New Marine setup - bacteria colonisation

[Stonker]

Hi
I'll be purchasing my first marine setup at the end of this month, and I have a couple of questions. This looks like the place to find the answers, so here goes...
First of all, a little background. I ahve been keeping tropicals for around 10 years. It got to a stage in my parent's house when I had around 4 tanks on the go at the same time, so I know how the bug can bite! Eventaully I moved out, and I haven't had a tank for some time, other than a 30" coldwater setup, which started when my 2 year old daughter won a fish at a fair. Surprisingly the fish survived, and spawned the coldwater community!
This time around however, I intend to live out my dream of a marine setup.
I have a nice sturdy Indian wood "entertainment unit" which currently houses a 36" TV, so I assume it will make a nice stand for a 39" tank. Unfortunately, a 48" will hang over the sides by about half an inch each direction.
I've obtained a quite for my desired equipment, and it comes to around £450, which includes a T5 lumminaire, and an external filter etc.
Now for the questions....

1) Is bacteria colonisation roughly the same time period as a tropical tank? I expect it to take around 4 weeks. Is this a good estimation?
Also, can anyone recommend a fish or two to help it along, or is it better to just use bacteria starter of some kind?

2) I'm a little confused with all the extras which are available. I'm intending to buy a skimmer, but I've also read about Phosphate removal etc. Is this necessary, or does it just save work? If I use tapwater is there anything in particular I need to be looking out for? The water in my area is very soft.

I'd appreciate any advice, on these points and anything else I might have overlooked would be appreciated.
I'm intending to make a website to show my progress, so I'll post a link when it's ready.

Thanks.

 

[parker313]

1) If you add enough liverock all at the same time and it's fully cured, then your tank will be instantly cycled since it's the bacteria and organisms on your live rock that do the biological filtration. You can add the sand, rock and water and then wait approx 2wks just to make sure you don't get any dieoff.

2) Skimmer - Yes, necessary. Phosphate remover isn't necessary unless you have a problem with phosphates. If you're using tap water, then you probably will. It's a FAR better idea to use RO water and add salt to that. It will save you a LOT of headaches.

External filter - not necessary if you have enough live rock. You can just use powerheads for water circulation.

 

[Stonker]

Thanks Parker. Is there a rough guideline regarding the amount of live rock needed to eliminate the need for a filter? I've read it's around 1.5lbs per gallon. Does this sound about right?

 

[parker313]

Yup - anywhere from 1 - 1.5lbs per gallon does the trick. Also, if you're having a larger tank, check out sumps and/or refugiums. I don't have either so am not a good one to give advice on them.

 

[Stonker]

Excellent. £65 for a filter or around £100 for live rock. I know what I'll be going for now, thanks!

 

[maestro]

Hello

Just a couple of points that will maybe help.

Please dont use tapwater, you'll get algae everywhere, its not recomended for marines

Please check the stand is solid enough, does it have a central bracing? you can get tanks built to exactly the meaurements you want but the tank should sit on the edges of the stand, if it sits in the middle it will cause bowing or even failure

 

[steelhealr]

HI Stonker..probably repetitious, but:

1) Agree with Parker, live rock (LR) will cycle on it's own and minimally if it is precured. The biological filter organisms are similar to FW

2) 1-1.5lbs LR/gallon...depends on the region....Fiji, Kaelini LR is light..you may need more than 1 lb...if you can't find small pieces, you can break up larger ones with a hammer and chisel to sizes that can be more easily 'aquascaped'

3) Bag the filter.....use powerheads for circulation..this moves the water in and out of the LR which is your main filtration

4) Agree with maestro..use tap water and you'll be asking for a headache re: algae blooms...you can either buy an RO filter, buy distilled from the lfs or buy premixed SW either from the lfs or a new hot product is Catalina Sea Water which is getting popular.

Good luck. SH

 

[Stonker]

Thanks for the advice guys and girls

I won't be using tapwater now, thanks.

As for the stand, it will be strong enough, it's very heavy duty, and it does have a central support