Planned my set up....any comments?

[Rich]

OK, I've done my research, read all the forums and made up my list of equipment for my first miniature saltwater tank. List as follows :

24"x15"x12" all glass aquarium, 64l/16 UK gallons.
Filtration : An Eheim Boss hang on type filter.
Powerhead : An Aquaclear 402.
Heater : 75 watt Underworld Visitherm heater.
Skimmer : Still not sure here if I will need one or not ? Opinions differ so much. If so, then a simple air driven model will be used.
Lighting : an 80 watt suspended m/v lamp on an adjustable height bracket over the tank...12" upwards. Plus a 24" actinic tube along the front of the tank.
Substrate : live sand and coral sand from a friends well established reef tank.
Contents : some live rock from friends tank, plus a few small pieces from the local trop shop which come with a variety of livestock upon them.
No fish will be added, just a few various shrimps, snails and hermit crabs.

What do you think then ? Anything I've missed out ? Anything I should change ?

Rich

Pics are from my camera fone, not good, but it shows the days shopping so far.

 

[incysor]

Everything sounds good to me. I haven't used the eheim filters, but eheim has a really good rep, so I don't think there'd be any problems with it.

B

 

[Rich]

Thanks Brian...I use Eheim filters on my rhom's tank, I like them.

Probably make a start today getting the tank set up :lol:
I have modded the filter slightly...I removed the foam block that Eheim supply as the bio media and replaced it with a bag of sintered glass tubes, with a fine foam block on top for extra water polish.
Got to come up with a way to support the light at least 12" over the tank top....that should keep me busy for a while.

Rich

 

[Rich]

Couple of camera fone pics of the tank set up temporarily in the spare bedroom just to see what worked and what didn't.

The lights worked !!

Rich

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Looks good so far, but personally I'm not a fan of those plastic tank backing things. Too phoney looking. I prefer the natural look of coraline, or a painted back tank. That's JMO though.

You should have a pretty quick cycle by using already established LS and LR from your friends tank, but keep a close eye on the water params if you are going to place the inverts in theree right away. They are pretty sensitive to elevated nitrates, so be prepared to do water changes to bring those levels down if need be.

 

[Rich]

Thanks for your comments and critisisms, my friend....accepted the tank backing opinion too. Now it's on there, I don't like it either, so it's coming off a bit quick, and I'm going to paint the back either dark blue or black. I have the day off work tomorrow, so I can move the tank into it's final position and perhaps make a start setting up....have to pop out and buy a skimmer first though.

Fear not about the tank parameters, I'm intending to take things very slowly. It took me almost a year to stock my big reef tank...slow but sure!!

Thanks again,

Rich

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

I painted the back of my old minibow black and loved it. It really made the coral colors pop.

If you've never painted the back of a tank here's a quick run down on the how to's. On the empty tank, use newspaper to tape off all the exposed areas of glass and trim so there's no overspray. Not sure if it's available in the UK, but the choice here in the US is Krylon Gloss Black spray paint. Three to four light coats is usually sufficient to get a nice even finish, and some use a clear sealent over that. I didn't.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Rich]

Thanks for the hints there....I forget what I've used in the past, auto spray I think. On my last 55 gallon reef I used black plastic sheeting, but I think I'll go the spray paint this time round. Hopefully if the wife hasn't got too much lined up for me tomorrow I can get that done!!

Rich

 

[mikeguerrero]

Hey Rich,

I bet the only reason you had the background painting was to get an idea what your tank would look like with those lights.

When you get your original rock, it will be time to take it down. Sort of like when you crash your car and you borrow a rental. It might be a ugly rental but hey it's only temporary.

Mike

 

[Rich]

I'm like a kid with a new toy Mike...the wife gets quite worried about me sometimes !!

Rich