make it look cool for you. The other filter you have there i wouldn't worry bout even using it live rock gives you the best filtration around. I don't know where you will find that particular skimmer but if you check out age of aquariums they have a few different skimmers for you to look at. As for salt brands i recommend the ocean, Nsw or natural salt water is the best in my opinion, it is all i have ever used. As for the size of the aquarium it will be ok with that size you may be able to streach it out to fornightly water changes with a low bio load. Now you will need power heads if you add enough of them to aim for 20x tank volume turn over and hour you will be heading in the right direction. I use this forum for all my marine ideas and have had some great help there http://www.masa.asn.au .

I hope this helps you.
Simon

[Brett93]

Thanks for that Simon,
has helped alot.
Yeah i registered on that forum yesterday, its great!

[Cawdor]

From the November talk, it does sound like you need to put fair bit of thought and money into it.
Presentation from the talk can be downloaded from this thread:
http://www.perthcich...showtopic=27854

[Brett93]

Thanks for that cawdor, power point helped heeps,
I understand it takes alot of research and money to set it up.
I want to give it a try.

[Paddy]

1) Is it worth even trying to set up a small marine tank like this? will it work? because of the low water volume from what ive read the water conditions is hard to keep stable?

Sure is! It's always worth setting up marine tanks! Imagine a piece of the ocean in your lounge room! It is true that a fish poo in 140lts is more harmful than a fish poo in 1000L and this is why you need to be careful with your stocking list and make sure you don't overstock it! Other than that and keeping a close eye on evaporation no reason you can't do this size!

2)In the hood of the tank it has a place where a blue planet skimmer can fit into this slot... where can i get one of these? and roughly how much are they worth?

Not sure, maybe give Vebas a call or pm Pacco (Forum name is still Vebas I think) and see if he can help or knows the Aus supplier.

3) i just want a couple of clown fish in there, i understand they do not need those enenome things?

You are correct, Clown fish definitely do not need to be hosted by an anenome to be happy, most people just do it because they enjoy the look of it.

4)I was going to go for live rock along with the filter in the hood for filteration ect.. is this okay?

Best thing you can do, all the little critters and bacteria in the rock will improve the water quality

5) Can i have any sort of things growing off the live rock.. or do they require special lighting..
The lights in the hood are : 2 x T5 13w 10,000K white.

Different corals require different lighting and there is 034890238592358 corals and even more different lighting opinions, best bet is to stick to what you have for now and read up on what you can keep under it. You can always upgrade it later.

6) From what i understand i will need:
skimmer ( been looking for the blue plannet one )
Live rock
Salt ( have no idea wich brand to go for )
Powerheads?

As Neakit has said you are better off with Nat Salt Water (NSW) especially if your only looking at 140Lts, if your doing 10% change fortnightly thats only 30L a month and you can pick that up from most LFS when your there drooling over things to put in it!

Skimmer definitely, haven't heard of the blue planet one but I'm sure it would be neater if you can keep it all in one. One thing I would say is to remove the media from the canister filter, it will trap detrius which your LR (live rock) and skimmer should be processing, this then just leaches nitrates into your tank. Instead remove the media and fill it with carbon and a phosphate remover.

Powerheads is another bone of contention, you can either go cheap copies or expensive units. I'm biased and only go the expensive ones (usually cheaper in the long run IMO) I know ppl with the cheap ones who will swear by them but I've also seen plenty that have rusted out into the tank and wiped out alot of life. The two options I would suggest is Tunze's and Vortechs, my pref is the vortech and you would be looking at the MP10 or MP20. On Masa there is countless threads about Tunze Vs Vortech so theres no need to go into it now.

Good Luck! I won't say it's an easy thing to do but I had my first bit of coralline algae growing on the glass yesterday and damn that was a good feeling.. Once you see the amazing amount of life in the rock and sand and everywhere you'll wonder how you were ever satisfied with FW.. hehe

[Brett93]

Thanks for that paddy!

1)Alright, im definently going to give it a try.. I have been told several times that 140L isn't going to be a problem.

2) I am stuck for what skimmer to go for.. i wasw thinking of using the Aquarworld Protein Skimmer WG-310, But i have told theyre no good.

3) I am going to go for NSW. I havent looked but does anyone know roughly how much a litre it is?
Just incase.. I want to have some salt to make up my own water if its needed,
I was thinking... Red Sea, Aqua one, Instant Ocean?

4) i have read a few guides on how to cure live rock, so i think i should be rite with that now. Just have too look around, price wise.

5) Substrate- Barrier Reef Coral Sand? at the moment i have playground sand in the tank, so remove this? and add coral sand? or mix it?

6) Water flow- The filter pump in the tank at the moment is 600L P/H, I'm going to fill the filter box with Carbon and phosphate remover. Or just remove the media all togther and just use the filter for water flow?

This is the power head i was looking at : JVP-101B 3000lph ( http://www.aquariump...g...12&catID=41 )

Cheers for all your help so far! Really appreciate it.

[Bluey]

NSW is available at a few LFS and costs in the range 15 to 25 cents per litre - some will give PCS club member discount.
Your in Ferndale so check out Pet Magic just down the road (20cpl less discount).
Good luck, Ray.

[Brett93]

NSW is available at a few LFS and costs in the range 15 to 25 cents per litre - some will give PCS club member discount.
Your in Ferndale so check out Pet Magic just down the road (20cpl less discount).
Good luck, Ray.

Thanks Ray
will give them a call this arvo.
cheers

[Paddy]

2) I am stuck for what skimmer to go for.. i wasw thinking of using the Aquarworld Protein Skimmer WG-310, But i have told theyre no good.

I would suggest getting one that is overrated for you tank size, so look about 400-500L range and then it shouldn't matter too much whether it is the best on the market, it will be doing at least as much as it needs to.

3) I am going to go for NSW. I havent looked but does anyone know roughly how much a litre it is?
Just incase.. I want to have some salt to make up my own water if its needed,
I was thinking... Red Sea, Aqua one, Instant Ocean?

I think Ocean Reefs charge 15c/L but now I get it delivered for about 10c/L

5) Substrate- Barrier Reef Coral Sand? at the moment i have playground sand in the tank, so remove this? and add coral sand? or mix it?

Remove playground sand add new sand, make sure if its new that you put it in a bucket and rinse it out many times, will remove sediment and any leaves etc.

6) Water flow- The filter pump in the tank at the moment is 600L P/H, I'm going to fill the filter box with Carbon and phosphate remover. Or just remove the media all togther and just use the filter for water flow?

This is the power head i was looking at : JVP-101B 3000lph ( http://www.aquariump...g...12&catID=41 )

That powerhead is one of the copies I was talking about, feel free to grab that one, At least if it dies it's only $39.00 I suppose the main thing about the copies that bugs me is their size in the tank.. so huge.

Cheers for all your help so far! Really appreciate it.

No probs, the more the merrier! Post up some pics of the tank so you can track your progress!

[highlucks]

hey mate, you can pick up those power heads a lot cheaper on ebay. I know it is good to support local sponsors but this is nearly half the price.

http://cgi.ebay.com....=item414c157260

Good luck with the new marine tank.

[Brett93]

That powerhead is one of the copies I was talking about, feel free to grab that one, At least if it dies it's only $39.00 I suppose the main thing about the copies that bugs me is their size in the tank.. so huge.

Yeah they are quiet big :/ but a huge price difference compared too the vortech.

And from age of aquariums they come with a 2 year warranty, so ill think ill go for the cheaper ones.

Thanks for the link Highlucks.

[Global]

Sounds like your on the right track brett, I use the 5000lt/r copies is some of my salt tanks and I havent had a drama with them yet, but when the cash

flows abit better im going to upgrade to the vortex powerheads, for all the differant options that they come with (fully controllable). Im sure if you cant

find the blue planet skimmer your chasing with the size restraints that you have that one of the sponsor's will be able to find a skimmer to fit into the area you have!

I get all my water delivered and keep it in large 150Ltr barrels for water changes.

Total agree with Paddy, with filling the filter box with Carbon and phosphate remover.

Global

[Brett93]

Thankyou global.

I just went into pet magic to get some advice. I was told that the blue planet skimmers have yet too be manufactured.

He suggested 10-15kg of live rock for my tank size and to spred it out instead of bunching it too tight.

He also said to grow some corals i would need to change one of the globes too a Marine Life blue lamp.

He said i could grow pretty much any corals, but in particular : Moonstone corals, Red organ pipe coral, trumpet coral. but i forgot too ask what an easy anenome i could keep?

Im going to go with the 3000L p/h " copie " for now.

[Neakit]

anenomes aren't easy to keep, well all the desirable ones anyway. The biggest issue you face is if you want an anenome is light, you need more than you currently have. Also on the power head debate you get what you pay for, i have tunze controllable power heads and i would not go back to cheap ones again. If they don't crap out on you they cost a fortune to run. to give you an idea my tunzes are 36w each and they flow 12000L/hr each. I saved a hell of a lot of money on my power bill when i changed over and my corals never looked so good.

[Brett93]

Another thing to consider, cheap powers heads or exspensive but reliable :S
The JVP-101B 3000lph is 5 watts, I am going to go with this in the short term, then when i have a bit more cash, ill go for the vortech.
I wasnt planning on getting into corals or anenomes until i have the hang of keeping the water correct and stable.

[Neakit]

stability is the key, if you parameters are a little off but stable most things tend to deal with it well, with the exception of ammonia and nitrite.

[Brett93]

Alright this is a bit of an update, give answers too my own questions.
Im just going too start collecting all the gear to set it up. then go from there.

1) Is it worth even trying to set up a small marine tank like this? will it work? because of the low water volume from what ive read the water conditions is hard to keep stable?

Yes it is worth doing, and i am going to give it a try. I have been told that 140l isnt a small tank and that the water shouldnt be too hard to keep stable.

2)In the hood of the tank it has a place where a blue planet skimmer can fit into this slot... where can i get one of these? and roughly how much are they worth?

Cannot get the blue planet skimmer as they havent been manufactured, havnt decided/do not know what skimmer to go for yet.

3) i just want a couple of clown fish in there, i understand they do not need those enenome things?

They do no need them. But once i have the hang of things, and have the correct lighting i mite give one a try.

4)I was going to go for live rock along with the filter in the hood for filteration ect.. is this okay?

Using 10-15kgs of live rock. Removing current filter media and replacing it with carbon and phosphate remover.

5) Can i have any sort of things growing off the live rock.. or do they require special lighting..
The lights in the hood are : 2 x T5 13w 10,000K white.

Further down the track i will change my lighting. and have a go at a few corals.

6) From what i understand i will need:
skimmer- Still do not know what skimmer to go for
Live rock- 10-15kgs
Salt- NSW
Powerheads?3000l p/h 'copie' for now, then upgrading to a vortech

Thats my understanding of all the help recieved.. Coorect me if i have the wrong idea
cheers!
Brett

[Brett93]

hey all

This is what im planning on doing, i just dont know what bulk heads, what size pvc.. and what size return pump :/

Let me know what you think please, still need heeps of advice and help!

[Neakit]

honestly if you could put a wier in you will be better off(gives you surface skimming). Also the trickeling sound will drive you crazy, if you check out the silent drain thread in masa you will find a plethora of information on how to make a silent drain. Yes it works cause i have one.