New to Saltwater/Reefing with Questions

[craiginphoenix]

Thanks for all the feedback. I went with the relatively inexpensive AutoAqua Smart ATO Lite.



Seems to be fairly well reviewed, and when I search Reef2Reef a fair amount of people are using it. Really only has to last me until I can find a Tunze 3155 which 1) I can't really find anywhere (someone said they are replacing it with a new model) and 2) appears to be the only one that is truly fail safe.

Was either this one or the JBJ, but the JBJ has a lot of people complaining about it failing like every other one (other than the Tunze).

I figure I will save $30 and wait until I can find a deal on a used Tunze.

Also I used the money that I saved to get the Tunze 3162 filter.

Now all I need is to figure out what type of circulation pumps I should get and what media I should put in the Tunze and hopefully I will be good to go.

 

[vetteguy53081]

What should I get/use for circulation? Koralia, cobalt, or Nero 3

I am lighting with a timer for 7 hours a day but is this correct? Depending on light, on at 8-9am and off at 9-10p is sufficient

Does anyone have any suggestions on a quality and affordable ATO in the $40-$80 range? You may get an auto aqua or Duetto in that price range used

Is there anything obvious that I am doing wrong here or anything that I could do now to make it better in the future?
Plan on cleaning canister unit biweekly to prevent an elevation in nitrates and possibly phosphates. Not the ideal filter oppsed to hang on refugiums or wet-dry units

THE NECESSITIES:

1. Aquarium/Tank
   You need to decide where you want to put your aquarium, determine what size you want or may only have room for, whether you want an acrylic or glass tank, and choose a style that will best fit into the spot you have picked out to display it.
2. Lighting
   The type of lighting you choose will be based on the type of system you have planned to set up, as well as what kind of livestock you will be keeping in it.
3. Skimmers, Filters & Filtration Equipment
   Once again, what type of system you are going to set up will help you determine which kind of filters and filtration system to choose.
4. Powerhead
   Depending on the size of your aquarium, the use of one or several powerheads is an excellent way to provide good water circulation throughout the system.
5. Live Rock & Substrate
   Here you need to decide on what type of material you want on the bottom of the tank, as well as whether you want to start with a live or non-living medium. Live Rock plays an important role in a marine tank. Many marine animals, fish in particular, can be quite territorial. It is important to provide ample shelter or places where the animals can hide, sleep, and avoid potential problems with aggression from other tankmates in the confined space of an aquarium.
6. Sea Salt Mix/Saltwater & Hydrometer
   Sea salts are what make an aquarium a saltwater or marine aquarium. Also referred to as a salinity tester, this item measures the specific gravity or salt content of the water.
7. Heater & Thermometer
   For smaller aquariums one heater works well, but for larger systems the use of multiple units is advised. With stick-on, floating, multi-function remote digital sensor, and many other types of units to pick from, the material a thermometer is made of is an important factor when choosing one as well.
8. Air Pump & Air Stones
   Only needed if you are going to run a piece of equipment that requires these items, Or for quarantining/medicating fish
9. Test Kits, Additives & Supplements
   For live rock and reef tank systems, calcium (a.k.a. limewater/kalkwasser) needs to be added. Other supplemental vitamins or additives that are beneficial to the health of certain marine inhabitants you may be keeping, such a iodine for crustaceans, are important as well.
10. Maintenance Tools & Supplies
    This category includes having items on hand such as a various sized plastic buckets or containers, tank cleaning tools such as a siphon tube/hose, an algae scraper or magnet, as well as nets of different sizes, spare equipment replacements parts, and so on. A good way to keep track of what maintenance tasks you have preformed and when is to keep a log book or record of everything you do.

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[craiginphoenix]

So my Tunze 3162 will be arriving today and I have a question: What filter media should I put in there? It looks like it has a filter bag but I don't really know what I should put in there? Carbon? I see something called Seachem that people use? Can I put both of them in there together? Any thoughts/feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dedragon]

So my Tunze 3162 will be arriving today and I have a question: What filter media should I put in there? It looks like it has a filter bag but I don't really know what I should put in there? Carbon? I see something called Seachem that people use? Can I put both of them in there together? Any thoughts/feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I would just go with mostly polyfil (change out 1-2 times a week) and carbon in a little wedding filter bag (linked below, change out monthly). If phosphates start going up add chemipure elite in it for 1 month. I would also stop using the cannister filter altogether as that will most likely cover you for your mechanical filtration so the cannister is just another thing to have to clean . Tunze makes great products

 

[dedragon]

Bulk Premium ROX 0.8 Aquarium Carbon

Why does BRS recommend this? When it comes to filter carbon we are pretty picky and wouldn’t recommend any ordinary carbon. The ROX carbon in our opinion is the best carbon on the market, only requiring half as much as most standard carbons. It may cost a little more upfront, however being able...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[craiginphoenix]

Thanks! Yeah the Tunze will replace my canister filter. I removed it with the water change this weekend. I do have a little brown algea growing. It is not bad...yet but it seems to be getting worse by the day. Just noticed it in the sand this morning. I have two blue legged hermits that I thought would take care of it.

Is there anything I can do to get it under control? Add more CUC?

I am changing 5 gallons of water per week which should equal out to about 15% that I was told to do.

 

[dedragon]

nope you are in the "ugly" stage so just let it do its thing for now and monitor phosphate and nitrate and do water changes accordingly

 

[craiginphoenix]

So I have been trying to find powerheads/wavemakers (which I still don't understand the difference) for my new setup and I have pretty much narrowed to the Jebao MLW and MOW series. It appears Hydor went out of business and the AI ones are just too expensive for me.

It appears the big difference is one is adjustable and one is not. Is there a reason to get one over the other? I obviously like the low profile of the MLW but if it is at the expense of function that I will definitely need then I will go with the MOW.

Is there anything else to consider? Should I get two of these? My thought was to put one on the back wall of my bow front pointed toward the front, but I also see a lot of people point them towards each other on opposite ends. Do I need more than two?





I would just like to thank everyone here who has responded to me. This has been invaluable as I get my setup complete. I regret not coming here from the start as I would have not made a couple costly mistakes (looking at you canister filter). The internet is an amazing information center but there is so much information, much of it conflicting, that it is tough to determine what to do.

 

[craiginphoenix]

Also, there is a smaller one (MLW-5) that goes up to 792gph vs this one (MLW-10) that is 1096gph. Based on what I have been told (20x of my 36 gallons for soft coral), could I do 2 of the smaller ones if I was positioning them on each side of the tank?

 

[dedragon]

jebao makes meh wavemakers, they push a lot of water but can break down after a couple of years IME (I have had 4, 1 is still working and the controller is a bit busted now). Go with the non wifi ones as the control on these units doesnt make it better to actually use the wifi, there are no extra modes available doing that so really no point IMO. Definitely go with one on each side of the tank.

 

[dedragon]

honestly though if it is just soft corals, you dont really need 2 wavemakers, and you can always add a second in the future. I would also look at the maxspect jump gyre 2k or tunze if you decide to get a better quality pump. Maxspect jump gyre is about the cheapest, quality gyre there is, idk much about the jebao gyre though

 

[craiginphoenix]

I am still confused about the difference between the LW and OW models. Is there any reason to get one over the other?

 

[dedragon]

Turbelle Nanostream 6040 (53 - 1,190 GPH)

German-made Tunze powerheads are one of the best high flow powerheads available. They are smaller and can be hidden in the aquarium easier than competing brands. Tunze pumps can be configured in a wide range of positions to target any area of the tank. For aquariums from 5.3 - 132 gallons Flow...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[dedragon]

I am still confused about the difference between the LW and OW models. Is there any reason to get one over the other?

different style of pump, one is a traditional powerhead shape which causes water to move more directionally and focused. The slw is a puck design which pushes a wider stream of water out of it as opposed to the jetstream of the traditional one. For you probably the slw design would be better, I havent used it before though as I bought my pumps a long time ago, now I use tunze and maxspect pumps

 

[dedragon]

 

[craiginphoenix]

Hi All. So I am deciding between the SLW-20 and SLW-30 for my wavemaker. Is the SLW-30 too big for my 36 gallon tank? I assume I can turn it down. Is there any reason to go with the lower model?