Hi Folks
I am currently researching setting up my first marine aquarium. I have read books by such guys as Sprung, Tullock and Dakin. They all say start with as big an aquarium as you can afford for stability reasons. So I've settled on a 60" x 26" x24" Tank. I like the look of the Fit Filtration system which is custom built. See www.fitfiltration.co.uk

A quote for this sized aquarium with sump/deluxe cabinet/Skimmer V2/Eheim Pump 1262/plumbing and media/heaters/lighting twin MH 150w/Salt/agronite sand and tunze wave system is approx €5200 !

This is before I add Liverock (€1125) Autotop up system (€200) Calcium reactor complete (€540)Water change unit (€200) and then Inverts/Fish (€?????).

Wow, This is an expensive hobby!

Can I ask a couple of questions

1. Is the lighting good enough for corals or should I get 250w given the depth of the tank?
2. Will a calcium reactor alone suffice for corals or do I need a Kalkwasser unit as well?
3. The skimmer I tink is a V2 skim 600. Does this unit inclide pump and is it a good piece of kit?
4. Is a tunze wave system a good buy, or would I be better off getting those nanostream units?
5. Fit Filtration also offer a reefclean system as an option. See website above. Is it a good option to get fitted now?
6. Should I get the largest possible sump I can ie if a 36" is offered, Should I upgrade it to a 48" to allow for future expansion ie Deep sand bed / Macroalgae refugium / Kalkwasser reactor etc ?

Sorry for all the questions. Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated as although I have kept tropical freshwater aquaria for >15 years this marine stuff is a whole other ballgame!

Regards
Seany

1. A tank that size would be better with a twin 150 Watt as opposed to a single 250 watt, more light spread over the tank as opposed to a more concentrated light ie, and you'd have 300 watt of power as opposed to 250watt. Or even a 2 x 250 watt halide!!

2. If you havent kept marines before I'd alvise starting off with soft coral, and maybe some of the easier LPS hard coral. Calcium reactors and kalkwassers are definitely beneficial although they can be sometimes rendered useless unless you want to keep some serious hard coral. I'd suggest adding them when you have a good bit of experience under your belt.

3. The TMC V2 is a very good skimmer although in my opinion the Red Sea does and equally good job. the one we use on our own reef display does a great job.

4. The tunze systems are very good but can be expensive. To be honest as long as your getting decent flow, it doesn't really matter where it comes from, combination of powerheads, sump return and other wave systems will all work. Using powerheads is probably the cheapest and easiet option.

5. I'm not familiar with the reef clean system so cannot comment. I'm sure somone else will have something to say on the matter though.

6. The larger the sump the larger the volume so in theory yes, the bigger the better, it also allows for more media/equipment.

I've sent you a PM aswell so check your inbox. Feel free to ask any questions.

Regards

Dave

Dave,
Many thanks for your prompt reply. I'll probably leave out the calcium reactor for now as advised as I'll probably start with softies and few fish for the first year or so until I can some experience. When keeping certain inverts/fish i.e mandrains, can you over skim an aquarium. Is it better to underskim and let some substances permit at a lower level for the well being of the inhabitants?

One last question. Is it safe to run all this equipment on two sockets by using 2 seperate 4-gang extension leads. We're talking of overall wattage excluding lights being about 800watts (but 600 of that is heaters. With lights we're looking at 400 - 420 watts on top of that. Or do I need to call an electrician?

Many thanks for your help. I'm getting excited/nervous and I may purchase the system this weekend!

Kind regards

Seany

hi Seany,i'd personally go with a twin 250 watt halide to get good light to the bottom of tank.this will stand to you later on if you decide to try some of the more challenging inverts.The tunze stream pumps are exellent,although expensive they give great flow with low running costs.Sump size is really a personal preference,taking into account equipment,skimmer etc.I'm running a refugium with caulerpra and can recommend it but its not essential.One piece of equipment i would'nt be without is a phosphate reactor but you could simply add some to a media bag in your sump.The V2 comes with a pump and are very good.My last tank was a fit filtration systemised without a sump ,looking back i wish it had !.If you need any help don't be shy,always glad to help.


kieron

Hi Kieron,
Many thanks for your reply.
A refugium with caulerpra sounds like a good idea. I believe it is excellent for removing the end stage of the nitrogen cycle, namely nitrate. Does the caulerpa grow on a deep sand bed or attached to liverock in the refugium. Which leads me to another question! For this set up to work, I assume the caulerpa will require illumination to grow. Is this easily accomodated in the sump. What tubes would be recommended (actinic/white tubes or MH. Do you harvest the caulerpa regularly to export the nitrates?

I was leaning towards 2 x 250 watt MH as suggested but with a tank depth of 24" less sand depth of approx 2-4", I'm looking at about 20". My plan was to put the strong light loving stony corals near the top of the liverock and those that are less so inclined further down. Is this feasible as my budget is almost max'd out as it is with the system coming in somewhere near €6000 before stocking with inhabitants!

Lastly, with the tunze wave system, I'm worries about water sloshing left and right about the tank making spillages a possibility. Or am I showing my ignorance here. Also would it be more noisy when the wave "slurps" at the overflow box grills.

Any thoughts on the electrical situation as queries in my previous post.

Any advice is greatfully appreciated guys. Who knows before long we'll be trading frags!!!!

Seany

hi seany,some caulerpra like "prolifera" can be buried in the sand bed others like "taxifola" can be grown on rock.Chaemorpha or spagetti algae is now being recommended as its fast growing,good exporter of nitrates and hardy.T8's will work fine for the sump.I'm using twin T5's that are well past their best regarding light output.6500k bulbs are good for algae growth.Its quite easy to fit them using chain and o rings from "woodies".I harvest my algae regularly to export nitrates etc.It's a good idea to place your light loving corals higher up the tank.Have a look at tunze website for a discription on their wavebox.From what i know you have to leave space for the wave produced !.I've had no probs using gang sockets,you can buy multiple ones from electrical suppliers.kieron

Hi Kieron,
Cheers mate!. Yourself and Dave have answered alot of questions that would take an age to find out the answers to online or in books. Took your advice re Tunze website and downloaded instruction manual for wavemaker (80 pages!) Seems that there is a noise issue with waves and overflows. Tunze recommend that when using a wavemaker the the overflow is positioned in the middle of the tank. However most systems have it to one side. Will have to more research on that one.

I'll definitely go with the macroalgae in the sump to export nitrates. Do the LFS sell macroalgae or is it a swapshop item? Is the light left on 24/7 for the algae or on a reverse photo period to the display tank to counter low oxygen in the tank which I read about in one book.

Last question to pick you brains! Is the protein skimmer left on 24/7 or do some people have it on a timer to work for a few hours a day and off for the rest, thus preventing total stripping of all organic matter in the aquarium. Oh one more ? Will a good LFS give you some "Live Sand" from say a display aquarium to get your sandbed seeded or does the liverock do that for you over a period of time anyway. I assumed that the good critters that would be found in sand in nature would not be found living on rock and vice a versa.

Cheers for all your help. Can you web status be upgraded to ORACLE'S!

Kind regards

Seany

hi seany.I can supply with a starter culture of algae if you want.You can get "chaemorpha" algae off ebay.If you research algae refugiums its recommended to light 24/7.I used to ,but had problems with it crashing (its not supposed to do that !).I run it on a reverse cycle now with no probs.You can buy live sand prepacked ,i don't know of any shop that will part with some but you might get some from another tank from the forum.gegards kieron

Hi Kieron,
Might just take you up on that offer. I purchased a reef tank yesterday from Dave (150x60x60). It will be ready for collection in a few weeks. Once I get it setup and running I'll give you a shout. No going back now!

Regards

Seany

best of luck with the tank,if you need anything let me know.I'll try and learn you from my mistakes(there been quite a few).