questions about a marine tank
Jason_Rantanen
have two freshwater tanks, one of which is sitting right next to me (a heavily
planted tropical tank with a few gouramis and other assorted fish), and a 40
gallon reef tank, which is still at home and is now part of the family. Next
year I would like to set up a fifty five to seventy gallon tank in my room,
but I have some questions about it.
I intend the tank to be a marine aquarium with about thirty pounds of live
rock (not much, I know). I'm planning on keeping mainly fish, and a few
inverts like shrimp, brittle stars, and seastars. The lighting will be a
coralife wizard balast with two 48" bulbs, an actinic and a saylight bulb.
What I'm not sure about is what kind of filtration to use. Right now I'm
looking at two options. A wet/dry filter with a built in protein skimmer and
pump or just a protein skimmer , such as Amiracle's "The Beast" or Red Sea's
"Berlin" model. Would just a skimmer of high quality work batter then a
combination less-quality skimmer/wetdry? I've never used a wet dry filter
before, so I only have a general idea how they work. They seem really
expensive. Is it possible to use a small tank as a sump? Does "The Beast"
require a sump to operate in? How about the "Berlin"?
Secondly, I'm not sure what to stock the tank with. I would really like to put
in a lion fish with a couple of smaller fish, but there is one problem: I have
a winter break period where the dorm is locked up for about a month. Most
tanks would be fine with an automatic feeder, but lionfish require live food.
Is it possible to keep such a fish in say, a twenty gallon tank, for a month
if I were to bring him home? Are they hardy enough to survive an eight hour
car trip on a five gallon bucket?
Thanks for your help
Jason @{
Jason_R...@Brown.edu
JEFF PFOHL
: I intend the tank to be a marine aquarium with about thirty pounds of live
: rock (not much, I know). I'm planning on keeping mainly fish, and a few
{snip}
: looking at two options. A wet/dry filter with a built in protein skimmer and
: pump or just a protein skimmer , such as Amiracle's "The Beast" or Red Sea's
You need a wet/dry if you are not going to have more live rock. They
provide biological filtration for the tank. The skimmer should be on
in either case IMO.
: "Berlin" model. Would just a skimmer of high quality work batter then a
: combination less-quality skimmer/wetdry? I've never used a wet dry filter
You need either more live rock or the wet/dry.
: a winter break period where the dorm is locked up for about a month. Most
: tanks would be fine with an automatic feeder, but lionfish require live food.
They do not require live food. First let me say (again) that marine
fish should be feed a marine diet. Feeding a marine fish guppies,
goldfish, etc is not healthy as FW fish have a different fat content
(other things too but I don't recall the specifics) and SW organisms
will suffer as a reult of eating them. Normally from premature liver
failure. That being said, you can wean the lionfish over to pellets,
freeze-dried krill, and stuff from the supermarket seafood
counter. Get him eating pellets and then use them in the automatic
feeder over Xmas. Or perhaps forget the idea until you do not have
this problem with being locked away from your tank for long periods.
: Is it possible to keep such a fish in say, a twenty gallon tank, for a month
: if I were to bring him home? Are they hardy enough to survive an eight hour
: car trip on a five gallon bucket?
Maybe but you will stress him out considerably. And being winter at
Brown you will have a temperature problem too. It is a big risk IMHO.
--
JEFF PFOHL
***** NEW EMAIL***** E-MAIL: PF...@NUCALF.PHYSICS.FSU.EDU **** NEW *****
PHONE : (904) 644-1598 work
(904) 224-0707 home
(904) 644-9848 fax
http://nucalf.physics.fsu.edu/pfohl
"I will shoulder more than my share of the task, whatever it may be.
100% and then some!"
Wilson Angerson
Jason_R...@brown.edu (Jason_Rantanen) wrote:
>Next
>year I would like to set up a fifty five to seventy gallon tank in my room,
>but I have some questions about it.
>
>I intend the tank to be a marine aquarium with about thirty pounds of live
>rock (not much, I know). I'm planning on keeping mainly fish, and a few
>inverts like shrimp, brittle stars, and seastars. The lighting will be a
>coralife wizard balast with two 48" bulbs, an actinic and a saylight bulb.
>What I'm not sure about is what kind of filtration to use. Right now I'm
>looking at two options. A wet/dry filter with a built in protein skimmer and
>pump or just a protein skimmer , such as Amiracle's "The Beast" or Red Sea's
>"Berlin" model. Would just a skimmer of high quality work batter then a
>combination less-quality skimmer/wetdry?
Depends on how many fish you keep and how much you feed them. Live rock and a
skimmer will support up to a certain bioload, and a bigger skimmer will
increase that limit somewhat. However, above that limit you will need
additional biofiltration no matter how good a skimmer you have because the
skimmer won't remove the ammonia directly excreted by fish. Sorry, I know
saying "a certain bioload" isn't very helpful, but every tank is different,
and I don't have much experience of pushing things to their limits anyway.
Since your main interest seems to be fish, I would advise using a W/D so that
you are not constantly having to worry whether you are overloading things.
I've never used a wet dry filter
>before, so I only have a general idea how they work. They seem really
>expensive.
Forget the commercial ones - just say no. Explore the archives for cheap DIY
designs. It really isn't a lot of work making your own if it doesn't have to
look pretty.
Is it possible to use a small tank as a sump? Does "The Beast"
>require a sump to operate in? How about the "Berlin"?
A small tank is fine, a big tank is better, but a bucket will do for a sump.
Don't know about the Beast, but the Berlin doesn't need a sump.
>
>Secondly, I'm not sure what to stock the tank with. I would really like to
put
>in a lion fish with a couple of smaller fish, but there is one problem: I
have
>a winter break period where the dorm is locked up for about a month. Most
>tanks would be fine with an automatic feeder, but lionfish require live food.
>Is it possible to keep such a fish in say, a twenty gallon tank, for a month
>if I were to bring him home? Are they hardy enough to survive an eight hour
>car trip on a five gallon bucket?
Lionfish are big eaters and that favours the use of a W/D. They take frozen
food as well as live (buy one that has already been trained to do this) but
from the point of view of automatic feeding that doesn't help you any. They
are very hardy and I'd say a small-to-medium sized one would survive the
journey and the holiday home (keep the car interior warm). Don't count on
being able to do the same thing so easily in a year's time because it may no
longer be small-to-medium. Bear in mind that it will grow faster than most
other fish and will probably eat tankmates smaller than itself.
Wilson