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Posted on 7/16/12 at 5:47 pm to nahtanojc
I've done a ton of research on s/w tanks, but I'm waiting a few years to set one up. I will probably have to move in the near future, and i'll bet relocating those things can be a real pain.
I was thinking about getting a 180, 225, or 250 gal fish+reef tank. It would have a sump, fuge, and mineral reactors.
What are your thoughts?
I was thinking about getting a 180, 225, or 250 gal fish+reef tank. It would have a sump, fuge, and mineral reactors.
What are your thoughts?
Posted on 7/16/12 at 6:24 pm to Mahootney
I have never ran mineral reactors on any of my tanks; Only filtration I have used has always been a good Protein skimmer (don't skimp), refugium with a deep sand bed (or mineral mud) loaded with macro algae, a good amount of live rock and live sand. I would throw a bag of Carbon in the sump for about a week out of every month to filter out the phosphates.
My advice would be to just plan everything out and don't skimp on the following areas: skimmer, lighting, and circulation pumps. Do it right the first time and you won't have to go in and change it out when it fails.
As for relocating, its not as bad as you would think. My last few moves were pretty painless- all coral/livestock in buckets (use powerheads to keep the water oxygenated), drain everything and save as much established tank water as possible. Forward planning is needed here, as you will need to have newly made saltwater ready to go at the destination. Once everything is drained, move the tank/sump/stand then just do everything in reverse.
My advice would be to just plan everything out and don't skimp on the following areas: skimmer, lighting, and circulation pumps. Do it right the first time and you won't have to go in and change it out when it fails.
As for relocating, its not as bad as you would think. My last few moves were pretty painless- all coral/livestock in buckets (use powerheads to keep the water oxygenated), drain everything and save as much established tank water as possible. Forward planning is needed here, as you will need to have newly made saltwater ready to go at the destination. Once everything is drained, move the tank/sump/stand then just do everything in reverse.
Posted on 7/16/12 at 7:50 pm to nahtanojc
Just FYI, carbon isn't the best at removing phosphates. Something like GFO run in a reactor would be much better suited for phosphate removal. Carbon is good to run, just not for phosphate removal.
Posted on 7/16/12 at 8:03 pm to Chad504boy
3 gallons is nowhere near enough for those fish. They won't last long.
Posted on 7/16/12 at 8:14 pm to nahtanojc
The Coral Connection in Kenner will have any answer you need.
Posted on 7/17/12 at 8:47 am to nahtanojc
quote:That's the plan.
My advice would be to just plan everything out and don't skimp on the following areas: skimmer, lighting, and circulation pumps. Do it right the first time and you won't have to go in and change it out when it fails.
What about size of the tank?
From what I understand, the bigger the tank is, the easier it is to keep key variables constant.
So, do you go with the biggest that will fit in the given space?
Is there some point of diminishing returns?
Is there an exponential increase in work or cost per gallon?
Would you need a battery backup to continue to run the skimmer and pumps in the event of a power outage?
What did everyone do during the hurricane? Hook up the tank to a generator?
Posted on 7/17/12 at 9:57 am to Mahootney
quote:
What about size of the tank? How big can you afford?
From what I understand, the bigger the tank is, the easier it is to keep key variables constant. True
So, do you go with the biggest that will fit in the given space? Or start remodeling(large tanks require taking in the weight of the tank and water into consideration a 55gallon tank is almost 500lbs when full)
Is there some point of diminishing returns? Depends on how much you enjoy keeping fish
Is there an exponential increase in work or cost per gallon? Larger tanks cost more to build, fill, heat, filter obviously but anything under I'd say 120-180 gallons will not increase costs eponentially
Would you need a battery backup to continue to run the skimmer and pumps in the event of a power outage?
What did everyone do during the hurricane? Hook up the tank to a generator? You could, we just went a week without power, I hooked up my filter up the our generator for a few hours every day just to keep the water from becoming stagnant, we lost 0 fish
Posted on 7/17/12 at 10:15 am to Mahootney
Assuming you are doing the standard rectangular tank, the 180 or 220 you mentioned are both good sizes. It is true that the bigger the ecosystem, the easier it will be to maintain (the chemical levels will have fluctuate less) but you are also correct that the bigger the tank, the more expensive it becomes.
Obviously, the startup costs are greater the bigger the tank; you need bigger and possibly multiple main pumps, more lighting, bigger skimmer, larger circulation pumps, more rock, more sand, more coral, more fish and more salt. As for maintenance, the bigger the tank means the bigger the water change, and therefore you will be using more salt and other chemicals. Then there's the Calcium Reactors to keep the calcium/alkalinity levels stable, the Chillers to keep the temperature stable... big sticker shock when first starting out!
As for me, I've never liked deep tanks(height-wise)...I had a 140g once where I could not reach the sand when I put my hand in the tank... was a PITA to mess with. I have also found wider tanks (front to back)to be better for reefs; more room to create an aquascape with a lot of depth. But again, this is all subjective. Get what YOU want and like and you will not be second guessing your decision long after it is made.
Obviously, the startup costs are greater the bigger the tank; you need bigger and possibly multiple main pumps, more lighting, bigger skimmer, larger circulation pumps, more rock, more sand, more coral, more fish and more salt. As for maintenance, the bigger the tank means the bigger the water change, and therefore you will be using more salt and other chemicals. Then there's the Calcium Reactors to keep the calcium/alkalinity levels stable, the Chillers to keep the temperature stable... big sticker shock when first starting out!
As for me, I've never liked deep tanks(height-wise)...I had a 140g once where I could not reach the sand when I put my hand in the tank... was a PITA to mess with. I have also found wider tanks (front to back)to be better for reefs; more room to create an aquascape with a lot of depth. But again, this is all subjective. Get what YOU want and like and you will not be second guessing your decision long after it is made.
Posted on 7/17/12 at 10:23 am to nahtanojc
I love acrylic tanks. I had a 110 gallon Tencor tank that had a huge Clown mantis shrimp in it.
Posted on 7/17/12 at 10:33 am to Mahootney
As for the power outage concerns... heat and lack of oxygen is the enemy.
Hooking up a couple circulation pumps to run off a generator would be ideal, but not required. They make battery-operated pumps that will keep the water oxygenated if you don't have a generator. Bigger tanks will take longer to warm up, but during the last hurricane, I just took a couple of ziplocs full of ice and let them float in the tank to bring the water temp down when it got high. (I was keeping my tank at 74 degrees, so cooled it down when it went over 80) Luckily, I was only out of power for a couple days
Hooking up a couple circulation pumps to run off a generator would be ideal, but not required. They make battery-operated pumps that will keep the water oxygenated if you don't have a generator. Bigger tanks will take longer to warm up, but during the last hurricane, I just took a couple of ziplocs full of ice and let them float in the tank to bring the water temp down when it got high. (I was keeping my tank at 74 degrees, so cooled it down when it went over 80) Luckily, I was only out of power for a couple days
Posted on 7/17/12 at 11:23 am to Chad504boy
I take care of a 150 gal fresh and 550 saltwater at the hospital i work at. As for the fresh water just get a algie eater and feed the flakes, get spectrum, and i only have to clean the glass about every 2 weeks. The saltwater is another story, for it to stay clear, i clean the glass every other day, add about 6 gals of water twice a week change filters once a week etc. Its some work staying on top of it. Also the only big fish we have is a 3 year old puffer that eats right out my hand everyday And those fish can get damn expensive!!
And those fish can get damn expensive!!Posted on 7/17/12 at 11:26 am to Cajun Invasion
what do i get for cloudy water?
Posted on 7/17/12 at 11:34 am to Chad504boy
I would start by just changing out the water, and make sure your pump is flowing enough water.
Posted on 7/17/12 at 11:40 am to Chad504boy
Before you do anything, how long has your tank been setup?
Posted on 7/17/12 at 11:41 am to deaconjones35
quote:
Before you do anything, how long has your tank been setup?
only since saturday night, couple days.
Posted on 7/17/12 at 11:57 am to Chad504boy
Your tank is going thru the nitrogen cycle. Every new tank goes thru this which creates cloudy water. Basically, your fish produce waste and uneaten food which is ammonia. Bacteria in your tank will convert the ammonia into nitrites. Both ammonia and nitrites are harmful to fish. Eventually your nitrites will turn into nitrates which means your tank is fully cycled. This is the point where you do a 10%-20% water change about once a month.
Really, there is nothing you can do about the cloudy water. If you change the water out, you are just going to start the process all over again. You may lose some of your fish during this process. You may can do a small water change now, but you are still going to be throwing out some of the good bacteria out with the ammonia and nitrites.
Look up how to cycle an aquarium if you want to read more about it. Hope your daughter's fish make it!
Really, there is nothing you can do about the cloudy water. If you change the water out, you are just going to start the process all over again. You may lose some of your fish during this process. You may can do a small water change now, but you are still going to be throwing out some of the good bacteria out with the ammonia and nitrites.
Look up how to cycle an aquarium if you want to read more about it. Hope your daughter's fish make it!
Posted on 7/17/12 at 12:00 pm to deaconjones35
quote:
Eventually your nitrites will turn into nitrates which means your tank is fully cycled. This is the point where you do a 10%-20% water
so hold out for now, how long do we wait to do a 20% change out?
Posted on 7/17/12 at 12:03 pm to deaconjones35
quote:
Your tank is going thru the nitrogen cycle. Every new tank goes thru this which creates cloudy water. Basically, your fish produce waste and uneaten food which is ammonia. Bacteria in your tank will convert the ammonia into nitrites. Both ammonia and nitrites are harmful to fish. Eventually your nitrites will turn into nitrates which means your tank is fully cycled. This is the point where you do a 10%-20% water change about once a month.
Really, there is nothing you can do about the cloudy water. If you change the water out, you are just going to start the process all over again. You may lose some of your fish during this process. You may can do a small water change now, but you are still going to be throwing out some of the good bacteria out with the ammonia and nitrites.
Look up how to cycle an aquarium if you want to read more about it. Hope your daughter's fish make it!
Dude is spot on. You want the complete cycle. shite,I never checked any levels in my saltwater tanks except the salinity and the Nitrates.
Posted on 7/17/12 at 12:15 pm to Chad504boy
Wait until the water clears up. Once it does, you probably still have a little ways to go. You can take a 1/2 cup of water to a local pet store to do a water test for you. Tell them you want to know if your tank is fully cycled yet.
If you don't want to do that, once your tank clears up, from my experience, your fish should make it the rest of the way. I would wait until 2 weeks after the tank clears up to do a water change.
Also forgot to mention, feed your fish very little for the next week. Just 2 times a day as much as they will eat in about 30 seconds. You do not want any wasted uneaten food in there during this process. Also a good idea to let your fish "fast" one day a week. Keeps them healthier imo.
If you don't want to do that, once your tank clears up, from my experience, your fish should make it the rest of the way. I would wait until 2 weeks after the tank clears up to do a water change.
Also forgot to mention, feed your fish very little for the next week. Just 2 times a day as much as they will eat in about 30 seconds. You do not want any wasted uneaten food in there during this process. Also a good idea to let your fish "fast" one day a week. Keeps them healthier imo.
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