Hi, I've recently set up my newest addition, a 37 Gallon Eclipse Tank for saltwater. I don't have any live rock in it yet (only been one day) but I am aware of cycling the tank for 4-6 weeks. Couple Questions: what kind of "things" actually grow from having live rock? If I'm having a "fish-only" tank in the meantime, do I need a protein skimmer? Is it possible/recommended to have a basic power filter for a reef tank in the future? I know the LFS told me about wet/dry filters and/or sumps, but they were just too damn expensive at the time. Has anyone out there been successful with a reef tank having this sort of filter set-up and just coupled with expensive lighting? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Rookie Help
- Thread starter Allan
- Start date
You can use Live Rock and a Deep Sand Bed (DSB) for your biological filtration. You should have about 4" of sand for a substrate and between 1 - 2lbs of LR per gallon. If you go this route you will not need a "power" filter at all. Just add a couple of power heads for water movement so you get at least 10 x your tank turnover per hour. This would also be your best set up for a future reef tank since the DSB will help eliminate nitrates which pose a danger for inverts. I would not recommend using ant type of filter with bio-media for a reef tank. While these filters are very adept at neutralising ammonia and nitrites, the nitrates produced by these filters can be very harmful to invertebrates.
I would recommend that anyone new to SW use a good protein skimmer. Protein skimmers will help protect your tank against any mistakes such as overfeeding, stocking too quickly or insufficient water changes. Notice that I said help, they can not totally protect a tank from all mistakes. The protein skimmeris I would recommend for a tank your size in order of both quality and price are;
1) Aqua C Remora - with maxijet 1200
2) CPR Bak Pak
3) Red Sea Prizm
Brian
I would recommend that anyone new to SW use a good protein skimmer. Protein skimmers will help protect your tank against any mistakes such as overfeeding, stocking too quickly or insufficient water changes. Notice that I said help, they can not totally protect a tank from all mistakes. The protein skimmeris I would recommend for a tank your size in order of both quality and price are;
1) Aqua C Remora - with maxijet 1200
2) CPR Bak Pak
3) Red Sea Prizm
Brian
I've just started my 40 gallon sw tank. I have 150lbs of sand (4-5" sandbed) and 30 lbs of live rock (will get more) in there now. I have 4 powerheads, 3 for water movement, and one for the skimmer. The only filtration I have is the cpr bak pak II skimmer. I may remove the biobale eventually, if I see my nitrates constantly elevated. I'm still cycling the tank, so I don't have any fish in there yet.
One note on your tank: If you eventually are planning on adding corals and making your tank a reef tank, you'll want to upgrade the lighting.
One note on your tank: If you eventually are planning on adding corals and making your tank a reef tank, you'll want to upgrade the lighting.
Allan,
If you're asking what kind of "things" grow on the live rock, it all depends on the quality of your rock. Good quality rock'll give you all sorts of life, depending on the amount of die-off that occured in transit.
Most of my rock had macro-algae (halimeda, c. taxifolia, racemosa) various sponges, bi-valves (scallops, clams, small ones) feather dusters, and a couple of crabs, which I promptly got rid of. (couldn't ID and didn't know if they were reef safe). I was also lucky enough to get two pieces with soft corals on them that survived. (zooanthids and red 'shrooms)
If you're asking what kind of "things" grow on the live rock, it all depends on the quality of your rock. Good quality rock'll give you all sorts of life, depending on the amount of die-off that occured in transit.
Most of my rock had macro-algae (halimeda, c. taxifolia, racemosa) various sponges, bi-valves (scallops, clams, small ones) feather dusters, and a couple of crabs, which I promptly got rid of. (couldn't ID and didn't know if they were reef safe). I was also lucky enough to get two pieces with soft corals on them that survived. (zooanthids and red 'shrooms)
Power filters work just fine in salt tanks, you just have to remember to keep the filter media clean. One thing I really like about using filters is not only do they remove particles from the water, but you can run carbon in them which will help to keep the water clear.
Skimmers can be vital for reef tanks specializing in sps corals, or even lps corals, but in a fish only tank, well, you might not need it at all. It really depends on whether you will do the necessary water changes without fail that the tank will require. If you have any doubts at all, then by all means, use a skimmer.
Things that show up on LR? Well, that really depends on the type of rock you buy. The more porous the rock, the better (I have a large portion of my rock that has been aquacultured and this rock always has tons of stuff on it) some of the critters......snails (I got some whelks that haven't bothered anything, and some keyhole limpets), a bumblebee snail, seasquirts, sponges, tunicates, small brittlestars, bristleworms, various pods, razor macro algae, featherdusters, a beautiful micro algae that looks like encrusting red velvet (the small pods love to graze on this stuff), button polyps, unknown crab, three large clams (not the colorful kind) and two smaller mussels, some small sps corals that have managed to survive, oh, and a small worm that used to glow neon blue when the lights were off at night, also a couple of large swimming worms that use to come out at night too.......
Skimmers can be vital for reef tanks specializing in sps corals, or even lps corals, but in a fish only tank, well, you might not need it at all. It really depends on whether you will do the necessary water changes without fail that the tank will require. If you have any doubts at all, then by all means, use a skimmer.
Things that show up on LR? Well, that really depends on the type of rock you buy. The more porous the rock, the better (I have a large portion of my rock that has been aquacultured and this rock always has tons of stuff on it) some of the critters......snails (I got some whelks that haven't bothered anything, and some keyhole limpets), a bumblebee snail, seasquirts, sponges, tunicates, small brittlestars, bristleworms, various pods, razor macro algae, featherdusters, a beautiful micro algae that looks like encrusting red velvet (the small pods love to graze on this stuff), button polyps, unknown crab, three large clams (not the colorful kind) and two smaller mussels, some small sps corals that have managed to survive, oh, and a small worm that used to glow neon blue when the lights were off at night, also a couple of large swimming worms that use to come out at night too.......