FO tank

[AndyL]

Hey folks,

My quest to create a nano-reef got an expensive setback this week. (15lbs of tonga live rock arriving with a nice layer of ice on it 6 days late). Of course its nobodys fault (according to the retailer and shipper) but my own.

So I'm thinking reef just isn't going to happen. But I'd still like a Salty tank, with a clown (occelaris) or two. What do I need to setup a FO tank; I've done some reading, and theres 200 different ideas out there, none seems to be commonly accepted.

I was thinking of keeping going with the 10g since its largely setup. But adding a DIY protein skimmer and a hob filter. Would this work, is there a better filtration system to use? I'd add the now base tonga rock of course...

Andy

 

[wayne]

Well if you're sticking with the 10 you have a horrible limited fish choice, so my first call would be to go for a 20 long. I uspect you'll soon want something more than a clownfish or two.
DIY skimmer is probably a good call if it works, though you can maybe get away with water changes (5 or 10 percent twice a week is good, and gives you a margin of error to forget one once ina while).
I think the HOB filtration is a waste of time. Someone must be responsible for the live rock being delayed, what do the guarantees say.?
You might not like to hear it but I still think live rock is the way to go. Shame about the ice, but if you cycle you'll still probably get bacteria out of, plus maybe algae but obviously nothing much else. Go to the lfs and buy it if possible, or travel to an lfs and carry it yourself. For small tanks I think internet orders are a wate of time - you don't save enough to make the risks (bad or ugly rock, unsuitable shapes for small tanks) worth the bother.

Rant - don't take this personally - I am old enough to remember fish keeping in the 70's and 80's, when marine tanks were pretty much glass boxes of death. It was almost always an unstable horror show, with people having 40 gal tanks with a row of cannisters underneath. Live rock and natural filtration methods changed all this - why do so many people want to go back there? There's a big difference now - the fish live! I see too many posts from people who, trying to make it cheap, get themselves into situations that should have died out 10 years ago and do not have the skills to get themselves out (if it's even possible).

 

[toodles]

I would go with a 20g long or tall but if you could go larger, then do that. As Wayne has said, you will be limited with the amount and types of fish in a 20g. Even though your LR was frozen, don't give up on it yet. You would be surprised by the resiliance some things have. Mainly I'm talking about spores and such. Wouldn't surprise me at all if you don't end up with some sponges or small feather dusters after a couple of months.
I will disagree with Wayne on this next point. HOB filters. I think they do a wonderful job in any tank. Not only do they provide water flow, but you can run carbon in the filter, they pick up suspended particles in the tank, and if necessary can be used to house other chemicals like phosphate remover. The biggest thing about them though is that you must clean them regularly. Also, even with an HOB filter, you will still need at least one powerhead for water movement, and two would be better in a 20g tank.

I can't say that I remember the marine side of the hobby at all from the 70's but I would think that some of the main reasons we have had such advances in saltwater keeping is because of better salts, better stocking levels, better water flow, a better understanding of fish compatability, access to larger aquariums, better lighting for corals, skimmers, and above all, information that can be easily found, whether on the internet or in books.

 

[wayne]

I agree with you on the HOB for what you suggest, but as a biological filter it'll be horrible and hassle.
I'd say the big advances were decent salt mixes and an understanding of how to do filtration that really worked for more than a few months, re. natural, live rock based filtration. Everything else is nice, but not so crucial.
Skimmers were briefly popular in the 60's apparently.