Setting Up A Marine Tank For The First Time! Help?! :-S

[jodyh86]

Ok so ive finally decided that instead of wasting money on another tank ill use the perfectly good one i already have ( when i can pawn the tropical fish onto my mum that are currently living in there that is! )

anyway my tank will be a rio 125L as far as im aware its the T5 lighting that comes with it and i have a marine white and a blue actinic light with it, i was hoping not to have to upgrade the lighting and am hoping to keep mainly a few fish, cuc, live rock and a few soft corals is this possible with my current lighting??

i have a 200w heater already is this ok?

for the filtration i was hoping to rely on about 15-20kg of live rock to sort me out there is this ok?

im currently looking into skimmers and am swaying towards the Deltec MCE300 model, but am unsure how im going to attach this to my tank with the current flap lids i have on the tank?

as for powerheads im looking into 2x 1600 ones but am unsure which one to choose?


as for water i will be relying on my lfs to supply me with RO water that is already salted


so all in all once i have the equipment consisting of:

1. live rock
2. 2x powerheads
3.coral sand
4.skimmer
5. refractometer
6. various test kits ( which ones would i need???)

will i be good to go or will i need extra equipment aswel?

sorry for all the questions just want to do it right and not rush into something very pricey that will go belly up!

thanks

 

[GrayScale]

I've no personal experience with saltwater myself but I've been doing some research and asking some questions of my own.

The LR is your main filtration so you should be okay with that. It's best to add it all at one time or you may have some unnecesary mini cycling. If you have some sort of hob or external filter you can fill it with phosban or some other phosphate remover. Stay away from bioballs and the likes they don't really do anything but collect fish waste and can cause a spike.

What wattage are your bulbs? You should be fine for some soft corals As long as you have enough flow as well. A protein skimmer is highly recommended if not a must from what I've read.

For flow a good rule of thumb is to have 20x turnover per gallon of water. For powerheads it's a good idea to get multiple smaller powerheads as opposed as having 1 really big one. This reduces dead spots in the tank.

All in all the list you have looks prett spot on for what you'll need. Not too sure about the test kits yet or the DIY involved with putting the skimmer on that specific tank but I'm sure someone with more experience will come a long soon and I hope this helps!

Edit: also be sure to scrub the tank down with warm water and vinegar and rinse thouroughly. Also bin any filter media you have if you decide to use an extra filter and start with fresh media. Not sure of how much vinegar to water you want to mix though. Be sure to check the RO salt mix before adding to the tank. Sometimes it can be too salty or have traces of something that may be detrimental.

 

[Harry1996]

for live rock i have 18kg but i started off with 15kg. your lights are fine for what you want to keep. all what you have said is fine. for the skimmer i would just cut the flaps to fit the skimmer on the back.

test kits you will need (for now)
ammonia,nitrite,nitrate and ph get salifert as they are a good brand. also you have the same tank as me and its a good start with

 

[jodyh86]

for live rock i have 18kg but i started off with 15kg. your lights are fine for what you want to keep. all what you have said is fine. for the skimmer i would just cut the flaps to fit the skimmer on the back.

test kits you will need (for now)
ammonia,nitrite,nitrate and ph get salifert as they are a good brand. also you have the same tank as me and its a good start with

will just the two t5s be ok then? ive been told about reflectrs but dont really know what they are for or how they effect the tank etc?? also will it make a difference on if i have my blue light placed at the front or the back of the tank?

thanks

 

[seffieuk]

Jody

Reflectors make a lot of difference

Seffie x

 

[jodyh86]

hi
my lfs sell the relectors for about £10 each if i just take my lid will they be able to fit them for me as i have no idea what im doing!lol

 

[seffieuk]

Hi Jody, I shouldnt worry, even I can fit reflectors, they just clip on the tubes

Seffie x

 

[jodyh86]

just a question on water changes how much will I be looking at doing each week in a tank that is running with LR and a skimmer I thought maybe 10% ? and when I do the water changes would i buy plain RO water or salted RO water from the lfs to top it up with? just asking cus would have thought if I kept adding more salted water then it would make the SG too high, but if I only added RO water then it would dilute the SG ?

also if I buy extra water from the lfs say like 10L or so can I store it in a bucket with a lid to keep topping it up over the week?

 

[steelhealr]

A few comments. First, 'salted RO' is just seawater. 10% weekly water changes are fine. Topping off is ALWAYS done with RO unless you are trying to change your specific gravity in some way. As your tank evaporates, the specific gravity increases since salts don't evaporate. Adding RO water re-dilutes it back to your starting s.g. If you add SW, then the s.g. remains higher than what you started with.

Seawater can be stored for weeks to months if kept covered and in a cool place.

Hope this helped. SH

 

[jodyh86]

A few comments. First, 'salted RO' is just seawater. 10% weekly water changes are fine. Topping off is ALWAYS done with RO unless you are trying to change your specific gravity in some way. As your tank evaporates, the specific gravity increases since salts don't evaporate. Adding RO water re-dilutes it back to your starting s.g. If you add SW, then the s.g. remains higher than what you started with.

Seawater can be stored for weeks to months if kept covered and in a cool place.

Hope this helped. SH

yes this definetly helped me thanks for that

 

[jodyh86]

how much am i talking per week to keep a marine tank up and running with a few fish and some soft corals?
(dont mean electricty wise ) just purely the maintenance costs of everything else

just been looking at powerheads would two 3000L pumps be too strong for my tank?

any on have links to any cheaper versions than the koralia ones?

 

[Harry1996]

i have 2 1500LPH one and are fine

my salted water is £5 per 25L and i buy 50L so that's £10 a month but i also buy 10L of just pure ro for top ups and thats about £1-2 and i buy it every six weeks
hope this helps

 

[jodyh86]

i have 2 1500LPH one and are fine

my salted water is £5 per 25L and i buy 50L so that's £10 a month but i also buy 10L of just pure ro for top ups and thats about £1-2 and i buy it every six weeks
hope this helps

i think me and you have the same tanks, how do you find the maintenance of the tank? yes my lfs charge the same price for the water, so does this mean you do water changes every 2 weeks? how much do you usually do i was thinking 10% would be enough but was expecting to do that every week, and i was planning on keeping 10L of RO water in a container to use as top ups over the week. which powerheads did you choose? im looking for not too expensive ones at the moment

thank you for your help

 

[Harry1996]

yes i have the same tank

i do about 15L per week. my 25L is about 30L all i do is pour the correct amount of water in a bucket put a old heater and power head in and leave it for 24-48 hours. nice and easy unlike tropical tanks then if its the right temp/sg normally it is then in another bucket do the water change then pour it in the tank.

i took out the internal filter and used the power head in it for water changes.

i got 2 of the old ones which were 1500LPH but these are the new oneshttp/www.reefstore.co.uk/shop/Koralia-Evolution-1600-Circulation-Pump.html

have a flick through my journal http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/314253-harrys-juwel-rio-125-marine-tank/

 

[jodyh86]

yes i have the same tank

i do about 15L per week. my 25L is about 30L all i do is pour the correct amount of water in a bucket put a old heater and power head in and leave it for 24-48 hours. nice and easy unlike tropical tanks then if its the right temp/sg normally it is then in another bucket do the water change then pour it in the tank.

i took out the internal filter and used the power head in it for water changes.

i got 2 of the old ones which were 1500LPH but these are the new oneshttp/www.reefstore.co.uk/shop/Koralia-Evolution-1600-Circulation-Pump.html

have a flick through my journal http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/314253-harrys-juwel-rio-125-marine-tank/

thats great thank you very much for your help. ive read through your journal twice now very nice set up you have. I dont have the room for a sump so im hoping just the LR a good skimmer and maybe a small internal filter will be sufficient in the upkeep of the tank?

thanks