New and Confused?

D

david123

Love it !
May 6, 2007
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Preston, Lancashire, England
:help:Hello, Im new to marine life. I currently have a tank (sizes below and two heaters)

Tank size (internal measurements)

Length:137.6cm / 1376 mm or roughly 55 inches
Width: 35.8 cm / 358 mm or 14 inches
Depth: 51.0 cm / 510 mm or roughly 20 inches

First of all could someone confirm the amount of gallons my tank will hold - i have used a number of calculators and am having 55.26 gallons (UK) or 67 gallons. I am assuming the 67 gallons are us gallons - does this make a difference (I live in UK)?

Also a number of people are saying a sump is better to use than external filter and protein skimmer.

I am considering using a 4 foot sump under my tank with the various compartments. I understand I would not need an external filter or a protein skimmer but would need live rock - how much live rock would i need?

are there any better ways i could set up?

And does my current tank have to be drilled? (please explain someone) or are there other ways and meens?

Basically i want to keep fish first but eventualy be able to keep inverts and corals so i dont want to have to keep changing my equipment - i would rather have the right setup first time. I do not plan to have any larger aquarium in the future.
Like i say i am brand new to marine so please understand if what i am saying does not make sense?

P.S - I have read not to use coral sand . is this right? my plan now is to use 3 to 4 inches of live sand or can i use any other sand?

I am on a budget by the way but if it means waiting longer and saving up to buy the good equipment then i will.

Please could someone provide a list of equipment needed for a new marine setup -lights etc

thankyou very much and please help if u can.:dance2:
ta
david
 
Hiya David..

First of all could someone confirm the amount of gallons my tank will hold - i have used a number of calculators and am having 55.26 gallons (UK) or 67 gallons. I am assuming the 67 gallons are us gallons - does this make a difference (I live in UK)?
Click to expand...

Yes your tank is 55 uk gallon and 67 US gallons...You do need to be refering to the UK gallons when equipment is concerned...

Also a number of people are saying a sump is better to use than external filter and protein skimmer.
Click to expand...

External filters and skimmers are seperate from sumps. In my opinion, a new aquarist should use a skimmer untill the point is reached where the keeps knows the system i depth and, from then onwards, you can make a decision as to whether you keep the skimmer or not....there are plenty of keepers here who do not have them and hopefully, they offer their opinions. External filters, again, is really a split subject between marine keepers. Personally, i dont have one as the live rock will provide you with the filtration providing you have a good qty in the tank.

how much live rock would i need?
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When i refer to the qty of live rock, i usually recomend 1 - 1.5lbs of live rock per gallon..or for us UK people, 1KG per 2 gallons of tank water..

And does my current tank have to be drilled? (please explain someone) or are there other ways and meens?
Click to expand...

A display tank and a sump is a very good way to better setting up the tank as it gives you extra water volume, nutrient export via macro algae like Chaeto or Caulerpa in the sump. As above, use that rule for adding live rock to the display ( main ) tank..In the sump, in the refugium part, you can add a deep sand bed and lbroken up chunks of live rock, commonly refered to as "live rock rubble ".

Drilling the tank and connecting this to the sump is, in my opinion, the best way. However, it is certainly not the only way..Another alternative is by using an overflow box, or another name is a Schuran overflow box..if you search in the DIY section, there are many plans and ideas there which will give you a good idea what is involved..

The system you have mentioned about, coupled with some lights, would be a very good system for you and is able to house corals, fish and inverts. Lighting is really the main key but will talk about that further down..

P.S - I have read not to use coral sand . is this right? my plan now is to use 3 to 4 inches of live sand or can i use any other sand?
Click to expand...

Yes, you can order aragonite sugar grade reef sand..like this here.. http://www.firststopaquatics.co.uk/acatalog/Substrates.html and half way down, Aragamax Sugar-Sized Reef Sand 30lb.. This makes for a good substrate. The crushed coral has a habbit of trapping detrius and food particles which can lead to high nitrates and phosphsates which, in turn, can lead to bad alage blooms...

Please could someone provide a list of equipment needed for a new marine setup -lights etc
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1) Live rock - 1 - 1.5lbs per gallon
2) Sand - i think its about 1lb per gallon for an average sand bed
3) Skimmer - discussed above
4) Thermometer - not the stick on kind
5) Hydrometer or refractometer
6) RO unit to genertate pure water
7) Test kits for pH, Ammonia, nitrITE, nitrATE..if reef, you will also calcium, Alk and Mag
8) Powerheads
9) nets, saltwater mixing containers..
10) lighting....This is usually one of the most questions, and there are far far many correct answers, so, i shall give my opinion and read what other people suggest. I would have 2 x 250w metal halide pendants on the tank and a couple of actinics for supllimenting the main lights. With them lights, you "near enough" removing any hand cuffs from what you can keep in the tank with regards to corals...If you are a budget, you may find metal halides are expensive, but, i personally feel they are worth saving up for...

I may of missed bits out, but am sure people will shout up..Hope this info is of a little help to you in getting a better understanding of what is involved in setting up a marine system....

Niko
 
just as a point on sumps..i personally dont like em, they can over flow which is the largest issue. also hard to completely clean without taking all the plumbing apart and just can be such a pain sometimes...but if set up right with enough space...u shouldt have problems.
Welcome to the salty side as well!
 
Just wanted to say, welcome to AC!
 
Hi, Just like to say thankyou to atnixon for taking so much time to try and help me. I have taken your points onboard. Also thankyou to germanman and 5xevy for their comments. Thankyou for making me feel welcome.

Could I ask:

As you know I have a 55 gallon (uk) tank, so If i require 1kg of live rock per 2 gallons of water, I need say 28kg of rock. OK - fine with this (may cost me more than I originaly thought but if I dont need an external filter and skimmer then this would equal the money out. Nice.

Q. Do i need to take into consideration the volume of water which will be in my sump and have live rock for that as well? For example if I had a 4 foot tank for the sump, say the gallonage was 40 uk gallons - would i need another 20kg of live rock based on 1kg of rock for every 2 uk gallons?

And if so would I put all of this rock in the main tank or put some in the sump?

If i dont need more rock i would still have a few pieces in the sump anyway. Please could someone clarify for me.

Again thanks very much for your help so far.
Cheers
David
 
Just to add aslo. Does the same apply for how much sand is needed in the tank for example if i use 1lb of sand per gallon - so i would need 55 lb of sand in the main tank but would i need extra sand in the main tank to allow for the volume of water in the sump?

and can i use two types of sand or would it be fine to use 55lb of Aragamax Sugar-Sized Reef Sand (I have been informed that i need thicker size at the bottom then finer sand at the top - but i think this may be if using undergravel filtration which i am not?

thanks again
david
 
Q. Do i need to take into consideration the volume of water which will be in my sump and have live rock for that as well? For example if I had a 4 foot tank for the sump, say the gallonage was 40 uk gallons - would i need another 20kg of live rock based on 1kg of rock for every 2 uk gallons?
Click to expand...

When your thinking about the sump tank, volume for live rock wise, you ahve to remember that the sump tank will be devided up into 3 sections. An inlet section where the water will arrive from the display tank, the refugium ( fuge ) where the live rock will actually reside and the return which will house the return pump...

So, as a rough estimate, and generalising here...say we split the tank directly into thirds, which would make each section 13.6 gallon each. Talking the refugium section only now where the live rock rubble will go.....here we will have a deep sand bed of say 5 inches depth, that ammount of sand has to thought of when thinking about actual water volume. So, with the sand bed in there, you may only end up with 10 gallons of water, in which case, you would only need 5KG of live rock..

I hope that kinda helps to explain that a little better..If its still unclear, by all means shout up some more and i will try and re-word it a little better...


And if so would I put all of this rock in the main tank or put some in the sump?

If i dont need more rock i would still have a few pieces in the sump anyway. Please could someone clarify for me.
Click to expand...

Yes, there is going to be rock in both tanks..as mentioned above....Basically, using the example i said above, you would have 28KG live rock in the main display tank and 5KG in the sump..

Niko
 
I am thinking of using part of my sump as a hospital tank so that the water quality is always exactly the same for the sick fish - but obviously if a fish does become ill i would have a section which could block of the live feed of water to it - does this sound like a good plan or not?
ta
david
(i have a lot of questions today dont I !)
 
Just to add aslo. Does the same apply for how much sand is needed in the tank for example if i use 1lb of sand per gallon - so i would need 55 lb of sand in the main tank but would i need extra sand in the main tank to allow for the volume of water in the sump?

and can i use two types of sand or would it be fine to use 55lb of Aragamax Sugar-Sized Reef Sand (I have been informed that i need thicker size at the bottom then finer sand at the top - but i think this may be if using undergravel filtration which i am not?
Click to expand...

Yes, the same principle would apply to substrate as it would for live rock..here is a good site for working out the substrate qty..

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/substrate_calculator.php

No, using all the one sized reef sand is absolutly fine...

Niko
 
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