Starting from scratch!

[Anonymous]

A lady has asked me to set up a new aquarium for her. It is a 55-gallon with stand and canopy. That is all she has so far, not even filled it with water yet. My question is about filtration. This tank will start out as FO, with an eventual reef in mind. She is *determined* to cycle this tank with damsels despite my efforts at other options and she will not be purchasing any live rock for awhile. The tank is not drilled. What is the best way to provide filtration for this tank. My personal tank is drilled so I have no experience with "hang-on-the-back" types of equipment. She is wanting both filtration and skimming. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[Anonymous]

According to you, she will not have any live rocks for awhile, so some kind of bio filter will be use, you have to find out what kind of filtration she wants, does she wants a sump ? of just hang on the back filter? she sounds very "cheap" excuse my expression,base on what you said she wants,actually to me, she is not sure what she wants,
get her a skilter 400,it has everything build in just put in some kind of bio media and you're all set. no sense wasting her money , the skilter with bio media is all you need for her fish set up.

 

[Anonymous]

She's not so much cheap as it being more like "financially constrained" and needing to do things slowly. I agree she doesn't exactly know what she wants. She has a 30-gallon in terrible shape...not due to her neglect, but due to her maintaining that tank strictly according to lfs advice...we have a very BAD lfs here. In that 30 she had 2 yellow tangs, an emporer angel, several clownfish and damsels, etc. I had her remove the angel and tangs to someone else's tank and told her she would have to go MUCH bigger to be able to keep all those particular fish. I suggested 100+ gallon...however, she ran out today and purchased the 55 and thinks it's the biggest, most beautiful things she's ever seen. I am trying not to discourage her from the hobby, but have already advised that she still cannot keep all those fish...I will try to set up this new 55 the best I can (teaching her in the process), but I fear it will be overloaded with fish at some point. It is an uphill battle all the way as she simply doesn't understand the "process" because of all the BS the lfs here has told her. She's trying really hard though, so I will help her if I can. Obviously, I think we will need massive filtration and skimming...and I am pushing for the live rock! Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Postie, you are a gentleman for helping her, I didn't say she is cheap, that's why I said excuse the expression, now , if her money is tight and she's been brain washed by the LFS, this might take some work on your part to get her back on track, again, her money is tight, so a skilter 400 will get her going and buying her time so you can explain the nitrogen cycle to her, the skilter have a build in skimmer, mechanical filtration and add bio media and you have a good filter going to keep fish, you can explain what each part of the filter does , when she understand and ready for reef, then she can start to have live rocks in , just remove the bio media in the skilter, when money is not as tight in the future, she can up grade to a sump, return pump,over flow box, seperate skimmer etc...
A skilter 400 cost about $50 bucks, I can't think of any filter with build in skimmer under that price.

[This message has been edited by Wilson (edited 18 May 2000).]

 

[Anonymous]

Postie,Since your more familiar with a drilled tank,why don't you take the tank to a glass shop and have it drilled? It's not that expensive and if you already have an idea for this type of tank you'll probably save money in the long run.Also since she is quote "financially constrained" maybe she should slow down and get everything she needs including a plan as to what she wants in the tank,before she sets it up.From my own experiance reef keeping is not cheep!! I haven't even set my 120G up yet,but I already have about 2,000$ invested.This doesn't include any livestock or live rock.If she is "financially constrained" maybe she should stick to fish only with a tank full of damsels.They are inexpensive and hardy,they also come in many different colors and shapes.From the sounds of it ,she wants to put 500G of fish into a 55G tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Postie,
Hats off to you for your efforts! You're doing the hobby [not to mention the poor fish] proud!

Just a thought, if it would help counter some of the misinformation from the LFS... How about suggesting some reading for her - point her toward some good reefkeeping material out there [Tullock, Palleta, DelBeek and Sprung come to mind - keep your eyes peeled for Dr. Ron's book when it comes out]. Is she on-line? If so talk her into dropping in on us and the reefs.org library - Toonen, Shimek and Bingman will straighten her out! If she's not, perhaps you could download and print out some of the articles for her.

Best of luck! Keep us posted.

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sanity is overrated!

 

[Anonymous]

One of Dr. Ron's book is already out"The Coral Reef Aquarium" and is a great beginner's book pack with lots of information
explain in everyday english, I too long for DR. Ron's next book

)

 

[Anonymous]

Postie isnt that the lady that had that jam packed 30gallon?, i guess you got her into upgrading, good work! If she's so financially constrained tell her that she could get all the shrimp to cycle the tank for about $1, also, if she doesnt want to drill the tank i would slap a HOB overflow box going into a sump with the skimmer in it.

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My 180 Utopia: Updated 5/17/00

 

[Anonymous]

Yep...same lady...lol! She had her eye on a 100-gallon and I was elated. She came home with the 55

But, it is very pretty if she'll just pay attention.

One of the tangs she had in her small tank has died...this leaves another medium sized yellow tang that will go in the 55 for sure, despite my protests! But, better one than a dozen!

I tried to talk her into having the tank drilled...she filled it with water instead. So, that leaves us back at square one...with a siphon-type box on the back going into a sump...instead of gravity...not the best situation, but it will work. She truly is brainwashed from our closest lfs and it's a difficult battle to turn that around, but I'm working on it. What would be a good HOB overflow box and what size sump would be appropriate?

Thanks to everyone for your replies...I hope to get her on the right track and OUT of that lfs! It is unreal the things they've told her!

btw Fishtechie, that 30-gallon is shaping up after all...HUGE clean-up crew...lol!

 

[Anonymous]

man is she being difficult, she already had the tank filled with water,? where did she get the water? she didnt use tap water again did she??

I'm not sure about HOB overflows since my tanks have all been predrilled, but as far as overflow i'd shoot for a 15 gallon sump or as large as she wants but no less than 15g, you might want to back up everything you tell her with some book literature to get her to sway more towards your side.

glad to hear about the 30g, maybe she could use it as the sump??

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My 180 Utopia: Updated 5/17/00

 

[Anonymous]

What about a CPR Backpak. I keep one on my hospital tank (which usually has 2 fish in it till I need to quarantine something) It seems to keep nitrates at zero, although I do keep some live rock in it for fish to hide.

 

[Anonymous]

Ahhhh Postie, now you tells me that she has a sump, ok, check out CPR over flow box at www.cprusa.com, each overflow box have its spec. on it regarding flow rate,always gets the bigger size for the pump you wants to use, but don't use the pre pflter sponge in an over flow ,once if that's clog, the tank will over flow,
next thing is get her a good skimmer , a Berlin driven with a Mag 5 will do great on her tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, of course she filled it with tap...what else?...LOL But, it will be ok...she knows she will have to use RO or distilled for water changes and topoff so eventually the tap will be gone. And, the biggest problem with tap is the algae explosions and since there will be those during cycling anyway, we'll just fight it then!

She doesn't realize that she's being difficult...she's just excited and she's seeing improvement in the 30 so she's motivated too. Plus that darn lfs bad info for a year! And she's gonna keep the 30 up and running so we'll have to find another tank for the sump...should be easy to find something pretty inexpensive.

Thanks again for helping