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Posted by Sky-Catcher on October 9, 2007, 9:25 am
Please log in for more thread options Hi,
I'm thinking about changing my 400 l tank from fresh water to marine and was
wondering what you guys consider the simplist and lowest maintenance
equipment to go for...
if i go for live rock do i still need to use a skimmer for fish only. can i
just use marine whites/blues t8/5s for lighting. I have an external i can
use for chemical filtration
your thoughts and help appreciated...
sky
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Posted by Marksfish on October 9, 2007, 9:54 am
Please log in for more thread options
> I'm thinking about changing my 400 l tank from fresh water to marine and
> was wondering what you guys consider the simplist and lowest maintenance
> equipment to go for...
>
> if i go for live rock do i still need to use a skimmer for fish only. can
> i just use marine whites/blues t8/5s for lighting. I have an external i
> can use for chemical filtration
>
> your thoughts and help appreciated...
>
>
Live rock and a minimum 20x tank volume circulation per hour is the
simplest. A skimmer is still a very good item to have, though not totally
necessary if you keep on top of your water change regime. T8's are fine for
fish only. If you do decide to go down the coral route in future, you need
to make sure your tank hasn't had any copper treatments in it at all, it is
toxic to inverts.
Mark
www.marksfish.me.uk
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Posted by Sky-Catcher on October 9, 2007, 10:20 am
Please log in for more thread options Mark,
Cheers for the fast reply....20x vol circ - i guess that is by powerheads
and not filter throughput ?
What fish/inverts would yu recommend?
Thanks again,
Sky
>> I'm thinking about changing my 400 l tank from fresh water to marine and
>> was wondering what you guys consider the simplist and lowest maintenance
>> equipment to go for...
>>
>> if i go for live rock do i still need to use a skimmer for fish only. can
>> i just use marine whites/blues t8/5s for lighting. I have an external i
>> can use for chemical filtration
>>
>> your thoughts and help appreciated...
>>
>>
> Live rock and a minimum 20x tank volume circulation per hour is the
> simplest. A skimmer is still a very good item to have, though not totally
> necessary if you keep on top of your water change regime. T8's are fine
> for
> fish only. If you do decide to go down the coral route in future, you need
> to make sure your tank hasn't had any copper treatments in it at all, it
> is
> toxic to inverts.
>
> Mark
> www.marksfish.me.uk
>
>
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Posted by Marksfish on October 9, 2007, 11:57 am
Please log in for more thread options
> Cheers for the fast reply....20x vol circ - i guess that is by powerheads
> and not filter throughput ?
>
> What fish/inverts would yu recommend?
>
> Thanks again,
> Sky
>
>
Powerheads are the best for water movement, try to go for the Sio range
rather than Maxijet or the like. Seio's are the "poor man's Tunze", but very
efficient. Instead of having a nozzle pushing out a concentrated flow, they
have a much wider nozzle allowing for more natural currents to be created in
the system. You need the water flow for the live rock to do its job
properly, try angling the powerhead to the front glass and then it "bounces"
back into the rock. You could use your canister for circulation, but only if
it doesn't have anything in it, it is generally acknowledged these days that
they become a bit of a nitrate factory, so best only use it for carbon or
Rowa.
Fish? It is all about personal taste really. Tank bred fish come in a great
deal of varieties these days
(http://www.tmc-ltd.co.uk/hatchery/species-list.asp ) and although a little
more expensive, tend to be hardier than wild caught fish. Take a look at
this forum (http://www.marinefish-uk.co.uk/forums/ ), it is quite user
friendly and there are a lot of people started from scratch with a lot of
experience there now, you will be made to feel at home :0) The tank of the
month competition this month is for reef tanks lit only by T8's and is here
(http://www.marinefish-uk.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=15139 ), should
give you some inspiration :0)
Mark
www.marksfish.me.uk
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Posted by Sky-Catcher on October 9, 2007, 2:40 pm
Please log in for more thread options Mark,
last one then i'll leave you in peace.....my tank is acrylic - will this be
ok for salt as i know the algae can be harder to remove with the salt....
>> Cheers for the fast reply....20x vol circ - i guess that is by powerheads
>> and not filter throughput ?
>>
>> What fish/inverts would yu recommend?
>>
>> Thanks again,
>> Sky
>>
>>
> Powerheads are the best for water movement, try to go for the Sio range
> rather than Maxijet or the like. Seio's are the "poor man's Tunze", but
> very efficient. Instead of having a nozzle pushing out a concentrated
> flow, they have a much wider nozzle allowing for more natural currents to
> be created in the system. You need the water flow for the live rock to do
> its job properly, try angling the powerhead to the front glass and then it
> "bounces" back into the rock. You could use your canister for circulation,
> but only if it doesn't have anything in it, it is generally acknowledged
> these days that they become a bit of a nitrate factory, so best only use
> it for carbon or Rowa.
>
> Fish? It is all about personal taste really. Tank bred fish come in a
> great deal of varieties these days
> (http://www.tmc-ltd.co.uk/hatchery/species-list.asp ) and although a little
> more expensive, tend to be hardier than wild caught fish. Take a look at
> this forum (http://www.marinefish-uk.co.uk/forums/ ), it is quite user
> friendly and there are a lot of people started from scratch with a lot of
> experience there now, you will be made to feel at home :0) The tank of the
> month competition this month is for reef tanks lit only by T8's and is
> here (http://www.marinefish-uk.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=15139 ),
> should give you some inspiration :0)
>
> Mark
> www.marksfish.me.uk
>
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> was wondering what you guys consider the simplist and lowest maintenance
> equipment to go for...
>
> if i go for live rock do i still need to use a skimmer for fish only. can
> i just use marine whites/blues t8/5s for lighting. I have an external i
> can use for chemical filtration
>
> your thoughts and help appreciated...
>
>