Hi, I'm new here and stopped by looking for some advice.
A bit of background,
I used to work in the aquatics business 20 years ago and have always kept and bred Malawi cichlids. I haven't had a marine setup for a good 20+ years and things especially the thinking on filtration etc has changed a great deal.
As of a week ago, when on holiday, a kind neighbour turned off my filters on my main cichlid display tank to plug in the cats water fountain, then didn't prime them before turning back on and melted both canister filters on the setup!! yay! I returned home to a soup of dead fish, many of which were over 10 years old and breeding pairs :/
Anyhow, my little girl is begging me for 'one of those "finding nemo" fish tanks'. Money is a massive issue, however I figure if I don't make the jump now ill never get round to setting up a reef tank.
So here's what I have already
1 tank, 48"x24"x24" with a glass lid
1 set of stand mounted 4x t5 strip lights in a fan cooled hood (2 white 2 blue)
shedloads of dead corals, ocean rock, and coral sand that's sat in bleach at the moment.
Various airpumps, poweheads etc
A Degree in marine biology
Now back in the day it was all about canister filters on marine tanks, with piddly little airstone run protein skimmers, oh how things have changed.
So realistically on a meagre budget can I set up a reef tank?
It is probably best If I outline my plan with what I have and what I would buy and if people can pick at it/suggest things tell me anything wtrong that would be great.
So here is my plan
1) Buy a cheap external canister filter rip out the biological media and replace with Floss/Foam/Carbon/ some kind of phosphate exchange resin. (Plan to wash this monthly in tap water to stop any bacterial colonies establishing in it. so purely for mechanical and chemical filtration)
2) Buy a protein skimmer - any recommendations please here I know nothing about them. Do they sit on the back of the tank? how are they powered. Can I get a good one on my measly budget?
3) Rinse, Rinse and Rinse again the ocean rock and dead coral that is sat in bleach and build a structure in the tank.
4) Add 2 (?) powerheads. 1 either side of the tank?
5) Add the water and living sand and leave the who thing running for a month or so doing big water changes every week.
6) Test for salinity, nitrites, etc
7) Now add my biological filtration by using milliput to build living rock around my structure.
8) Cycle tank etc....
Do I need anything else? Will my lighting be sufficient? any issues using old stuff? is flow enough? how much rock do I need? Can this by done cheaply? 1000's of questions... any help appreciated..
Many thanks
A bit of background,
I used to work in the aquatics business 20 years ago and have always kept and bred Malawi cichlids. I haven't had a marine setup for a good 20+ years and things especially the thinking on filtration etc has changed a great deal.
As of a week ago, when on holiday, a kind neighbour turned off my filters on my main cichlid display tank to plug in the cats water fountain, then didn't prime them before turning back on and melted both canister filters on the setup!! yay! I returned home to a soup of dead fish, many of which were over 10 years old and breeding pairs :/
Anyhow, my little girl is begging me for 'one of those "finding nemo" fish tanks'. Money is a massive issue, however I figure if I don't make the jump now ill never get round to setting up a reef tank.
So here's what I have already
1 tank, 48"x24"x24" with a glass lid
1 set of stand mounted 4x t5 strip lights in a fan cooled hood (2 white 2 blue)
shedloads of dead corals, ocean rock, and coral sand that's sat in bleach at the moment.
Various airpumps, poweheads etc
A Degree in marine biology
Now back in the day it was all about canister filters on marine tanks, with piddly little airstone run protein skimmers, oh how things have changed.
So realistically on a meagre budget can I set up a reef tank?
It is probably best If I outline my plan with what I have and what I would buy and if people can pick at it/suggest things tell me anything wtrong that would be great.
So here is my plan
1) Buy a cheap external canister filter rip out the biological media and replace with Floss/Foam/Carbon/ some kind of phosphate exchange resin. (Plan to wash this monthly in tap water to stop any bacterial colonies establishing in it. so purely for mechanical and chemical filtration)
2) Buy a protein skimmer - any recommendations please here I know nothing about them. Do they sit on the back of the tank? how are they powered. Can I get a good one on my measly budget?
3) Rinse, Rinse and Rinse again the ocean rock and dead coral that is sat in bleach and build a structure in the tank.
4) Add 2 (?) powerheads. 1 either side of the tank?
5) Add the water and living sand and leave the who thing running for a month or so doing big water changes every week.
6) Test for salinity, nitrites, etc
7) Now add my biological filtration by using milliput to build living rock around my structure.
8) Cycle tank etc....
Do I need anything else? Will my lighting be sufficient? any issues using old stuff? is flow enough? how much rock do I need? Can this by done cheaply? 1000's of questions... any help appreciated..
Many thanks
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