New member hello from Sunshine Coast Australia

[sparau]

Hello everyone

38 y.o. never had an aquarium before, am going to start a reef one... (collective rolling of eyes and sighs of "poor fish" occur). lol, i am reading up a lot and have the patience of a saint (2 small kids what choice do i have !!! )

Here's a rough outline of what im thinking first. 4x2x2 with an overflow to a refugium 3x18x18 underneath probably custom made stand.

Just a couple of questions/opinions which i havent found answers for yet.

1: My wifey likes moving furniture around, i figure once you put 250kg of water in a strong wooden box it aint gunna be easy to move... Is it possible to put say 6 strong casters under it so it could be wheeled around our wood floor? I guess if it had them it would be the easiest type of moving possible as very little disturbance would occur.

2: Lighting - T5 flouro's seem possibly the best bet 92Lumen per watt. It is a semi tropical environment here so i am more concerned about cooling the system than heating it, hence i think even with a big hood and fans halides would be too hot. Although i am also concerned about power usage from an environmental standpoint... halides are better on that department 110 lumen per watt.

3: do you need a plenum (or is it still beneficial) if you have a fuge? I am guessing it wouldnt be necessary, just 2 inches of sand or so.

4: i dont see people putting green leafy bits into their aquariums? Is this more for a asthetic point of view? If they are good cleaners and filters then why only put them in the fuges?

Thanks in advance for any guidance

 

[Anonymous]

First of all, welcome to RDO!

I will comment on the frist question, and let other handle the rest.

Moving the tank is not a big issue if you have the correct stand (for handling the shear force), coaster (rolling resistance and weight rating) and floor (hard enough that it won't dimple in and prevent the coaster from rolling), but the main problem is the tank. The amount of momentum needed to move and stop it is so great that I feel uncomfortable with any glass tank. If there is any kind of sand or irregularity on the floor as it roll will stop the tank and the deceleration will cause water splash and possible tank breakage. It is just not designed for moving on a regular basis.

The alternative is to have a molded plastic tank or fiberglass tank, but it would be something that you can go and pick up from a store.

 

[sparau]

Thanks dupaboy - i'm just thinking ahead here, we have a large open plan kitchen / lounge / dining so i figure it will need to move occasionally.

I am thinking that the biggest wheels you can put under the tank would help the most to overcome sand and flooring imperfections. I suppose i would want to check the bearers under there also when moving it, having it fall through the floor would be rather disasterous !!!

If i am going to make my own stand i figure i should be able to incorporate some large wheels into the design, else i have no idea how you would move it all without removing everything etc etc.

 

[ChrisRD]

:welcome: and here's my $0.02...

1. I wouldn't plan on moving a tank that's full - even on rollers. As mentioned the sloshing water will exert forces that could result in a tank failure. Also, if the system will be setup with live rock, the rock could move/slide/fall possibly killing livestock and/or damaging the tank.

2. T-5s or Halides are both good options for lighting. Actual, many use a combination of the two. With the lamps typically used in aquaria the efficiency should be comparable (ie. similar wattages will result in similar amounts of heat). Localized temps around a halide lamp are higher because the light/heat is originating from a smaller area which gives the impression of more heat, but when comparing similar wattage setups, overall heat produced would be similar.

3. No plenum needed. Sand right on the bottom is fine.

4. The benefits and possible downsides of algae filtration is a bit of complex topic, but basically, people keep them out of the display because many types can become invasive and/or tough to remove later. In general, algae filters, refugiums, etc. are optional and not required to have a nice tank.

JMO & HTH

 

[sparau]

Thanks Chris

1: forget the wheels then it can be the one thing which doesnt move.

2: ah surprising about the heat output - i had assumed halides were hotter, in some ways having a more concentrated heat spot is probably easier to cool off with fans...

4: i've seen a few people here running tanks without refugiums, im still leaning toward one for extra water mass to both help me keep it cool and slow down any changes that will occur due to newbness. I figure having a fuge with another set of live things will help to even out the main tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Fuge has its benefits but not necessary. Just make sure you have a good strong skimmer. Do try and get the largest sump you can. Like you mentioned, to increase forgiveness by increasing water capacity.

I prefer metal halides because you are open to more type of corals.

good idea about keeping the tank at one place :wink:

 

[cindre2000]

Actually if you have the right HO T5's (54w) you can keep just as many corals. However, I would opt for the metal halide since their potential is maximized over larger tanks since their spread is generally 2'x2'. They are also 'cooler' since to maximize the output of T5's you need them close to the water, halides are usually much higher off (like you said, point source is much easier to cool).

The biggest issue with algae is if can really take off and be a pain, a number of different species will embed their holdfasts (kind of like roots) in the rock and just keep on growing back; however, if you have herbivores they could feasibly wipe it out (foxface and urchins!). Some slower growing calcareous species are good though.


What do you plan to keep?!

 

[Anonymous]

everyone seems to have answered as I would have, so I will simply say welcome!

 

[sparau]

foxface - had to look that one up. cool, its a cute looking little fishy cant argue against having 1 of those in a tank if they will help with algae !

as im a complete newb im planning only the "easy" soft corals after xx months (ie. when it seems i have the knowledge to keep the suckers alive - lol), i love the look of pretty much all of em ive seen so i suppose brains, leatheries and some of those tall flowy, flexy ones (cant remember the name atm).

On the fish front perhaps a tang, a goby with a shrimp buddy? I'm not too sure yet, AFAIK getting the right system for the corals is more specific. From the reading i've done so far it seems most fish require a less specific environment than the corals.

I initially started thinking about getting an aquarium with freshies in it because my 18 month old son's first or second word was fish (or "bish" in the way he says it) so it gives me the excuse i needed (lol), little neon tetras swimming around together are so cool, but i have become somewhat in awe of corals and the biodiversity that occurs in reef tanks. So to be honest i am going to be happy seeing the basic tank cleaners running around, tiny crabs, snails and slugs - lol, let alone star fish.

i have an 18 month old boy and a 4 yo girl so i guess the clowny, an anemone and a blue? tang will have to be there down the track lol - im sure i wont be the first there !!! AFAIK the anemone is a bit harder to keep happy and should wait until 6 months at least.

BTW - i do always google before i ask questions, i dont wish to be asking inane questions that can be answered in 1000 places, but the nature of google is that you have to have the right keywords and "salt aquarium small schooling fish" didnt produce any good results

2 more questions if anyone still has the patience

1: Are there any small schooling fish for smallish reef tanks? Kinda like a salt tetra?
2: It seems there are some good pre-made light sets with both t5 and halide. I guess the mix is quite good for different types of corals. On a 4 ft tank however the cheaper one has a central single halide:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Brand-New-Aq...hZ004QQcategoryZ20754QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem
Which makes me think that not enough light would get to the edge corals... so i guess the more expensive:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Brand-New-Aq...hZ004QQcategoryZ20754QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem
Would be better except that it has 10k halides... from reading 20k is better for a wider range of corals?

 

[sparau]

I must say about lighting that the more i read the more i feel i need to put those solar cells up on the roof before doing this - lol.

I dont really want to make a little reef here in my house while 600km up the coast i am roasting the great barrier reef as most of Queensland's (north eastern aust state) power comes from coal... And while we pay extra for "green" power i have read that it is not always green, it is a best effort etc etc.

 

[cindre2000]

There are not too many schooling fish for the salt aquarium, mostly because aquariums generally do not have the open space that the schooling fish need. Blue green chromis are one of the smaller varieties of schoolers, but I have never seen them school in an aquarium.

Say no to dori. You would really need a 6ft tank for a full grown 'hippo' and they tend to be mean. A nice Scopas or Ctenochaetus tang would be better suited for your aquarium size.

The single halide in the center will be a problem if you have a center brace, however, you can always place high light corals in the middle and lower light corals on the side. However, you would really want 250w-400w Metal halides if you want to keep the harder SPS down the road (montipora however, will thrive). It can also be cheaper if you buy the parts and put it all together yourself.

As for color temperature, this is more of a personal preference than a choice based on your corals. A lot of people prefer the bluer colors because is brings out the corals fluorescent colors. The yellower light is utilized more by the corals but it tends to wash out their colors.