Resetting up my tank. - Aquarium Advice

Jacob Morgan · 03-07-2003, 07:25 PM

I think ima finally resetup my tank.. I had to take it down for money and time restrictions. I think i am back to having the time and money to set it up...

I wanna use my 15 gal long tank..

I have a hood on it I made and 'custom' (hehe) like I think it was 80 watts of NO lighting in the hood. Its a shallow tank as well.

I am wondering can I use this bag of silicia sand I have (Same stuff i used last time) .. I used to have really bad black algea all over the floor of my tank... was this the sand or me?

Ima prolly be using canister filter(s) w/o thte media in them .. just for circulation and i can use hang on waterfalls if need be.. also have 1 ph i can use..

I know wat teh salt conten etc needs to be I was hoping for some advice bout the sand, and the filters..

Any help appreciated guys..

p.s. Aaron OMG! your pet network REALLY has come thru.. I did a lil lookin and I was just SHOCKED at what you've put together.. glad to see it all work out..!.. Gj man!

Anemoneman · 03-07-2003, 09:08 PM

Silica sand will work. It is pretty inert since it is essentially ground up glass.

aimeovaldi · 03-08-2003, 12:31 AM

I would suggest either aragonite sand, southdown (avail from some Home Depot) or live sand. I would suggest that you either stay 1" or less or 4" DSB or more as levels in between do not assist in denitrification. Look into at least 1# of Live rock per gallon of water. this will become the main filtration and the HOB or canister will assist in water movement as well as the PH. Looks like you are on the right page already. These suggestions are just my humble opinion.

tyler · 03-08-2003, 05:08 AM

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen9.html

this should tell you what you need to know about sand.

were you using ro water in your prior experience?

to me, using a canister as means of water movement only seems rather wasteful, but that's only because i'd love to have on my planted tank. i'll trade you powerhead for cannister straight up...

what's your budget like? you probably already know about ahsupply.com and their wonderful pc retro kits. you could at least use it as supplemental lighting. 2x13 watt bright kit (no reflectors) is 14.99 plus 6.95 per bulb (actinic 03) at hellolights.com. just something to think about.

best of luck to you.

Jacob Morgan · 03-08-2003, 11:05 AM

hehe I have yet to save up a cpl hundred to buy a nice light setup;/

I'll start on it sometime this weekend, my sis's b-day is today so i'm rather busy with that..

I was gonna go with a 4-5" dsb.. The sand from home depot is not available here and my lhs does not carry live sand, is why I asked about using the silicia again..

tyler · 03-08-2003, 03:58 PM

what do you currently have as far as bulbs? safest assumption would be 6500k daylights.

i just think the actinic pc's would make a nice supplement for under $40 shipped. placed on a different timer it would make a nice sunrise/sunset effect. plus it would bump you up from 5.3 wpg to 7.06, and if you actually are using daylight no's, this would balance the color out a bit.

just something to think about

Jacob Morgan · 03-08-2003, 08:54 PM

When I took it down, I had 1 actinic (20watt) and the rest of the bulbs reg daylight..

on 2 timers... actinic came ona nd went off later then the reg bulbs.

targaboy78 · 03-08-2003, 11:25 PM

Hi Jacob,

I do not have a SW tank nor do I know anything about SW setups, however, I am thinking about setting one up in a year or so. I read all the SW threads but generally just keep my questions to myself (I figure sooner or later someone will ask) but I'm curious about your tank.

You mentioned that it was a 15G long. What are the dimensions?
I have a 15G quarantine tank that is 24"L x 12"W x 12"D.

If you have a DSB of 4" to 5" that would only leave 7" or 8" of swimming area (approximately 2/3 of the tank or 10 gallons) less 15 lbs of LR. Is that right?

It seems like DSBs are for taller tanks... Anyone out there with any first hand experience with this type of setup?

Jacob Morgan · 03-09-2003, 12:11 AM

its same as a 29 gallon tank, cept not as tall.

Umm, I have first hand experience, my tank ran fne ( was up over a yr) with this dsb. I had lke a 4" dsb..

Hope that answerd your question.