saltwater aquarium log of a newbie..w/ questions of course
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dankent
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Powerheads allways gonna help with water circulation ... and yes you need that happening in your tank or you could find dead zones that bad algae can grow and cause other problems, Being that your using the FX5 , you will want one power head alone pointing toward the surface to break the water. Another 1 or 2 at different hieghts pointing along back and one pointed toward the front of tank. Depending on how much live rock you end up with and how you aquascape it ... what you ultimatly want is to avoid dead zones where things can settle or build up.
ryguy
Aquarium Advice FINatic
once your ammonia and nitrite is zero you can start slowly adding fish. probably 2 to start with.
you will only have enough denitrifying bacteria to deal with the amount of ammonia that your tank is producing without living fish which is from the raw shrimp, so you need to add slowly in order to increase your "processing" power of the fish wastes. to many fish at once will overload your bacterial system.
I assume you already know this, but in case you don't....
the raw shrimp produce ammonia as it rots, with an abundance of ammonia (toxic) in the water, a plethora of ammonia consuming bacteria is able to be colonized. the byproduct/waste of this bacteria is nitrite (toxic), once that is plentiful, a new colony of nitrite consuming bacteria is able to fluorish and its waste is nitrate, (not toxic to fish, but can be to corals). so once your ammonia and nitrite are undetectable, you are good to go, but you wanna minimize your nitrate, with the DSP, refugium etc....
HTH,
sorry if you weren't looking for that much detail.
Ryan
you will only have enough denitrifying bacteria to deal with the amount of ammonia that your tank is producing without living fish which is from the raw shrimp, so you need to add slowly in order to increase your "processing" power of the fish wastes. to many fish at once will overload your bacterial system.
I assume you already know this, but in case you don't....
the raw shrimp produce ammonia as it rots, with an abundance of ammonia (toxic) in the water, a plethora of ammonia consuming bacteria is able to be colonized. the byproduct/waste of this bacteria is nitrite (toxic), once that is plentiful, a new colony of nitrite consuming bacteria is able to fluorish and its waste is nitrate, (not toxic to fish, but can be to corals). so once your ammonia and nitrite are undetectable, you are good to go, but you wanna minimize your nitrate, with the DSP, refugium etc....
HTH,
sorry if you weren't looking for that much detail.
Ryan
appreciate your input very much.. .
decided to add powerheads. any brand you guys would suggest? im planning to get this:
http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...1141450414406&itemNo=3&In=Fish&N=2030138&Ne=2 is this any good? how bout comparing to AQUACLEAR?
reason i am bent on putting powerheads is because i think the output from my filter is not that adequate because of the filters ive put in.. i am assuming with the filters i have the flow of water is somewhat decreased?
decided to add powerheads. any brand you guys would suggest? im planning to get this:
http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...1141450414406&itemNo=3&In=Fish&N=2030138&Ne=2 is this any good? how bout comparing to AQUACLEAR?
reason i am bent on putting powerheads is because i think the output from my filter is not that adequate because of the filters ive put in.. i am assuming with the filters i have the flow of water is somewhat decreased?
ryguy
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I haven't heard a ton of good things about the zoomed. I think the idea is cool, but the delivery may not be as good as you hope.
maxi-jet seems to be #1 for powerheads. putting the powerheads in is a good idea. you should be ok with 2 maxi-jet 1200's and then see how your flow is for dead spots, and adjust accordingly.
maxi-jet seems to be #1 for powerheads. putting the powerheads in is a good idea. you should be ok with 2 maxi-jet 1200's and then see how your flow is for dead spots, and adjust accordingly.
just got back form a different lfs. the guys there are wondering how somebody (from the lfs that i got my tank and filter canister) would suggest a canister for a saltwater tank. guy was very adamant that canister is no good. is this true. is this a time for me to press the panic button?
help please.. so i can call lfs where i got the tank and filter and see if i could have it exchanged...
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help please.. so i can call lfs where i got the tank and filter and see if i could have it exchanged...
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ryguy
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Well, you'll find that most people on here don't use them. to say they're not recommended, is not true either. They are typically used on fish only tanks that aren't going to have LR in the tank. If you plan on a reef or FOWLR, then most would say not to use the canister at all..... they require lots of maintenance and monitoring. LR and a DSB is the natural way to get a more effective form of filtration. That combined with a QUALITY skimmer, and you'll be laughin'. I would say that the vast majority employ that school of thought towards reef keeping. LR, DSB and a skimmer. The canister becomes nothing more than a nuissance if you plan on 1.5 to 2 lbs of LR per gallon.
Ryan
Ryan
ryguy thanks for the input.. but are you suggesting a wet-dry filter is better?
also, i do have live rock on the tank right now, which makes it a FOWLR for now i guess... and probably REEF in the future..
by them you mean CANISTER or WET-DRY?
also, i do have live rock on the tank right now, which makes it a FOWLR for now i guess... and probably REEF in the future..
by them you mean CANISTER or WET-DRY?
ryguy
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I didn't know you we're asking about a wet-dry. I was just talking about a canister filter.
My recommendation is exactly this for your set-up..... (I think you'll find it the "standard" and be the happiest in the long run for an overall system set-up)
putting budget aside, it's as follows:
- 200 lbs of LR
- 3" DSB
- the biggest sump you can fit within your stand beneath the main tank.
- something like an Aqua-C EV-180 (plumbed into the sump)
- possibly a refugium if interested, but not neccesary (can be a compartment within sump if enough room)
- closed loop set-up for a powerhead-free display tank ( this would have a pvc pipe within the main tank that would siphon out water to a pump that would just return it and you could use a few 90 deg. or 45 deg. pvc fittings only slightly submerged to create a specific flow pattern.)
All your heaters, and other unsightly stuff gets housed in the sump.
You don't need a canister or wet-dry filter with this set-up, your LR and DSB would be doing all the work, and if you hucked on a refugium as well (totally DIY) you'd have an extra nitrate removing factory, plus an area to increase your pod population in case you wanted a fish like a mandarin or something.
just my thoughts though, but it makes the most sense IMO.
Ryan
whoa... now THAT IS A SETUP.. dunno if i can afford that..
lemme see.. i do have the LR already.
am not sure about the DSB. is that the same as the CC that i already have?
aqua-c is kinda expensive.
am not sure what a closed loop is.. lol
lemme see.. i do have the LR already.
am not sure about the DSB. is that the same as the CC that i already have?
aqua-c is kinda expensive.
am not sure what a closed loop is.. lol
ryguy
Aquarium Advice FINatic
is the CC already in the tank? I think you can put a sand layer for a DSB on top of CC, but don't quote me. Usually a "sugar" grained sand is employed for a DSB, I think I remeber reading that CC is a nitrate trap, but I'm not certain of this. Aqua-C is expensive, but don't go cheap on a skimmer.
Closed loop you don't need, it's just nice to have. I don't like the look of powerheads in the tank so I'm building a closed loop.
here's a quik schematic at what it looks like, although the drawing i did has the intake and outake spun 90 deg. so nothing was superimposed in the drawing, this is what it is.
Closed loop you don't need, it's just nice to have. I don't like the look of powerheads in the tank so I'm building a closed loop.
here's a quik schematic at what it looks like, although the drawing i did has the intake and outake spun 90 deg. so nothing was superimposed in the drawing, this is what it is.
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i was thinking of the same thing! you just beat me to it..
i agree with the powerhead thing.. dont think itll look good. what i was thinking is to get a sump and get a strong pump.. . will that work? can you help me out with this project? im no handyman so i may need help getting the materials together.
i agree with the powerhead thing.. dont think itll look good. what i was thinking is to get a sump and get a strong pump.. . will that work? can you help me out with this project? im no handyman so i may need help getting the materials together.
ryguy
Aquarium Advice FINatic
sure....sounds fun. just PM me with what you need and i'd be happy to help!
ryan
ryan
ryguy
Aquarium Advice FINatic
just for clarification purposes though, the closed loop is seperate from the sump setup. you need an overflow box or a drilled tank for the sump. that type of syphon in the closed loop drawing is no good for sump use, just for closed loop.
ryguy
Aquarium Advice FINatic
ideally, you want the pump at your tanks' stand height. that way you can build a small platform to sit your pump on. I'm at work and its slow right now so I'll draw you a whole system schematic of my idea for your tank. it'll at least give ya a blue print.
ryguy
Aquarium Advice FINatic
okay,
It's a good thing it's slow at work tonight, I was able to draw you pretty much what I was talking about. You don't need to tell me I'm a geek, I already know it!
this is totally modifiable mind you, but it's a sweet set-up in my mind.
hope this helps ya out. If you decide to try something like this, I can give ya a list of supplies you'd need from homedepot, or a plumbing store. I don't want you to think this is the ONLY way,there are tons of different ways to go about it, this is just the setup I like and my 2 cents....
Cheers
It's a good thing it's slow at work tonight, I was able to draw you pretty much what I was talking about. You don't need to tell me I'm a geek, I already know it!
this is totally modifiable mind you, but it's a sweet set-up in my mind.
hope this helps ya out. If you decide to try something like this, I can give ya a list of supplies you'd need from homedepot, or a plumbing store. I don't want you to think this is the ONLY way,there are tons of different ways to go about it, this is just the setup I like and my 2 cents....
Cheers
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ryguy
Aquarium Advice FINatic
LOL,
no ya don't.... some days are quiet some are pull-your-hair-out hectic. I'm an x-ray tech, last night just happened to be quiet enough to draw that for ya.
check your private messages.
Ryan
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