Confused Newbie

C

Chris the Fish

AC Members
Aug 22, 2008
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Leicestershire, UK
Just paid a visit to my LFS to look into picking up a few bits to help me on my way to my first marine tank. (25gal, plan to put in a pair of clown fish and a few inverts in future)

On talking to the 'bloke', he informed me that prior to getting any fish, i should cycle with live rock first (this i knew), however, he told me id need 10kg of live rock to cycle the tank - this is a heck of a lot of live rock for a 25gal tank when at max there would only be 4-5 fish and there wouldnt be that much more room in there!

also, i take it ro water is the only water you can use, and can you DIY this?
 
About 10 KG's of live rock is about right for a 25gal tank..However, you dont need that to cycle the tank. Thats the ammount you want to end up with. If you dont want this ammount of live rock, then, i guess you'd be calling this a Fish Only (FO) tank....and if that is the case, then you would need to provide filtration by another means like an external cannister filter.

And yes, i would only recommend RO water, as tap water normally leads to plague algae, due to elevated levels of nitrate and phosphate in a lot of tap water supplies...
 
i planned on using a canister filter that has been used for a freshwater set up after changing the medium - on that note, what is the best medium to use for saltwater? (my canister has 3 baskets)

as for live rock, if i have all that rock, i dont need a filter - just powerheads for circulation/airiation?


and water, if you use RO water, arnt water changes a bit problematic/expensive? i take it dechlorinated and salinated tap water is not the best from the comments above, however ive heard of people who 'cure' water overnight for water changes - what is this?

sorry if the questions are a bit strange, everywhere i look for advice is either contradictory or abject willy waving (you know, 'you need all the latest equipment and a 1000g tank or just dont bother' etc.)

cheers in advance

chris
 
You will always find contradictory advice no matter where you go. There have been some disagreements on this site as well. There are no absolutes in this hobby other than dying fish caused by poor water quality/care. There are also different opinions on how to best cycle a tank. But all agree thet cycling is essential.

"Reefscape" is considered to be one of the resident "experts" when it come to marine questions. When setting up a new tank or system I advise you to stay with a single web site that you feel most comfortable with. Doing so will help to preclude contradictions. The same goes with LFS. The more places you go the more you will be confused.

Welcome to AC!
 
Chris the Fish said:
i planned on using a canister filter that has been used for a freshwater set up after changing the medium - on that note, what is the best medium to use for saltwater? (my canister has 3 baskets)

<<You could have coarse foam in top, fine foam in the middle, and maybe live rock rubble in the 3rd...many combinations could be used>>

as for live rock, if i have all that rock, i dont need a filter - just powerheads for circulation/airiation?

<<Thats correct. However, to aid in stability for someone who never had a marine tank, i would advise using a skimmer in addition to the filtration>>

and water, if you use RO water, arnt water changes a bit problematic/expensive? i take it dechlorinated and salinated tap water is not the best from the comments above, however ive heard of people who 'cure' water overnight for water changes - what is this?

<<No need to dechlore RO water as all the trace elements are stripped out, when the water goes through the Reverse Osmosis process. With the RO water, yes, you would add the salt untill the correct specific gravility is attained ion a container with a heater and a powerhead. Then its left mising for 24 hours before use. This allows for the salt to be completly mixed, correct temperature attained and for the water to settle>>

sorry if the questions are a bit strange, everywhere i look for advice is either contradictory or abject willy waving (you know, 'you need all the latest equipment and a 1000g tank or just dont bother' etc.)

<<As said before, you can go to 5 different forums and get 5 different answers. Everyone is trying to help though, and your looking for the common ground in all the info obtained>>

cheers in advance

chris
Click to expand...


Added some comments above in red, hope this helps..
 
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