Newbie with filtration questions

[Mark]

Hi
I'm planning on starting a salt water tank. I want to get a 55 gallon
tank and am planning on starting with a fish only system or fish with
live rock system and possibly later on converting to a reef tank. I
have done a lot of research and was planning on using live rock for my
biological filtration and also using a protein skimmer. When I went to
the store the guy said that if I'm not starting with a reef tank I
don't need the skimmer or the live rock. He said that the problem with
using live rock for filtration is that when the fish get sick and you
add copper to cure the fish the copper kills the parasites in the live
rock. The man at the store said I should get a wet/dry filter and a UV
sterilizer. He also said that without cutting any corners the whole
thing would cost between 1200 and 1500.
If anyone is willing to give me some advice I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks a lot
- Mark

[Dinky]

"Mark" > wrote in message
m...
> Hi
> I'm planning on starting a salt water tank. I want to get a 55 gallon
> tank and am planning on starting with a fish only system or fish with
> live rock system and possibly later on converting to a reef tank. I
> have done a lot of research and was planning on using live rock for my
> biological filtration and also using a protein skimmer. When I went to
> the store the guy said that if I'm not starting with a reef tank I
> don't need the skimmer or the live rock. He said that the problem with
> using live rock for filtration is that when the fish get sick and you
> add copper to cure the fish the copper kills the parasites in the live
> rock. The man at the store said I should get a wet/dry filter and a UV
> sterilizer. He also said that without cutting any corners the whole
> thing would cost between 1200 and 1500.
> If anyone is willing to give me some advice I'd really appreciate it.
> Thanks a lot
> - Mark

First, never put all your faith in someone who is trying to sell you things.
They may not intentionally mislead you, but if they don't know the answer,
and one of the products they sell seems to have something to do with your
issue, they'll sell it to you. Consider the LFS one of many resources.

1: A UV sterilizer is not a necessity. I'd only add one if I had a series of
bacterial issues or if I had a major reef tank. YMMV. Some ppl swear by
them, but I would never tell anyone they had to have one.
2: With a 55 gallon FOWLR (fish-only with live rock) you could get by with a
simple HOT (hang-on-tank) power filter, like a large bio-wheel filter. Keep
it clean. I've never gone with LR as my sole filtration method, but it's
done all the time, with no "copper-cure" issues like your LFS guy warned of.
Copper is, however, dangerous to a LR tank. He's right about that.
3: 1500 bucks is really high. Without corals or harcore inverts, normal
output flourescents are fine, and lighting is the biggest expense in a
marine tank. You can go pretty cheap here until you decide to go reef.
4: Skimmers are not *required* in a FO or FOWLR, but don't hurt, don't hurt
at all, I'd recommend getting one. DON'T SKIMP ON THE SKIMMER. Research
skimmers, and buy the best one you can afford.
5: Subscribe to rec.aquaria.marine.reefs (USENET) and go to
www.reefcentral.com and sign up. RC is IMO the ****** when it comes to info
about sal****er aquaria.

good luck, and welcome to the hobby<snort> obsession.

--

billy
--
Need tech help?
news://news.winextra.com