my ebay tank

[gollus]

Ok here is the deal:

After learning the ropes on freshwater tanks, and being successful, I decided to go into saltwater tanks. So after much research and reading I decided to finally look for one to buy. I went on ebay and found a very nice looking 190 gal acrylic tank. It was a complete set up, with filters lighting system, and live rock to boot. I bid on the tank and won. I then drove from Colorado to Florida and picked up the tank. I then drove all the way back. Needless to say almost everything died in the tank. I then re-setup the tank after a bit of plumbing. It cycled for 3 or 4 weeks and then I bought 3 damselfish. I then waited a few more weeks and bought some products from www.garf.org (a very good site in my opinion). I ordered some soft corals, some reef janitors, and some garf grunge as they call it, a slurry of living things used to revitalize live sand and rock. It has been 7 weeks, and aside from algae problems the tank and all its occupants are doing super.

Now on to specs, and where I am having problems. The filter system the former owner used was simply 2 canisters and pumps. The canisters were filled with filter material. He had the great fortune of living next to the ocean and of having a company do a 50% water change on his tank every so often. I do not have that luxury. The tank has been running with the canisters nicely, but the bioload is Very low. I have been reading and reading about what to do with my filtering, what kind of protein skimmers to get, what kind of sumps to get, and I have had almost all I can take.

My question is this. What is best for my tank? I am hoping I can get away with just getting a protein skimmer for the beast. But hanging over the edge of the tank is not an option and I don’t have a sump set up. What’s more is that the base of the tank is about 25in high, while I first believed this was plenty of room, I now realize that this is barely adequate. Why is it that no matter how much you read up on a subject it’s never enough? And why is it that now matter what you do you always can see what you should have done? Well that’s my dilemma, not too big of one, but it’s a set back. I should say that while money isn’t a large concern it is getting to be. Any opinions are appreciated, even conflicting ones.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, welcome to Reef.org!

There is no one right way to set up a saltwater tank. But there are some things that you are going to need to do if your going to keep corals or clams. You can get away with a lot if it's just a few damsels.

I see that you mention plumbing. A diagram or a good description will help those in the know help you.

Pictures are cool and easy to upload here. Try to keep the size at 640x480 maximum. A little smaller is best.

Perhaps with this info the experts can give you some ideas. You almost certainly will need a skimmer. You might tell us why a hang-on-the-tank skimmer isn't an option.

 

[gollus]

Ahh thanks for the tips. Well ok I will describe the plumbing to the best of my abilities:

4 holes are drilled into the bottom of the tank, one in each corner. 2 have intake caps on them, 2 have outflow spouts on them. Under the tank starting from an intake: Water goes down into a PVC pipe and joins with the other intake, this then goes into the first pump, then out into the first canister. The canister has water going in from the bottom and it goes through many tiny beads. Then water goes out of the canister into the other pump. It then goes into the other canister, which is currently empty. The original owner had a filter membrane in that canister and had it plumbed wrong for it to go through, after plumbing it correctly the canister quickly got plugged up. I then decided that the filter membrane was no good and took it out with plans to put in some bioballs as replacements. But after reading I found that almost no one (except my local fish store) uses bioballs. So the thing sits empty. The water exits this canister and goes into the outflow spouts. Both pumps are 600Gph pumps I think.

The whole tank is very attractive looking, but I'm afraid that it has taken form over function. The top has about a 5 inch lip that goes all around it and a cross beam in the center. The PC lighting assembly sits on top of this. There is then a black acrylic "lid" that sits on top of that and matches the base. So the whole thing looks like a large acrylic 3D rectangle, with a clear center. Now this may seem like the tank would get too hot. But this is where luck is on my side. Colorado is a very dry State, and because of this my tank simply evaporates itself to cool down. I only have to top of about 2 gallons a day of cool water. There are openings in the top of the acrylic lid that are used for feeding and getting into the tank. I have set up a fan in one of these openings and it seems to be working well. It is right now the hottest it gets where I am at, and the tank stays around 80 degrees, maybe going up or down 2 degrees.

I should also say what my hopes are for the tank. I mainly want a fish tank. Though I plan on getting corals too. My main goal is a working ecosystem, one that I need to adjust as little as possible, feed them every day and clean filters, but that’s about it. So I plan on getting a decent amount of "clean up" inverts and fish. Now whether this goal is reasonable or not is something I am willing to discover. I am very willing to do more work, but I’m not going to be purchasing animals that require a large amount of one on one attention.

 

[Anonymous]

I see why you can't have a hang on skimmer

I am pretty sure some of the bigger skimmers can be hard plumbed. Maybe replacing the second canister filter with a skimmer?

Really, a skimmer is necessary if you are going to have a lot of fish.

Bryan

 

[eddi]

Skimmers, especially for fish only tanks, are certainly a great help but they are not mandatory in my opinion, especially if you are willing to do regular water changes. You mentioned the tank came with live live rock, how much do you have? On a 190 you could easily have 250 lbs and still have plenty of room for fish. Do you have a sand bed? If so, how deep?

Personally, I don't like canisters. I would add a large sump in the stand, add some baffles to eliminate any bubbles and have room for a in-sump skimmer if you decide to add one. If you don't have a sand bed I would suggest you do some reading to see if you feel it is worth the hassle of adding it while the tank is up and running.

2 600 GPH pumps are really not enough on a 190, even if you plan on having only a few corals. I assume the pumps are external, therefore you may have to put bulkheads in the sump.


Just some suggestions. Good luck.


Eddi

PS You drove from Colorado to Florida and back? Wouldn't it have been cheaper to buy one locally?