it`s driving me mad

[lozza_27]

ok...im wanting to set up a marine tank with corals ect. the tank is
48x18x12.

i have so far 1x biolife filter 1x fluval internal filter 1x fluval
external 203 filter 1x fluval external 304 filter 1x belin airlift 60
skimmer 1x 300 watt heater.

now its the lighting thats getting my crazy.i know to keep the corals
it needs to be a high intensity light.but i also needs to be cheap as
possible.

can i use the standard lamps i use in my freshwater tanks but add at
least 4 maybe 5 of them with a reflector
i would be using triton tubes around 30-40 watt each.

also can i not just use my standard water instead of getting RO water
from the lfs.the nitrates are around 40ppm where i live


--
lozza_27
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[Christ's Soldiers]

In the land of rec.aquaria.marine.reefs, the word of the Lord came
to lozza_27 and verily he spoke saying:

>
> ok...im wanting to set up a marine tank with corals ect. the tank
> is 48x18x12.
>
> i have so far 1x biolife filter 1x fluval internal filter 1x
> fluval external 203 filter 1x fluval external 304 filter 1x belin
> airlift 60 skimmer 1x 300 watt heater.
>
> now its the lighting thats getting my crazy.i know to keep the
> corals it needs to be a high intensity light.but i also needs to
> be cheap as possible.
>
> can i use the standard lamps i use in my freshwater tanks but add
> at least 4 maybe 5 of them with a reflector
> i would be using triton tubes around 30-40 watt each.
>
> also can i not just use my standard water instead of getting RO
> water from the lfs.the nitrates are around 40ppm where i live

Wow the biolife filter! I havent seen one of those since my buddies
set up their first salt water tank with NO LIVE ROCK OR GRAVEL AT
ALL! back in like 96. The tank had a porcupine puffer, a trigger of
some kind and a grouper of some kind. They fed them fresh water
snails, goldfish and mollies that they raised in their basement. Man
that was an ugly tank but it survived for a long long time.

Anyway to your question, while I don't specifically have any
experience from your filter selections I'm sure the regulars here
will express some disaproval. As to the light, I do have experience
keeping soft corals (green button polyps, purple star polyps,
mushroom anemonies) under normal output flourescents in my 29 gallon
tank with a back pack skimmer and no sump or other filter of any kind
except about 30 pounds of live sand and about 60 pounds of live rock.
In those condition all the things I mentioned thrived and multiplied
like wild fire. Good luck!

--

-John

[Ross Bagley]

lozza_27 > writes:

> ok...im wanting to set up a marine tank with corals ect. the tank is
> 48x18x12.
>
> i have so far 1x biolife filter 1x fluval internal filter 1x fluval
> external 203 filter 1x fluval external 304 filter 1x belin airlift 60
> skimmer 1x 300 watt heater.

Depending on the brand, keep the heater. Don't know anything about
that brand of skimmer. Ditch the rest of the filters you mentioned.
If the skimmer doesn't work very well, I'd get an Aqua-C Urchin or
Remora (depending on how decent the sump is already).

> now its the lighting thats getting my crazy.i know to keep the corals
> it needs to be a high intensity light.but i also needs to be cheap as
> possible.

You should expect to spend a minimum of $40-$60 per gallon of reef
tank ($40/gal is if you are a DIY king and you don't automate very
much of the tank). For your 55gal, that comes to $2200-$3300. Now,
knowing that you're about to lay out that much money (even with the
gear you've already got), do you really want to have a reef tank?

Freshwater tanks are *much* simpler, less expensive, and can be just
as enjoyable a decoration in your living room/study/whatever.

Sal****er "fish only" (FO) tanks tend to split the difference between
freshwater biotope tanks and reef tanks by most measures of complexity
and cost. Also, more of the gear you've already got will be useful in
maintaining a fish only tank.

> can i use the standard lamps i use in my freshwater tanks but add at
> least 4 maybe 5 of them with a reflector
> i would be using triton tubes around 30-40 watt each.

These lights would be adequate for soft corals only. Don't be too
discouraged as "soft corals" includes a huge number of species from
gorgonia to colt corals, xenia, corralimorphs (mushrooms, etc.) to
zoanthids. You can also keep low light calcareous corals in that
lighting, but these tend to be much harder to keep as they require
more food filtered from the water column than their bright light
cousins (and as such are usually limited to advanced reef aquarists
tanks).

> also can i not just use my standard water instead of getting RO water
> from the lfs.the nitrates are around 40ppm where i live

Da Troll! Sokay, the info may still be useful for someone.

Regards,
Ross

-- Ross Bagley http://rossbagley.com/rba
"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature...
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." -- Helen Keller

[lozza_27]

i already have 5, 4ft freshwater tanks along with a pond.im in england
so prices vary here,i think ill go for the soft coral option but under
just the normal marine tubes made by interpet,triton ect.ive looked
under the hood and the max i can have is 6 tubes..so im thinking maybe
3 white 1 full spectrum and 2 blue.


as for the filters i think ill keep them


--
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[Ross Bagley]

lozza_27 > writes:

> i already have 5, 4ft freshwater tanks along with a pond.im in england
> so prices vary here,i think ill go for the soft coral option but under
> just the normal marine tubes made by interpet,triton ect.ive looked
> under the hood and the max i can have is 6 tubes..so im thinking maybe
> 3 white 1 full spectrum and 2 blue.

By the way, I thought you might have been one of our regular trollers,
(which is where the last remarks came from), but if I was wrong, I
sincerely apologize.

You'll still need a high quality skimmer and you should have someone
near you who knows reefs (and is not employed in a fish store) tell
you if your skimmer is good enough. I have to admit to being
biased towards Aqua-C (good experiences with a great product) but
it is a US company and may not be available/affordable in the UK.

> as for the filters i think ill keep them

I don't mean "throw them out" as gear is almost always useful for
parts or sale (if nothing else). However, you won't find the filters
you listed very useful on a reef tank (even a soft coral reef)
following any of the currently "in vogue" reefkeeping philosophies.
Most of the filtration on a modern reef tank comes from the live
rock/live sand and a good skimmer. Other filters usually end up
producing too many nitrates and are more bother than they're worth
(IMHO).

Regards,
Ross

-- Ross Bagley http://rossbagley.com/rba
"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature...
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." -- Helen Keller

[Ross Bagley]

lozza_27 > writes:

> also can i not just use my standard water instead of getting RO water
> from the lfs.the nitrates are around 40ppm where i live

To give a serious answer to this question, I'd suggest buying an RO/DI
filter yourself. 40ppm is good enough for drinking, but is going to
be a hurdle for the tank to overcome on every water change. The other
thing to be worried about in your tap water is phosphate. You don't
mention it, but it's worth some effort to avoid. High phosphate
almost always contributes to microalgae problems.

Others may warn you against silica in your tap water. Personally,
silica and calcium are the only things I dose into my system, so I
wouldn't get too excited about silica in your tap water. Depends on
how much you fear diatoms (I strongly prefer scraping diatoms off the
glass to scraping slime algae; better food for the corals, too).
Silica is consumed by some sponges as well, just depends on what
you're trying to maintain in your tank.

If you were in the US, you should expect to spend about $250US for a
basic three stage filter. This cost will quickly be paid for when
compared to driving expensive RO water from the LFS back to your home.

Regards,
Ross

-- Ross Bagley http://rossbagley.com/rba
"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature...
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." -- Helen Keller

[lozza_27]

ive decided to go the live rock way.and use the filters on my tropicals
as i got big ones for the marine setup...so they wll be even happier
than what they already are.

m off later to spend £200 o 20kg of live rock and some RO water just to
start me off.ive also added live sand with reef sand for the base.

so for me at the mo its use powerheads..get RO water heat it up..add
live rock and leave it for a bit.

question tho..will the live rock "cycle it"


--
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[CapFusion]

Read Below

"lozza_27" > wrote in message
...
>

> ive decided to go the live rock way.and use the filters on my tropicals
> as i got big ones for the marine setup...so they wll be even happier
> than what they already are.

Just using Live Rock is fine and using a mechanical filter for a tropical is
good.


>
> m off later to spend ?00 o 20kg of live rock and some RO water just to
> start me off.ive also added live sand with reef sand for the base.
>

Since you did not mention the size of your tank, I am not to sure when you
stated 20kg of LR. Using LR, RO and LS will be fine.
Regarding about LS, are you going to order from some place? Make sure it a
fine sand, like a sugar size. Crush Coral is not too good and will cause
problem later.


> so for me at the mo its use powerheads..get RO water heat it up..add
> live rock and leave it for a bit.
>
> question tho..will the live rock "cycle it"
>
>

Using PowerHead is fine.
Using RO water is fine.
Make sure you temperature does notfluctuate too much. Better be stable as
much as possible. If you do not have a heater, you may need to put that on
your list.

Live Rock will need to be cure or cycle if there are die-off on it. If
already your crittter like fish in your tank, you may need to cycle your LR
from a separate tank or a bucket. But if your tank have nothing but LR / LS
only, then simply put everything in and have everything cycle / cure all at
once.


> --
> lozza_27

Hello how are you, Dooiiinnng?

CapFusion,...

[Christ's Soldiers]

In the land of rec.aquaria.marine.reefs the word of the Lord came to
lozza_27 and verily he spoke saying:

>
> ive decided to go the live rock way.and use the filters on my
> tropicals as i got big ones for the marine setup...so they wll be
> even happier than what they already are.

Good plan, but don't overlook that skimmer advice. If you do You'll
regret it.

--

-John

Because it makes things difficult to understand.

Why shouldn't I top post?