Canisters, PowerHeads and live Rock

Ya, what he said lol.

 

LOL gotchya again mike!

Yes flow will keep the crap up in the water column.. skimmer will suck it out. Skimmers are the most amazing piece of equipment on earth for fish. It physically takes the crap out of the water whereas filters, etc still have it in the water. It uses the surface tension of the bubbles to carry the stuff, then the bubbles pop at the top and sling crap out. They are amazing.

One k2 will not be enough. Definately not. Hydor Korelias arent bad at all. They are a little expensive, but if your new to equipment, they would be a good one to go with compared to modding your own etc. I would recommend another k3 or even a k4 at the other end opposite of that k2 to make some turbulence.

As long as you have salt and a heater in the 55g, maybe even toss that k2 you have in there, the live rock will be okay. Did you happen to buy that k2 off craigslist? I sold an old k2 i had to someone who ended up using it for a freshwater 55g. LOL would be odd.

Did i cover everything? lol

 

Any info on my last post? I am heading back to the LFS today to return the fluval repair parts I bought and the powerhead. Then im going to buy a more powerfull power head just to move some of the water in the temporary tank. Probably a Hydor #3.

 

Ok, as an update, the Skimmer doesnt sound to heavy duty. It sits in the tank itself. I'll find out for sure on Sunday and we'll see. She said its not a super great on but it work. So im not that much farther ahead I guess than I was haha.

 

The rock should be fine in the 55 as long as you keep the water temperature, pH and salinity where it should be. Get a saltwater test kit like the API liquid master kit so you can watch the pH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, thats the basics when cycling a new system or curing rock.

When I had fish only systems I still used canister filters and they served me well but for corals you want to avoid them as they trap detritus which leads to elevated nitrates which could kill the more sensitive corals.
I would not worry about "live" sand. Buy dry sand and seed it with a few cups of real live sand from a friend or twos established tanks, the more variety the better. That and the live rock will jump start the cycling process and get things going in a hurry. Bagged sand has limitations.

I have a 100G tank which is 60" long vs your 90G at 48" but two Koralia K4's work well in my system. I would do two K3's at a minimum and probably lean towards the K4's. I also have a closed loop with a 1000 GPH pump and Oceans Motions Squirt two way and a large return pump from the sump and current is still lacking in some areas. I don't think I could have too much and I have 330 lbs (5-6") of Southdown live sugar sized sand in my tank which does not blow around at all.

 

Ahh I missed this post Awesome. Sounds good and makes sense. So if I have enough circulation and a good skimmer I should be able to get away without a sump or a filter as long as I do water changes regularly and test my levels etc hey?

Sounds good. I am returning some of the stuff I bought yesterday and will pick up a K3 or K4 for now most likely, then another one down the road when I get the 90 setup.

As for the Skimmer, its probably not a great one, I spoke too her today and she said its a int he tank hanging type one or something. My guess is I will need a better unit. Ill know for sure on Sunday though when I pick it up.

What skimmers would you recommend if I am going the no sump/no filter route?

Thanks for all the info this is so helpfull.

Thanks Ill be picking up a testing kit today. As for the sand, the "live sand" that you buy from the store is no good then, or just not worth it, what do you mean by limitations?

I have to have a good bio setup and protein skimmer as I wont be using a sump or canister filter then. So the more sand the better I guess.

When cleaning a freshwater tank I always went on the idea never to stir up the substrate as it can hold pockets of gas etc. Same hold true for Live Sand?

 

There are several hand on type skimmers on the market but most are for smaller systems, 90G may push some of them to their limits. I am a fan of the AquaMedic Turboflotors myself. I use an in sump style but they have a couple hang ons that work well in that size range. Remember when you set the new tank up leave plenty of room behind the tank between the tank and wall for hang on accessories.

As for cleaning, if you have a deep sand bed, 3"+ don't disturb more than the top 1/4" and then only in small sections at a time or you risk disturbing the anaerobic or oxygen starved bacteria down deeper.
If its a shallow sand bed or what many consider decorative you will not get the benefit of nitrate removal with anaerobic bacteria but still get the natural look of the sand bottom. in this case its OK to vacuum and disturb the sand when cleaning as it won't release toxins. I would avoid larger grains or crushed coral if possible as they trap food and detritus which again can lead to notrate problems.

 

Thanks!.

Most questions for you guys. I guess I should rename this thread, help me with everything hah.


1.) Do I need to "feed" the live rock over the period of the 3-4 months while it is in the temporary tank? As I wont have any other fish or coral life in there, I cant see there being much decaying matter for it to feed off etc...

2.) Heaters. What are your thoughts on the Marineland Stealth Shatterproof heaters? They have the Injection molded thermal plastic casing around an aluminum cylinder. I picked up two 150 Watt, each are rated at 45 Gallon. I am wondering if maybe I should have gone with a Titanium one from say Finnex or Via Aqua? I have read that the Marineland Stealth heaters may have a chemical in them? Some guys cracked on this forum and killed everything in his tank.

3.) Substrate - This is more for when I setup the permanent 90 Gallon, if I am going to use it as a live bed, just how deep should it be then? 3" or even more than that?

4.) My Lights, Ill be using are Metal Halide. I presume this is going to add heat to my tank correct? Do I even need to use 2 x 150 Watt heaters then? I have read some people are using chillers on their tanks? This is to actually cool the tank water? Is this for areas where the ambient temperature is quite high all the time? I live in Alberta Canada so temp ranges from dead cold in winter to pretty warm in the summer.

 

It wouldn't hurt to drop a bit of food in every couple of weeks, but if you don't it will be fine without.

The Finnex are really nice. I haven't used the stealth heaters, but haven't heard anything bad about them.

I wouldn't go deeper than 3". You can run into long term problems if you use much deeper than that.

Your heaters may never click on but it's better to have them ready to click on than have your tank go cold because your pilot light blew out. Your halides will add some heat. All you should need is a clip on fan from Wal-Mart to keep the temp where it should be. clip it on the end of the tank and set it to blow across the surface of the water.

 

1. It doesn't hurt to toss a little food in once in a while if its going to be long term. You might even throw in a few hermits and snails to keep it clean.
2. I use the Via Aqua titaniums and have had good luck with them. I have a stealth I use in my QT and it seems to work OK too. Two heaters are wise so if one fails you have a back up.
3. 3" is bare minimum for a DSB and deep for a shallow sand bed or decorative. I prefer the DSB myself and go 5-6" with absolutely zero problems at 6 years now with no maintenance of any kind. Don't listen to those who try to steer you away from a DSB, mosty have never had one long term or did not take care of it properly if they did. For good articles on a DSB and its benefits look up Dr. Ron Schimek here:
Ron Shimek's Website...Deep Sand Beds

4. I use 2x250w MH and 2x140w VHO on my fully enclosed 100G with only fans for cooling in Phoenix AZ. I still have a heater since you will get temperature swings without it. Its a balancing act between heating and cooling but two 4" computer fans in the canopy and a WalMart 7" clip on fan over the sump work well to keep my tank 79-81 year round.