I am new to this and wanted to know if I am on the right path. I have a 60 gallon tall (12/24/48) and currently have a millenium 3000 filter (which I'm not sure is for sw tanks) and two (1200)power heads and a heater,thermometer,amonia alert and nitrite/nitrate test kit. I have no protein skimmer how important is this? I buy all my rocks cured already. I also have two white lights and one actinic is this enough? I have been sticking my hand in the tank and using a clean kitchen sponge to clean tank and I'm sure there is something else I am suppossed to have instead to clean the tank walls. I also use a turkey baster to try and clean the sand a bit (it gets really brown)PLease help me!!!!!
equipement needed to start tank.Protein skimmer?
- Thread starter Kiwi
- Start date
You might get a better response if this were in General marine rather than Do-It Yourself.
External filters aren't usually used in SW systems since the media can act as a trap for detritus, which contributes to high nitrates. If you want to run it with no media, just for increased circulation, no problem. With the 2 powerheads, I probably would run it, just to help avoid dead spots. Increased circulation would probably reduce the brown algae on the sand. This isn't actually algae--they're diatoms. Very common in new tanks. It will clear up on it's own.
The lighting info isn't very useful-what type? NO, VHO, MH, PC? Wattage ratings are needed to determine if you're providing enough light to support photosynthetic creatures or not.
Sponges sold for use in the kitchen tend to come with anti-fungal treatments--not good for your tank. Never use a sponge which has been used with soap--very bad. I prefer scrapers--kent makes some good ones. Just easier, doesn't involve as much elbow grease.
I tend to avoid using chemical filtration (products like ammo-lock, ect) since they can cause problems for the biological filtration. Test kits are great, as long as they are used regularly and reliably.
A skimmer might be needed--it really depends on what you're got in the tank. For a reef system I wouldn't run one without it. For a FO, or a FOWLR, guess it would depend on what the bio-load was like, and the maintenance routine.
External filters aren't usually used in SW systems since the media can act as a trap for detritus, which contributes to high nitrates. If you want to run it with no media, just for increased circulation, no problem. With the 2 powerheads, I probably would run it, just to help avoid dead spots. Increased circulation would probably reduce the brown algae on the sand. This isn't actually algae--they're diatoms. Very common in new tanks. It will clear up on it's own.
The lighting info isn't very useful-what type? NO, VHO, MH, PC? Wattage ratings are needed to determine if you're providing enough light to support photosynthetic creatures or not.
Sponges sold for use in the kitchen tend to come with anti-fungal treatments--not good for your tank. Never use a sponge which has been used with soap--very bad. I prefer scrapers--kent makes some good ones. Just easier, doesn't involve as much elbow grease.
I tend to avoid using chemical filtration (products like ammo-lock, ect) since they can cause problems for the biological filtration. Test kits are great, as long as they are used regularly and reliably.
A skimmer might be needed--it really depends on what you're got in the tank. For a reef system I wouldn't run one without it. For a FO, or a FOWLR, guess it would depend on what the bio-load was like, and the maintenance routine.