New aquarium

[iguess09]

Hello! I’m new to aquariums in general and am working on building my first one. It will mostly be an LPS tank with 2-3 fish. It’s a 70 gallon aquarium with a 30 gallon sump.

When it comes to heating, does it make sense to use two heaters and controllers instead of one just in case one fails?

For a quarantine tank, do you need a separate tank for corals and fish or can they share the tank.

 

[blaxsun]

One controller with two heaters gives a fairly decent level of reliability.

 

[PeterEde]

On the question of heating. What if you live in an area where summer temps and indoor temps get over 30degC
Do you need to then cool the tank.
Are there systems with heating and cooling giving a real climate control option

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

2 undersized heaters is much better than one sized or oversized. That way chances of overheating are low. Also good to have some type of a backup shut off mechanism.

There are chillers. They tend to be expensive. But if you live in a hot part of the country they may be necessary in the summer. I don’t know of any chiller that also has a heater but I could be wrong.

You can have the same quarantine tank if you are not going to medicate. The moment you medicate your fish, especially with copper, you will need to have separate ones because they will kill any invertebrates including corrals.

In my humble opinion, and many may disagree with me, having an unmedicated QT for fish is analogous to using a condom with a hole at the end. Hope I don’t offend anyone.

 

[iguess09]

2 undersized heaters is much better than one sized or oversized. That way chances of overheating are low. Also good to have some type of a backup shut off mechanism.

There are chillers. They tend to be expensive. But if you live in a hot part of the country they may be necessary in the summer. I don’t know of any chiller that also has a heater but I could be wrong.

You can have the same quarantine tank if you are not going to medicate. The moment you medicate your fish, especially with copper, you will need to have separate ones because they will kill any invertebrates including corrals.

In my humble opinion, and many may disagree with me, having an unmedicated QT for fish is analogous to using a condom with a hole at the end. Hope I don’t offend anyone.

I was thinking about the two undersized heaters, just wanted to make that it was idea that made sense.

That was my concern with the quarantine tank. After copper is used, does that mean the tank can never be used for corals/inverts or can it be torn down and cleaned after the fish have been treated and left the tank? Or is it not worth the trouble and just have two separate quarantine tanks?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

I was thinking about the two undersized heaters, just wanted to make that it was idea that made sense.

That was my concern with the quarantine tank. After copper is used, does that mean the tank can never be used for corals/inverts or can it be torn down and cleaned after the fish have been treated and left the tank? Or is it not worth the trouble and just have two separate quarantine tanks?

I don’t know the answer to that question. But I think it would be easier to have a second QT for inverts/corals.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Two heaters are the general consensus and at least glass thermoeter to assure your temperature range
For quarantine- corals remain in display tank and fish would be QT in seperate tank

 

[iguess09]

Two heaters are the general consensus and at least glass thermoeter to assure your temperature range
For quarantine- corals remain in display tank and fish would be QT in seperate tank

Thank you!

I thought you need to quarantine corals after dipping them as well, or am I just misunderstanding

 

[dedragon]

honestly at this point if i was to setup a new tank i would go with already pre quarantined fish and corals from trusted places. Marinecollectors.com and tsm both are more money for fish but you dont have to setup a qt, buy medication, wait weeks, etc. Corals can be bought from trustworthy places like tckcorals or pieces of the ocean just to name two but always dip, scrub, and cut from frag plug and you should be fine. If you do have the time, space, and money i would recomend the qt but there are other options

 

[dedragon]

go with 2 heaters and a heater controller though, heater controllers are like $30 and just have that extra failsafe. all just my opinions though, happy reefing and welcome to the new journey ahead

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you!

I thought you need to quarantine corals after dipping them as well, or am I just misunderstanding

Dip and introduce to display

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

But corals and inverts can be carries of ich and other parasites? So if you introduce them to the DT, don’t you then have to wait out a fallow period?

 

[dedragon]

But corals and inverts can be carries of ich and other parasites? So if you introduce them to the DT, don’t you then have to wait out a fallow period?

they have a very low chance of doing so if you dip, scrub, and take off of the frag plug, But yes it is possible to transfer something. IMO not worth the time and money setting up a coral dt if you are dipping frags properly.
Something like a mushroom rock is a completely different story (i would never get one) but that definitely should be qt'd, frags are usually ok

 

[Zach B]

Welcome

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

they have a very low chance of doing so if you dip, scrub, and take off of the frag plug, But yes it is possible to transfer something. IMO not worth the time and money setting up a coral dt if you are dipping frags properly.
Something like a mushroom rock is a completely different story (i would never get one) but that definitely should be qt'd, frags are usually ok

That’s good info. One you take off the frag plug do you then put it on a new clean frag plug? How does that work?

 

[dedragon]

That’s good info. One you take off the frag plug do you then put it on a new clean frag plug? How does that work?

super glue, very useful for coral fragging

 

[iguess09]

Thanks for all of the information and tips. It’s much appreciated!

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

super glue, very useful for coral fragging

Directly to a rock? As you can tell I’m new to keeping corals

 

[dedragon]

yep either the rock or to a frag plug, for underwater frag glueing check out this video