equipment and setup of marine tank

[Anthony]

hi guys

i do have some problem for setting up my marine tank. i had a bad experience b4, me staying in bt batok, so nearest lfs is bt timah lfs. bought some stuff there. GOT CHEATED by the owner. wanted to setup a 2ft tank.... and it cost me $68 just for 1 ungravel filter, air pump, salt, Hydrometer, a small bottle of kalkwasser and a bottle of EASY LIFE liquid [i guess it is bio-bacteria in a bottle.. or crystal clear stuff] damn EX. cannot really blame any1, is my own fault that i nv do research at all. i have learn my lesson.

1. i have a 2ft tank at hm, but i have found out that is better to setup a 3 ft tank. so for the min thickness is abt how many mm? 10mm enough?

2. FILTER, a sump or a canister filter, which 1 is better and is lower in budget. what if i get canister filter, eheim, Jagno, Fluval, which 1 is worth to get. any worth buying model to intro? if i do a sump, i must have 2 protein skimmer? 1 in sump, 1 in my main tank huh?

3. PROTEIN SKIMMER 3ft tank, if i use 1 orca skimmer, izzit gd enough?

4. CHILLER 3ft tank, izzit a must to have chiller? i can use av fan to cool it down at constant temp rite?

5. LIGHTING white FL gd enough for 3 ft tank? how to calculator it huh. how much lighting i shld put, i will be keeping mainly liverock, soft coral n fishes only, maybe a bit of hard cora

6. TEST KITS Sera, Tetra gd? how much it cost per set? izzit recommand to get 5 in 1 testkit?

7. LIVE ROCK, at this period of time, veri hard to find liverock rite? correct me if i m wrong. any recommanded place to buy cheap liverock, how many kg shld i buy?

i hope all this problem , u guys can help me. i m just a student, so on veri low budget, $400> i can get all my euqipment?

any reliable lfs or farm u guys can intro

i heard that nature aquarium selling equipment at cheap prices, izzit true?

hope u guys can help me out,

thanx 10000000xxxxx

[Achilles Tang]

Welcome to the Singapore Reef Club.

We'll do our best to help you but you have to do a bit of homework first.

Have you done any research before embarking on this hobby?

Do you know your limitations... budget, equipment, tank size can affect the kind of marine livestock you can keep?

We have covered many such topics about setting up a tank for beginners so pls take the trouble to research these before you post asked-before questions as we won't really like repeating ourselves over and over again.

But I'll help you with your questions:

1. i have a 2ft tank at hm, but i have found out that is better to setup a 3 ft tank. so for the min thickness is abt how many mm? 10mm enough?

- 10mm should be ok for safety.

2. FILTER, a sump or a canister filter, which 1 is better and is lower in budget.

- sump is better if you have the space. Canister not recommended for long term easy maintenance and effectiveness.

what if i get canister filter, eheim, Jagno, Fluval, which 1 is worth to get.

- Eheim is a good brand, get the best you can. You get what you pay for.

any worth buying model to intro? if i do a sump, i must have 2 protein skimmer? 1 in sump, 1 in my main tank huh?

- 1 good protein skimmer is better than 10 lousy ones. 1 is sufficient.

3. PROTEIN SKIMMER 3ft tank, if i use 1 orca skimmer, izzit gd enough?

- like I said... get the best you can... either save enough money to get a good one or don't start your tank first. Don't waste money upgrading later. Listen to us experienced ones who have gone down the same road... $$ wasted can only be regretted.

4. CHILLER 3ft tank, izzit a must to have chiller? i can use av fan to cool it down at constant temp rite?

- you are limited by the kind of corals you can keep long-term. Fish and invertebrates like crabs and shrimps can tolerate higher temps.

5. LIGHTING white FL gd enough for 3 ft tank? how to calculator it huh. how much lighting i shld put, i will be keeping mainly liverock, soft coral n fishes only, maybe a bit of hard coral.

- Get MHs if you can. FL/PLs don't provide the best lighting corals deserve. And knowing the tendency of us hobbyists, we will be yearning to get species which need MHs.... clams, acroporas, etc.

6. TEST KITS Sera, Tetra gd? how much it cost per set? izzit recommand to get 5 in 1 testkit?

- get the best again... salifert brand is highly regarded.

7. LIVE ROCK, at this period of time, veri hard to find liverock rite? correct me if i m wrong. any recommanded place to buy cheap liverock, how many kg shld i buy?

- our unspoken policy is that we won't broadcast where to get those. Maybe you can call up marine LFS to ask from time to time. Buy as much as you can if you cannot provide a DSB for your filtration.

i hope all this problem , u guys can help me. i m just a student, so on veri low budget, $400> i can get all my euqipment?

- hmmm... $400 is kinda too little to get quality stuff... not to discourage you.. but perhaps you may need to budget at least $1000 for a 3 ft tank to make a good enough setup to last for sometime before you need to upgrade.

any reliable lfs or farm u guys can intro

- There are no reliable LFS around... trust me. You are better off surfing for info from the internet.

i heard that nature aquarium selling equipment at cheap prices, izzit true?

- dunno.

[bawater]

AT has spoken-

& to your last question:

Nature sells lighting pretty reasonable. If u can go for the PL lights - you would get better visuals,and a chance to keep low lighting invertebrates later on.

FL?- cheap but stick to Fish only with these(unless u don't mind using 6 tubes for your 3ft-which is almost the same price as PL).

MH is the best.

Hope u not intending reef? cause $400 a little low to get the equipment needed.

use up as much as u can to get the tank & sump,........... then skimmer(if u have a sump then get an in-sump model),rocks,then lights. If u buy the other things in stages then it won't hit u so hard-also gives u time to cycle.(fish go in only when u have purchased the last item on your list-by which should take a couple of months)

There is no rush.- mistakes happen when u rush things like cycling.

starting out- Fish only is less forgiving(if u don't mix predator & prey together)

canister filters do work(try 2nos of ehiem for a 3ft)- but then again for fish only setups with regular water changes but a sump will increase your total volume & lets u hide your equipment.

[dravan]

i've asked a owner abt liverocks he told me somebody got caught inporting

therefore the stock on market now is very little.. all leftovers lah

so all the rocks now damn ex...