New Saltwater set up.

[Guinness]

There's actually quite a few sw people that use canisters and hob filters. I haven't had any problems actually. I've had FW tank for about 4 years with no problems either. My SW tanks only been up about 5 months or so, but no hair algae or cyano problems so far!! (Fingers crossed) lol. I do 20% PWC every week, without fail. And I rinse all the media from the filter then. I also rotate changing out the foam in the filter, if its not a tan color after rinsing, I change it. I never do more than I foam at a time, though. Then I empty the water out of canister itself and take my blue scrubby and quickly wipe down the inside to remove any waste particles. Then i put it back together. Only takes about 10 minutes or so. I also have 3 PH (2-750gph and 1-500 gph) in my 55g, so plenty of flow, which I've read can help prevent cyano as well. So far it's worked out well for me. I don't have room for a sump cuz it's a corner tank, so I don't really have much of a choice as far as filters.

That's good to know. I am using live rock rubble in the filters for my tank as I have been told by quite a few people that's the way to go instead of using the media that came with the filters.
Glad to hear you haven't had any algae problems too. That's the one thing I was worried about. I will be getting 2 ph at 3000l per hour so that will help too.

It's not actually my first S/W tank we have a 100ltr 26g tank that uses a built in filter that has been set up for about 8 months now, that works fine but we do water changes every week off 25% but as of yet no problems.

 

[Beengirl]

Yeah, from what I've read, not over feeding, PWC and good flow are the best ways to prevent algae outbreak and cyano. I also have 2 conchs that keep my sandbed pretty clean, so I'm liking those creepy things!! Lol. Saw a post earlier about someone complaining that there Sand always had black stuff on it, and they figured out it was astrea snail poop. I thought "well I never have that and I have tons of Astraea, weird." Then later it was suggested to get a conch cuz they'll eat the poop!! Guess that explains why I don't have that!!! Haha

 

[Guinness]

Yeah, from what I've read, not over feeding, PWC and good flow are the best ways to prevent algae outbreak and cyano. I also have 2 conchs that keep my sandbed pretty clean, so I'm liking those creepy things!! Lol. Saw a post earlier about someone complaining that there Sand always had black stuff on it, and they figured out it was astrea snail poop. I thought "well I never have that and I have tons of Astraea, weird." Then later it was suggested to get a conch cuz they'll eat the poop!! Guess that explains why I don't have that!!! Haha

Lol what are conch?

Yea well I won't be over feeding and with the ph and filters there will be more than enough flow.

That would make sense why you don't have dirty sand. That's what I like about this hobby you learn something new every day and you can never learn it all.

 

[DanS180]

Lol what are conch?

Yea well I won't be over feeding and with the ph and filters there will be more than enough flow.

That would make sense why you don't have dirty sand. That's what I like about this hobby you learn something new every day and you can never learn it all.

Conch are snails which im actually goin to pick up one or two today

 

[Guinness]

Conch are snails which im actually goin to pick up one or two today

Oh right snails I thought it was some sort of fish lol. Are the good as clean up crew then?

 

[Mrc8858]

A new build yay seems like you've got things under control so far with Dan and girl. If I could put my 2 cents in there, you could save a lot of money by finishing off the rock with base/lace rock since you already got roughly 30lbs of live. Also while you are still in the scaping phase consider this, the less footprint your rock structure has the less debris build up you will see so using a few large base pieces as feet for the main structure will really help flow and give you more sand bed/real estate for corals if you go that route which so you plan on going reef?

 

[Guinness]

A new build yay seems like you've got things under control so far with Dan and girl. If I could put my 2 cents in there, you could save a lot of money by finishing off the rock with base/lace rock since you already got roughly 30lbs of live. Also while you are still in the scaping phase consider this, the less footprint your rock structure has the less debris build up you will see so using a few large base pieces as feet for the main structure will really help flow and give you more sand bed/real estate for corals if you go that route which so you plan on going reef?

Hi and thanks for you input it's much appreciated.

I'm not quite sure what you mean with the rock? Are you saying to use a few big pieces of rock on the bottom and build the rest on top sort of like a Column to save space on the floor? Will I need to drill the rock and rod it to stop it falling over?

Sorry if that's a dumb question lol?

 

[Mrc8858]

Hi and thanks for you input it's much appreciated.

I'm not quite sure what you mean with the rock? Are you saying to use a few big pieces of rock on the bottom and build the rest on top sort of like a Column to save space on the floor? Will I need to drill the rock and rod it to stop it falling over?

Sorry if that's a dumb question lol?

Not at all lol.. it really depends on the rocks. This early in your setup before you have anything to kill haha is the perfect time to build an amazing structure especially with the depth of that tank. To build it you can use multiple techniques such as epoxy, drill and rod as you mentioned, or just good old fashioned stacking if your skilled at that ... Some of the nicest scapes I've seen they use nice columns or rock to raise the structure giving the floor many large caves for fish. One tank I've seen that took it to the extreme and is absolutely astonishing is on YouTube, search rocky mountain reef. You'll know when you find it and I may grab a link for you in a second lol.

 

[Mrc8858]

Here it is.. some of the best columns I've seen and once coral fills it in gives it a beautiful full look.

 

[Guinness]

Not at all lol.. it really depends on the rocks. This early in your setup before you have anything to kill haha is the perfect time to build an amazing structure especially with the depth of that tank. To build it you can use multiple techniques such as epoxy, drill and rod as you mentioned, or just good old fashioned stacking if your skilled at that ... Some of the nicest scapes I've seen they use nice columns or rock to raise the structure giving the floor many large caves for fish. One tank I've seen that took it to the extreme and is absolutely astonishing is on YouTube, search rocky mountain reef. You'll know when you find it and I may grab a link for you in a second lol.

Oh right sounds cool I will have a look, I understand what you mean now lol.

 

[Mrc8858]

To give you an idea here's my sps shelf I made for my mixed reef ...excuse the mess tank was just moved to my new house 2 weeks ago lol

 

[Guinness]

To give you an idea here's my sps shelf I made for my mixed reef ...excuse the mess tank was just moved to my new house 2 weeks ago lol

Wow looks good! Did you use the epoxy method to create this?

 

[Mrc8858]

Ya the pieces would have been two thin for a rod so I chipped lil pieces off where they touched so it would "bite" a little before I glued to give it a better hold. (the shelf rested on a lip of the bottom piece while the top sat partially on the shelf and partially hung over the bottom piece to almost lock together) this is why I'd say get yourself some lace rock so you can work with it some to give your tank a more unique look then a pile of rocks. It all comes down to your personal taste though so ill be excited to see what you come up with

 

[Guinness]

Ya the pieces would have been two thin for a rod so I chipped lil pieces off where they touched so it would "bite" a little before I glued to give it a better hold. (the shelf rested on a lip of the bottom piece while the top sat partially on the shelf and partially hung over the bottom piece to almost lock together) this is why I'd say get yourself some lace rock so you can work with it some to give your tank a more unique look then a pile of rocks. It all comes down to your personal taste though so ill be excited to see what you come up with

I will have a look at YouTube and see what I can find for inspiration. Thanks for the tips. How much is the epoxy stuff that you use to bond the rock?

 

[Beengirl]

Lol what are conch?

Yea well I won't be over feeding and with the ph and filters there will be more than enough flow.

That would make sense why you don't have dirty sand. That's what I like about this hobby you learn something new every day and you can never learn it all.

Yeah, a conch is a big snail, but the only stay on the sandbed and they have these eyes that poke out of the shell in 2 different directions on these long stalks. Kinda weird things. Lol. But good cleaners!

 

[Guinness]

Yeah, a conch is a big snail, but the only stay on the sandbed and they have these eyes that poke out of the shell in 2 different directions on these long stalks. Kinda weird things. Lol. But good cleaners!

Lol sounds freaky, might have a look at them see if I like them.

 

[Beengirl]

Lol sounds freaky, might have a look at them see if I like them.

Yeah, they're kinda cool. I've read to only get 1 per 2 square feet of tank bottom, though cuz they eat a lot. The ones I got were about $15. Check them out!!

 

[Guinness]

Yeah, they're kinda cool. I've read to only get 1 per 2 square feet of tank bottom, though cuz they eat a lot. The ones I got were about $15. Check them out!!

Wow that's a hefty price tag for a snail! I will have a look at them and see what they are like.

Cheers

 

[Guinness]

Going to collect another 10kg of live rock at the weekend. I found a bargain! Someone closing down a tank and they have 30kg of live rock at £4 a kg. bargain.

 

[DanS180]

Going to collect another 10kg of live rock at the weekend. I found a bargain! Someone closing down a tank and they have 30kg of live rock at £4 a kg. bargain.

How's that translate in the U.S.? Lol