2FT Cube setup advise

[whiteice]

Dear all,

I am going to set up a simple 2ft cube clown and anenome tank. As I want maintenance to be as low as possible, I am contemplating the following equipment.

1) Main Tank of 2ft cube with eurobrace

2) MH 150watts

3) Oversized in tank skimmer like the deltec 9005 to be located inside the main tank

4) Resun CL280 chiller

5) 1x seio 820 and 1x seio 620

6) Deep sandbed

Intended inhabitants:

3 pcs true clowns

1 rose tip anenome

1 "haven decide wat anenome"

3 cleaner shrimps

2 fire shrimps

1 flame angle

1 purple tang

Question is. Will the deltec alone be capable of handling all the filtration requirements of the cube? i dun intend to use a sump nor a canister.

All advice greatly appreciated. thanks

[reeftask]

one seio 620 is enough for such a small tank. Deltec is OK. You not planning any Live Rock? So planning always change water?

2ft tank lowest maintenance still needs lots of job.

[whiteice]

Will the aquamedic biostar flotor be sufficient instead? Read alot of good reviews about it. Think 5-10% water change every 2 weeks sufficient?

[Gouldian]

Hi bro,

Is there a Deltec 9005 skimmer? Have heard of Tunze 9005 though.

[nwyk153]

...purple Tang need a lot of room to swim once they get older.

[whiteice]

Hi bro,

Is there a Deltec 9005 skimmer? Have heard of Tunze 9005 though.

My bad, what was I thinking. I meant the Turnze 9005. however, thinking of the biostar now as it does not take up precious space in the tank.

[Gouldian]

My bad, what was I thinking. I meant the Turnze 9005. however, thinking of the biostar now as it does not take up precious space in the tank.

Oic, I think the biostar is also quite good, my wife's uncle uses it in his 4ft tank. I persoanlly have used it before too.

HTH

[whiteice]

Oic, I think the biostar is also quite good, my wife's uncle uses it in his 4ft tank. I persoanlly have used it before too.

HTH

So if I only run the biostar with no other filteration apart from DSB and Live rocks, will it be enough? I will then connect a surface skimmer to the ehiem 1250 (dry) which will run it pass the resun CL280, through a UVC then back. Will that be ok?

[Gouldian]

So if I only run the biostar with no other filteration apart from DSB and Live rocks, will it be enough? I will then connect a surface skimmer to the ehiem 1250 (dry) which will run it pass the resun CL280, through a UVC then back. Will that be ok?

Hi whiteice,

I don't see any big problem with this set-up except for your intended livetsocks. try to stay away from fishes which eventual size may be too large for you tank and also fishes that poop alot.

This is because smaller tank have smaller water volume which equals to smaller room for mistakes.

HTH

[reeftask]

I think your setup is fine which at the margin line.

About the 10% waterchange every 2 weeks, it depends how much you feed and how much your fish poop out. You have to monitor and do measurements in according to success. One slight problem/laziness, you will be sorry.

If I were you, I will opt out the fast growing fish example tang. If you plan to feed your anemone everyday, better to have one only.

Finally, try to get those mature Live Rocks from reefer here which will be more stable. Try to maintain 1kg/gallon.

[Ah-lim]

Tang = poop machine. Too much poop, water quality down.

I guess one tang would be enough. Dun be tempted !!

:)

[whiteice]

Thanks for all the replies. Taking into consideration the input, I have ammended my setup to this

1) Main Tank of 2ft cube with eurobrace

2) MH 150watts

3) Aquamedic Biostar Flotor

4) Resun CL280 chiller (connected to surface skimmer driven by a canister)

5) 1x seio 820

6) Deep sandbed 2.5 inches (Grade O?)

7) Life Rock

Intended inhabitants:

3 pcs true clowns

1 rose tip anenome

1 "haven decide wat anenome"

3 cleaner shrimps

2 fire shrimps

1 flame angle

With regards to the sandbed. I personally prefer grade 0 as it looks really nice. Is it advisable? Also, I see that reefdepot has those sugar like sand (caribsea Aragamax). Is this good or the normal fare from petmart would do. Caribsea is q expensive, is it really worth it?

thanks again

[Gouldian]

Thanks for all the replies. Taking into consideration the input, I have ammended my setup to this

1) Main Tank of 2ft cube with eurobrace

2) MH 150watts

3) Aquamedic Biostar Flotor

4) Resun CL280 chiller (connected to surface skimmer driven by a canister)

5) 1x seio 820

6) Deep sandbed 2.5 inches (Grade O?)

7) Life Rock

Intended inhabitants:

3 pcs true clowns

1 rose tip anenome

1 "haven decide wat anenome"

3 cleaner shrimps

2 fire shrimps

1 flame angle

With regards to the sandbed. I personally prefer grade 0 as it looks really nice. Is it advisable? Also, I see that reefdepot has those sugar like sand (caribsea Aragamax). Is this good or the normal fare from petmart would do. Caribsea is q expensive, is it really worth it?

thanks again

Hi bro,

You new intended list looks better!

As for sand, I always prefer sugar size as compared to grade 0 as they will not cuz sand storm easily.

Caribsea aragamax is expensive due to the fact they are hobby grade aragonite known to be beneficial for our tank. Sands we get from LFS although suffice may contain certain trace that may be noxious to our tank thus some prefer to pay the extras just to be sure. For me, although I uses Aquamedic HydroCarbonat, I will not hesitate using LFS sand provide I have gone through washing and removal of metal debris (using magnet).

Btw, are you the guy I called yesterday?

HTH

[whiteice]

Spot on Gouldian. I'll be getting the biostar from Danny next few days. I'm searching now for quality 2nd hand stuff due to budget. (Just got a new place and the reno is killing me).

On the note of sand, I really love the look of grade 0 sandbed but like u said due to practical considerations, may just settle for suger sized. I noticed clowns sometimes like to wag their tails on the sandbed at the foot of rocks to create a hole to hide in. Can't imagine what it would be like if grade 0 was used.

I'm also considering getting the Turnze nano 6025 from another bro here. Is it sufficient for the 2ft cube?

[whiteice]

Tang = poop machine. Too much poop, water quality down.

I guess one tang would be enough. Dun be tempted !!

:)

Another question with regards to chillers, is it better to get a super oversized chiller and opposed to a chiller specced for the tank. Will getting a CL650 be better than getting a CL280 in terms of energy savings?

There are also many Teco, Artica etc bigger hp chillers on sale by some bros here. But they are mainly for cooling 4 footers and above. Is it advisible to get these instead?

Lastly, for the chiller heat discharge, is there any particular brand that runs cooler? May be a stupid ques since technically, the heat discharge should be the same for the same amt of water cooled? No?

Sorry so many questions

[Gouldian]

Spot on Gouldian. I'll be getting the biostar from Danny next few days. I'm searching now for quality 2nd hand stuff due to budget. (Just got a new place and the reno is killing me).

On the note of sand, I really love the look of grade 0 sandbed but like u said due to practical considerations, may just settle for suger sized. I noticed clowns sometimes like to wag their tails on the sandbed at the foot of rocks to create a hole to hide in. Can't imagine what it would be like if grade 0 was used.

I'm also considering getting the Turnze nano 6025 from another bro here. Is it sufficient for the 2ft cube?

Hi bro,

Look around, there are always great bargains to start your hobby.

Clownfish indeed may create a depression on your sandbed if there isn't a host anemone/subsitute. But if you are going as planned with a RBTA, it believe you need not worry too much on that.

Usually, we will need a minimum of 10x the tank volume of flow in our tank excluding closed loop. Thus for your tank, I believe the recommended return pump should be 2000l/hr and/or above. And if that's the case, any closed loop circulation will be good enough. Unless you intend to keep sps, then you may want to increase your ciculation up to 40x.

Have you bought your MH, if no, I have a friend letting go a Macro T5 set at a good price.

HTH

[whiteice]

Hi Gouldian, thanks for your advise, I have confirmed the octopus mh which Jowy ham is selling. To me, mh is a must for a marine aquarium for the simple reason that it creates a flickering in the tank that is so characteristic of a marine aquarium. This effect in itself is worth the mh and chiller price alone

[Gouldian]

Hi Gouldian, thanks for your advise, I have confirmed the octopus mh which Jowy ham is selling. To me, mh is a must for a marine aquarium for the simple reason that it creates a flickering in the tank that is so characteristic of a marine aquarium. This effect in itself is worth the mh and chiller price alone

Hi bro,

That's very true, do post once your set-up is ready.

[whiteice]

Hi bro,

That's very true, do post once your set-up is ready.

Sure, but the tank won't be up until Feb next year. I''ll be taking my time with this tank.

[whiteice]

Guys, with regards to the chiller. Will it be overkill if I use a Teco RA680 to chill my 2ft cube?

[reeftask]

too big for a 2ft tank. get one size down is best.

[Gouldian]

Guys, with regards to the chiller. Will it be overkill if I use a Teco RA680 to chill my 2ft cube?

Hi bro,

Yes, RA680 may be a overkill as its recommended for tank around 500 to 800l. Your current tank volume is about 227l and the recommended chiller should be RA240.

http://www.aquatechnic.net/program.html

However, I must let you know that I have indeed use RA680 to chill my 255l tank previously and I really like the performance it gave me - fast and efficient chilling. Only set back is that being rated higher, the RA680 produces more heat & noise as compared to the RA240.

But since you are getting a used RA680 and there isn't anyone selling a RA240. If I were you, I will get the RA680 provided the condition is good.

HTH

[whiteice]

I was just at my regular aquarium shop yesterday and he advised me to go for 1 size up over the recommended chiller size.

But as you know, I would be getting used items and it seems RA680s are more readily available than the RA240. Anyway, I have confirmed the RA680 from a bro here and he gave me a good price. As for condition, I don't know, only that it's 2 years old. Anyway, I think I will just get it serviced before using. Decided to get a used Teco over a new resun as my aquarium shop recommended Teco and Artica. The shop has been running an Artica pn their planted display tank since I was in the Army (10 years ago). Yesterday, the same Artica is there, running without a hitch

[whiteice]

Hi bro,

Yes, RA680 may be a overkill as its recommended for tank around 500 to 800l. Your current tank volume is about 227l and the recommended chiller should be RA240.

http://www.aquatechnic.net/program.html

However, I must let you know that I have indeed use RA680 to chill my 255l tank previously and I really like the performance it gave me - fast and efficient chilling. Only set back is that being rated higher, the RA680 produces more heat & noise as compared to the RA240.

But since you are getting a used RA680 and there isn't anyone selling a RA240. If I were you, I will get the RA680 provided the condition is good.

HTH

Hi Gouldian, when you were previously using the RA680 to cool your 255L tank, what were the specs of the pump that u were using to drive the chiller? I was rumaging through my storeroom and found an ehiem 2213 (440L) and an Atman 3337 (700L) canister. Was wondering if these could be used. thanks.

[Gouldian]

Hi Gouldian, when you were previously using the RA680 to cool your 255L tank, what were the specs of the pump that u were using to drive the chiller? I was rumaging through my storeroom and found an ehiem 2213 (440L) and an Atman 3337 (700L) canister. Was wondering if these could be used. thanks.

Hi bro,

I have previously used a SICCE Extrema.

Beside SICCE, I would recommend Eheim 1260 or Aquabee 2000.

Your 2 canister's flow may not be able to chill your tank efficiently. But if really no choice, go for the 1 with higher flow.

HTH