Our First Marine Tank!

[Sharkey&George]

Afternoon fish fans..... We have just got our new (secondhand) tank with which we are wanting to set up a marine coral reef tank. The tank comprises of

160ltr rectangular tank & welded metal stand

Ehiem 2213 external filter

Visi-therm 300w heater

Dual air pump with diffuser stones

3 inches of coral stand​

I have been doing a bit of research and am considering buying a seaclone 100 protien skimmer are these any good? Does anyone use one.

Also can anyone recommend a good lighting system. How many watts lighting do you need for a marine reef tank? how many power heads? etc etc Any info would be great thanks for your time!!

 

[bae1994]

welcome the skimmer may be a tad small as i think the 100 part stands for up to 100 litres i think the light if the electricity bill isnt a problem then you could get a halide but probably not needed if not you can get a hood or make a hood and use a t5 starter unit. just have fun

 

[ben1987]

Lighting would depend on what type of reef.

TMC v2 400 would be a nice skimmer on that tank.

You will need some powerheads if your going down the Live rock route aswel

 

[SkiFletch]

Yes, avoid seaclones like the plague, not even worth the plastic they're made out of

 

[adamgreen240]

avoid the V2s , rubbish pieces of crap. If you can afford it get a deltec one - expensive - but you get what you pay for!

 

[Jimyfloyd]

avoid the V2s , rubbish pieces of crap. If you can afford it get a deltec one - expensive - but you get what you pay for!

Can you give a reason behind this as I'm looking for a skimmer at the moment and on the whole the V2's seem to be more recommended than not - have you had a bad experience with one?

Thanks

 

[seffieuk]

avoid the V2s , rubbish pieces of crap. If you can afford it get a deltec one - expensive - but you get what you pay for!

Can you give a reason behind this as I'm looking for a skimmer at the moment and on the whole the V2's seem to be more recommended than not - have you had a bad experience with one?

Thanks

'avoid them like the plague' - Incidentily, did you know that there are still places in the world you can catch Bubonic plague

Seffie x



editied because I didn't read the thread correctly

 

[Jimyfloyd]

avoid the V2s , rubbish pieces of crap. If you can afford it get a deltec one - expensive - but you get what you pay for!

Can you give a reason behind this as I'm looking for a skimmer at the moment and on the whole the V2's seem to be more recommended than not - have you had a bad experience with one?

Thanks

'avoid them like the plague' - Incidentily, did you know that there are still places in the world you can catch Bubonic plague

Seffie x



editied because I didn't read the thread correctly

Fair enough - not particularly a reason though...

Do you have experience using them then? I was goign for the V2 400 - what alternative then?

 

[seffieuk]

I don't have any experience of them - the ' avoid them like the plague' was in quote marks

Anyways to the salty side

Seffie x

 

[Jimyfloyd]

I don't have any experience of them - the ' avoid them like the plague' was in quote marks

Anyways to the salty side

Seffie x

Oh i see - you weren't referring to skimmers at all!

 

[ben1987]

TMC skimmers are not crap, in some instances they have out performed dletec mce skimmers. Like i said v2 400 would be a nice skimmer for that. Mine regularly chucks out a whole cup full of brown goo in less than a week. BigC also uses on his stunner of a tank and i believe he is also impressed. They take some bedding in and fine tuning but after that they are great.

 

[Jimyfloyd]

TMC skimmers are not crap, in some instances they have out performed dletec mce skimmers. Like i said v2 400 would be a nice skimmer for that. Mine regularly chucks out a whole cup full of brown goo in less than a week. BigC also uses on his stunner of a tank and i believe he is also impressed. They take some bedding in and fine tuning but after that they are great.

Thanks Ben - rather reassuring and I think i'll be going for the V2 400 at next payday

Are they difficult to fine tune then (complete noob with these!)

 

[ben1987]

Not really no. The only problems come when the water level changes. If you top up regular then it will be fine. When i got mine i started with the bibbles as low donw as possible then slowly adjusted it upto about 1/4 of the way up the neck. Just keep and eye on it for 30mins or so after. If you adjust it too much in one go then they can overflow.
Keep a look out on ebay...they quite often go on there for £40 or £50

 

[SkiFletch]

As ben alluded to, they really like a very specific water level. Go outside that range either from improper mounting, too much evap, or overfilling the tank, and they can get tempermental. Deltec's are much less tempermental, but much more costly. Choice is yours