Starting First Marine Tank - Advice Needed

[deutsche20V]

Hey everyone, I'm new to this forum but I've been keeping freshwater tanks for about 3 years now and I'm ready to try my hand at something different. My fiance and I picked up a Marineland 47g Column tank (20x18x30) and while I know the height will be a concern for lighting and a PITA for maintance, it fits perfectly in an odd nook beside our staircase and I think it has a lot of potential. I want this tank to be low impact (will be using about 50% DIY agrocrete, aquacultured corals, and mostly captive-bred fish) and low maintance (5g w/c weekly and minimal dosing).

Planned Stocking:
2 Tank-Bred Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
1 Tank-Bred Neon Goby (Elacatinus oceanops)
1 Blue Spotted Jawfish (Opistognathus rosenblatti)
1 Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis)
?? misc hermit crabs & snails for "clean-up crew"
Mix of Various Zoas & Palys
2-3 ORA Aquacultured Long Polyp Leather (Sarcophyton sp.)

Planned Equipment:
Skimmer - AquaC Remora w/ Rio 800
Lighting - 20" Current USA Nova Extreme Pro T5HO 6x18W
Heating - Hydor Theo 200W
Circulation - ?

Thats the basics. I know most people would recommend a 250W MH light fixture due to the height of the tank, but there will be a 4-6" DSB and the tank will be dominated by Zoas & Palys so I'm hoping the T5HO fixture will meet their needs. The Sarcophton will be placed higher on the rock column for greater light intensity. Does that seem reasonable or am I setting myself up to fail with corals? Also what powerheads would you recommend and how many? I've heard good things about Koralia but I don't know what size and how many to use.

Thanks to all who took the time to read my ramblings and I look forward to hearing your input. I jumped right into freshwater and learned all my lessons the hard way - I don't want to take the path into salt.

[Mavrk]

Sounds like a good plan. If you get good T5's they should be fine as long as you place the corals correctly. A sump would make things easier and hide some of the equipment, but it can be done without one.

It will be cool to watch a new tank grow.


To Reef Central

[speccialj922]

Always good to see more MD people on here!

Just a few things, take them or leave them. Not everything is gospel w/ Saltwater.

You will find a lot of mixed opinion on DSB's. It seems like a lot more people are recommending a thin layer of sand and maybe a DSB in your fuge.

I have 3 Koralia 1's and they are OK. The new ones are really cheap on Big Al's website. I almost wish I had bought a used MP10, rather than the Koralias, but live and learn.

T5s are cool, 175 MH are another option, but go with whatever fits your budget and wont kill your electric bill.

good luck and welcome

[jonbry123]

Yes welcome to RC. Love the tank should be beautiful once you have it set up. I would also highly recommend the Koralia pumps they are inexpensive and energy usage is very small. I would also recommend a sump as well. You could easily put in a 10/gl tank for the sump and hide all the equipment you will need except for the Koralias. I would not recommend the AquaC Remora it has a poor track record for working well even though the larger skimmers by this company are exceptional. For your size tank and if you put in a sump I would recommend the Corallife 65 for your tank. These are low priced skimmers but I have used on my 30 gl tank and it pulls increadable amounts of skimmate. They are much less than a lot of other skimmers but I have found they do work. Their a bit touchy however. For your lighting consider LEDs. They produce a high PAR value and are very low energy consuming lighting sources. There is a company on ebay that sells a 1sq ft 50watt panel with white and blue light for $150.00. One nice thing about LEDs is they give you the shimmer that halides do which really makes a tank look increadable. Your bio load mentioned looks good. These are just my opinions based on what you are going with.

[SwampyBill]

+1 on good bulbs...I'd switch from current bulbs to Geiseman or ATI. btw, cute pooch...

[Tony78]

Advice for a new reef: make sure you properly stretch your credit card because it's going to get a good workout.

Seriously. It looks great. Post some pics as you build. Good luck.

[deutsche20V]

Thanks for all the replies everyone! I'm glad to have found a saltwater site that actually gets traffic and yields helpful answers

I know that DSB's present their own sets of challenges but the Blue Spotted Jawfish is really my favorite SW community fish and I want him to be as comfortable as possible. Most of the jawfish caresheets I've seen suggest a 4" depth minimum. I'm hoping the DSB will help compensate for the small footprint of the tank and provide enough opportunity for burrowing. The denitrifying aspect is just an added bonus.

I'm not planning on running a sump at this time, but I could always add one down the line I suppose. I am a bit intrigued by the DIY AC110 refugiums though, so that might be a project for the future as well.

So the basic plan seems sound? Also would anyone recommend the maxi jet 1200 rather than the rio 800 for the skimmer, or vice versa? Thanks again

[cameron91806]

check out the eshopp skimmer they are real good skimmers i had mine for about 6 months and i like it a lot



http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.co...5&pcatid=19865

[deutsche20V]

Originally Posted by SwampyBill

+1 on good bulbs...I'd switch from current bulbs to Geiseman or ATI. btw, cute pooch...

Any idea where I could find good bulbs for a 20" fixture? I looked for geiseman bulbs on marinedepot but the smallest size was 24". Could I start the tank with the standard bulbs and just upgrade them 6-12mos down the road when the standard bulbs are due for replacement anyways?

[intyme]

Nice Tank I have the same one. I am just starting it as well, I just moved across country so I'm out of money. =( On the brighterside my girl and I have both started work and my landlord is going to hook us up with sand, LR, and cycled water to start. He has over 800 gallons of reefs I think. Anyways I have done alot of research on our tank set ups. I was told to use a koralia 400 and a 250 pushing the dead spots around. I think your lights sound ok to start, but I saw johnbry say something about LED's that would be sweet in our tanks...... hope this helped and good luck

[Flippers4pups]

I have a 56 gal marineland column and drilled the back for internal spillway, as you can see from my pics. (C2C) Right now all i have in it is LR and some green mushrooms and a kenya tree, both right now at the bottom of the LR. I'm running 4 T5 HO builbs, 2 blue actinic and 2 10000k's. All corals are growing and expanding beautifully! and the live rock has coralline growing everywhere on it.(Very pleased so far! tank has been up for two months now.)
So as far as the lighting goes with what you have planned to keep, T5 HO's should be just fine. IMHO i would sump it. I did find that placing a sump underneath in the stand was a little tight, the largest tank i could use was a 10 gal for the sump. I went with a 150 NW Reef Octopus skimmer, as i plan on this to be a heavily stocked softy tank. (The 150 is a beast!) Anyway, keep us posted on your progress.

[Flippers4pups]

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