Setting up New 3ft tank, need advise

[SpaTanS]

Hi everybody,

i'm new here ... only started keeping marine fishes about 2mths ago ... currently, i have a 2ft tank with a eheim pro 2222 as the filter ... a very normal air pump skimmer, 1 floating hydrometer, and another small pump for circulation of water in the tank, and a 4" fan on top.

i have a 1" #0 sand bed ... about 6kgs of LR, some corals - mshroom, prickly brocolis (??? - a soft pinkish stem with polyps branches that will stretch and strink by itself) waving hand polyps, some green buttons and pink polyps.

fishes wise - 1 yellowtail damsel, 2 3stripe damsel, 1 clownfish, 1 sargent pepper fish, 1 dunno is it call blue-line damsel, 1 green mandarin, 1 boxer and 1 doctor shrimp.

mixed mine with marine salt ... so far, have change about 20% water twice ... but never test water ... everything seems ok only that my waving hand polyps dont seem to open up these few days ... think it's dying off ???

i will b upgrading to a 3ft x 1.8 x 1.8 tank soon ... it's 6mm side and 8mm bottom ... my bro passing me the tank with OHF with stacker, 3ft 2 tube lights ...

i wud really appreciate alot more advise from u all expert in setting up this 3ft tank ...

1) is 6kgs of marine salt enuff for a 3ft tank ???

2) i wud like a deepsandbed too ... currently my bro will b passing me his sand too ... think about 2" ... is it ok if i mix it up with new sands to 4" ???

3) i wud wanna sort of build some pipe-stand at the back to support LR so that i do not need to buy so much ... pipe size will b 1/4" plastic pipe with 4way joint and will b 3 stack high ... wud like to put on both back corners ... so the centre part maybe stack a bridge or something ... i think all in LR will b about 20 kgs more or less ??? advisible ???

4) if i can get the salt water, sand and LR ready, sud i cycle them together for how long ??? is it better to put in a MP to kick start the cycle ... if so, when sud i put it in ???

5) i may like to use back the eheim pro filter for water circulation ... there is this some sort of white color sand (think it's call lime sand or something) in a canister ... can hang on the side of the tank to caltivate bateria ... can i use my eheim pro filter and add in the white sand for the same purpose ??? my eheim will have sponge at the bottom, the white sand in the lower deck (or middle) and on the top deck, i'll put cottons ... think that will work ???

:nuke:6)my most worrying part will b the filter pump ... is it an OHF with 4 stacker ... maybe i will need to change the powerhead suitable for marine ??? is there such a filter pump ???

some of the ideas i have may sounds rediculous ... i know ... but i do hope all u expert bros here can give more advise on this ... cos the 3ft tank will b coming this weekend ...

thanks for all your precious advise and comments ... thank u

[terryansimon]

is 6kgs of marine salt enuff for a 3ft tank ???

a decent hydrometer will tell you the answer.

i wud like a deepsandbed too ... currently my bro will b passing me his sand too ... think about 2" ... is it ok if i mix it up with new sands to 4" ???

don't really see too much of a problem here.

if i can get the salt water, sand and LR ready, sud i cycle them together for how long ??? is it better to put in a MP to kick start the cycle ... if so, when sud i put it in ???

no set guideline on how long cycling must be. get test kits to check out whether your nh4, no2 and no3 have been reduced, with nh4 and no2 at zero and no3 as close to zero as possible. add the market prawn in at the same time you add the rocks into the tank filled with saltwater. should kick start your ammonia process.

my most worrying part will b the filter pump ... is it an OHF with 4 stacker ... maybe i will need to change the powerhead suitable for marine ??? is there such a filter pump ???

overheald filters are not that advisable for marine as it creates a lot of salt spray.

i may like to use back the eheim pro filter for water circulation ... there is this some sort of white color sand (think it's call lime sand or something) in a canister ... can hang on the side of the tank to caltivate bateria ... can i use my eheim pro filter and add in the white sand for the same purpose ??? my eheim will have sponge at the bottom, the white sand in the lower deck (or middle) and on the top deck, i'll put cottons ... think that will work ???

cotton?! for filter?! urh okay. if you want a deep sea bed and you're already creating one in the tank, there is no need for the sand in the filter itself. use this canister filter as a pure mechanical filter. that is use only the filter wool to remove physical dirt. leave the chemical and biological filtration to other stuff like the liverocks and protein skimmer.

thanks for all your precious advise and comments ... thank u

no problem! (=

[SpaTanS]

ok, i think i get what u mean terryansimon ... about the spray off from the OHF ... i wud cover the top of the tank with a plastic or something ... wil that b ok ???

what about the powerhead ??? think i can get 1 that has a ceramic pin and not a metal 1 ??? that will b more suitable for marine, correct ???

thanks again ...

[FuEl]

You could just do away with the OHF anyway...where are you gonna place your lights with an OHF on your tank?

As for your tank....1.8ft height and 1.8ft width...6mm glass is too thin..unless you have eurobracing all round the 4 sides of your tank I don't think you should use such a tank unless one day find your tank has split at the corner...not a pleasant experience. Happened to my last tank...1.5ft height X 15inch width...glass oso 6mm. If that could happen to my tank...needless to say for yours....get a 10mm tank all round. Safer that way.

[terryansimon]

its not a matter of having a plastic bag or something. salt spray is very evident in filters that have a flow into the tank via a drop.

so yeah. do away with it. get a Liberty filter if you REALLY have to use a hang on filter.