Starting my first SW tank

Andyk93 · 02/25/2014, 01:15 PM

Hi everyone

I have been keeping tropical fish for the past 10 years and I have now decided to move onto a marine tank. has anybody got any advice on how to start or anything in my setup list that needs changing. I have done roughly 3 months research now and think I have got most of it sorted.

THE TANK
I have a Juwel Rio 125 I would like to convert (unless there is something better and smaller, I can't have anything bigger)

HEATING AND FILTRATION
I will be using the standard heater that comes with the tank as it keeps my tropical tank very stable at all times. For filtration I want to keep the box in the corner but instead of sponge filters, replace with live rock rubble and maybe phosphate/carbon bags. On the left hand side I want to place a hydor koralia (which one?) to keep current flowing around the rock. I will then need some live rock (whats best? how much do I need?) and also some aragonite sand (how much do I need?).

LIGHTING
I want to make my own LED lighting to fit the tank as the LED light units are costly. I have been looking at 2 300x150mm heatsinks with a 1:1 ratio of blue/white LED's (need some advice on this, how many LED's? types?) I want to keep an anemone for clownfish and a few low light corals so I will need it to be good enough for that purpose.

WATER
I will be buying my RO water and mixing it with instant ocean salt, I want to get a refractometer to get it as accurate as possible. Can I use my tropical API test kit or will it not work? I will top up with RO water and do water change once every two weeks?

STOCKING
The only fish I would like in the tank is 2 clownfish and maybe a fire fish? For corals I will be sticking to low light corals and would love an easy anemone (best kind?) maybe some CUC (best ones?).

I think that's about everything, please tell me if I am missing anything or if I need to change anything about the setup. Any advice on the questions I have asked would be greatly appreciated, its an expensive hobby and one that I would love to get into, so I don't want to miss anything and make silly beginner mistakes. thanks for reading.

nlgill13 · 02/25/2014, 05:31 PM

To Reef Central

your tank is approx. 33G US. Flow will depending on what type of corals you want to have in your tank. For LPS you want about 25x-30x your tank size in water movement. For SPS approx 40x.

make sure to check out this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1031074

Andyk93 · 02/25/2014, 11:45 PM

Thanks for the reply, I want to stick with easy corals and maybe an anemone if I can so the hydor koralia 3200 should be good enough I think. Does everything else sound good? Thats a great thread, I have been looking through that but needed some specifics for my tank

LailaMaeR8 · 02/26/2014, 02:46 AM

Thanks for this post. We have the same probs. I love fish and I bought my first tank this week but everything in it is expensive except the fish. But I have to pursue this since fish is good fengshui in the house. In fact, I put my tank in the place where everybody can notice once they enter my house.
I am also waiting for anybody here for the best filtration and heating. and the best led lights.

Andyk93 · 02/26/2014, 06:16 AM

I think I have most of it sorted just need a few pointers and quantities, will post build pictures when I get rid of my tropicals.

02/25/2014, 01:15 PM	#1
Andyk93 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 6	Starting my first SW tank Hi everyone I have been keeping tropical fish for the past 10 years and I have now decided to move onto a marine tank. has anybody got any advice on how to start or anything in my setup list that needs changing. I have done roughly 3 months research now and think I have got most of it sorted. THE TANK I have a Juwel Rio 125 I would like to convert (unless there is something better and smaller, I can't have anything bigger) HEATING AND FILTRATION I will be using the standard heater that comes with the tank as it keeps my tropical tank very stable at all times. For filtration I want to keep the box in the corner but instead of sponge filters, replace with live rock rubble and maybe phosphate/carbon bags. On the left hand side I want to place a hydor koralia (which one?) to keep current flowing around the rock. I will then need some live rock (whats best? how much do I need?) and also some aragonite sand (how much do I need?). LIGHTING I want to make my own LED lighting to fit the tank as the LED light units are costly. I have been looking at 2 300x150mm heatsinks with a 1:1 ratio of blue/white LED's (need some advice on this, how many LED's? types?) I want to keep an anemone for clownfish and a few low light corals so I will need it to be good enough for that purpose. WATER I will be buying my RO water and mixing it with instant ocean salt, I want to get a refractometer to get it as accurate as possible. Can I use my tropical API test kit or will it not work? I will top up with RO water and do water change once every two weeks? STOCKING The only fish I would like in the tank is 2 clownfish and maybe a fire fish? For corals I will be sticking to low light corals and would love an easy anemone (best kind?) maybe some CUC (best ones?). I think that's about everything, please tell me if I am missing anything or if I need to change anything about the setup. Any advice on the questions I have asked would be greatly appreciated, its an expensive hobby and one that I would love to get into, so I don't want to miss anything and make silly beginner mistakes. thanks for reading.

02/25/2014, 05:31 PM	#2
nlgill13 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Boulder,CO Posts: 1,291	*To Reef Central* your tank is approx. 33G US. Flow will depending on what type of corals you want to have in your tank. For LPS you want about 25x-30x your tank size in water movement. For SPS approx 40x. make sure to check out this thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1031074 __________________ 90G DT w/ 30G sump, 2 Apollo SolarBlast Dimmable LEDs, 160 Reef Octopus Extreme, Neptune Apex, Mag 7, MP10 & MP40

02/25/2014, 11:45 PM	#3
Andyk93 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 6	Thanks for the reply, I want to stick with easy corals and maybe an anemone if I can so the hydor koralia 3200 should be good enough I think. Does everything else sound good? Thats a great thread, I have been looking through that but needed some specifics for my tank

02/26/2014, 02:46 AM	#4
LailaMaeR8 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 1	Thanks for this post. We have the same probs. I love fish and I bought my first tank this week but everything in it is expensive except the fish. But I have to pursue this since fish is good fengshui in the house. In fact, I put my tank in the place where everybody can notice once they enter my house. I am also waiting for anybody here for the best filtration and heating. and the best led lights.

02/26/2014, 06:16 AM	#5
Andyk93 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 6	I think I have most of it sorted just need a few pointers and quantities, will post build pictures when I get rid of my tropicals.