Maybe Setting up a FO tank- few ?'s

[kaotica]

since i tore my 40/30 reef down to set up my new 72G reef tank I have 2 empty tanks sitting there. I sold the 40 but the 30 is begging to be recycled, so the thought of a FO tank has been running around in my head. Questions:
1) HomeDepot sells play sand (NOT SouthDown) can I use that as a substrate?
2) i plan on running a Whisperfilter for filtration, is taht ok?
3)do i need current in the tank? i plan on adding just a small powerhead in addition to the waterflow that the whisper will cause.
4) i will add some rocks at a later date, is that ok, or should it be liverock?

anything else i should be thinking about?

thanks in advance

fabio

 

[Anonymous]

1 Do not know
2 yes but you will need to rinse the media often so salt particles do not restrict the flow, weekly. Wet dry is better.
3 yes lack of current does not allow a good gas exchange and gives you a low oxygen content, another reason a wet/dry is a better choice of filtration in this set up a much higher oxygenation of the water colum
4 If you put in dry rock that is suitable and seed it with a few pieces from your reef within 18 months it will all be live rock regardless of lighting.

 

[Anonymous]

Without sounding "High And Mighty" Saltwater or Freshwater, your bio load determines the degree of filtration needed. What works for one does not work for all situations.

 

[Nostrathomas]

What about a 30 gal quarentine tank?You could put some nice hiding places for your fish,acclimate them slowly in here before putting them into your main tank.You could also treat any sick fish here.

 

[davelin315]

Fishaholic, I said no flame intended, and I was also speaking of myself - not you - when I said that we often tend to think of things in terms of simple complexity (a contradiction in terms if I ever saw one). All I meant was that we think of things in terms of a reef tank more often than not, and don't consider that a fish only marine tank is not a whole lot different than a fish only fresh tank (like you said), just more expensive, and you don't see a ton of freshwater enthusiasts out there utilizing massive wet/dry filters, or trickle filters, or having massive amounts of rock to promote anaerobic bacteria, etc. in their tanks. What it all boils down to is that for a fish only tank, you don't need to go overboard. Just get what works, and simple works well. And a simple system will work for you or me or anyone else who tries it.

 

[davelin315]

Fishaholic- looking back over my post, it does seem to be a bit offensive towards the previous posts. Sorry about that, that would be the pontificator in me coming out. Although I think Anemone of the State just bumped me out of the lead (which I am assuming since I started that thread) with his explanation about why he (or is it she) is not a pontificator.

 

[naesco]

You are very limited with the type of fish you can ethically put in a small tank.
I would still use live rock as opposed to other filtration.
Why not consider a small species tank.

 

[davelin315]

You're fine with a 30 gallon tank and a whisper filter. You really don't need a wet dry or live rock or any of that crap. Reefers tend to be a bit high and mighty when it comes to doing things simply, believing that (myself included, no flame intended) live rock is an easy thing. You don't need live rock to have a fish only tank. A whisper power filter will do the job you want just fine, without excessive maintenance. Drop the lift tube to the bottom of the tank, it'll pull water from there, and then dump it back in the top of the tank, creating ample current. For years, I ran a 55 fish only tank with a whisper power filter and an undergravel filter under a couple of inches of crushed coral (I put powerheads on the UG because I had a deeper substrate than they recommended at the time). I never had any problems with this tank, and kept on adding more crushed coral until some spots in my tank had substrate 8" deep. In a 30, your whisper will be dumping water back in from the top, creating surface agitation and providing gas exchange. You don't need to go overboard. If you want a simple tank, throw your whisper on, throw in some substrate and decorations (artificial corals, old dead corals from your reef - come on, everyone has killed a couple of corals in their lifetime, tufa rock, whatever), whatever you want is fine as long as it can eventually support bacteria, and cycle your tank (for a fish only tank, I would cycle it with damsels). It'll be ready in a month or so, and you can keep your damsels, or put something different in there. Just don't buy a full size angel and expect it to be happy in a 30. You could even have a damsel tank since they generally pick a coral head and it becomes their territory. Don't worry, it doesn't have to be complicated to house marine fish.

 

[fsa]

Kaotica, I have a f/o tank since I tore down my reef a year and a half ago to move. The wife made me get a hex because of space limitations. I have an Emporer 280 bio-wheel hang on filter, a four inch aragonite sand/gravel bed over a plenum and 2 small power heads for water movement (I just added the second one yesterday). I have no live rock. My decorations include lfs bought bleached barnacles, large bleached clam shell, another bleached coral and (for color), several plastic plants. I have four fish (all seem to be doing well), a cleaner shrimp, one snail and a small "fighting conch" that I brought home yesterday. Everything's doing fine. I agree w/Davelin. Everyone makes this hobby more difficult/expensive than it needs to be. In my case I went cheap and I'm very happy with my set up. LOL