setting up a reef tank ( complete noob!)

[mEOw]

Looking good.
Dont forget you need lots of flow around the live rock, my new tank is a 1ft cube and i have 2 small powerheads in there which brings my flow to about 30x the tank volume.

Have you decided if you are going to run a filter in it or are you going to rely on your live rock for all the filtration? I tried running a filter in my last tank and had nitrate problems so i took it out and all was good again but that was years ago and things seem to have changed a bit in that time, it was recomended to run a filter back then but now people seem to accept that they have a habbit of turning into nitrate factories and are more hastle than they are worth.

I went with Wave solaris marine power compacts for the lighting on my new tank, i have 2x 11w ones, they are half blue half white and seem to be doing a good job so far, means i have about 1W per liter of tank water which should be fine for everything i plan on keeping.

Is your live rock on top of the sand? i only ask because some inverts will dig under the liverock if it is and that can make it all topple over, last thing you need is a lump of rock falling and cracking your tank. I have made that mistake and i dont plan on doing it again, can still see the stain on the carpet at my dads house. lol.

anyways, good luck with the tank, I will try and get some pics up of mine sometime, not happy with the way the rock looks at the moment so going to move it around and get it all looking good first.

[Pearson Design]

i had a quick skim through this topic and would like to add my input aswell

id say that the tank you have is too small for a sucessful reef.
like i said i only skimmed the topic, so dont know all the equipment your using.

i have a reef tank, been going since march this year. its a rio 180 and even that is too small for what i want
heres a few pics to show you how i started and how it is now

firslty i bought some grotto rock for base rock to build upon.
this was a bout £40 for a big box, about 25kilos id say.



then added some caulerpa and some small bits of live rock. annoyingly 2 blue damsels swam out of the rock as i put them in cool that they were free, but i didnt want them and they werent on my stock list
but anyways....

heres trhe tank with some live rock and caulerpa


added much more live rock and some polyps and other small bits



left it a few more weeks, regular water testing etc.

then added some soft corals. leather coral, finger leather coral, kenya tree frags and some pulsing xenia


now, a few months on and *touch wood* no problems this is the reef now
got a few more corals. some acroporia, some more xenia and some more live rock. a new blenny, a mantis shrimp (not in main tank of course) and some more snails and crabs


there really is nothing more satisfying or relaxing than watching the fish and corals moving in the 4500 lph water movement

also, been setting up new 4 foot fish only tank
heres some pics




this tank has a red toothed triggerfish, a violitan lion, a black and white clown, a pyjama cardinal, a midnight angelfish and a snowflake moray.
the snowflake is my fave so far!!


where abouts do you live Fantapants? i might have some soft coral frags ready soon if your interested?

[fantapants]

Originally Posted by mEOw

Looking good.
Dont forget you need lots of flow around the live rock, my new tank is a 1ft cube and i have 2 small powerheads in there which brings my flow to about 30x the tank volume.

Have you decided if you are going to run a filter in it or are you going to rely on your live rock for all the filtration? I tried running a filter in my last tank and had nitrate problems so i took it out and all was good again but that was years ago and things seem to have changed a bit in that time, it was recomended to run a filter back then but now people seem to accept that they have a habbit of turning into nitrate factories and are more hastle than they are worth.

I went with Wave solaris marine power compacts for the lighting on my new tank, i have 2x 11w ones, they are half blue half white and seem to be doing a good job so far, means i have about 1W per liter of tank water which should be fine for everything i plan on keeping.

Is your live rock on top of the sand? i only ask because some inverts will dig under the liverock if it is and that can make it all topple over, last thing you need is a lump of rock falling and cracking your tank. I have made that mistake and i dont plan on doing it again, can still see the stain on the carpet at my dads house. lol.

anyways, good luck with the tank, I will try and get some pics up of mine sometime, not happy with the way the rock looks at the moment so going to move it around and get it all looking good first.

I have live rock, with a HOB filter thats running with carbon and phosphate removers. I have the HOB filter at one end and a powerhead at the other pointing at the front glass. Up to now i cant see any dead spots with zero flow but as i add more rock i will be adding another powerhead .

The live rock is on egg crate, with sand filing in the gaps. I too have 1w of lighting per litre that are half and half blue/white.

SO, i have had the tank up and running for over a week now. The nitrite levels have risen to .03mg/l and everything else is runing stable since i swapped the phosphate remover in the HOB filter, the levels have dropped right down. Buuuut i have noticed aswell as a ton of invert life from my rock........i have a lovely creeping carpet of cyano developing. I klnow this means my tank is maturing but it looks cack.

Can i do anything/ad anything to reduce the cyano?

[fantapants]

Originally Posted by Pearson Design

i had a quick skim through this topic and would like to add my input aswell

id say that the tank you have is too small for a sucessful reef.
like i said i only skimmed the topic, so dont know all the equipment your using.

i have a reef tank, been going since march this year. its a rio 180 and even that is too small for what i want
heres a few pics to show you how i started and how it is now

firslty i bought some grotto rock for base rock to build upon.
this was a bout £40 for a big box, about 25kilos id say.
image


then added some caulerpa and some small bits of live rock. annoyingly 2 blue damsels swam out of the rock as i put them in cool that they were free, but i didnt want them and they werent on my stock list
but anyways....

heres trhe tank with some live rock and caulerpa
image

added much more live rock and some polyps and other small bits

image

left it a few more weeks, regular water testing etc.

then added some soft corals. leather coral, finger leather coral, kenya tree frags and some pulsing xenia
image

now, a few months on and *touch wood* no problems this is the reef now
got a few more corals. some acroporia, some more xenia and some more live rock. a new blenny, a mantis shrimp (not in main tank of course) and some more snails and crabs
image

there really is nothing more satisfying or relaxing than watching the fish and corals moving in the 4500 lph water movement

also, been setting up new 4 foot fish only tank
heres some pics
image
image
image

this tank has a red toothed triggerfish, a violitan lion, a black and white clown, a pyjama cardinal, a midnight angelfish and a snowflake moray.
the snowflake is my fave so far!!
image

where abouts do you live Fantapants? i might have some soft coral frags ready soon if your interested?

Weirdly, i have been looking today for a decent size tank for a FO system. My kids want fish, i want a reef. I know that ulitmatley the reef tank will get bigger, with me its inevitable .

And i live in the NW near wigan. And yes, i could be interested

[Pearson Design]

i know that feeling

i started marines when i was 15, im 30 now lol. and i started with a 2ft cube tank at first, then within a year i had 3 3 foot tanks, mostly just fish and polyps, and my massive 7ft by 3ft by 3ft reef tank i put many years and a lot of money into it, only to have to break it down and sell it 5 years later when i moved out of my parents house lol

they are like a drug marine fish lol

but, they are the most fascinating fish you can have, and even a fish only tank can be a wonderful addition to a room

as for frags, i live in hertfordshire SE but i could be willing to send them, as long as its either same day or next day guaranteed with a courier who is happy shipping livestock etc.. im sure we can sort something out

[fantapants]

Originally Posted by Pearson Design

i know that feeling

i started marines when i was 15, im 30 now lol. and i started with a 2ft cube tank at first, then within a year i had 3 3 foot tanks, mostly just fish and polyps, and my massive 7ft by 3ft by 3ft reef tank i put many years and a lot of money into it, only to have to break it down and sell it 5 years later when i moved out of my parents house lol

they are like a drug marine fish lol

but, they are the most fascinating fish you can have, and even a fish only tank can be a wonderful addition to a room

as for frags, i live in hertfordshire SE but i could be willing to send them, as long as its either same day or next day guaranteed with a courier who is happy shipping livestock etc.. im sure we can sort something out

I have an adicitive personality so i tend to submerse myself in something for a few years and learn as much as possible about them. Then i move to something else but i have always loved marines, just never been in a situation where i can afford them before.

And awesome, let me know when you have some available

[Morgan Freeman]

Fantapants,

Any chance of given a rough guide to costs?

[AshMashMash]

Cool stuff Ali! Look forward to seeing it all done! Live rock is always so exciting

[fantapants]

Originally Posted by Morgan Freeman

Fantapants,

Any chance of given a rough guide to costs?

Costs? ok......

Tank and heater and powerhead was free, Hang on back filter and phosphate remover was £20, replacement tubes £30, Egg crate £8, water test kits £48, sand and hygrometer £24, RO and salted water £14, sea salt £24, live rock £80.....protein skimmer £24, thermometer £4. May be more bits but i cant think of them right now. OOOH, i have a RO unit on order £65 and a refractometer and TDS meter (£45).

And i am looking at getting a new luminaire...........and probbly a bigger tank as i find rockscaping the nano to be real difficult.

Originally Posted by AshMashMash

Cool stuff Ali! Look forward to seeing it all done! Live rock is always so exciting

Best thing ever is live rock. "ooh Barry, i can see a wormy thing", "where?", "right there (points aimlessly)"......best accessory ever is a magnifying glass