full marine setup questions

[PufferBabe]

hey everyone

i wanted to start a full marine tank setup in my 30 gallon tank.

with live rock.

would i need a sump?

or could i do it with just a protein skimmer?

and whats the cheapest way of doing it?

thanks

[wagner7123]

Live rock and a skimmer is all you need. A sump is nice but not necessary.

this is the only cheap way http://www.freeworldgroup.com/games4/ga ... tycoon.htm

[Pufferpunk]

What fish are planning on keeping?

[Pufferpunk]

What livestock are planning on keeping?

[PufferBabe]

one GSP. Aquacultured Live.

i've heard of people having marine setups useing canister filters. like a fluval.

[bertie 83]

Cannisters turn in to nitrate factories on s/w, you could run it empty for flow. With the live rock required your gsp would not have much swimming room, I would upgrade

[PufferBabe]

Cannisters turn in to nitrate factories on s/w, you could run it empty for flow. With the live rock required your gsp would not have much swimming room, I would upgrade

i see. is it just the carben that makes the nitrate spike like that? could i just use the pads for the filter? and how many lbs of live rock would i need?

[wagner7123]

kind of the opposite actually, the mechanical filter material catches detritus and allows it to rot causing the spike. carbon can also trap detritus but because of its filtering chemical properties it's not a significant. however, most will recommend you ditch both the pad and the carbon and just run a skimmer, over the life of the tank you will save a lot of money not having to replace disposable media.

[bertie 83]

+1 to the above. You want appr 1 and a half lbs per gallon, so you are looking at 45lbs approx. You can mix live rock and base rock to save a few quid, but you want more live over base.

[RTR]

Any bacterial biofilter results in nitrate, that is what they are supposed to do - they oxidize ammonia and nitrite to nitrate. Old granular or pelleted carbon based biofilters will do exactly the same thing, generating nitrate from ammonia and nitrite. Only short-term (a few weeks maximum dwell time) GAC use is nitrate-proof. Then you remove and discard it before it can turn into a bacterial biofilter.

Live rock may generate some nitrate from surface-based bacteria, but it also denitrifies from the anaerobic bacteria in the deep pores and channels in the rocks. Mature LR will have denitrification far over-riding any aerobic nitrification. The end product of the anaerobic denitrification is dissolved nitrogen gas which off-gases to the atmosphere.

IMHO, the best practice for LR & skimmer tanks is to also use a lighted macroalga refugium. The macroalgae will uptake and thus sequester multiple nutrients, and those will be removed by periodic harvest of portions of the alga. If they are pumped IN, with passive return to the display, they will contribute valuable 'pods to the setup.

Any tank w/LR needs either to be up-sized or employ a sump to compensate for the water volume reduction due to displacement by the LR. IMHO, a 30 gallon tank w/LR is inadequate for a GSP. Water quality will be sub-optimum.

HTH

[Pufferpunk]

What's "Aquacultured Live"? The sand?

[PufferBabe]

this is the live rock i bought on petco.com today. i purchesed 4.4 pounds to start off with. could anyone tell me what kind it is? the only thing petco said its Aquacultured Live Rock

[LongGrain]

By the title, and the look of the picture. I would assume they mean that is a normal base/decorative rock that was placed in a reef/LR environment and it was eventually "aqua cultured" or farmed into live rock as the bacteria/algaes colonized it. You can tell because it doesn't have all the pores/open spaces that a real live rock would have. That rock won't have nearly the amount of living matter as real live rock due to the fact that it has far less surface area in comparison to its mass.

I'm in the process of doing the same as you (setting up a small full marine environment for a GSP), so good luck with it! I have also started off with a relatively small chunk of live rock, and am currently waiting for my skimmer and a powerhead.

[Pufferpunk]

You can tell because it doesn't have all the pores/open spaces that a real live rock would have.

Yeah, not the best rock for biological filtration. Also a lot heavier, which means more $$$.

How much per lb? Your best bet would be to look on Craigslist or find a local reef club on Reef Central.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forum ... .php?f=538

[PufferBabe]

it was like 16$ for 4.4 lbs...would it still work okay?