Advice needed (changing from FW to SW tank)

[roy81]

Hi All, 

 

I am new to the marine tanks though i have read up on forums. Currently i have a planted FW tank and  i am doing research on a marine tank setup but as i have some budget constraints thus i would need the friends here advices.

Aim: To plan and create a FOWLR + some LPS to brighten up if possible

Some information below:-

- 2ft tank (60(L) x 30(W) x 36(H) x 6(thick) - in cm

- Canister filter with lily pipe (Eheim Pro ECCO 300)

As i do not have space for sump, is it ok to use a canister filter? Can i still use back the lily pipe inflow and outflow in marine tanks? 

For my tank size, what would be the appropriate flowrate that i should achieve? is it the same as for a planted as in 8-10 times of the vol of tank?

- Substrate would be live sand to reduce amount of silicates. 

correct me if i'm wrong.

- Mixture of live rocks and man-made rocks 

please advise is it ok to use both? 

- 2-4 clown fish species and 2-4 tangs species

will such numbers be overcrowding?

- LPS

can advise on more hardy LPS as i would not be using chiller or fan. Tank temp would be as per ambient which would be around 30deg. 

- Wave maker 

What size of a wave maker would be good enough? any brands to recommend? cheap and good pls.

- LED lights

Any advise on brands of light and indication of watt? cheap and good pls.

- Not intending to get protein skimmer as too bulky and i am without sump. 

 

I would appreciate your advices... 

Cheers

 

[leong_rei]

For your tank size 1 tang I more then enff and your 6mm glass long run maybe got problem salt water weight is more then tap water


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[josephwzr]

An advice is that a tank that size, better to do reef. Because usually ppl who keep fowlr tends to keep large tangs and predator fishes. That 2ft that can barely keep one tang.

[yschua]

What brand is your tank? If it's ADA then it's relatively safe but if its other brand, then it is usually not recommended to use 6mm for reef. Having said that, I have kept a 1.5ft 6mm reef tank for 2 years without issue in the past.

 

- Canister and lily tube

In US and Japan, there are many fantastic reef tank which use lily tube. It removed the need for overflow box but you would require additonal effort to soak them in vinegar to clear the aglae every few weeks. 

Not recommended to use canister but it's better than those hang on filters. 

 

- flow rate

2 school of thoughts. One would recommend as much flow as possible using return pump (15 to x0 times). The other finds that the flow can be compensated by using wavemaker. It's really up to you and whixh side you believe in. 

 

- sand

Doesn't really matter. Live sand is more expensive and make cycling slightly faster but is more expensive. 

 

- live rock

Just get live rocks. Resin rocks could leech chemical in long run and ceramic rocks are super expensive. 

 

- Fishes

Stick to a pair of clown and nano fishes. Definately no tang as it is quite cruel to them for squeezing them into such small tank. Imagine staying in a 3 room flat w/o going out for life. Least aggressive fish to be intro first. 

 

- LPS

Mushroom. 30 degree is a but too high for the rest. Try using a fan and you can have more options. 

 

- Wavemaker

Jebao for the value. Else tunze nano or mp10. Price is from low to high. 

 

- LED

Get a 2nd hand AI or Maxspect. around the same price but 1 is from usa and 1 is from China. 

 

Lastly, do yourself a favor and get a deltec mce300, mce500 or mce600 hang on skimmer. Saw a few mce600 in the marketplace recently. This is more effective than the canister.

My 2 cent 

[roy81]

13 hours ago, yschua said:

What brand is your tank? If it's ADA then it's relatively safe but if its other brand, then it is usually not recommended to use 6mm for reef. Having said that, I have kept a 1.5ft 6mm reef tank for 2 years without issue in the past.

My tank is ANS opticube. 

 

As for the skimmers you mentioned, do they work as a filter too? Is it possible to not hang on the tank itself and as a standalone inside my cabinet? 

Quote

 

- Canister and lily tube

In US and Japan, there are many fantastic reef tank which use lily tube. It removed the need for overflow box but you would require additonal effort to soak them in vinegar to clear the aglae every few weeks. 

Not recommended to use canister but it's better than those hang on filters. 

 

- flow rate

2 school of thoughts. One would recommend as much flow as possible using return pump (15 to x0 times). The other finds that the flow can be compensated by using wavemaker. It's really up to you and whixh side you believe in. 

 

- sand

Doesn't really matter. Live sand is more expensive and make cycling slightly faster but is more expensive. 

 

- live rock

Just get live rocks. Resin rocks could leech chemical in long run and ceramic rocks are super expensive. 

 

- Fishes

Stick to a pair of clown and nano fishes. Definately no tang as it is quite cruel to them for squeezing them into such small tank. Imagine staying in a 3 room flat w/o going out for life. Least aggressive fish to be intro first. 

 

- LPS

Mushroom. 30 degree is a but too high for the rest. Try using a fan and you can have more options. 

 

- Wavemaker

Jebao for the value. Else tunze nano or mp10. Price is from low to high. 

 

- LED

Get a 2nd hand AI or Maxspect. around the same price but 1 is from usa and 1 is from China. 

 

Lastly, do yourself a favor and get a deltec mce300, mce500 or mce600 hang on skimmer. Saw a few mce600 in the marketplace recently. This is more effective than the canister.

My 2 cent 

 

[yschua]

Mce600 work as filter as well but it is to be hang on the back of the tank.

If you want the place the skimmer into the cabinet you will need a sump.

Another option is can consider is the tunze nano skimmer. They are suppose to be placed in the tank itself. 

[roy81]

can those eheim surface extractor or surface skimmer do the job?

[Fjdam]

Nope.. imagine waves at the beach with lots of bubble and the bubbbles are dirty.. thats what skimmers are for.. those tiny bubbles does the hardwork

[tuajia]

The protein skimmer is a different technology from surface skimming, though they are technically removing similar organic waste. Protein skimmers use small bubbles to trap organic waste in water and this bubble turn to foam and is removed from water. This helps to remove waste even before it has a chance to decompose. This method of waste removal only works on marine tanks due to the higher density of saltwater reducing the size of bubbles to be small enough to trap waste.

As for freshwater surface skimmers, they skim the protein waste that gathers on the surface and force it through the filter media to be trapped, decomposed and digested by bacteria. So technically they are not removed but are broken down instead. I do know some people who do this for marine tanks as well the usual protein skimmer, just to keep the surface clean.

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[roy81]

thanks all for the advices... will do more research and studying first. 

 

Appreciated....

[roy81]

Have decided to get a 2ft cube tank with sump tank instead. will go for protein skimmer (Bubble Magus BM Curve 5 or 7) - is this ok?

For a 2ft cube tank, is it still too small for a couple of tangs?

For lights, i would go with a 2ft T5 from my friend for the time being and maybe as time goes by, might change to better ones. 

[josephwzr]

I have 2 small tangs in my 2ft cube tank, I think that's the most I can get.