Fresh Start

[jg5ect]

Hi everyone

im having a fresh start with my tank, its only 110l and its going to be a fish only tank(i cant afford to set up a reef tank at the moment) with live rock in there.

the thing is i have had a lot of bad advice from my LFS and i was hoping you guys could point me in the right direction when i set up this tank.

should i use sand? i read somewhere that you should only use a bit, in my last set up the LFS said i need about 2 inches at the front and about 6 at the back.

i was also told that tap water was ok as long as i mixed it with the salt before putting it in my tank, but again some one pointed out i should use RO water.

basically i could do with a list of equipment that i will need and the best way to go about starting the tank.

ATM i have a fluval 205 external filter, a heater and a power head that doesnt seem very strong TBH. The lighting is just a standard tube light one is a blue marine glow and the other is a power glow.

Thanks guys

[johnl69]

First of all never use tap water ever ever ever
secound dont use tap water
thirdly NEVER use tap water

Really the only difference between a fish only set up and a full reef is the flow requirements if I where you I would setup for a reef then when you change your mind and want all the corals you will be set up for them and all you will need to do is add a few powerheads:D

[ROB]

First of all never use tap water ever ever ever
secound dont use tap water
thirdly NEVER use tap water

Really the only difference between a fish only set up and a full reef is the flow requirements if I where you I would setup for a reef then when you change your mind and want all the corals you will be set up for them and all you will need to do is add a few powerheads:D

Erm John you forgot the golden rule,

Never use tap water:D

[moorish]

i would never use tap water except in an emergency if no ro water was available.if you want sand in the tank use only enough to cover the bottom or just leave the bottom bare.derek

[jg5ect]

tap waters a no go then... i think i can remember that.

how do i go about getting RO water?

[ROB]

tap waters a no go then... i think i can remember that.

how do i go about getting RO water?

If you have a good LFS near you buy from there but I would advise using RO man and get your own unit

ROB.

[Tom2006]

The problem with a tank that small is you are going to be very limited on what fish you can have. As others have said, why not just increase the flow and get some soft corals frags. They will grow quickly and should only cost a few quid if you look on the forums.

[Tangman]

Hi as Tom says you are limited with a tank that size,ie 110 litres is only about 20 gallon and the norm for fish stocking is 1 inch of fully grown fish per 6 gallons of water so on that means you could have a 3 inch fully grown fish in there. My thoughts are make it a reef tank and put some small pieces of coral in with a couple of small fish like gobies etc. HTH Twiggy

[Timo]

Dont use tap water m8 if your LFS dont sell RO then buy a small RO unit from RO-man. I have a small RO unit from them it only cost about £80 and when you think about the cost of fish and corals 80 quid isnt much.

Stick with RO, tap is crap :).

[jg5ect]

ok then you have twisted my arm, reef tank it is. am i going to need a skimmer and new lighting? The first thing im going to get is the RO Unit, seeing as tap water is bad.

[jg5ect]

what size RO unit would i need for my tank? how do they work, do i need to connect it to the tank?

[Tangman]

Hi as you only have a small tank now are you thinking of upgrading at any time, as if you are i would go for a larger RO unit. If you are staying with the small tank then a 50 gallon a day one would be ok for you to keep up with RO top up water and water changes. They are easy to fit just use the piercing clamp that wraps around the cold water inlet pipe and away you go, after you have run it off for a few hours you can start using the water. You dont need to connect it to the tank as you can fill up tubs or buckets or whatever you use then turn it off.HTH Twiggy:D:D PS Macca can get you the RO-MAN RO units so give him a call:)