how to start mini reef tank

hi i would like to start mini reef fish tank, anybody can give me a hand with it? how to set a mini reef tank, i dont like to keep any live fish, i just like to keep so easy inverts, and life rock, to prepare a salt water i need have a ro filter or can i use just tap water?
please for help
Adrian

tap water is ok....but i would use a uv sterilizer or an R/O filter....be sure to mix the water over 24hours...good luck

quirkie wrote:

i would use a uv sterilizer or an R/O filter

Quirkie, nice to see so much new blood joining in the last few days, please elaborate what an U/V can do and an R/O can do, PM me or post which ever you prefer.

regards
Father Jack

i cant use ro i dont have pressure on water tap:( but to buy a pomp is just to expensive wat can i do i just wuld like to keep inverts, and live rock, in small fish tank i need some advice, mayby water from the sea?

adriano210 wrote:

i cant use ro i dont have pressure on water tap:( but to buy a pomp is just to expensive wat can i do i just wuld like to keep inverts, and live rock, in small fish tank i need some advice, mayby water from the sea?

I once worked under Forrest Young of Dynasty Marine Assoc, he in turn worked under Martin Moe, for next to nothing you can buy his book, www.amazon.com/Marine-Aquarium-Handbook-...reeder/dp/0939960079 he even discuss how to sterilize natural sea water, although if you do not live in a highly populated area like the south east of England the water/nitrates should me fine just add salt and wait 2 days!!!take it up at 1.028s.g 18C then when ready for use,add boiling fresh water, till you get to 1.024-1.026 then test temp s.g then make the decision to add more fresh cold OR fresh hot water till you get the desired s.g, temp.

thx for help

Hi mate what area do you live its regarding the water pressure on the Mains. A way around this If you have a storage tank in the attic of your home this should give you enough head pressure assuming you live in a 2 story house. RO Man dont need exessive pressure to work . Do you have any Idea what pressure is at the tap let us know and we will take it from there


Paul

Also the book Father jack show in the post above is an excelent book however ther are other books that are directed at the nano reef setups Ask at your local LFS Infact I had a look at one at the openday in Petstop. hope this helps.


Paul

the ro filter to proper work shuld have at list 3 bar of presure, the water tank in my house is just a gravitation tank and i live on the last flor what make a
p = p_0 + p_{hydr} = p_0 + \rho gh \,
p= 101325+1000*9.8*05
presure in my tap is only 1,06 bar

Ok mate Is the pressure an area problem or just your home . As far as Im aware the minimum pressure DCC supply to the homes is 1.5bar which should do the trick

Regards Paul

yes but i live in old victorian house everything here is crap, i have water tank for hot water and cold water, and they are working on the same system as a toilet reservouar,
sometimes a cold water is gone :D:D:D - i now thats capitol city of this country :D:D

Ah sorry mate . Assumed assumed assumed .Looks like we need a pre pump so to speak for RO unit any way. Or as Sean said treated sea water (this method takes time ) but can be done.
Ill get the info and get back to you


Regards Paul

thx Paul

hi Adriano,you have a couple of options about the water you can use .R.o would be ideal,but you could use D.i unit like a \"Nitragon\" which are exellent and are rechargable with dishwasher salt!.You can buy one over the net or i have one if that suits .You could use tap water and run it through activated carbon to remove impurities but this won't remove nitrates etc or you may be able to get some r.o from someone like myself.Where are u based ?,i always have about 45 gal of it ready to go.You can help yourself anytime !

i live in phisboro d7, i have a ,filtrax k , hydrogen ion excange powder, but i nedbuy HCL TO REGENERATE,

Stupid question, but 20 years ago when I lived in Bray, No3 in the tap water was not an issue, is there much nitrates now a days in Dublin water? and if so how much, if there is NO3 I can see the need for R/0 but still I cannot understand why you need a U/V filter to prepare the tap water, are there water snakes or aquatic bugs that swim up the mains supply that need to be eradicated before one adds salt to make up the mix,

i dont need uv filter, filtrax is a
Ion exchange is an exchange of ions between two electrolytes or between an electrolyte solution and a complex. In most cases the term is used to denote the processes of purification, separation, and decontamination of aqueous and other ion-containing solutions with solid polymeric or mineralic ion exchangers.

Typical ion exchangers are ion exchange resins (functionalized porous or gel polymer), zeolites, montmorillonite, clay, and soil humus. Ion exchangers are either cation exchangers that exchange positively charged ions (cations) or anion exchangers that exchange negatively charged ions (anions). There are also amphoteric exchangers that are able to exchange both cations and anions simultaneously. However, the simultaneous exchange of cations and anions can be more efficiently performed in mixed beds that contain a mixture of anion and cation exchange resins, or passing the treated solution through several different ion exchange materials.

Ion exchangers can be unselective or have binding preferences for certain ions or classes of ions, depending on their chemical structure. This can be dependent on the size of the ions, their charge, or their structure. Typical examples of ions that can bind to ion exchangers are:
H+ (proton) and OH (hydroxide)
Single charged monoatomic ions like Na+, K+, or Cl
Double charged monoatomic ions like Ca2+ or Mg2+
Polyatomic inorganic ions like SO42 or PO43
Organic bases, usually molecules containing the amino functional group -NR2H+
Organic acids, often molecules containing -COO (carboxylic acid) functional groups
Biomolecules which can be ionized: amino acids, peptides, proteins, etc.

Ion exchange is a reversible process and the ion exchanger can be regenerated or loaded with desirable ions by washing with an excess of these ions.

to regenrate i need hcl is a one of the best ion excanger 1l of this is enought to cange hardnes 1 german degry for 8000l of water thats a good idea if somebody cant use RO filter

but if me tap water dont have a no3 i need to use it?
tap water:
hardnes = 12
carbonate hardnes -> 0
no2=0
no3=0
ph=7,5
i need use wiki my english is too weak to explain chemcal terms:(
sorry about that

quirkie wrote:

tap water is ok....but i would use a uv sterilizer or an R/O filter....be sure to mix the water over 24hours...good luck

I brought up the U/V thing because of this quote.

ok
but what do you think, i need mix with pure water or i can be a tap water as long as a no3 is 0????

anybody try to keep cold water marine tank with local species? i thing about crabs, snails, no fish

adriano210 wrote:

i dont need uv filter, filtrax is a
Ion exchange is an exchange of ions between two electrolytes or between an electrolyte solution and a complex. In most cases the term is used to denote the processes of purification, separation, and decontamination of aqueous and other ion-containing solutions with solid polymeric or mineralic ion exchangers.

Typical ion exchangers are ion exchange resins (functionalized porous or gel polymer), zeolites, montmorillonite, clay, and soil humus. Ion exchangers are either cation exchangers that exchange positively charged ions (cations) or anion exchangers that exchange negatively charged ions (anions). There are also amphoteric exchangers that are able to exchange both cations and anions simultaneously. However, the simultaneous exchange of cations and anions can be more efficiently performed in mixed beds that contain a mixture of anion and cation exchange resins, or passing the treated solution through several different ion exchange materials.

Ion exchangers can be unselective or have binding preferences for certain ions or classes of ions, depending on their chemical structure. This can be dependent on the size of the ions, their charge, or their structure. Typical examples of ions that can bind to ion exchangers are:
H+ (proton) and OH (hydroxide)
Single charged monoatomic ions like Na+, K+, or Cl
Double charged monoatomic ions like Ca2+ or Mg2+
Polyatomic inorganic ions like SO42 or PO43
Organic bases, usually molecules containing the amino functional group -NR2H+
Organic acids, often molecules containing -COO (carboxylic acid) functional groups
Biomolecules which can be ionized: amino acids, peptides, proteins, etc.

Ion exchange is a reversible process and the ion exchanger can be regenerated or loaded with desirable ions by washing with an excess of these ions.

to regenrate i need hcl is a one of the best ion excanger 1l of this is enought to cange hardnes 1 german degry for 8000l of water thats a good idea if somebody cant use RO filter

but if me tap water dont have a no3 i need to use it?
tap water:
hardnes = 12
carbonate hardnes -> 0
no2=0
no3=0
ph=7,5
i need use wiki my english is too weak to explain chemcal terms:(
sorry about that

Gee I dont know if I am being a bit thick here to day, but I cannot follow you:blush: , concidering your english is weak your article on ion exchange was written very well.

Lets keep it simiply enough so even some one that does not keep marines will understand this thread.

O.K Most marine fish are toloerant of Nirates (end product of breaking down food and shite etc)

Most inverts except for crabs cannot tolertae nitrates, infact most ivets are made virually all from water,so no matter how good your filter is if one makes up salt water from mains water if the Nirate is high, you are going to fail in your quest to keep them.

Qes. Do you live in Ireland if so do you live in a city of the sticks, if you live in a city is the mains water suplly high in nirate like populated areas as the south east of England?, if so how high?

If its very low what is the point of this thread?, to scare non marine fishkeepers off keeping them, as most damesels and clownfish have less deases than most petstore goldfish, gubbies, zebra plecs and discus.

i live in dublin, mate

O.K whats the approx nitrate level in Dublin water, are we talking below 5ppp or above 50ppm?

its zero ppm,
im down the road from you and just use dechlorinated tap water aged for a week. no probelms whatsoever.

i have 0 to:)

AHHHHHHHHH

I dont get it. I must being really thick here guys or am I just losing the plot, if the nitrate is zero or near zero, what in hell is this thread all about?, whats the purpose of R/0 or any form of tap wate treatment, pre adding the sea salt, is it to \"make Marines look really difficult\" so as mere mortals are scared off trying to switch from fresh water to Marines what.

jack,
adriano was asking could he use tap water. 2-3 said yes. 2-3 people reccommended ro water.
end of !!!!!!!

(end of really annoying flashing things i hope , i can barely look at the screen!)

lampeye wrote:

jack,
adriano was asking could he use tap water. 2-3 said yes. 2-3 people reccommended ro water.
end of !!!!!!!

(end of really annoying flashing things i hope , i can barely look at the screen!)

---

Sorry Lampeye, yes your right if you look at it for too long one gets a head ache, I have removed the flashing image.

Ok I must have not read the thread right:( but if 2 or 3 said you can use Dublin water with out having a degree in chemistry and R/O technology a banter should of started to argue against R/O and to use the same amount of money on some other more useful bit of kit to keep marines.

Imaging in a Malawi thread someone says if you live in a hard water area, threat the water with R/0 then add rift vally salts, every one would think there is some kind of elistism keeping Africans with all this necessary complications.

i think the difference is that everyone knows that ro water is purer, and especially if you are to fork out on sensitive corals you probably want the purest water you can get. the salt mix will buffer the ro water to right parameters anyway.
theres also the fear of what happened platty252 and daragh owens with the dodgey water for a week.
but thats the same for fresh or marine.
now having said all that ive found tap water perfect, in the grand scheme of things i don't think it makes any difference. i do treat it with seachems prime (a dechlorinater) to be safe. ive never even had a phosphate reading from tank or tap.
so im all for tap water!

(but if you gave me a free ro unit and i had the space id prob use that)