Newbie starting a 3ft marine tank

[Peanut8787]

Hi folks,

I intend to start a marine tank and have read up quite alot of stuff from this forum.

This is my tank spec.

H3 X W1.5 X H2 with NO SUMP

Hailea 300 Chiller with external probe

Lighting 6 X 39watt white 120000K

2 X canister of 950LPH and 1500LPH

I intend to start a FOWLR tank as i found out that those coral tank require different lighting etc blue, white, dosing of calcium, mag etc which sound like a hassle..

As i am not using a sump tank, is it possible to use my existing canister filter to filter the tank?

What equipment do you guys think i'm still short of? I could only think of the following..

Hang on skimmer. Brand recommend?

Wave make

Thanks

[nwyk153]

You can use Canister for FOWLR but ur going to do weekly cleaning because Canister Filter is a Nitrate Factory. For HOB Skimmer you should go for Deltec MCE600; but if ur on a tight budget go for Aqua C or Reef Octopus HOB series. Get a good wavemaker pump from Hydor or Tunze for ur 3ft for water circulation. Do read up a lot ya and welcome to SRC!

Good Luck!

[Peanut8787]

You can use Canister for FOWLR but ur going to do weekly cleaning because Canister Filter is a Nitrate Factory. For HOB Skimmer you should go for Deltec MCE600; but if ur on a tight budget go for Aqua C or Reef Octopus HOB series. Get a good wavemaker pump from Hydor or Tunze for ur 3ft for water circulation. Do read up a lot ya and welcome to SRC!

Good Luck!

Thanks bro for your recommendation. Previously i have been handling planted tank for almost 5 years and know about those NPK, macro stuff... May i know what does the coral needs? Can i do a FOWLR tank with a minimum amount of coral?

Cheers

[nwyk153]

Thanks bro for your recommendation. Previously i have been handling planted tank for almost 5 years and know about those NPK, macro stuff... May i know what does the coral needs? Can i do a FOWLR tank with a minimum amount of coral?

Cheers

Im no expert in corals but you can try those hardy cheap corals like Leather, Mushrooms and Polyps/Zoas for your FOWLR. I think you just need to watch out for Temp Fluctuation, Nutrients level(Ammonia/N02/N03/P04) and PH. Lighting and water flows plays a part too. Maybe other bro here in this forum can help out with your Coral question.

[raydiative]

agree with nwyk153 that canister is a huge hassle..

back to your point.. you can try out some less demanding corals given that you are using chiller.. corals like zoas, mushrooms and even some LPS like sun corals..

you are using FL lights right? if so, you might consider upgrading your light set.. having blue light helps to bring out the colours of your corals..

[Guest]

You can still get away with a FOWLR using a canister filter, keeping harder fish or corals meanwhile trying to know more about this hobby. Another good hang over skimmer you can consider is REDSEA primz as well.

However you might find out that over some time, your filer media inside your canister filter can be a nitrate / phosphate producing factory unless you do a regular maintenance to wash it.

Hope it helps

[Ketchup]

ya red sea prizm is pretty ok... but might be undersize for 3 ft... MCE600 should be the best for hang on skimmer.

[TayHongSiang]

i have tried keeping marine fishes n corals using canister...a few things u have to note.

there will be micro bubbles coming out from yr cannister (normally, this dun happen for freshwater), somehow u will experience this in marine.

u need to clean yr cannister at least once every 2 weeks...a lot of detritus will accumulate at the bottom.

and no matter how hard u clean yr cannister, once u switch it on again, dirt will come out into yr main tank.

without a sump, your equipments will be exposed...aesthetically, will not be nice and pleasant to the eyes.

if u want to sustain this hobby for 3-4 years, it will be better to have a proper set-up with sump tank and overflow system....if u divide the overall costs over 4-5 years, it doesn't really cost u a lot and the tangible and intangible benefits u can get are enormous vs a non-sump tank....

However, if u have already committed to the set-up, its ok...u can still sustain with less sensitive fishes and corals...and probably, when u r deeply poison...can consider upgrading....haha...

cheers mate!

[kohwhl]

I personally would go against having a canister filter if you were to have corals in there.The temptation of having more corals and more fishes are always there! And besides, it being a 3 ft tank means you would not want to have 2 or 3 corals and 2 or 3 fishes as we just cannot resist the temptation.(I'm guilty of all these at the start too!)

And from the above messages, if you are on a tight budget(i.e. you are a student just like me), I realized that it is really not worth it to start with a lousy set-up. I used to have a 10 gallon nano, upgraded to a standard 2 feet with canister and upgraded to a 2nd hand 4 feet tank, reason being these fishes and corals just cannot tahan less than Pristine conditions( with the exceptions of few fishes like damsels etc). In the end, I calculated the damage done is more than enough to buy decent equipment i.e. 10 dollars here 10 dollars there = many dollars here and there.

So my advise would be having a 3ft is already a solid setup(size wise), if you dun have and cant make a hole in your tank, you can consider piping it using pvc pipes or diy a small compartment to make a overflow than links out to a sump. The amount of time, effort and heartache that you save with a good equipment goes a long way!

Hope you have fun with marine!

[KELVINx3]

hey there, hope i could help up abit. i've been in this hobby for maybe a year plus minus. at first i started with nothing. i converted arowana tank to marine tank, i took the long run. burned money. cause in my mind was fresh water equipments sure marine can use. i faced many problems. first batch of fish died overnight. corals melting etc etc. but once your things is stable down, you cannot resist temptation. as i myself have been poisoned badly. i'm thinking of upgrading my 4ft tank to a 6ft tank with sump and those evil equipments. having LPS, SPS, rare fishes in your tank to admire. in a long run canister wont last. you'll need to do weekly canister washing, its really damn hardcore. just an advice. dont be stingy on equipments. i've learnt my lesson. haha, now considering to upgrade to 6ft!