New to Marine, would love help and opinions

[Thomsona]

Hello Guys and Gals

i have just bought a 160 litre tank, which i want to set up as marine with living rock and adventually a couple bits of coral,

i have got it set up minus live rock at present for about 2 days, with a crushed coral sand as the base and red sea salt for the salt,

i have a aqua one aquis 1000 cannister filter, at this point i dont have a proten skimmer (would like help here) or a wave maker (again need advice) i know i need to upgrade the lighting and im looking around now at placed for some T5 coral lighting found one with 6 fluros 3 blue 3 white is that ok ?

the reason for the set up is my wife loves clown fish so i want a pair for her,

what i would like to know is roughly how many fish can i keep in this (have been told 5-6) also i would like to know how is the best way to set up the tank , would also down the track like to put some coral and maybe a starfish in there,

any advice or direction would be greatly appreciated, this is my first attempt at marine, tropical i have no issues have had a 160litre tank stable and growing for 5 years with about 20 fish in it

Regards

Andrew Thomson

Hello From Australia

 

[Just.A.Bit.Salty]

Hello Guys and Gals

i have just bought a 160 litre tank, which i want to set up as marine with living rock and adventually a couple bits of coral,

i have got it set up minus live rock at present for about 2 days, with a crushed coral sand as the base and red sea salt for the salt,

i have a aqua one aquis 1000 cannister filter, at this point i dont have a proten skimmer (would like help here) or a wave maker (again need advice) i know i need to upgrade the lighting and im looking around now at placed for some T5 coral lighting found one with 6 fluros 3 blue 3 white is that ok ?

the reason for the set up is my wife loves clown fish so i want a pair for her,

what i would like to know is roughly how many fish can i keep in this (have been told 5-6) also i would like to know how is the best way to set up the tank , would also down the track like to put some coral and maybe a starfish in there,

any advice or direction would be greatly appreciated, this is my first attempt at marine, tropical i have no issues have had a 160litre tank stable and growing for 5 years with about 20 fish in it

Regards

Andrew Thomson

Hello From Australia

Hello and welcome, I'm new to the site as well but have been messing around with salt tanks for a little while. Glad you decided to go with salt as well. Sounds pretty good so far, I know some might go against crushed coral but I've never used it myself. I would recommend a protein skimmer...do you plan on setting up a sump, if not there are some pretty good HOB ones on the market. As for a wave maker on that size I would say probably not maybe just a few power heads setup around the tank, should save you some money. Now when it comes to the rule of how many fish you put in the tank I think of that has more of a guideline . You could be saving yourself (and the fish) a lot of stress by following that rule though. What's your plans on cycling the tank? You should get some live rock soon to get that going.

 

[mr_X]

it really depends on the kind of fish you are talking about. you are going to have to research each fish you are thinking of and see what their requirements and habitat are. it's a bit different than fresh water.
you have some of the most beautiful fish and corals in the world coming from your reefs. you should have a pretty good selection at your local stores!


yes, a 6 lamp t-5 high output fixture would do you just fine. i think you can skip the protein skimmer if you are diligent with water changes and careful not to overfeed.

 

[PrettyFishies]

My recc is to get a protein skimmer and setup a sump/refugium for extra filtration and a place to hide your heaters, chiller and protein slimmer. I'm a big believer in over compensation. Yes, you can get by without a protein skimmer, but you need to do more water changes. Same with a refugium. I am setting up my system to provide as much biological filtration as possible. That way, I can do water changes once a month instead if every week.

 

[Thomsona]

Thanks guys
The only fish I know have to be in there are a pair of clown fish the wife loves them

 

[mr_X]

i don't think once a month water changes is a good idea, protein skimmer or not. not for a reef tank anyway.

 

[Thomsona]

Ok wasn't looking at once a month I do my tropical every 10 days on protein skimmer any advice on brand type and any good online stores ?

Also star fish are they a good addition ?

I'm putting in live rock in nxt couple days then I'm letting it cycle for 6-8 weeks also how long per day does lighting need to be on ?

 

[mr_X]

no. starfish are not a good addition.
you are on the right track with 6-8 weeks. that should be plenty of time for a cycle. you don't need the lights on at all for a cycle.
as a matter of fact, it will just do you harm. anything that is photosynthetic that is on the rock will survive with ambient lighting until after the cycle.

i would suggest a protein skimmer rated for 2 x your water volume. somethign from the "reef octopus" line should work well for you.

 

[Thomsona]

Cheers off to get skimmer and live rock today,

Any suggestions on fish that will compliment clown fish

 

[Thomsona]

Oh and also how long do I leave lights on when I have it up I know with my tropical it 6-8 hours a day but I'm reading so many dif opinions on marine

 

[mr_X]

it depends if you have photosynthetic creatures in the tank or not. if you only have fish, they only need light to see their food. once you have coral i would try to mimic the natural day...anywhere from 8 to 12 hours is the norm.

 

[Thomsona]

Thanks you seen to be the guru

 

[mr_X]

na..i have just been learning from my mistakes for the last few years.

 

[Thomsona]

Another bit of help lighting 6 or 8 t5 fluros ? And what mix of white and blue etc,...

Live rocks in and 2 crabs came out of em lol