Beginner aquarist!

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Bloody hell!!! Where do you hunt for these kind of deals?

I got my tank and stand for free .
The first 80lbs of live rock , power heads T5HO 6 bulb fixture , skimmer all for $200
Since then I've invested HUGE
Time , patients and money .
The next 80 lbs of rock , a whole bunch of coral, 2 fish all for $350
I put most of the rocks in but wanted to kill off some of the mushrooms so soaked in fresh water to kill off EVERYTHING and now curing .
I'm a little scared now to put them in ammonia went down and nitrates is up but I'm thinkng the water difference between the storage bin and my tank are different a mini cycle might happen .
Thanks for the compliment ,
It is very nice and I take great pride to keep everything happy .
 
I have certainly been shopping in the wrong places! Where do you guys find things like this? I paid £120 for my 45g and stand with a ****** filter so ended up spending £80 on another external filter £30 on steraliser few hundred on fish, about a £100 so far on live rock! EXPENSIVE!!!!!!!!!!! Need to learn where to do my shopping
 
Craigslist is where I've done all my shopping
 
I have certainly been shopping in the wrong places! Where do you guys find things like this? I paid £120 for my 45g and stand with a ****** filter so ended up spending £80 on another external filter £30 on steraliser few hundred on fish, about a £100 so far on live rock! EXPENSIVE!!!!!!!!!!! Need to learn where to do my shopping

Look around online for guys closing their tanks .
They know what everything is worth but if they want it gone bad enough they will lower the prices .
Put a few adds on a classified near you and see what replies you get .
Where are you located ?
 
Look around online for guys closing their tanks .
They know what everything is worth but if they want it gone bad enough they will lower the prices .
Put a few adds on a classified near you and see what replies you get .
Where are you located ?
Im located in the UK, mid-wales. Could do with grabbing myself a few bargains!
 
What litre per hour turn over would I be looking for when it comes to powerheads, am I right in saying its the 6100 ones for my current tank (45G), also would it be beneficial to run a wavemaker aswell or is that just the same as the powerheads (may be a stupid question, but on here there's no such thing as a stupid question).

I am now also looking for a 7x2x2 tank or along those lines as I have found the perfect place to set it up, it'll be my mums but I'll be the one running it :) I'll keep my 45G as FOWLR and having the larger tank eventually as my coral tank, should be able to get some of these fish I'm so desperate for in that tank then (blue faced angel is deffo top of my list!) the only problem is that I'm in the UK and I can't seem to find my many tanks of this size available online which is a real bummer but I'm sure something will crop up eventually and if you know anybody with something they're shutting down, please let me know!

Thanks again everyone, your help and advice really is greatly appreciated.
 
Flowrate is a tough topic to answer. You may get some common answers as to whats required but it varies between most hobbyists. IMO in a fowlr tank id aim for somewhere between 15-20x. As for the wavemaker, about a month ago i would have said its not a necessary feature to have, but now after having one for a few weeks, id def recommend it. Preferably a controllable wavemaker powerhead like the vortech MP series or the Jebao series. If i could make a personal suggestion, if you do end up with a larger tank at your parents (100g+) id recommend doing that tank as fowlr and make the 45 a reef tank. Only reason is because a majority of the non reef-safe fish are bigger and require larger tanks. You could still do the 45g as fowlr but itll moderately limit your stocking options
 
For powerheads look into the koralias or like huma said the vortechs. Vortechs are awesome little powerheads that have different settings that allow for waves and different types of current. They are definitely worth the money! If you do start a reef is look at the total tank volume turning over between 25-40 x per hour depending on corals you want. Also, side note do the big tank fowlr and the 45 as a reef. That way you can keep fish like blue face angels and porcupine puffers that aren't reef safe in it. The blue face could be ok in a reef but as a beginner I wouldn't recommend it.
 
bribo12 said:
For powerheads look into the koralias or like huma said the vortechs. Vortechs are awesome little powerheads that have different settings that allow for waves and different types of current. They are definitely worth the money! If you do start a reef is look at the total tank volume turning over between 25-40 x per hour depending on corals you want. Also, side note do the big tank fowlr and the 45 as a reef. That way you can keep fish like blue face angels and porcupine puffers that aren't reef safe in it. The blue face could be ok in a reef but as a beginner I wouldn't recommend it.

+1. Almost forgot the Koralias. They do have a wavemaker control unit for the Koralias, however some of hydors powerheads do NOT have variable speed control, meaning that they are either on or off, the vortechs and jebao powerheads can operate anywhere between 10-100% power, at any length of time needed
 
+1. Almost forgot the Koralias. They do have a wavemaker control unit for the Koralias, however some of hydors powerheads do NOT have variable speed control, meaning that they are either on or off, the vortechs and jebao powerheads can operate anywhere between 10-100% power, at any length of time needed
Thank you for your help again, I won't be getting a larger tank for quite some time but am looking into it for the parents! Now you mention it I think it would be a better option having the 45g as a reef! On the topic of powerheads would you say to get a wavemaker instead of a standard powerhead? Does it do the same thing? Also if I was to stock around 25kg of lr in my tank what would turnover would I be looking for? (190 litres approx my tank holds) How do you decide on what setting to use?
 
I personally will never buy another standard powerhead (fixed flow) after getting this jebao unit. The amount of flow variation is incredible. Not only that but i can turn the flow down a few notches for night time and even shut down the powerhead for 10 minutes to feed. Not to mention a powerhead like this can be controlled through a tank controller (apex, reef keeper, reef angel). Dont get me wrong, theres quite a few decent reliable fixed flow powerheads available, but once you see the benefits of a wavemaker powerhead, you will understand. As for turnover, thats really based on what you plan on keeping in the tank coral-wise. Spme previous posts have given good starting points for different types of corals
 
thanks for your reply, I am seriously considering a wavemaker now for when I have spare cash. does it matter on which rate of flow you set it at? If so how do you know how to set it?
 
It does matter depending on type of corals in the tank but other than that no
Ahh for the time-being I'll be okay then due to having no corals and not planning on having them until my water levels have settled down and this algae has died down, also wouldnt mind stocking my tank a bit more. for my 45 gal (190litres) woult the 8000L jabao unit (WP25) be too powerful?
 
I believe the 25 maxes out at about 1,700 gph so that would be about 37x turnover in your 45. That may be a bit strong coming from a single source, but you can adjust the wp25 down as far as 50%, or roughly 700gph. So id say its a perfect fit for your tank. Just as a warning though, in w1 mode, you will find the sweet spot that creates a pretty decent wave action, make sure you dont splash water out of the tank like i did lol
 
I believe the 25 maxes out at about 1,700 gph so that would be about 37x turnover in your 45. That may be a bit strong coming from a single source, but you can adjust the wp25 down as far as 50%, or roughly 700gph. So id say its a perfect fit for your tank. Just as a warning though, in w1 mode, you will find the sweet spot that creates a pretty decent wave action, make sure you dont splash water out of the tank like i did lol
Hahaha, I was beginning to fear that! This is going to sound real daft but is there anywhere you would recommend to fit in the tank?
 
In order to maximize the wave modes, id run it on either side of the tank, about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way down the glass. I point mine straight forward towards the powerhead at the other end. Theres a wave action video on my build thread to show just how powerful these powerheads are
 
In order to maximize the wave modes, id run it on either side of the tank, about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way down the glass. I point mine straight forward towards the powerhead at the other end. Theres a wave action video on my build thread to show just how powerful these powerheads are
Huma, What turnover do I require for a protein skimmer on my 45gal?
 
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