first of many questions

[Hitnhope]

I have ordered my tank (48"x18"x24")(LxDxH). I believe this is adequate.
I am obviously aware that US Gallons are different to Imperial however I am amazed at how websites give different answers for the volume of a tank of this size.
Can anyone please give me a definitive answer as to the volume in Gallons/Litres so I can choose the appropriate equipment. I think it is around the 300 litres and this seems to be the cut off from one model to the next.

Now equipment. I actually thought I had this sussed until I started looking into it more and I must admit I am a bit confused.

My original plan for a fish only tank was

Tank as described
V2 protein skimmer (think that was the name)
Eheim P3 2073 or 2075 (depending on tank size)(Mechanical / Chemical Filtration)
Lifeguard fluidized bed filter (providing the Biological Filtration) Powered by the canister
Rock (not Live rock as I didnot know what it was)
Sand (not sure whether hardware shop sand would do)
Lots of compatible fish added slowly.

as my tank would be fish only I was not intending on getting either RO water filter of UV filter.

I thought this was the way to go. Then I started reading about sumps / Live rock and the fact some people said that canisters are a nitrate factory?

What would you recommend, is the filtration system I planned up to the job? I am not averse to adding live rock if necessary at some stage.

:scram:

 

[nightfire76]

first that tank size you have there is 90 us gallons.....the first thing you need to do is reserch things.....you want a tank thats fine,secound is it the biggest tank you think you could get....price wise,meaning also any equipment for that size tank....what kind of lighting? depends on what you want to keep in it.....just fish? fish and live rock? fish,corals and inverts? as far as sumps and filters go there are many apon many ways to go,id go with a sump set up for that size tank,makes things easier for youin the long run.....remember also you'll need salt mix for your tank and id get an ro/di unit to filter the water you use for the tank (even though right now i use tap in my tank....soon to get an ro unit though ) dont bother with live sand,save ya money,if ya get live rock you dont need live sand because whats in the rock will move into the sand as well

 

[DaveK]

Your tank size is fine. The rest of your equipment choices are most likely incorrect, depending upon what you want to keep.

The best thing you can do now is to stop and do not purchase anything yet. Get yourself a couple of good books on state of the art reef systems, even if you are not planning a reef system. Then study the books and learn what this is all about. Otherwise, you end up spending a bundle on questionable equipment and killing a lot of expensive livestock.

Two books I recommend to start with are The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner and The New Marine Aquarium by Michael Paletta. They are not expensive, and they will give you a lot of background information that you will not eaily find on the net. The net is great for a lot of things in this area, but there is just so much information that it's easy to get swamped by the sheer volume.

Lastly, always by top quality equipment. Yes, it may cost a lot more up front, but it will last many years. It will be the least expensive long term.

 

[Hitnhope]

Thanks for your time much appreciated. I have not yet purchased any equipment other than ordering the tank.

I do intend buying the best equipment as you suggest and I will be ordering those books you suggested.
Are we saying then that a canister / fluidized bed are no good for a FO or FOWLR tank?
If the are I have a problem as I do not think I could fit a sump in. Are there any alternatives to a sump?

 

[DaveK]

If you have absolutely no alternative, it is possible to use a canister on a SW system, even a reef system, but they are less than desirable, especially on a tank of the size you are planning.

Canisters have limitations for several reasons. First, if they are not cleaned often, they become a "dirt trap" and then create a lot of nitrates, sometimes refered to as a "nitrate factory". The other limitation is that a canister is a sealed unit, so there is limited gas exchange. Usually you want to get the CO2 out of the water, and get O2 back into it. This easily happens with a sump, since you have all that falling water. A canister can't do this.

Fluidized bed filters, for biological filtration, are total disaster for use on any type of aquarium system FW or SW. The problem is that if you have a power failure for any length of time, the bacteria die. This makes the filter useless, until it can regrow the bacteria in a week or two. By that time, you have had an ammonia spike from the lack of biological filtration, and your livestock is in serious trouble or dead.

You could use a hang on the tank skimmer and filter. It would work ok, but still be limited compared to a sump. Considering the size of your tank, fitting a sump under it, should be no problem.

BTW, I highly recommend a FOWLR setup over a FO set up. The Live rock acts as the biological filtration, looks good, and provides hiding places for the fish. If doing a FO setup you must provide some other form of biological filtration.

 

[framerguy]

Excellent advice Dave. I want the second the book selections. Both of those are top notch reading.

I also agree on going with live rock. Not only do you benefit from the biological filtration it also looks very interesting and natural.

 

[Hitnhope]

Thanks very much. You and additional reading has converted me. I am going to change my tank order today to a predrilled one with weir for a sump setup.
I am also investigating the idea of making my own sump. I measured the space in my home made cabinet and I could fit in a sump of 24"x15"x18" maybe slightly bigger. Would this size be big enough?
Have you got a design I could use?
I do understand what you say about biological filtration coming from the live rock but will it need any help from elsewhere? Will any of the chambers in the sump help in bio filtration?

Once again thanks for the advice. I am a quick learner.

 

[molsen187]

any size sump is better than nothing. i would put the biggest sump you can fit with room to manuver around it. a sump will only benefit you it adds water volume and adds a place where you can put unsightly equipment and add a fuge if the sump is big enough.

 

[SiNiStEr NaTiOn]

Tank as described
Sand (not sure whether hardware shop sand would do)

with this type of sand I can tell you from past expierence avoid sand blasting sand. Because it's comprise of silicates even though a very nice white sand at that. within the first year to two years of this sand in the tank, the silicate will start to leach into the tank.

When this happen you could have a major brown algae bloom and once it starts, it's hard to get rid of it. because the sand blasting sand is fueling it. This is what I used back in the mid 90's for a FO and a FOWLR substrate, and what a regret that was.

On my next 2 reef projects a 20 gallon nano with a 20 gallon sump/fuge (looking for overall water volume here) and my 2nd project is my extremely slow 90 gallon reef build.

so your tank size dimension fits a 90 perfect because thats the size of the 90 I'll be using in the near future with a 55 gallon sump/fuge ( within 2 - 3 years )

But back to the sand I'm pretty sure there might be sand out there that you can use from the local hard ware store that would be safe except for the type I stated above. But if you can check out the prices of aragonite sand at the lfs or online. I'm pretty sure other's will chime in about the sand what type to use and not to use.

 

[Hitnhope]

What would you recommend as a substrate?

 

[SiNiStEr NaTiOn]

with my my 20 nano I'll be building over the next 2 or 3 months and my future 90 reef I'm planning on using aragonite sand for both of my reef tanks when i build them. I'll be using using sugar grain size or smaller.

 

[DaveK]

Aragonite sand is more or less the standard reef sand, although people have used other types. It come in grades from extremely fine, often called sugar sand" to somewhat course, almost like standard FW aquarium gravel.

Personally, I prefer a grade or two up from sugar sand. It's still fine, so it will not tend to trap dirt, but it's heavy enough so it will not get blown all around the tank by the filtration/circulation systems.

That being said, other people have different ideas, and I would not call them wrong.

 

[lex]

For a substrate I would recommend using the finest grade coral sand you can get without it being a silt/mud consistency nothing larger than 0.02" (although you can still use larger grain sizes but its function is not as efficient). Have a depth of no less than 3", more if the grain size is larger. The deeper the sand bed the better. Use coral sand it leaches calcium into the water (ah but you don't want corals so this doesn't matter but I still recommend coral sand) there is something I don't trust about sand from a hard ware store.... Definitely use live rock as the rock will make the sand live and if you have a deep sand bed then this is essential. The reason for having a deep sand bed and the fine sand grade is for creating an environment for Denitrifying bacteria that naturally removes nitrate from the lack of oxygen in the lower parts of the sand bed (do some reading on deep sand beds for more info). The live rock will also be your main form of biological filtration so get live rock for sure and as said it looks more natural and funnily enough it looks alive... (you will have lots of fun looking at all the life that pops out of your rocks)

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...39038845430_1511188471_30458733_7733702_n.jpg

As for a sump you will regret not having one so get one. I have just recently made a new design for my sump and highly recommend you use the same design or similar. The key is the filter sock as it removes a lot of particulate matter and is extremely easy to clean. I had some problems with my previous design and this seems to be the way to go.