Marine Set Up

[scorphonic]

I'll have an external canister filter (tetratec EX700) and will use this to filter the water, this will house the bacteria necessary to keep the ammonia/nitrites at zero in the tank.

There is a possibility that I will also get a protein skimmer but I dont know if this is absolutely necessary to have! (is it?)

So far I understand that I need:

Tank, Stand, Heater, Good clean water (dechlorinated), marine salt, powerheads (inexpensive, yes?) temperature gauge and salinity gauge. (not really that much different to my freshwater setup)

Then things get a bit more confusing...Do I need a filter and a protein skimmer or will just a filter do? Would there be much point in getting pieces of live rock to put into one or two of the trays in the external filter to seed the filter or will this require me to go more into controling the trace elements in the water?

Are there good but cheap protein skimmers out there that will do for a 180L tank or is there even such thing as "cheap" in the marine tank setup? Maybe 150 euro (exactly US$200) can probably be set aside for the skimmer if needed.

Thanks for all the great help.

 

[callell]

TBH I would never think of using a External to control my Biofiltration, just to many things can go wrong

Live Rock is the easiest & IMO most effective way to go There are other way ie Miricle mud systems etc but for ease I prefer LR

If cash is tight - remember that running a tank will also cost a bit each month, I seen my elecy bill increase a fair amount when I 1st got my tank & then jump again when I installed my twin 250w

 

[andywg]

At 180 litres you can get away without a protein skimmer, regular water changes are not too expensive and will handle everything fine.

If you have a cannister filter with a fairly high turnover you possibly won't need powerheads, but I would get them anyway with a mind to possible switch to FOWLR (see below).

You could get some small live rock for the filter but I wouldn't. A better goal would be to gradually buy pieces of live rock to put in the main tank (together with any other rock you plan on putting in there). This will then add to the filtration of the cannister rather than replace it. I would make that my aim with your tank, to gradually change it from FO to FOWLR. There are no real concerns with other levels for LR, just keep the levels as you would for the fish. Just don't add too much in any one go to prevent any die off from affecting the tank levels.

A very good small skimmer (but slightly more expensive than your budget, I fear) is the Tunze 9002. A very good skimmer, and being made by Tunze means it is one of the best pieces of kit money can buy.

TBH I would never think of using a External to control my Biofiltration, just to many things can go wrong

What are all these things? Barring the mechanics of pipes leaking, the only problem with cannisters is that they can become nitrate factories if you don't maintain them. Most externals are more efficient at handling ammonia and nitrite than Live Rock if you regularly clean out the mechanical filtration elements.

Other than that they are fine, especially on a smaller tank where nitrates will be handled by water changes and you don't have to worry about the more nitrate sensitive inverts.

 

[scorphonic]

Hay thanks for those replies, if ya think of anything else...I'm more than happy to read it!

I've searched for that Tunze skimmer...perfect price. Its only about 130 dollars...so in Ireland it will cost about 200 euro (we may be one of the wealthiest countries...but my god we pay through our ears for anything!! )