My Wife says, - MyFishTank.Net Freshwater Saltwater Aquarium Fish Forum

clothahump · 03-17-2002, 05:24 PM

That she now wants me to do a marine tank.
We went to the national Aquarium today in Plymouth, Devon.UK.
They have had to move all the tropical marine fish in to the shark tank, which is the size of a large house.
Now this was an amazing sight to see very small Chromides etc in with sharks that were about 10 feet long.
She fell in love with the Blue Chromides and now I have the task of setting a tank up to accomadate them.
Suggestions please, this is the tank I will be using as it is sat empty at the moment.

arcab4 · 03-17-2002, 06:05 PM

hey cloth,

hahahhaha. don't make it sound like you're disappointed to startup a marine tank. i know you're jumpin' with joy. haha.

anyways..what size tank is that? and i guess a question that would help us help you...

what do u want to keep in regards to fish/coral?

is dattack still around? he'd be really helpful to ask your marine questions...he sure answered all mine.

clothahump · 03-17-2002, 06:10 PM

Hi Johnny, actual size of water space is 48"x22"x20"
Built in trickle filter in the top.
I am not sure which route to go down, just got to have Chromides for the wife. ???

dattack · 03-17-2002, 07:26 PM

Hey Clothahump,

Just wondering if your tank was ever treated with copper.  If it did, I would stray away from using the tank as a reef tank because corals and invertebrates are sensitive to copper.  Copper can stay bound to your silicone for years and it's very tough to get rid of.  If not, you can always check the copper level.

O.K.  For any marine tank these days, set it up naturally.  Small sugarsized (0.125 mm) sand and live rock.  Since you have a built in overflow/trickle get rid of the bioballs in the sump because the bioballs are a good source of nitrates.  Use your sump to grow macroalgae/plants or set it up as a refugium.  
All the filtration is done by your live rock and sand and the macroalgae helps in taking up excess nutrients such as nitrates/phosphates.  
You see, you do have a saltwater planted tank in your sump and refugium.  Like freshwater, you know plants/algae do like to take up nitrates/phosphates which is of course good for the quality of your tank.  No mechanical filtration is needed in a marine tank.  You might get away without using a skimmer if you have a small bioload of fishes or your plants/macroalgae is growing well in your sump.
It's like a planted tank, the plants, rocks, and sand does all the filtration for you.  All you need is good water movement such as a powerhead.  Keep it simple and natural.  Add some snails (your otos or SAE equivalent) and you are set.

clothahump · 03-18-2002, 03:47 PM

Dat,Qx2.
How much Live rock will I need?
The trickle filter chamber is only about 10"x4"x4"? ???

dattack · 03-18-2002, 04:08 PM

What is this trickle filter chamber? *Does it have a bulkhead?

Dr. Shimek of reefcentral states that if you have 4-6" of the "right size" sand, it has more surface area and does much more biological filtration then live rock and live rock might not even be needed. *However, most reefers will go with 1-1.5 lb/gallon.  Rock provides shelter for fishes, shrimps, other fauna. *You can add some base rock (dead rock) such as tufa or lace rock and seed it with some live rock. *In a few months, your tufa or lace rock will essentially become live rock also.
Live just means it has beneficial bacteria. *People use base rock if they can't afford the real thing but eventually it will become the real thing. *Moreso, some online store sells aquacultured live rock which just means they make concrete slabs of rock made of sand/cement mixture and throw it in the ocean for a few months. *They come back to the site and collect it as live rock.

clothahump · 03-18-2002, 04:16 PM

The trickle filter is as I said an oblong of glass built in to the top.
The water is fed in to a perforated tray which then drips the water down onto the media and exits at the far end from the inlet.

dattack · 03-18-2002, 04:20 PM

Very interesting equipment. *Sounds like an eclipse or something.

You can probably use this setup if it's a fishonly system. *If you plan to add corals, you will need not use the media. *Might try throwing some macroalgae in there instead and use it to uptake nitrates/phosphates. *Just make sure it is lighted.

clothahump · 03-19-2002, 04:17 AM

The tank was made by a company called SEABRAY, one of the best tanks available at the time, it used to be in a LFS set up for Marines, fish only if I remember correctly.
Lighting?
There is enough room under the hood for 4x42" tubes with reflectors, will this be enough for the algae etc?
Will I need to use one of my Eheim externals?
I have got four available.

dattack · 03-19-2002, 04:25 AM

Hey cloth, you should take a look at johnny's setup.  It's simple and basic and it works.

All you really need in a reef tank is live rock, sand, and water movement.  No mechanical filtration is actually needed.  You can use the eheim but it isn't necessary.  So long as you have powerheads, it will do.  The eheim can be used for circulation also.  Just removed all filtering material.  