028NVD Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 Hi all, i just got hold of a 70L tank package from rpc (if you were at the members night it was the tank near the counter that was $100) and i also got one of the moray 320 filters aswell, what to do first, get some water in there and get it cycling? I have access to good sea water as i live in redland bay and mate has a boat. Any points in the right direction would be much appreciated! Atm it will be fowlr, gonna look at a small light sOmetime soon also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pmarshall Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 Patience is the key, don't rush into anything. Make sure you do some quality research and make up your mind before you go to the LFS, other wise you may end up with something you don't want or need. If you take your time you will have a better finished result. Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
028NVD Posted December 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 Im definately in no rush, really interested in doing a marine tank but seems as though its not possible without a sump a skimmer and chiller . I got the moray 320 filter as the bigger one with built in skimmer was just too big for the tank. I'll keep doin a bit of reading but everything i find is just so technical! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 Question ~ What to do first? Answer ~ Get some water in there and get it cycling! Next step think about how you are going to hardscape it, and then go buy some liverock. Get a book, and start recording ammonia and nitrite test results in it. Do you have a hydrometer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
028NVD Posted December 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 Nope, does pc sell them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 yea about $8 or so need one to keep an eye on the salt balance in the water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FIIK Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Age of Aquariums - Salinity Refractometer ( ATC ) If your tank is only 70L I would go for one of these alot easier to use with such a small tank, couple of drops on the screen and your done. not even wet hands Some people I know use hydrometer's in there sumps & just leave them in there, but obviously you may not have this luxury Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 I have a plastic cup. take a scoop of water place in hydro tip water back in nano didnt even have to turn off tunze! but yea fracts are pretty cool gadgets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
028NVD Posted December 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Okay so a a fair bit of reading, the hob style filters seem to be the gun choice? Maybe i should take my moray 320 back for a big hob filter?, then i'll look at a smallish power head and a clip on light unit, can anyone reccommend a good small light unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidg Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Have a look at Jons lights on his kids tank in this link,they look cool! A 32l tank for my 4 year old Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
028NVD Posted December 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 They look nice, but im Trying to find a one piece unit to minimise powerpoint usage, are there any good hang on style skimmers for nanos? Have been doing lots of reading, gonna take the moray filter back for a large hob style filter instead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidg Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 I am not a great person to ask about skimmers, I haven’t used a skimmer in over 15 years, except for my first wood stone skimmer I bought, the rest being venturi style skimmers, I made my own of them. It was just more experimenting as I always do,if I was to get a skimmer these days for a small set up, there is a little pin wheel deltech,a MCE300 I think it is, that would be my choice if I needed a skimmer. I had a look around for a while as my algae area of the NWMS was coming on a bit slow (that was my fault as usual) so the toxins from every thing and proteins from all the peps were giving me grief,so it was the one I had decided on,didn’t need it the algae got to the robust stage and started controlling it all so I didn’t get it. That’s the one I would get for a small/nano tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
028NVD Posted December 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 Christ my head hurts from reading, some say u need a skimmer for a nano some dont, so confusing! Thanks for the help and ideas guys! Off for more reading Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidg Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 (edited) True, water changes work,mostly, it really depends on the amount and types of life forms you have or want in a tank! Less life forms, less need for protein and naturally produced chemical removal. The problem with a dependence on water changes is each time you do a water change you change the water, any sudden change in the aquarium will have an impact So with non constant removal of impurities you get a build up of proteins/chemicals, than removal and PH disruption, that’s with each water change and the same over and over again, the long term success of the marine aquarium is stability. Good quality stable water, for photosynthetic life forms,eg,corals, not fish, they do not have algae clades with in their cells that they are dependant on producing quite a bit of their food supply that may need to be expelled and in an unhealthy tank the coral will not up take any more so it can stay alive! I do not use protein skimmers, but with out adequate amounts of algae or a functional skimmer, you will not get longevity out of your tank life, other than fish, crustaceans and molluscs!! Fish only, not as large a worry, but than what most do not realise is when your lights go out, even in a fish only tank, they remain still as possible and scared what ever less until the light comes back on, fish don’t sleep, they just spend the night terrified and your algae is now releasing CO2 softening your waters and disrupting PH. Some fish suffer, some not so much from these things, but any of this over time will get you back to the shop for more fish!! I have a great deal of life in my nano and lots of fish in my tubs as pets that require water changes, gently and with certain considerations and all my fish have night lights. Good luck, see yah. Edited December 20, 2011 by liquidg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pet_City Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 Skimmers are affordable, why skimp on something that you know that you really do need? I seriously don't understand this mindset. The ocean works hard to foam fractionate, why wouldn't we recreate this natural phenomena at home? Aquamedic make a little one called the 500, great for nanos. Then you don't have to rely on the expense of frequent water changes and upsetting the balance of such a small volume of water - you will only have to do your changes when your water tests tell you its time to do so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 Aquamedic make a little one called the 500, great for nanos. the 500 is a massive size for most nanos it is an extremely aggressive approach to skimming that produces thick black skimmate and I dare anyone to clean a skimmer like that AND NOT be glad the skimmer was on and that crap is no longer in the water the stuff in a good protien skimmer is not a healthy tasty shake but unprocessed fish crap unprocessed means it never turned into nitrite or even ammonia better still it means it didnt turn into nitrate and less nitrate means less water changes if you are prepared to do 3 times more work dont get a skimmer if you are lazy and also want to play skyrim get a skimmer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
028NVD Posted December 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 Im lazy and want to play bf3! I'll give ya's a call tomorrow about the skimmer , just everything i've looked at is $200 plus (fair enough, but maybe a but of a stretch for just one part of the system while im starting out) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted December 21, 2011 Report Share Posted December 21, 2011 It may be expensive but at least it will work on a larger tank and has an alright resale value. The new aquamedic yashi tanks have this skimmer on them, and they are only 36 litres! Anyway to make things easy with marine you need good tech, and the 500 blue is certainly that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
028NVD Posted December 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2011 So found this light, dont have to get thos exact one but something similar. Would this be okay for fowlr and maube corals later on? Also found a small chiller, winning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
028NVD Posted December 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2011 Florescent Light Fittings And Accessories - Florescent Compact Light Fittings - 400MM Long Aquarium Top Light 2x 24 watt POWER COMPACT - Guppy’s Aquarium Products Online - 400MM Long Aquarium Top Light 2x 24 watt POWER COMPACT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pet_City Posted December 21, 2011 Report Share Posted December 21, 2011 You're on your own man, best of luck to ya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
028NVD Posted December 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2011 Like i said, that place we dont speak of is best left (the light link) alone, any points in the right direction in ways of lighting a nano tank are welcome . In a busy bloke, and in absolutely no rush to get this up and going after all the reading ive been doing, once i get a spare arvo/thursday evening i'll hea straight into pc to have a chat and talk products in person, i remember when i first went to pet city, was in complete awe of your marine setup! The tank i have is 60cm x 32cm x 39cm (stupidly i only just realised its actually 2ft long, thought it was shorter, lol) so what sort of light thats reasonable priced would you recommend that would mount onto the tank ( no hanging stuff etc ). After lots of readin and thinking i'm going to hold off on getting the tank up and going untill i have the right filter, skimmer and chiller. Its north worth try to keep it going with live rock etc as with the heat thats starting it aint worth the risk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
028NVD Posted December 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2011 Update, been doing more reading, and more reading, and more.... My head hurts! Im getting an 8x 24w t5 unit and in the new year an aquamedic skimmer and a hailea 130 chiller, i took the moray back and swapped it for an aquaclear 30, seems to be a popular hob filter for nano marines! Now to just figure out how the f... To mount the light above the tank, something neat and simple is the main focus being easily moved for tank maintanance. Will be also get a decent powerhead, probably an mp10 (insert divorce papers from wife here, lol) as the are very popular and everywhere i read recommends them! Now, being a 70l tank, roughly how much live rock should i run in the tank, i was thinking 6-10kg's? I've read that lr does a lot of the bio filtration, which is pretty interesting! My plan atm is to get everythin together early next year and get some water cycling once i've got everything bar the chiller, i intend to get a fan while i save my pennies for a chiller and keep an eye on water parameters and temp etc before even toying with the idea of adding fish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayton31 Posted December 24, 2011 Report Share Posted December 24, 2011 and once u got it sorted come do ma 8x2x2 then id get rid off all tanks and just have a salt water 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidg Posted December 24, 2011 Report Share Posted December 24, 2011 Florescent Light Fittings And Accessories - Florescent Compact Light Fittings - 400MM Long Aquarium Top Light 2x 24 watt POWER COMPACT - Guppy’s Aquarium Products Online - 400MM Long Aquarium Top Light 2x 24 watt POWER COMPACT Just one last comment, these types of lighting worded on these links, I didn’t look in the links, just saw the types in the wording, they are not just somewhat out dated (tubes or Bulbs) as tubs-bulbs are so short lived, pathetic content, annoying heat out put, damaging UVR and on going cost of replacmenets, they are complete rubbish compared to LED, sadly for many, that will take time to find out as well! Light emitting diodes have made resistance lighting a complete waste of time, energy and money!!! Some tech is just that,(tech),but LED tech is a total god send to all forms of lighting needs!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
