Hey,

I've strayed over here to ask a few questions which i asked a while ago but completely forgotten the answers.

First powerheads, I can't remember what the minimum turnover should be

Secondly protein skimmers, can you give me the guidlines for different sized tanks please

Thirdly sand, whats the normal amount of sand per gallon?

Thanks in advance, orange shark

1. 20x tank turnover for ph

2. as good a skimmer as you can buy for your tank...ratings aren't always good. Definitely, I'd say get one rated well over what the size of your tank is.

3. substrate all depends on what animals to keep. If you keep burrowing animals then 4-6" can be needed. Otherwise an 1" or 2" should suffice. I'm not sure off hand what the lb per gallon average is.

----adding this

also I'm going to get a skimmer probably rated at around 200gallons for my 120 gallon tank.

thanks!

So what size skimmer would u reccomend for a 20 gallon?

orange shark

oh and also, i see people on here talking about evapouration and just topping it up with RO, does that not affect the salinity at all?

Nope because the water evaporates but the salt does not.

And if someone continues to let the tank evaporate w/out topping it off sg could get too high so that's something that needs to be tended to alot

Protein skimmers for a 20 gallon

This post has been edited by kj23502: Jul 20 2008, 02:14 AM

ok thanks for that, i just assumed that the salt would epaourate too!

i found a skimmer in my lfs that was good enough for a 20 gallon for 30 quid so im going to get that!

thanks, orange shark

Honestly, a skimmer for a 20g isn't really necessary as waterchanges are very easy on that size tank. And for sand, depending on the footprint of the tank and depth of sand bed you wanted probably anywhere from 5-10kg would be enough

no skimmer? That cuts down on the price haha

thanks for that advice, i did read that smaller tanks didnt neceserilly need a skimmer but i thought i'd buy one because there wasnt a proper expert who was agreeing or disagreeing!

theres a 30lb bag in my lfs for £27.40, is that a decent price?

thanks, orange shark

Edit: well obviously that isnt a good price because i quick search revealed a 30lb bag for £18!

This post has been edited by orange shark: Jul 21 2008, 09:47 PM

yeah that's a little pricey for sand

i'll have to check out some other fish shops near me when my parents have got time, see if i can get any of the equipment cheaper...there was another question but ive completely forgotten it...

edit: oh yes i remember, RO units...when it says 50gpd, i remember someone telling me it doesnt actually do 50gpd and im all confused now

This post has been edited by orange shark: Jul 22 2008, 12:42 AM

Yeah, 50GPD means that in the ideal perfect theoretical world where you've got 100PSI at the membrane inlet and a temperature of 25C at the membrane inlet it'll produce that much water. Too bad that never exhists in the home where pressure is usually in the 30PSI range and temperature (especially in the winter) significantly colder. You'll be lucky if you get half that rate in the summer and 1/4 that rate in the winter...

so if i buy a 50 gallon ro unit tommorow, it'll produce around 25 gallons?

That r/o thing sounds messed up If it says 100 gallons per day, I feel that's what it should do About the same as the mile per gallon rating here in the states. It never quit gets the best mpg b/c of the "conditions" of driving. They would have to be absolutely perfect

Good question Orangeshark and
Good info to know Ski.

Per day yes. So basically a gallon per hour.

right, im using this topic for ALL my questions that i keep thinking of ( we could be here a while )

1) Should you move sand fromo underneath live rock, or do you put it ontop of sand?

2) Can you just stack liverock normally or do you have to silicon them together or something?

3) I saw 2 different test kits, marine and reefm is there a difference?

more to come when i remember them

thanks for all your answers so far

That's good. I've realized that this is preferred over starting 50 new topics


Push the live rock down to the bottom of the tank. Many people use cheap base rock for this part since it'll be buried by sand anyway. The exposed parts will become live over time also.

Another good way to do it is get the rock in first and then pour the sand around it


You stack it. Use the bump test. Don't fit it solid, but don't leave it wobbly either. Try to arrange it so there are spaces, but so that it doesn't fall over. If you tap it and it's wobbly choose a different rock or try a different position. Experiment when you start setting up

Some people silicone, but I'd hate to try to move the rocks or the setup later after they are all glued


Marine, I believe has just basic stuff. Reef has more usefull tests for reef systems. Here's an example.

marine API test kit: Tests include high range pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate

API reef marine test kit: Tests calcium, carbonate hardness, phosphate and nitrate levels

I don't have one yet, but according to what I've read, you really only need the marine. The latter are good for hard to keep corals or if you suspect there's a problem. I don't think there'd be to big of a problem with the calcium, unless there were lots of critters that needed to absorb it or water changes weren't kept up on and the levels were depleted. Hopefully ski will go further into this part

thanks for all your answers

both you and ski have been very helpful