Newbie ,, What To Buy !

[cawsey20]

Hi there,,

Firstly im new here soo hello and please go easy on me !!.

2 years ago or so i had some normal tropical's in your average sort of fluval 800 tank ..
Nothing to special, But ended up having to get rid of them to move !.

Am all settled in now and whilst my passion for car's keep's me on my toe's im wanting a nice marine tank to keep me occupied on cold evening's and to look pretty ..


I have hunted around and cannot seem to find a beginner's guide on what kit you need and instructions. Im sure there is one somewhere !..
Im basically thinking of getting something like a juwel rio 125 and would be looking for advice on what skimmer , powerhead etc would be ideal to go for !..

The next dilema i have i understand the principle of the sump tank ( tidy up the main one ?? ) shoot me if im wrong,, But are they essential in a tank like im thinking of buying ??.
Also are stock filter's that come with these sort of tank's ok to use or is an external going to do the job much better ??..

Once again sorry for the noobyness and also for the war and peace to read thru ! thank you

 

[seffieuk]

Cawsey, nice to have you onboard

You will find lots of info in the pinned section in Marine resources:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/286583-marine-and-reef-resource-centre/

And maybe even more helpful would be reading a few journels of people who already keep the same size tank, luckily for you there are many people here who have the 125 juwel tank

For a tank that size, I would be looking for the deltec mce 300, probably second-hand
2 x powerheads for x 20/25 flow
Live rock is the very best of filters
Consider how you are going to get or make your RO water
Consider what sort of corals you might like, that will make a difference to what lighting you need.
Consider what sort of fish you like

Anyways, that is for starters, remember, the only stupid question is the one not asked, so ask away

Seffie x

 

[cawsey20]

Hey,
Cheers for the reply /..

I noticed on someone else's thread you posted this. ..

You have a tank of 150 litres, a nice size to start with.

The filter is your live rock and is the heart and lungs of the tank, so is worth getting right.
You will need approx 17 Kilos of Live rock.

Aragonite sand - a big bag

Skimmer - you get what you pay for here, look out for a secondhand deltec mce 300

two powerheads for flow of approx 20/25% - many here use koralias or tunze

Lighting: what do you already have on the tank? By the way, lighting is not on 24 hrs.

Test kits: salifert, ammonia, nitRIte, nitRAte, ph, phosphate

RO water

Salt - look for one with a calcium level of 400 or above (they are usually the better ones)

Refractometer

Water containers


Would this be the same sort of list if i was to get a 125 litre tank ??..

Also as i said in my previous post , Are stock internal filters good enough ?? or do you require an external one in a tank of this size.. cheers
So, there is the start for you

 

[seffieuk]

Well,

125 litre tank is another nice size to start with - its about the same as I started with, along with many others on here

The filter is your live rock and is the heart and lungs of the tank, so is worth getting right.

Your list

You will need approx 15 Kilos of Live rock.

Aragonite sand - not the stuff they say is 'live' and is not!!

Skimmer - you get what you pay for here, look out for a secondhand deltec mce 300

two powerheads for flow of approx 20/25% - many here use koralias or tunze

Lighting: what do you already have on the tank? If you are buying a new juwel 125 it will have t5 lights, which are good enough for many soft corals and a few of the hardier hard corals.

Test kits: salifert, ammonia, nitRIte, nitRAte, ph, phosphate

RO water

Salt - look for one with a calcium level of 400 or above (they are usually the better ones)

Refractometer

Water containers

Heater 125w (not a glass one) I like the rena smart heaters

Good, bladed magnet cleaner - dont skimp on this, a good one is priceless

You will not need an external filter unless you aim to run phosphate remover (and you will) in it - however phosphate remover can be put in a reactor, so you might decide to buy one of those instead.

You can also run phosphate remover in the black juwel box, its not as efficient, but its do-able, you can also hide the heater in there. However many people remove the black box

hope that helps

Seffie x

 

[-Nemo-]

Hello
Welcome to TFF and the saltie side

 

[nkd5024]

welcome