Hi Guys. Absolutely brand new.

[beancounsel]

I JUST joined the hobby! The kiddos really want Nemo (original, I know). I purchased an aquatop 24 gallon tank (more specs below) from my LFS.

Tank: Aquatop Recife Eco 24

Lights: Replacing stock Aquatop w/ NICREW NavaReef 135

Wave-maker: Jebao OW-25

Return Pump: Replacing stock Aquatop w/ SICCE Syncra Silent 1.5

Skimmer: Stock Aquatop (but may not even run it — thoughts?)

Heater: Aquatop 250W

I layered the bottom with “live” fine-sand, and inserted a few awesome dry rocks (I didn’t know the pros/cons between live rock and dry rock, so I went with dry after hearing “pest” possibility from the LFS).

We put the recommended doses of Fishless Fuel and Turbo Start. So, just cycling at the moment.

I have a few general questions.

(1) How high should the water level be above the return-pump in the rerun reservoir? Currently, it is just about an inch or so above the pump (but a few inches below the water line of the main tank).

(2) Is a skimmer needed?

(3) Besides the necessary Nemo, what else would you recommend — fauna / fish — low maintenance/amateur ready!

(4) In terms of the media, I left the three proprietary Aquatop containers in the back — should I replace those with something more robust than what Aquatop stocks?

(5) Any other equipment needed / helpful or tips?

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Welcome to your new home for saltwater reef aquarium resources and fun! Welcome to the family! :D

 

[beancounsel]

Welcome to your new home for saltwater reef aquarium resources and fun! Welcome to the family! :D

Thank you

 

[Evil1]

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad you are here!

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

 

[BryanM]

I JUST joined the hobby! The kiddos really want Nemo (original, I know). I purchased an aquatop 24 gallon tank (more specs below) from my LFS.

Tank: Aquatop Recife Eco 24

Lights: Replacing stock Aquatop w/ NICREW NavaReef 135

Wave-maker: Jebao OW-25

Return Pump: Replacing stock Aquatop w/ SICCE Syncra Silent 1.5

Skimmer: Stock Aquatop (but may not even run it — thoughts?)

Heater: Aquatop 250W

I layered the bottom with “live” fine-sand, and inserted a few awesome dry rocks (I didn’t know the pros/cons between live rock and dry rock, so I went with dry after hearing “pest” possibility from the LFS).

We put the recommended doses of Fishless Fuel and Turbo Start. So, just cycling at the moment.

I have a few general questions.

(1) How high should the water level be above the return-pump in the rerun reservoir? Currently, it is just about an inch or so above the pump (but a few inches below the water line of the main tank).

(2) Is a skimmer needed?

(3) Besides the necessary Nemo, what else would you recommend — fauna / fish — low maintenance/amateur ready!

(4) In terms of the media, I left the three proprietary Aquatop containers in the back — should I replace those with something more robust than what Aquatop stocks?

(5) Any other equipment needed / helpful or tips?

Welcome to the forums!

 

[FrugalReeferJon]

 

[code4]

Welcome to our little club. Start a tank build.

Shelley

 

[grumpy-crab]

Welcome

 

[rayadog]

Welcome! Sorry this is a long winded answer to only 1 of your questions!

1” above the return is suitable as long as you have some way to consistently account for evaporation. At only an 1”, if evaporation goes unchecked (with out an auto top off reservoir), your pump might be sucking air in … no idea but just gonna guess… 2-3 days.

Idk why (because it’s the most convenient thing ever), but auto top offs are annoying to me . It’s just an extra portion of water that’s kept separate and I don’t know why that’s annoying. But to explain it, I keep a 5 gallon jug of freshwater (RO/DI, whatever you’re mixing salt with) in a closet next to my tank; I didn’t leave room for it under my tank. Just to be clear, this is “un-salted” water.

As water will evaporate from your tank, the salt is left behind; so freshwater will evaporate out of the saltwater in your tank. Given long enough time and evaporation, the salinity of your tank water will rise. Hence, it is necessary to top off with fresh “un-salted” water to maintain the tank water level as well as the desired salinity.

It sounds crazy but it’s not. I have a 75 gallon tank and an automatic pump with dual sensors that trigger/terminate automatic filling of freshwater from my 5 gallon jug; it lasts a decent bit since my tank doesn’t lose a whole lot of water. FWIW my return pump is only 1-2” under as well.

I also have a 5 gallon tank that I top off by hand every couple days. If you only keep fish and basic inverts/corals, you could get away with doing it this way til you get sick of it; if ever.

Again, welcome to the club!

 

[ShakeyGizzard]

The skimmer is not needed yet, once your tank is cycled and you have live stock in it, it will have something to remove from the water. Any added media, like rubble rock, bio balls, etc. to the filter chamber will help with giving your beneficial bacteria more real-estate. All evaporation will show up in the pump chamber, do not add your heater here. you need a way to see the level of water in this chamber and keep it close to the same height. This will help keep the salinity level stable in your tank. Only add freshwater to replenish evaporated water. Your live stock choices are limited by tank size, after your tank gets going I would look into what we call the clean up crew. Snails, hermit crabs, shrimp, etc. But these critters need algae to eat, so wait a bit before getting them. There is plenty of information about these topics on the forum. Almost forgot...

Welcome to Reef2Reef

 

[PrattysReef]

Welcome to r2r

 

[ReefNutsThailand]

Welcome

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[beancounsel]

Welcome! Sorry this is a long winded answer to only 1 of your questions!

1” above the return is suitable as long as you have some way to consistently account for evaporation. At only an 1”, if evaporation goes unchecked (with out an auto top off reservoir), your pump might be sucking air in … no idea but just gonna guess… 2-3 days.

Idk why (because it’s the most convenient thing ever), but auto top offs are annoying to me . It’s just an extra portion of water that’s kept separate and I don’t know why that’s annoying. But to explain it, I keep a 5 gallon jug of freshwater (RO/DI, whatever you’re mixing salt with) in a closet next to my tank; I didn’t leave room for it under my tank. Just to be clear, this is “un-salted” water.

As water will evaporate from your tank, the salt is left behind; so freshwater will evaporate out of the saltwater in your tank. Given long enough time and evaporation, the salinity of your tank water will rise. Hence, it is necessary to top off with fresh “un-salted” water to maintain the tank water level as well as the desired salinity.

It sounds crazy but it’s not. I have a 75 gallon tank and an automatic pump with dual sensors that trigger/terminate automatic filling of freshwater from my 5 gallon jug; it lasts a decent bit since my tank doesn’t lose a whole lot of water. FWIW my return pump is only 1-2” under as well.

I also have a 5 gallon tank that I top off by hand every couple days. If you only keep fish and basic inverts/corals, you could get away with doing it this way til you get sick of it; if ever.

Again, welcome to the club!

This is so helpful. Thank you so much!!

 

[beancounsel]

The skimmer is not needed yet, once your tank is cycled and you have live stock in it, it will have something to remove from the water. Any added media, like rubble rock, bio balls, etc. to the filter chamber will help with giving your beneficial bacteria more real-estate. All evaporation will show up in the pump chamber, do not add your heater here. you need a way to see the level of water in this chamber and keep it close to the same height. This will help keep the salinity level stable in your tank. Only add freshwater to replenish evaporated water. Your live stock choices are limited by tank size, after your tank gets going I would look into what we call the clean up crew. Snails, hermit crabs, shrimp, etc. But these critters need algae to eat, so wait a bit before getting them. There is plenty of information about these topics on the forum. Almost forgot...

Welcome to Reef2Reef

Thank you so much :)

 

[jsmkmavity]

If its a sump (lower than the main tank) The more important level is how full the sump gets when the power (pump) goes off. Test by unplugging the pump and see how high the water gets in the sump. If its built into the main tank make sure its high enough that fluctuations in water level from evaporation dont allow the pump to suck air.

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Welcome to R2R !!!