Need Some Advice On My 1st Marine Tank

[fatelerror89]

Im looking at getting a juwel 180 litre tank with live rock and soft coral as i was told its easier to keep then hard coral for beginners but i am not sure what sort of lighting i need ? and what sort of protein skimmer would be a good choice.

i want to base my main fish round a clown fish and yellow tang

 

[crazyforcordoras]

180 liters is not enough for a yellow tang. They are much too active. For softies, you would need t5s


If you want a yellow fish, why not try a yellow clown goby?

 

[fatelerror89]

i did then think would be too small they grow big and need space as the guy said at maidenhead

t5 bulbs do you just swap them over from the stand bulb in the light unit ?

not having the tang is not a problem just the girlfriend likes them but also likes the royal gramma

 

[crazyforcordoras]

T5's are thinner so usually require a different unit. Take alook at this one

http/www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/aquarium-1/aquarium-lighting/aquarium-t5-lighting/black-t5-fish-tank-lights-two-bulbs.html

 

[fatelerror89]

Just had another look at the tank and it does comes with a t5 light unit already so i take it i just change it to the marine blue bulbs http/www.iquaticsonline.co.uk/45w-juwel-t5-blue-marine-actinic-420nm-2.html

just looked at getting the filtration system http/fishkeeper.co.uk/site/product/aquamanta-efx-1000u-external-filter would this be a good choice and been told it would help with flow for the coral ?

 

[Donya]

Canisters aren't necessarily something you can rely on as a flow source. If you load them up with media, particularly if you plan to use them for some mechanical filtration, then the flow is going to be marginal at best. If you are willing to put a prefilter on the intake and clean it weekly then the flow will be a lot better (since it keeps the inner workings clean), but a lot of people don't like to do that. The canister would be a good place to stick chemical media, but depending on what other equipment you've got, you would likely need a powerhead as well to get the flow where it should be.

 

[fatelerror89]

also plan to use a power head for the flow

Was planing to use the canister just for the media then power head for the flow if that would work ? you say a prefilter on the intake would help with flow and just clean it weekly is it easy enough to set up ?

not got no equipment yet just getting the info what i would need to get it up and running and i would need a protein skimmer as well ?

 

[Donya]

Was planing to use the canister just for the media then power head for the flow if that would work ?

Yep, that woudl work.

you say a prefilter on the intake would help with flow and just clean it weekly is it easy enough to set up ?

They're really easy to do - as long as you don't mind the regular maintenance. You can get pre-done prefilters that come with a set of attachments of standard sizes, but they are a bit bulky. You can also just buy a bit of sponge of the right size and either cut it down the middle to make it sleeve-shaped or hot glue/super glue two pieces together to make a sleeve. I hold them in place with a rubber band at the top since I have critters that like to try to pull them off. If there's a lot of debris flying about then using disposable filter pads can work better (since you just toss 'em if they get too mucked up, whereas sponge is more expensive to replace when it gets too clogged to clean easily).

would need a protein skimmer as well ?

A skimmer will help your filtration a lot. On a tank of that size, skimmers are sort of the norm. They'll also help a lot if you don't have a sump. You have to go pretty sparse on fish if you don't have a skimmer (or a sump) and some corals need a skimmer to get the nutrients down low enough. I am one of the few weirdos who doesn't use skimmers or sumps, but I also am not much of a fish person and I don't have any particularly nutrient-finicky corals. The main reason I don't skim my tanks is that I keep a lot of filter-feeding animals, which are one of the exception cases where skimming can actually be problematic (you throw the filter-feeder supplements in and the skimmer slurps them right back out again). If you aren't planning on going with lots of fine filter-feeders like Bivalves and filter-feeding worms (the vast majority of reefers don't), then there isn't really any down-side to skimming.

 

[fatelerror89]

would uv on the filter help at tall?

just looked at the prefilter i see what you mean now and either get the kit or make your own with filter which i think i will end up doing and as you say good for catching a lot of debris don`t mind the maintenance part do it the same time as water changes

Planning to keep clown fish and i do like the royal gramma and start fish if could keep them fish ? and as you say keeps the nutrients down enough for the coral and dont plan to keep a sump for the tank

 

[Donya]

would uv on the filter help at tall?

They're not commonly used unless you plan on buying really sensitive fish that are quite prone to illness and difficult to treat in anything but the display. If you have healthy stock, there's no need for UV. It's much better to just try to keep diseases out of the tank than to nuke after-the-fact with a UV sterilizer - since those will kill of good things in addition to the bad. If you are worried about fish diseases, then setting up a QT tank is a much better and more reliable way to go.

Planning to keep clown fish and i do like the royal gramma and start fish if could keep them fish ?

These are both good types of starter fish. A clown pair and a royal gramma would be light stocking for a tank this size and a good place to start to see how the nitrate levels go without a skimmer as the tank is maturing. If you have a skimmer on then probably you won't see much waste at all from that level of stocking.

 

[fatelerror89]

not really on planing on buying those type of fish so really its not worth having

yeah be a good start with them yeah could always start off without a skimmer and see if its ok . just thinking what else to have in the tank at the moment and also is there away of hiding the skimmer or does it have to hang off the tank ?

 

[Donya]

just thinking what else to have in the tank at the moment and also is there away of hiding the skimmer or does it have to hang off the tank ?

There are hang-on skimmers. Just make sure to leave enough space between the tank and wall before you fill everything with water. Most hang-ons I've seen need 4-6" of space back there. There are in-tank skimmers too, but the only ones I've seen of that variety are meant for much smaller tanks and are airstone-driven.

 

[fatelerror89]

looked today and found a aqua one skimmer what hangs on the back i just use that type and remember to leave space at the back and did see the juwel one what goes in the tank but then it takes tank space up

would a copperband butterfly be too big for that tank size ?

 

[Donya]

I'm honestly not sure about the copperband, as that's sort of outside the range of things I've ever looked at closely. I've seen 50 US gal (which is basically what you have) being listed as the minimum for them at various places. They are not considered easy fish though from what I've heard of them, and like tangs they do tend to be ich prone just going from what I see of copperbands that arrive at stores I frequent.

 

[fatelerror89]

just read about it a bit more and people say they eat your reef and very picky eaters and and as you say hard to keep but such a nice fish and does grow big quick.

For the water do you buy it from the shop or as i seen some people do it on a RO unit.