New to Marine

[xjiahua]

Hi guys, i'm new to this section of fishkeeping and i would like to start small with a 2ft nano marine setup with fishes, liverocks & perhaps mostly mushroom corals for a start. been reading pieces here and there but still have questions left unanswered and i hope fellow hobbyist can help.

Tank:

I have jus acquired a 2ft x 1ft x 1ft braceless 6mm thickness tank. Would it be able to handle the weight and pressure of liverocks, substrate and water ?

Lighting:

is there a guideline to how much wattage of light to feed the corals per gallon of water ?

Filter And Media

Is it sufficient to use an eheim 2213 with output of 400l/hr to circulate the roughly 40l of water of 10 times ?

And as of media, i'm planning to stock it up with biohome, biohome plus, zeolite stones, phosphate remover and carbon. anything other recommendation ?

Sandbed

Where can i purchase marine sandbed ? i'm told to go for coarser (C-1 ?) types of sandbed. Is there a minimum requirement of depth of sandbed to make use of the 'live sandbed' filtration ?

Protein Skimmer

I'm planning to do it without a protein skimmer as tank will be situated in my room and i'm ultra sensitive to even the slightest noise so i'm gonna stick it dutifully to weekly water change. or is there a silent protein skimmer i can acquire ?

Test Kits

Ammonia

Nitrite

Nitrate

Phosphates

other than the ones listed anything else that i need ?

do pardon me for my chunk of questions. do not wanna jump into it blindly.

[Zoa guy]

If you are not planning on keeping any light requiring corals then light wont be a prob but if u want to keep things like acros, u need to think bout par. For a 2 feet, i prefer using hob, im using a hob for my 2feet frag tank which has a flow rate of 400l/h and a surface skimmer, bought it from nature aquarium. Im using natures oceaan live aragonite sand...heres the link http://aquamarin.com.sg/productsDetail.asp?productid=284

The amount of sand is just nice for your tank, though u may want a deeper sand bed. Its just your preference. As for your filter media, just use biohome,good grade carbon and phosphate media.

I know a person who has setted a very nice tank, but just started this year....the tank dimensions are almost the same....u can find it

[Zoa guy]

A protein skimmer is very helpful...u may want to consider a deltec mce 600? Its silent to me...if its too expensive why not get a prizm. The prizm is quite noisy but u can reduce the amount of noice but attaching the air tubing to plug on the lid of the skimmer cup

[xjiahua]

If you are not planning on keeping any light requiring corals then light wont be a prob but if u want to keep things like acros, u need to think bout par. For a 2 feet, i prefer using hob, im using a hob for my 2feet frag tank which has a flow rate of 400l/h and a surface skimmer, bought it from nature aquarium. Im using natures oceaan live aragonite sand...heres the link http://aquamarin.com.sg/productsDetail.asp?productid=284

The amount of sand is just nice for your tank, though u may want a deeper sand bed. Its just your preference. As for your filter media, just use biohome,good grade carbon and phosphate media.

I know a person who has setted a very nice tank, but just started this year....the tank dimensions are almost the same....u can find it

A protein skimmer is very helpful...u may want to consider a deltec mce 600? Its silent to me...if its too expensive why not get a prizm. The prizm is quite noisy but u can reduce the amount of noice but attaching the air tubing to plug on the lid of the skimmer cup

thanks for the recommendation on the sand and the filter media.

as for the lighting wise is a 2x 24 watts (1 white & 1 Actinic blue) sufficient to keep corals ? or would it be an overkill ?

did up a search on the price of deltex mce 600 =x nahh budget is too tight for it. as for now i guess i can only use my existing media and dutifully do a weekly water change.

[tunicate]

Hi,

You did not mentioned chiller, so I guessed you're not planning for one at the moment. In this hot weather, a clip on fan would help bring down your water temp to more bearable level. Talking about heat, a canister filter like the eheim 2213 you mentioned typically has a submerged pump as compared to a HOB filter where the pump is external. Water gets heated up more with a submerged pump.

BTW, you do not need to restrict yourself with just one HOB filter. You can have one for mechanical filtration, & a 2nd one for cultivation chaeto for nutrient export. Plus you now get twice the circulation.

My 2 cents.

[Zoa guy]

ay...i agree with tunicate...2X24...is enough for me to keep sps in my 2feet. Many will say its insufficient but it works for me, although i recommend getting a solite 4x24...u can find the link here..the solite fixture is quite cheap n it comes with exhaust fans and individual reflectors. Sg climate very hot, its good to get a fan or chiller...anything above 30d will be too hot for your fish...Two times the flow rate=better

[xjiahua]

Hi,

You did not mentioned chiller, so I guessed you're not planning for one at the moment. In this hot weather, a clip on fan would help bring down your water temp to more bearable level. Talking about heat, a canister filter like the eheim 2213 you mentioned typically has a submerged pump as compared to a HOB filter where the pump is external. Water gets heated up more with a submerged pump.

BTW, you do not need to restrict yourself with just one HOB filter. You can have one for mechanical filtration, & a 2nd one for cultivation chaeto for nutrient export. Plus you now get twice the circulation.

My 2 cents.

didnt mention abt chiller as the tank is in my room with previous planted aquarium temperature ranging between 24degree to 27degree with and without air conditioned. i supposed this fluctuation aint that stressful ? ohh ya thanks for the heads up on the filter heat, totally missed out on that but i'm going tight on budget especially with the high initial outlay and i've got spare canisters lying ard.

ay...i agree with tunicate...2X24...is enough for me to keep sps in my 2feet. Many will say its insufficient but it works for me, although i recommend getting a solite 4x24...u can find the link here..the solite fixture is quite cheap n it comes with exhaust fans and individual reflectors. Sg climate very hot, its good to get a fan or chiller...anything above 30d will be too hot for your fish...Two times the flow rate=better

i found a reading that sps needs ard 3-4w per gallon but then again it depends on the depth subtracting that of the sandbed and placement of corals ? thanks for the links you recommended pal. really an eye opener on my wallet as well. haha nevertheless gonna try to work smth out on cheaper alternatives first. do you happen to keep any hard corals like anemone & such with a 2 x 24watts ?

[RockyBoy]

Try to keep LPS first so that you will learn the correct husbandry, water parameters, etc.

[Zoa guy]

i keep sps under 2X24 watts...but watts is not a good estimate. Par and lumens are better but PAR is kinda hard to measure unless you already own a PAR meter or you are willing to buy one. The 3-4 watts guide never helped me...lps is supposingly easier than sps, probably because they are hardier...but sps isnt that hard.

HAHA...that fixture is really worth the money, would have gotten it instead of an aquazonic fixture...the cooling fans and the individual reflectors are a real plus. T5 is still one of the cheapest alternative around, unless your thinking of metal halide or LED...lol If u plan to use T5, the bulbs u use really make a dif...the qian hu one sucks...i prefer the arcadia one.

[tunicate]

:fear:

[Slimymadness]

ay...i agree with tunicate...2X24...is enough for me to keep sps in my 2feet. Many will say its insufficient but it works for me, although i recommend getting a solite 4x24...u can find the link here..the solite fixture is quite cheap n it comes with exhaust fans and individual reflectors. Sg climate very hot, its good to get a fan or chiller...anything above 30d will be too hot for your fish...Two times the flow rate=better

there's a big difference in "surviving" and "growing" bro. I feel that you are misleading with your statement. T5 CAN grow SPS, provided that you have a true High Output fixtures, no offence but screw the aquazonic or other lame ###### fixtures. Think ATI Powermodule or at least DE Lighting's HO fixtures.

48 watts of T5 in aquazonic fixture compared to HO fixtures like ATI is not enough to grow SPS, period. Unless one has a foot of water only and the fixture is directly above them corals.

Of those SUCCESSFUL sps reefers who uses T5 alone, 6 is the minimum i have seen so far. I have seen 8 and still needs supplementation from PAR38 LEDs (check out mengyang_neo and Bellinayu tank threads to know what i mean).

I have a 2 footer, total lighting power about 160w. I still feel it's not enough. Joe_P even recommends 250W mh for me!

My frag tank of 1.5ft meant for zoas only is using 2x24w.

Apologies if i offend you or anyone else, this is not my 2 cents worth, but a fact supported and displayed by many reefers both here and abroad.

Cheers!

Lighting, Water paramenters, Flow, 3 things paramount

[Copperband]

why are we even talking about SPS here.... threadsetter probably will be more confused (i guess)

[Slimymadness]

lol... ts also talking about sps lighting ma....

apology to TS if i have sidetracked!

[Zoa guy]

im just saying, what works for me may not work for other people...no offence taken...2X24 seems little i acknowledge that but it works for me.

Back to the topic, u can choose to keep sps in this tank if u want, provided you gain some experience first with easier corals.

[xjiahua]

thanks guys for all the input you guys have contributed. really appreciate it. its this kinda discussion that we learn from each other. to be frank, i actually got confused because of the abbreviations. just to clarify, can i say that LPS are those broader mushroom liked as compared to pointy SPS ?

as for the lighting issue, i'm gonna just try out on using what i have for now as my tank height is only 1ft. however i would like to enquire if i should be using 1x sunlight with 1x actinic blue ? & switching it both on together ? on both sunlight tubes ?

[CFOh]

thanks guys for all the input you guys have contributed. really appreciate it. its this kinda discussion that we learn from each other. to be frank, i actually got confused because of the abbreviations. just to clarify, can i say that LPS are those broader mushroom liked as compared to pointy SPS ?

as for the lighting issue, i'm gonna just try out on using what i have for now as my tank height is only 1ft. however i would like to enquire if i should be using 1x sunlight with 1x actinic blue ? & switching it both on together ? on both sunlight tubes ?

Some reading for u.. Below wiki quite useful...

About Corals..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral

Soft coral

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcyonacea

Hard coral/Stony corals (eg, SPS, LPS)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scleractinia

For mushroom corals:

1. Corallimorpharia (soft mushroom corals)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corallimorpharia

2. Fungiidae (stony mushroom corals)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungiidae

Cheers..

[xjiahua]

thanks to all for the help & advice.

just did up my tank with rockscape in a JBJ 24G instead of the previously said 2ft.

wanna enquire when would it be best to start adding corals ? am looking mainly at zoa, mushroom and anemone.

welcome any comments!

Tank: JBJ 24g Nano

Sand: Nature Ocean's Hawaiian Puka

Filter: Eheim 1001 600litres/hour pump

Filter media (In sequence of order with various sponges in the 1st Chamber)

250ml Seachem Purigen (1st Chamber)

250ml Seachem Phosguard (2nd Chamber)

600gram Biohome Plus (2nd Chamber)

300gram Biohome (2nd Chamber)

250ml Seachem Matrix Carbon (2nd Chamber)

300gram Biohome Plus + Biohome (3rd Chamber with return pump)

[tunicate]

There's no need to fix the hydrometer pamanently in the tank. Will be difficult to clean glass.

[xjiahua]

ohh it was jus there for a stabilize reading when I finished setting up but my readings seems to fluctuate, just checked it the salinity increased by 0.003 from 1.024 =x is it normal ? shld I bring it down by adding more water ?

[tunicate]

1.024 should be fine.

[xjiahua]

1.024 should be fine.

it was 1.024 yesterday but just tested it again this morning it shot up to 1.027 =x

[vinccc2009]

too high!

[Slimymadness]

bro ditch the hydrometer and get a refractometer instead! hydrometer can be inaccurate due to possible bubble and salt/calcium buildup...

investing in a refractometer will yield more accurate result and save u lots of headache in the future!

[xjiahua]

bro ditch the hydrometer and get a refractometer instead! hydrometer can be inaccurate due to possible bubble and salt/calcium buildup...

investing in a refractometer will yield more accurate result and save u lots of headache in the future!

yayy I'm starting to doubt it alrdy lucky it was given by a fren. jus hope it doesn't escalate again. gonna bring it down. it's like a game of guess and check determining the salinity

[desideria]

yeah ditch it... last time I used it gave me different reading all the time... refracto is definitely WORTH it!