New to Salt. Thoughts on build idea?

[duff0712]

Hello! I am actually new to this forum and to saltwater care. I have had freshwater for a long time and I have finally gotten the ok, had to give up a couple other tanks, but it will be worth it to start a saltwater tank! I have been asking friends tons of questions just to get a general knowledge, but I would love any advice or ideas anyone has to making this a great tank. Also, if this is the wrong place to post this I am sorry, this is my first post here.

Space and size wise I am kind of "stuck" with a 37g (30" x 12" x 23") and I will not have a sump/refugium. I am aware that is generally a big no-no, but it is what it is and I think I can do it

So trying to not make a wall of text, here is my stocking wish list and equipment I am deciding on.

Stock Wish List
- Softies/Mushrooms
- Zoas
- LPS (i don't plan on having SPS in this tank)
- Dwarf Carpet Anemone
- Shrimp-Goby pair. (not sure which exact ones yet, but I plan to keep both small.
- Harlequin Shrimp pair
- Sexy Shrimp
- Barnacle Blennies
- Cleaning crew of a few blue leg hermits/astrea & nessarius snails)

Equipment Ideas
- 37g Tank (30" x 12" x 23")
- (have) EHEIM 2213 cannister filter (Classic 250) fill with media (prob matrix) and fine/coarse pads and a bag of purigen
- Hydor SlimSkim nano Skimmer 135.25 (rated 35g/ 3"x 3"x 12")
- Cobalt 200W heater
- Finnex HOB Refugium Box w/ pump & finnex sting-ray led (thought this would be cool for a small amount of macroalgae and a spot to put a chocolate star for the harlequins)
- (have) RO/DI unit
- Powerheads, I am having the most issue here. There are so many different answers I've seen for how much turnover your tank needs. I mainly see between 20x and 30x for softies and LPS. I want at least two powerheads for the tank, but I'm not sure what total GPH I should be aiming for or what GPH specific powerheads I should be staying away from. I was also given a Hydor koralia 600gph and deciding on whether that could be used well in tank?
- (have) I am HOPING this will work for lighting. I have a Aquatic Life t5 HO fixture with a actinic and purple bulb as well as a FluvalSEA Marine LED. The Fluval has a lot of white leds on it so I figured it would be the better growing light and have the T5 be the oooooo pretty colors light. I feel with the height of the tank that the two fixtures shouldn't over power the tank and still be lowish-medium for the coral I plan on.

For innards I am thinking of doing 2-3" of substrate for the shrimp/goby pair (as I have a higher than normal tank so I have the room). Hoping for it to consist of 2/3 sand and the 1/3 of a mixture of crushed coral and other slightly coarser material. Would it be worth doing 2/3 of the sand live and the rest dry? I like the look of the Pearl Beach, but I feel like live sand will help the tank establish.

and live rock of course

Sorry for the wall of text anyways. I appreciate you reading through this and any and all thoughts/advice/criticism on my ideas will be appreciated as well!

Duff

 

[Virtualbasil]

I wall of text is better than no information at all! Do you have a RO water filter?

 

[duff0712]

I wall of text is better than no information at all! Do you have a RO water filter?

I do have a RO/DI unit. Been using it for my freshwater shrimp tanks.

Also for an update:
- I have been told that I should get a Jebao WP-10 and WP-25 powerheads. With the controller and options for wavemaking I think that should work well with the tank. I can always adjust the flow if necessary.
- I've also read that there can be "deadzones" in substrate between 2-3" deep. I figure I will go for 3-1/2" to 4".

 

[Russ265]

my wife has a similar budget setup on her 40 breeder tank.

just a hang on back filter, 100w heater, and a maxijet.

should be fine with your lil guys but anemones i cringe at from my own personal experience.

id go wp10s. should be more than enough for lps and softies. although wp-25 i think you can dial back if you have the dual controller

 

[jazonPartij]

Why do anemones make you cringe?

 

[Russ265]

Why do anemones make you cringe?

they have a mind of their own... and they can be creative

 

[3dees]

sumps are great but not a must. ditch the canister, you don't need it and if not cleaned very often it will bring nitrates up as will crushed coral. a wp-25 on that tank is way over kill. wp-10's are plenty. wait until your tank matures before adding a nem.

 

[Harold Green]

Duff there are plenty of members who have successful nano tanks with no sumps. I agree with 3d don't use the canister filter unless you plan on cleaning it at least every other day. Get the largest hob filter you can find with a foam pad and wash the pad every two days. You can place carbon and any other chemical filters in the hob if you desire. With no sump I'd get a larger skimmer, one rated for at least 75 gallons. You may not need that much but you can always adjust it to run drier if necessary. I like the wave makers, they seem to do a better job than just multiple powerheads when adjusted properly. I didn't notice any reference to live rock and although you can have a nice tank without it live rock can provide a lot of water processing in any size tank.

 

[duff0712]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Starting to feel better about this tank .

- Sounds like 2 WP-10s
- Wait awhile for the anemone
- I am definitely going to use live rock
- Ditch the canister. (Should I put some matrix in a hob filter? Or just a large sponge and maybe some purigen?)
- I'll go for the larger hydor slimskim as well

 

[duff0712]

sumps are great but not a must. ditch the canister, you don't need it and if not cleaned very often it will bring nitrates up as will crushed coral. a wp-25 on that tank is way over kill. wp-10's are plenty. wait until your tank matures before adding a nem.

Was planning on using a small amount of CC as substrate. Are there better alternatives that won't become nitrate factories? Or if I will only be using like 5lbs mixed with others should I worry about it?

 

[madtownguy]

I've personally had good luck with a Fluval canister in the past. I put rock in it, and it almost never needed to be cleaned. I had hang on back filters on that tanks also with lots of live rock. There's so many ways to skin the cat with the tank, I wouldn't over think the power heads, they are so cheap. I'd spend the most on live rock. The most porous you can find.

 

[Russ265]

Was planning on using a small amount of CC as substrate. Are there better alternatives that won't become nitrate factories? Or if I will only be using like 5lbs mixed with others should I worry about it?

just use an inch of sugar sand.
as others stated. get the most porous rock you can find. that will be your main filter.

crushed coral i know for a fact are nitrate factories.

canisters ive heard mixed reviews. usually they are successful if you have good husbandry practices.

tbh its just a 40. worst case is you bail 20 gallons if It takes a turn for the worst.

unlike us 100/200/300 gallon guys. its a lil rougher to do the emergency power water change.

 

[Harold Green]

Duff what mad is talking about is using the canister not as a filter but as a sump pushing oxygen and water through live rock in the filter. That can add extra filtering but may not be necessary if you have good current flow around the live rock in the tank. It's always hard to give advice because there will always be someone who disagrees and that's just the way the hobby is. What works well for one may not work at all for someone else. If you have enough flow across the sand bed it will tend to lift decomposing matter up where the filter can remove it and so it may not matter what your sand bed is composed of. I'm running cc in some of my tanks that I bought thirty years ago with no problem. It depends on your way of keeping and feeding the tank. I do recommend adding kalk or other additives to raise ph and calcium in the tank. Buy some good test kits, not the cheap ati kits. You may also want to consider an ato of some type. I would expect your tank to evaporate around a gallon of water a day, give or take. If you're worried about the sand bed make it shallow with a bermed area for the fish and shrimp.

 

[Harold Green]

Duff what mad is saying is using the canister not as a filter but as a sump pushing oxygen and water through live rock. That's an excellent way to add additional capacity if the live rock in the tank can't handle the bio-load. Probably not going to be the case in your tank with what you have listed. If you have enough flow across the sand bed a lot of the detritus can be lifted up and removed by your filter and a little additional stirring can pull out a lot. If you're worried use a shallow sand bed and build a bermed area for the fish and shrimp. As far as the cc goes I have some in one of my tanks that's 30 years old and it doesn't cause any water problems. Buy some good test kits, not the cheap ati ones and test your water frequently. Add kalk or other form of calcium to control ph and calcium levels in the tank unless you're doing frequent water changes. You might want to consider an ato of some type. I would guess your tank will evaporate in the neighborhood of a gallon a day and replacing it can quickly become a chore not to mention a fluctuating water level will play havoc on your skimmer.

 

[duff0712]

I like the idea of just filling the canister with rock. Would live rock or something like matrix work best?

Also I don't mind all the different view points and "that's right, that's wrong". Gives me more ideas to find out what works for me

Luckily with the test kits, I work at a LFS and I will have access to those kits when needed. Will still get a refractometer for making my own water.

Not sure if I have room for an auto top off, but if it becomes a pain I'll try to work somethin out. Maybe move the cat tree haha. Right now I too off probably a 1/3 gallon a day on my freshwater with a fan on it. My other 37 with no fan doesn't seem to Evap much. Not sure I salt will Evap more or not.

Ugh so exited for this and can't wait!

 

[Russ265]

dont think anyone's method is wrong.

except i think we can agree crushed coral isnt ideal.

 

[Harold Green]

Hardest thing about a new tank is the wait to fill it up with animals. I have a 29 I use for a frag tank with a pump circulating the water. It evaporates over a half gallon a day. Of course that's down here in Texas. The key to the canister is to keep it from building up detritus inside. Prefilter the water before it's drawn into the canister or you'll find it creates lots of nitrates instead of removing them.

 

[duff0712]

Hardest thing about a new tank is the wait to fill it up with animals. I have a 29 I use for a frag tank with a pump circulating the water. It evaporates over a half gallon a day. Of course that's down here in Texas. The key to the canister is to keep it from building up detritus inside. Prefilter the water before it's drawn into the canister or you'll find it creates lots of nitrates instead of removing them.

Yeah I don't even have a tank yet and it's already hard to wait haha. I'll keep the prefilter in mind. Do you think a finer one would be best or just a standard coarse? I figure a fine prefilter sponge would catch more detritus but clog faster.

 

[chaoha]

I would agree with the previous comments stay away from crushed coral. If you use the canister filter Id run some carbon and maybe GFO in it but stay away from any filter pads they will promote nitrates.

 

[Harold Green]

The idea of the prefilter is it's something you can clean at least every other day so a fine material is better than a course one. You're trying to remove waste from the water not give it a resting place in the system.