some questions...

[jaypython]

Hi people.....

ok.....so now ive done loads and loads of research on keeping marine
fish and ive bought myself a practicle guide marine book, i think my
head is clued up on whats needed and the general care of marines.i have
a few questions which interest me;

firstly with live rock;

i know that its made up of living organisms inside the rock but do they
effect the appearance of the rock after sometime of being settled,does
things grow off the rock similar to an invert? i ask this because when i
saw a picture of live rock in my book it had loads of little tenticles
clinging to it??


secondly with protein skimmers;

ive heard that there is no need to have one with fish only set ups. but
all the things i have read up on set ups say that it is a must.(or is
this purely a by the book example) im going to take stillearnins and
juniors advice and not have a skimmer but will this mean i will
constantly be battling with nitrates and algea blooms?

The filteration im going to use on my set up is 2 fluval 404 canisters
in a 48x15x18inch tank.and i only intend to have maybe 5-6 small fish.

sorry for the long post any replys would be appriciated.

.........jay



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[John Owens]

Hi again.

I have a 75 gallon FOWLR tank (Fish Only With Live Rock) and the best
advice I can give you is to pretend like you're going to build a reef tank.
You'll get higher quality equipment and you'll learn a lot about the things
that make a system work. I reccommend you visit the following web-site to
get a lot of your questions answered:

http://www.reefcentral.com

Live Rock is rock that is "Seeded" with benificial bacteria, micro fauna and
hitchhikers. A typical rock is guaranteed to add bacteria and hopefully
coralline algae which will eventually take over the entire rock with
beautiful colors (greens, reds, purples). Every good live rock should also
introduce "pods" to your tank which are insect like inverts that are VERY
helpful to every tank.

On the topic of protein skimming. I haven't really heard of a salt tank
that didn't use one unless it was a "Nano" setup. You might want to
re-think your use of a Fluval because I'm not so sure there are sufficient
additives to make this "Sal****er compatible".

BTW if you go to Reef Central and log in to read the forums make sure you
search for threads by "Waterkeeper" he's been doing this a very long time
and he's quite knowledgeable.



"jaypython" -DONTEMAIL> wrote in message
...
> Hi people.....
>
> ok.....so now ive done loads and loads of research on keeping marine
> fish and ive bought myself a practicle guide marine book, i think my
> head is clued up on whats needed and the general care of marines.i have
> a few questions which interest me;
>
> firstly with live rock;
>
> i know that its made up of living organisms inside the rock but do they
> effect the appearance of the rock after sometime of being settled,does
> things grow off the rock similar to an invert? i ask this because when i
> saw a picture of live rock in my book it had loads of little tenticles
> clinging to it??
>
>
> secondly with protein skimmers;
>
> ive heard that there is no need to have one with fish only set ups. but
> all the things i have read up on set ups say that it is a must.(or is
> this purely a by the book example) im going to take stillearnins and
> juniors advice and not have a skimmer but will this mean i will
> constantly be battling with nitrates and algea blooms?
>
> The filteration im going to use on my set up is 2 fluval 404 canisters
> in a 48x15x18inch tank.and i only intend to have maybe 5-6 small fish.
>
> sorry for the long post any replys would be appriciated.
>
> ........jay
>
>
>
> --
> Posted via CichlidFish.com
> http://www.cichlidfish.com/portal/forums

[jaypython]

ok thank u for your help....im not sure what u mean by the fluval not
being suitable though? do u mean some canisters are not suitable for
sal****er use??

thanks again

jay;)



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[George Patterson]

jaypython wrote:
>
> ok thank u for your help....im not sure what u mean by the fluval not
> being suitable though? do u mean some canisters are not suitable for
> sal****er use??

I'm using two Fluval 202s on a 125 gallon tank. They work fine, but they are not
my only filters. I would think that two 404s would be entirely too much for your
tank.

What cans will do for you is to remove particulate matter. Depending on the
media you use, they also condition the water. They will not provide much
bacterial action, such as you get from a wet/dry filter. If you use cans that
are too powerful, food will be removed from the tank before the fish can eat
much of it. Most of the stuff in live rock will also starve, since many of them
are "filter feeders".

George Patterson
He who marries for money earns every penny of it.

[George Patterson]

jaypython wrote:
>
> firstly with live rock;
>
> i know that its made up of living organisms inside the rock but do they
> effect the appearance of the rock after sometime of being settled,does
> things grow off the rock similar to an invert? i ask this because when i
> saw a picture of live rock in my book it had loads of little tenticles
> clinging to it??

There's usually no way to tell when you buy it what's going to grow out of it
later. The little tentacles would be small anemones. Small animals like that can
sometimes be bought separately from the rock.

> im going to take stillearnins and
> juniors advice and not have a skimmer but will this mean i will
> constantly be battling with nitrates and algea blooms?

As long as you run your water changes, you shouldn't have nitrate problems. Just
change 25% of the water every month. Algae is another situation. It needs light
and either nitrogen or phosphate compounds. Water changes may take care of
getting rid of the compounds. Tap water frequently has high phosphate levels,
however, and you will have algae problems if yours does and you use it.

> The filteration im going to use on my set up is 2 fluval 404 canisters
> in a 48x15x18inch tank.and i only intend to have maybe 5-6 small fish.

I would recommend a single Eheim 2227 filter instead. This will give you much
more bacterial action and a bit of "wave action" as a plus.

George Patterson
He who marries for money earns every penny of it.

[Dr4g0nf1y]

Remember that salt water is corrosive to metals. If you have a canister
with a lot of metal components it may not be suitable for marine
environments. You also won't want activated carbon in the system unless
you're removing medications.


"jaypython" -DONTEMAIL> wrote in message
...
> ok thank u for your help....im not sure what u mean by the fluval not
> being suitable though? do u mean some canisters are not suitable for
> sal****er use??
>
> thanks again
>
> jay;)
>
>
>
> --
> Posted via CichlidFish.com
> http://www.cichlidfish.com/portal/forums

[jaypython]

ok so 2 fluval 404's might be overkill? what i was going to do is have
one can,with bio rings and bio media etc...and the other with filter
floss,sponge and carbon.

thanks for all your help...the info on the live rock has
enlightened me too.

i will keep u guys posted when my set up is underway...as im sure i will
need more questions answered.

jay:cool:



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[George Patterson]

jaypython wrote:
>
> ok so 2 fluval 404's might be overkill? what i was going to do is have
> one can,with bio rings and bio media etc...and the other with filter
> floss,sponge and carbon.

If you want to use this setup, buy two 200 series Fluvals. Each is capable of
handling tanks up to 40 gallons, so the two will work fine for your 75. If you
put too large a filter on the tank, the excessive water flow will be
uncomfortable for your fish.

I usually keep ceramic media (which came with my filters) in the bottom rack,
media such as Chem-Pure in the center rack, and floss in the top one, but I also
have an Eheim wet/dry filter.

George Patterson
He who would distinguish what is true from what is false must have an
adequate understanding of truth and falsehood.