3' Marine Aquarium Plans... Help Me! :)

[hybridise]

Hey everybody! I just joined this forum, becuase I figured this would be the best place to gather information for this new tank which I plan to set up. I am not completely new to keeping a marine aquarium, as I did have some previous experience with a few of them. I took a 2 year break after that, and now I am itching to start a new tank again. This time, though, I want to reduce mistakes to a minimum, so please help me! I have a phobia of nuisance algae, and I really really want to prevent it from breaking out all over the tank.

Being a student, I have a small budget() of maybe about a thousand bucks, so I was planning to use secondhand equipment for the time being. I'll upgrade slowly along the way.

A brief description of my plans:

The aquarium is 90cm by 45cm by 45cm, all glass, without an overflow. I plan to DIY an overflow pipe unit. I plan to keep mostly mushrooms, zoanthids, some other soft corals, a lot of shrimps, crabs, hermit crabs, and lastly maybe a shrimp goby and a sixline wrasse.

The equipment I already own:

A Teco half-horsepower chiller, an Amiracle Typhoon Counter-current Double Venturi Skimmer(anybody heard of this? I bought it from ML 3 years back), a 2' sump(built by ML too). I also have a Red Sea Prizm Skimmer... so I don't know which skimmer to use. Maybe both? I also have an Eheim external canister filter.

Equipment I plan to buy:

2 X 150W metal halide lights + hood + ballast (secondhand)

2 X T5 HO actinic blue fluorescents (new or secondhand)

Fluidised Reactor (new)

Powerheads (new or secondhand)

Bioballs for the sump

I am planning to build an overflow pipe system draining into the sump, and also a refugium next to the tank (not in the sump).

I have a few questions:

1. Can somebody teach me about metal halide lights?

2. Do I need a denitrator?

3. Do i need a calcium reactor for the stuff I plan to keep, or are calcium additivies sufficient?

4. What kind of gravel should I use, and should I do a deep sand bed or what?

5. How much live rock per litre do I require?

6. Do I really need to add a piece of dead prawn? Wouldn't black mollies or something work better?

7. Do I need a UV steriliser?

Gosh, this is a really long post. I hope somebody would be kind enough to bear with me and help me along... Please comment on my plans, ok? I just want to do everything right.

THANKS!

[acidjazz]

Metal Halides & T5 works just fine. Its a matter of preference basically. T5 covers a wider spectrum compared to MH, n since u are not into sps, T5 can be a replacement for MH.

Denitrator is a plus point, not a must. Since u said u have a budget, its best not to get one as its not cheap to maintain one. The demi balls are $2 each.

Calcium reactor is good. . but again. . . its just a bonus but ur corals can do without it. Dosing is sufficent.

There are two schools of thought regarding DSB. i dun think i am fit to discuss it here.

u can replace the Uv sterliser with Ozonizer.

[blueheaven]

I'll just like to add on to what acidjazz had said

1) For the types of LS you are planning to keep, T5s will suffice and adding MH would probably cause your corals to bleach rather than keep them thriving.

2) A denitrator is very hard to tune and you have to restart everytime you tune it wrongly. IMO, a denitrator is better left to the very very experienced reefer.

3) Save yourself the cost of a CR and get it only when you plan to keep stony corals

4) If you want to employ a DSB, do take note that it requires a lot of maintenance and prior knowledge. If done correctly, it will function very well.

5) This depends on what type of scaping you want to make. Using the "amount per litre" guage is very inaccurate.

6) What are black mollies? A type of fish? Well, you do not need to use dead prawn if you don't want to. I've heard of people using a whole piece of squid

7) UV sterilisers have its pros and cons so you need to weigh them first before deciding.

Hope this helps

[hybridise]

Wow thanks for the advice. But now I have more questions...

1. How many T5s do I need? Is 4 (2 X actinic blue, 2 X marine white sufficient), or should I have 3 of each to make 6?

2. Excessive lighting causes bleaching of corals?! How? I read in some book that you can never give corals enough light. Haha...

3. If I decide to keep anemones a few months down the road, do they require metal halide?

4. Am I supposed to connect the ozoniser to the protein skimmer? How does an ozoniser work, really?

5. How can I completely prevent the growth of nuisance algae, yet at the same time promote the growth of pink and purple calcareous algae across the live rock?

What are black mollies? A type of fish?

A pair of black mollies

Yes, it is a type of fish that freshwater newbies keep. They are related to guppies. However, black mollies can easily be converted to marine conditions, since they originate from brackish water. I read somewhere that they can be used as a method to introduce ammonia to kickstart the ANN cycle in a marine tank, since it produces ammonia as waste. I don't know... I just don't like the idea of putting dead meat in my tank.

[blueheaven]

1) I think 4 is quite enough already

2) Nope, that's a common misconception. If the amount of light you give your corals exceed the saturation point of photosynthesis of the zooxanthellae, the coral will expel the zooxanthellae to lower the amount of byproduct made. This in turn causes bleaching or "melting" of soft corals under excessive light.

3) Well, if there are people who can keep SPS thriving under T5s, I don't see how meeting the lighting requirements of anemones would be a problem

4) It is good to check whether your skimmer is ozone safe first. You wouldn't want it to melt when you inject ozone into it.

5) Keep your nutrients low and magnesium levels constant. Then, seed your reef with some coralline chips.

Try not to use live animals for cycling because it is very inhumane. Just let the prawn rot in your tank. It does more good than bad.

[hobbes]

Welcome to the forum hybridise,

you might want to add in a Fluidise Reactor into your equipment list..

[hybridise]

I did, Hobbes! Hi how are your eagle eye zoos?

[jun]

Welcome to the forum hybridise,

you might want to add in a Fluidise Reactor into your equipment list..

Fluidise Reactor for wat? any pro & con?

[blueheaven]

It is used to maximise the usage of filter media such as Rowaphos or activated carbon

Pros are that it maximises the surface area of contact between the water and the media and thus improving its effieciency.

Cons are that it is usually hard to change out the media and if placed wrongly, might lead to precipitation

[Dazza]

yes agree with the bros here ... fluidised reactor (FR)i reckon wud be more useful than the calcium reactor n denitrator given the livestks u intend to keep n the budget constraints... with the FR, u may hv lesser prob with phosphate n so algae is easier to keep under control... u can always add the calcium reactor n denitrator ltr on

[k0na_scab]

adding mollies to kick off the ANN cycle ? dats LAME !!!!

u can add any rotting/dead stuff to cycle , juz a small piece will do

adding yr liverocks would kick start the cycle , cause there will be die-offs frm it.