buget setup ???

[letdoit]

i have 2 ft fresh water tank. But going to try marine.

I using 2ft jewel tank. The motor of the filter is 250 l/h

and a fan . the temp is 28 degree. lighting = 15 w only

Can i have simple coral and fishes without complicated filter, protein skimmer and other which i had no idea abt it.

if not wrong, fishes don't need those complicated things but the coral needed???

hope i can setup without spending much.

which items is a must?

[tcs9423]

hi i also quite new to marine..

but i think a skimmer and a filter is a must..

you dont have to buy complicated ones.

just a normal one will do:)..

where to buy?

HERE!!

you've come to the right place;)..

a l'ttle off topic..

[nakazoru]

i have 2 ft fresh water tank. But going to try marine.

I using 2ft jewel tank. The motor of the filter is 250 l/h

and a fan . the temp is 28 degree. lighting = 15 w only

Can i have simple coral and fishes without complicated filter, protein skimmer and other which i had no idea abt it.

if not wrong, fishes don't need those complicated things but the coral needed???

hope i can setup without spending much.

which items is a must?

It is a good thing you ask before you start.

I started with a 1 ft tank some 5 years back.

Okay, no coral if you use the 15W. At best you can keep simple mushroom, but you will want more sooner or later.

I myself have never used a proper expensive skimmer, only a 8 SGD one but deem it as not worth the time.

I dun know how a jewel filter looks like but I always used a canister filter and it is fine for me. All depends on how you decide on the filtration media and maintenance. Good luck.

[blueheaven]

The Jewel filter is crap IMO

The pump is too underpowered and the media will trap detritus which decompose into nutrient

Believe me, I've had that tank before

Small tanks are prone to drastic water parameter changes and you'll soon find that your LS start dying. If you want a nano tank, it requires a lot more maintenance than biger tanks

[weileong]

Get rid of the filter box.

If you can, get a sump as you can hide all your supporting equipments in it.

If you want to get a sump then you'll need a hang on overflow box.

A protein skimmer is highly recommended.

A small pump for water circulation.

Some ways of cooling down the tank will be helpful too if you want to keep corals.

You didn't tell us what LS you intend to keep.

[Maxstar81]

letdoit,

I have a 1.5 by 1 by 1 tank.

Only 1 filter & nothing else.

Current LS is simple 4 mangrove cardinals,

1 gobbie from sea, 1 pipe fish from sea, 4 glass

shrimps from sea, 1 boxer and 2 camel shrimps.

20% water change every wkend.

Everything is fine.

Small tank & simple setup is possible but you must

know how to choose HARDY live stock.

Take it slow & easy & you will enjoy the conversion

to marine tank !

[letdoit]

Get rid of the filter box.

If you can, get a sump as you can hide all your supporting equipments in it.

If you want to get a sump then you'll need a hang on overflow box.

A protein skimmer is highly recommended.

A small pump for water circulation.

Some ways of cooling down the tank will be helpful too if you want to keep corals.

You didn't tell us what LS you intend to keep.

thanks for all info.

I not sure what LS i going to have and i don't know what is hard / soft LS.

But i know soft LS is nicer right?

LS stand for ? (live stone?)

yes, jewel had under power motor and lighting.

[tcs9423]

LR= live rock

i never heard of live stone.

LS= life stock (eg, fishes,shrimps)

hope this helps

i think if no skimmer keep fishes ba..

keep more hardy ones

[cdckjn]

I kept one 1 ft once - with a pump and overhead filter, put in a pair of clownfish - the whole setup lasted about 1 month before the whole tank started to crash - honestly in my opinion, the smaller teh tank the harder it is to maintain. now I upgraded to a 2ft and things are better. Will go for a sump and a proper skimmer (eg Weipro - cheap and ok). That should be very budget conscious then.

[Kotobuki]

lol... in general, smaller tanks are hard to maintain. But lets look on the bright side. A 1x1x1.5 main tank with a 2x2x3 sump. Think it'll have a long way to go. More water, less LS = low bio load. Dats the way it goes

[tineng]

i used to run a 2x1x1 juwel tank....but got rid of the filter box eventually. Used a canister instead...was able the keep fishes for 4 months without adding in skimmer.....after 6 months couldn't resist the call of SPS and upgrade with Skimmer, tunze, lights and chiller.....

its a decent tank.....but quite limiting due to its small size....

[letdoit]

i used to run a 2x1x1 juwel tank....but got rid of the filter box eventually. Used a canister instead...was able the keep fishes for 4 months without adding in skimmer.....after 6 months couldn't resist the call of SPS and upgrade with Skimmer, tunze, lights and chiller.....

its a decent tank.....but quite limiting due to its small size....

hate chiller.. no $$$

Does jewel tank able to mod the lighting?

look like very weak. (15w)

look like skimmer is very important

[tineng]

hate chiller.. no $$$

Does jewel tank able to mod the lighting?

look like very weak. (15w)

look like skimmer is very important

difficult to mod the cover....the most i did was to replace the 15w tube with 1x 36w PL light.....but its very hot and will wrap the pastic cover. Also you have to becareful as PL lights holders are not water proof....have to fixup some sort of seal to make sure water doesn't seep in....

towards the end, i cut open the entire hood and fix a MH on top.....

[letdoit]

[quote name=

difficult to mod the cover....the most i did was to replace the 15w tube with 1x 36w PL light.....but its very hot and will wrap the pastic cover. Also you have to becareful as PL lights holders are not water proof....have to fixup some sort of seal to make sure water doesn't seep in....

towards the end' date=' i cut open the entire hood and fix a MH on top.....

huh? can 36 PL insert into 15w? or u had mod?

[jewelking]

for one ft or 1.5ft tank, it is possible to use just medium size filter box and a SGD8 air pump driven skimmer. It's depending on what you put in the filter box.

The following is what I have used and is running stabily :

1. Get yourself one piece of filter bag. ard $1.5 to $3 depending on brand

2. Pour in some activated charcoal + C3 coral sand into the filter bag to fill up the bag

3. Remove all the default filter media from the filter box.

4. Firstly place substantial ceramic ring @ the base of the filter box

5. Place custom-prepacked filter bag on top of the ceramic ring

6. Place sponge or wool on the inlet compartment of the filter box to filter off larger substrate

Maintainence for small tank will need approximate one per week 10% water change and use the pumped out salt water to clean the filter bag (shake out all the accumulated dirts) and clean the sponge or wool as well.

Add C3 coral sand as seabed around 1" thick + some live rocks+ one or two pieces of plant (to help to bring down nitrate level) + bacteria dosage weekly (after water change), you should be able to maintain a stable small marine tank.

My cycling period around 3weeks.

However, please take note that your bio-load cannot be too high as the nitrate level will be too high for the filter box to handle.

I have a 2" tomato clown + three green gromish + two cleaner shrimps. and should still able to add on slightly more if you want to (but always start slow in your bio-load)

Happy Setting up !

[letdoit]

ok. before i start up.

i found that most easilest LS : cady cane, bubble, hammer ( from this forum)

which is cheapest?

i using only 15w of light.

which LS able to survive with this 15w white light.

[gerald28]

i think your pump alone is not enough to do the cycle if without skimmer there a limit to what u can get , why dun invest in a little now then save the problem of headace and sacrifice of fishes later on , just my 2 cents

[letdoit]

i think your pump alone is not enough to do the cycle if without skimmer there a limit to what u can get , why dun invest in a little now then save the problem of headace and sacrifice of fishes later on , just my 2 cents

yup. going to buy skimmer. a cheap one will do.

but from internet, found that, skimmer is the most important.

and the price is us$600++

my god

[dreamzcape]

letdoit,

I think you really have to do more research and reading before going into the hobby. Sorry but looking at your replies it seems that you have not done enough research on your own so other than just relying totally on the forums, i suggest you go read more too.

read to understand the following:

1)nitrogen cycle

2)mechanical,chemical and biological filtration

2)how each piece of equipment works

it may seem daunting at first but this hobby is all about patience.

Like you said you read that skimmer is most important and costs 600 dollars. What if I told you that there are setups that don't run skimmer and are doing fine? You then must question how come no skimmer can still work.

Hope you get what i mean when i say that patience and personal reading is important. and BTW, protein skimmers can range from single digits to 4 digits....why is that so? read more!

cheerz and hope u find your groove

[nakazoru]

ok. before i start up.

i found that most easilest LS : cady cane, bubble, hammer ( from this forum)

which is cheapest?

i using only 15w of light.

which LS able to survive with this 15w white light.

15W most cannot keep.

Mushrom will bearly make it, but dun bother.

[letdoit]

letdoit,

I think you really have to do more research and reading before going into the hobby. Sorry but looking at your replies it seems that you have not done enough research on your own so other than just relying totally on the forums, i suggest you go read more too.

read to understand the following:

1)nitrogen cycle

2)mechanical,chemical and biological filtration

2)how each piece of equipment works

it may seem daunting at first but this hobby is all about patience.

Like you said you read that skimmer is most important and costs 600 dollars. What if I told you that there are setups that don't run skimmer and are doing fine? You then must question how come no skimmer can still work.

Hope you get what i mean when i say that patience and personal reading is important. and BTW, protein skimmers can range from single digits to 4 digits....why is that so? read more!

cheerz and hope u find your groove

try must best. just now went to CCK, saw a shop with 2ft tanks without skimmer.

alot stone and only a few soft and hard LS. He told me what to do......

i had bought ready-water. Now going to setup.

Wish me good luck. hahaha.

if i fail. then too sad. i spent less then S$20 include 1 fish.

[jewelking]

try must best. just now went to CCK, saw a shop with 2ft tanks without skimmer.

alot stone and only a few soft and hard LS. He told me what to do......

i had bought ready-water. Now going to setup.

Wish me good luck. hahaha.

if i fail. then too sad. i spent less then S$20 include 1 fish.

huh ? You bought 1 fish on your setting up period ? Poor fish. most likely it will not survive in hours.

Your tank will need cycling period of mininum 1week. preferably a period of 3weeks.

[letdoit]

i bought salt water. not salt. ready to go.

what next ?

after 1 week, need to buy which one first for decor?

rock? hard LS or Soft LS first?

by the way, for salt water, what are the thing i need to check?

NO2,3 GH, PH etc etc??? and their acceptable range? i had search this forum, can't find. should be may mths no ppl asked...... if not wrong, PH = 8.0 right?

[letdoit]

after searching what is rock, soft/hard LS

example: zoo is soft or hard?

how to place LS to rock? is it some rock have LS already? or we stick them?

pic

top green left, is it Live rock or LS?

[oshkosh]

Yo Letdoit,

I think you are jumping the gun here.

First, a simple setup is possible. All you need is some sand, a few pieces of live rocks, a simple filtration system and you are off. Things you can keep in the setup? Hardy fishes only. Check out damsels, there are many to choose from.

You want to keep corals with the above setup? Best of luck. Know that if you keep replacing dead and dying corals, the money will add up.

As you are a newbie, I would suggest that you start up simple and just keep fish for the next few months. Move up to more delicate fishes and corals when you have had some experience.

As for starting up the tank. It is good to cycle it first before you throw in any lifestock. What is cycling? Read up!

I know you are quite excited about getting the tank going, but by the questions you ask, it shows a lack of any reading or research at your end. It's important that you have some foundation. Better get it soon.

Cheers and good luck.