More questions.....advice needed

[-Pixie-]

Hi everyone

As i am quite new to this hobby i will try make as much sense as possible and include as much info i can.

I have a 55g DT with a 10g Planted Miraclemud refugium with some mechanical filters(such as bioballs, sock filter)

BTW i plan on having a full reef tank with lots of corals and a small no. of fish.

Water is gravity fed to sump, continues through refugium cycle then pumped through an eheim submersible 3000lph
back to tank, ATM i only have 1 powerhead its a 3000lph propeller type, as i am relying on the water pumped from the eheim in the sump to circulate the other side of the tank.
Atm i am still in the cycling period, DT has about 6kg of live rock already teaming with life (small sponges, feather dusters,lots of pretty colours forming)


Question 1.

Is this sufficient flow? Is there a general rule for direction of powerheads etc? or a particular movement pattern i should be trying to create to recreate natural conditions?



Question 2.

I bought live rock with alot of growth and critters that was already cured, will this speed up or slow down my cycling period? I have added dead brine shrimp to my dt and sump everyday(3 days now) and i even left a dead hitch hiker crab in my tank he is still there slowly decaying.

Everytime i test for ammonia it reads somewhere between 0.00 and 0.25 ppm. Why isnt it spiking or is my tank well enough established already to deal with it?


Question 3. (last one for now i promise)


LIGHTING!!!! (keeping in mind i want alot of corals)

I have a 11w power compact fluro running 24 hours on my refugium, is this sufficient?

And as for my DT i have no idea, i have 3 issues

COST!
POWER!
TYPE!

Ive been looking at a 4ft glo T5HO a whopping $220 aussie dollars and it doesnt even come with bulbs?


Other items im considering due to the incredible cost!

T5HO Fittings Package, comes with CE approved ballast, water proof end caps, aluminum reflectors, easy operating on/off switch, Pacific Blue Actinic globe and Artic White 20000K globe.
Size (mm): 1225 x 123 x 95
Weight 10.00 kg
Price: $199.00

Thats a cheaper version of the one i was going to purchase and it comes with 2 good bulbs?(i think)


ALSO i was sort of considering this it takes 4ft bulbs , its cheap only $60 but is it enough? i could even buy 2 and have change for the price of the others. (see thumbnail for pic)

SPECS

TH05 SUPERIOR LIGHTING BY HAGAN

YOU PICK THE SIZE, ALL THE SAME PRICE.
EITHER 2' (AVAILABLE) (3' AVAILABLE) (4' AVAILABLE) ALL ARE DOUBLE FITTINGS
LIGHT TUBES SOLD SEPARATELY IN MY EBAY STORE.
High output Electronic Fluorescent Lighting System.
This GLO lighting system is fully assembled with four water resistant end caps. Illuminated on/off indicator and mountable ballast housing. Fluorescent bulb retaining clips and mounting brackets are provided for easy and convenient installation in a variety of locations.

This system uses 16mm light tubes available in my ebay store.

This is high output lighting and the device is suitable for Freshwater/Saltwater/Corals/Invertabrates/Planted Aquariums

This fitting holds the 18000K Super Bright Aquarium Bulb (sold separately).



IF I AM WAY OFF ON MY LIGHTING REQUIREMENTS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PICKME APART AS I HAVE NO IDEA ON LIGHTING


Thanks in advance for taking the time to read through my jibberish.

[bertoni]

1. I think 600-1200 gph total flow would be something like a low-end flow limit. Many corals will need more flow than that. Soft corals and fish should be fine with that.

2. Clean live rock sometimes allows starting a tank with no ammonia spike. If there's not much dead on the rock, there's nothing to produce ammonia.

3. Lighting requirements vary hugely for different types of coral, and also there's a lot of personal taste involved. T5HO setups are fine for that shape of tank. A good fixture with high-quality reflectors for each bulbs will do a good job of providing light.

I'd probably run more light 30-40 W over that size refugium, depending on exactly what's available. A 65 W PC light might fit well over it, for example, although that's a lot of light. I kept two 65 W PC bulbs over a 20g refugium, and liked the results.

[-Pixie-]

Question 1 answered perfectly, i plan only using beginner corals at first to get a better feel for things, so hopefully this will do me for now. I shall purchase a spare power head with more flow for later on knowing that it is something that will be needed sooner or later as my skills progress. Thanks very much

As for my cycling ammonia problem, i do realise i have good clean rock with alot of alive growth, nothing much seems to be dying(except for the brittle sea star i found 5mins ago about 10mm in size floating around my tank But i am adding ammonia in forms of dead brine shrimp
dead crabs, and the small amount of die off from my liverock, and yet still low ammonia readings (0.1-0.2)
But how am i to know for sure! What if i start by adding a chromis or damsel and it then spikes and kills everything?

Is there a test, or something i can add to see if my tank has already cycled well enuff to deal with ammonia, for example the dead prawn?

And i will be upgrading my fuge light today, thanks for the tip =)

But as for lighting my DT HELPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Would two of those cheap t5's i listed last on my first thread be sufficient? or even 1? im lost as far as lighting goes lol. I also attached a pic of these cheapie t5's?

[kyrin01]

Lighting is the issue im going to address first. We cannot give you advice on the lights until we know what kind of corals you want to keep. Not just now but in the future too! This is one of those places where quality=money (ussually). So most ppl will say go MH w/ T5 supplements, or FULL T5. Dont use PC or regular flourescent bulbs, as there are much better solutions around now (see previous sentence).


Secondly, with your flow. Again, what kind of corals do you plan on keeping, now and in the future. This will, again, determine your flow you should have.


Third, Dont worry about your cycle so much. Stop adding anything to help it along. It will run its course in due time on its own without your help. By adding stuff your only making it take longer. Just keep up with regular parameter checks and keep a log or journal. Always have a few gallons of NSW around for a quick WC if needed. But you shouldnt do a WC until you are reading 0 Amm/ntrItes and your ntrAtes are the only thing left. The water change will help remove some of the ntrAtes out of the tank.


Hope this helps. These are my opinions and other peoples will vary greatly so just look, listen, and learn!! Happy Reefing!

[jer77]

If you can only get 2 T5's now I would strongly suggest getting 2 10000K or a 10000K and a 20000K bulb. Forget the actinic if you can only get 2. 10K bulbs give out more light that corals can use, especially soft corals and mushrooms. With only 2 T5's though you will be limited to what corals you can keep.

[-Pixie-]

Thanks everyone for so much advice, all being taken on board.

For now i will continue my water checks, and hope to see some significant change in readings, if not i will give it a few more weeks and in goes my damsel

As for the lighting still a little confused, as im seeing so many answers for diff corals fish etc...

For starters all i am buying is begginer frag packs, to get me something to play with as well as look at

Im a beginner therefore i will start at the beggining=)

If this in anyway helps me/you decide on a cheap but efficient lighting solution

Also if anyone can tell me the difference between the cheap glo t5 i posted a pic of and the glo t5 they are trying to sell me for $230 at the local LFS, i understand it will be harder to mount look not quite as nice but as for performance issues whats the diff?

i realise it has no hood, reflectors, mounts etc but if that is the only diff i am not phased as my partner is a boiler maker by trade, and is quite handy with aluminium and stainless sure he can make a mount hood and reflectors etc

Note: we are on a budget so DIY is a definate option

[-Pixie-]

Also maybe i should mention that if cost at this present time is over my budget, i will give up on corals till i can afford to have them, im not fussy with what i want

I WANT EVERYTHING LOL!

My wish list would be

tiger cucumber

lionfish (smallest i can find as my plans of building a 120g are already in the process but are yet at least a year away)

bicolour blennie (and maybe another blennie/gobie)

chromis x 2/3

clownfish(with anenome obviously)

and a damsel or 2

and after some more research im sure i will find other things i like that may go well with a lion fish.

as for the corals not sure still researching lionfish and corals


Note:if your going to pick on my list please be advised not to tell me to get rid of my lionfish (he is staying regardless as thats why i started a marine setup =)

[svynx]

I won't pick on the lionfish. I personally love them. But I will pick on the others, or should I say, the lionfish will most likely pick on them. In other words, he might eat the others (depending on size). Even the dwarf lionfish can swallow fish 3/4 of their size.
As far a lighting: I speak from experience. Don't go out and buy something that will work now. Buy something that will work later. Your wallet will thank you. You can buy a $200 fixture now that will work just fine, but as most of us find out, will not be enough later on. So you go out and buy another fixture, but this time it's about $400-$600. Well worth it, but now you've spent money on something that you can't use. Buy once, buy quality.

PS. There are many people on here that will recommend not getting a damsel (I'm one of them). Think of them as the bully in high school that everyone hated. I too had some at the beginning of my marine life. They were great, until I added a peacefull fish. the damsel had to be taken out. And that alone is an all day event (had to tear the tank apart completely).

[-Pixie-]

I am well aware of a lionfishes feeding habit, i know they will eat anything that fits, that's the reason why im buying a small one for now......When the time comes that he could eat anything in my tank(depending on size of damsels and chromis) he will of hopefully been moved to my larger tank, i know what im about to say will probally get me verbally assaulted, but im not going to lie to please others i will be honest and straight forward.....

The only real reason for the damsel/damsels is that my tank is at spiking point now so he will be going in my tank in the next few days to see if he survives and im quite positive there will be no issues, but id rather kill a damsel than a lion fish.

I know damsels are/become bullies when established in a tank, that would be why im only adding one or two. And if they create a problem then they will gladly be lunch =)

As for the clown fish i am positive with my aquascaping i can provide him with a safe home from my lionfish.

and with the blenny i honestly cant see any problems there from what i have researched

But like most experienced reefers would tell me, depends on the fishes attitude, feeding, inquisitiveness etc

And for the lighting subject im still lost lol

If anyone can tell me the diff between the $60 t5 and the $200 t5 other than fittings, reflectors, hoods it would be much appreciated.

svynx i know what you are saying about later issues etc but with my budget atm i have no choice, as my budget is only an issue ATM so im really stuck deciding between the $200 glo t5 and the $60 glo t5 as far as i can tell they are the same product minus the fitting, style etc

[-Pixie-]

And as for the use of my cheap lights later, i have many freshwater tanks it could be used for.

[bertoni]

I wouldn't put a damsel into the tank to test the water. It's not going to tell you much, and it might add diseases. They also get aggressive. I'd just wait a couple of weeks and then start adding fish slowly. The food (brine shrimp, etc) you're adding to the tank demonstrate that there's a reasonable filter going. I'd also trim the fish list a lot. Maybe 4-5 royal-gramma-sized fish as an upper limit would be good. More than that and you might have a lot of work to do to deal with nutrient problems.

There are some dwarf lionfish that would be fine in that tank long-term, I'm fairly sure. I wouldn't get a fish that grows too large for the tank since they have a habit of growing rapidly. A book like "Reef Fishes" by Michael Scott might be worth getting.

[-Pixie-]

My new list

1. dwarf lion (juvenille)
2. clown and anenome
(can be done stress free with a lionfish if aquascaped well)
3.bicolour blennie
4.yellow watchman(still researching)
5.maybe some chromis(still researching)(larger chromis?)
6.maybe a tiger cucumber down the road (fuge maybe?)
7.(welcome to any suggestions)

Thanks bertoni i will post some stats of my latest water parameters, but by the looks of them things have gone backwards or slowed down somewhat is this good or bad

[-Pixie-]

been cycling for about a week now.

ammonia 0.5 ppm

nitrate 0.1 ppm

nitrite 1-2 ppm



anything to comment? good/bad?

[-Pixie-]

Could this be right, dodgy test kit maybe?

As 2 days ago ammonia and nitrate where much higher onlything i have added since then is more rock

[bertoni]

Those numbers seem reasonable to me. Ammonia kits can fail, so a second opinion might not hurt, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's correct.

[wooden_reefer]

Do you have just one loop, the open loop?

Generally, if you have just one loop, the open loop, the demand on safe and problem- free plumbing is greater. A fast flowing open loop clogs more easily than a closed loop or functional equivalence.

If you have both a closed loop or functional equilvalence that has high flow, the flow thru the open loop can and should be somewhat slow.