need advice for my tank

[Etown]

Hi all,
I am going to be starting a 72 gal fish only tank. and was wondering what filtration i should use. it is currently a freshwater tank with a aquaclear 500 on it, would the addition of a Fluval be sufficient, or should i get something else.

also i was looking at the following fish, wadda ya think?

- snowflake eel
- marine betta
- harlequin tusk
- some type of angler

would that be pushing my limit for fish? any other ideas for what to stock the tank with would be greatly appreciated


thanks,
mark

[the_blue_tuna]

For your filtration I would suggest live rock , possibily a DSB and a good skimmer. The DSB 's are being debated now , but there is alot of info on them that you can read to make an informed decision. I would suggest doing specific searches on each fish , gathering info on them , and then decide if they are really what you want. You can find lots of info at www.fishbase.org and at www.wetwebmedia.com . Welcome to Reefland , enjoy

[Poseidon]

I'll second the Live Rock... Buy LOTS of it. In a way it is the OCEANS filter, so it will do great in your tank. THen buy a good skimmer Like an Aqua C remora pro, CPR bak -pak... That will be a good start. Make sure you buy the "sand" NOT Crushed Coral.

[irishjabba]

Hi all,
I am going to be starting a 72 gal fish only tank. and was wondering what filtration i should use. it is currently a freshwater tank with a aquaclear 500 on it, would the addition of a Fluval be sufficient, or should i get something else.

also i was looking at the following fish, wadda ya think?

- snowflake eel
- marine betta
- harlequin tusk
- some type of angler

would that be pushing my limit for fish? any other ideas for what to stock the tank with would be greatly appreciated


thanks,
mark

Hi Mark,
Since it seems like you're doing a fish only tank, I'd just go with a good wet/dry filter, or at minimum a undergravel filter, in addition to your aquaclear and/or fluval. Also a good skimmer would be some extra chemical filtration. You just want to make sure you've got chemical (carbon or skimmer), mechanical (external filters or sponges in a wet/dry), and biological (wet/dry or undergravel filter). The other guys suggested live rock, which does give a really good biological boost to the system and can filter the tank by itself, it's also expensive, and not necessary for a fish only tank. However, if after you setup your tank with the undergravel or wet/dry, adding a few pieces of live rock will seed your tank with the good bacteria for biological filtration and get your tank going faster.
One benefit of using an undergravel or wet/dry as apposed to live rock for all your biological filtration is that you can use medications in your main tank to cure common problems like ich. If you have live rock, most medications will effectively kill most all of the organisms on the rock (save the bacteria), and pretty much turn your expensive live rock into cheap base rock.
Your fish choices are fine for that size of tank. Some things to keep in mind are:
-Seal the top of the tank as much as humanly possible! Eels are escape artists and will attempt it even through the smalles hole. If not careful, you could end up with a dried up eel on your carpet.
-Anglers can get big and will eat anything they can catch and fit in they're mouth (and sometimes things they can't). The eel might be a bad choice for a tankmate with an angler, and depending on the size of the angler, the betta and tusk could also be dinner. Anglers are usually best kept by themselves in a tank funished with live rock.
-But the eel, tusk and betta would be a good combo together, and the tank size would be fine for them!

Hope that helps!

Patrick

[Etown]

Thanks all for the replies. I had a reeftank a while back which had a DSB, tons of LR and everything... i still have the skimmer, lol which i just remembered I had. So I can use that too.

As cool as I think having LR and inverts and stuff is, it was nothing but a major pain in the butt in my reef, with all the aiptasia and nasty stuff i had to deal with.

one last question for this thread, would the Aquaclear 500, Fluval 404, CPR BAKPAK 2, and a wet/dry be overkill?

thanks all,
mark

[Leddy]

i dont think it would be overkill, as long as you dont use any media. take out the carbon, use it only when nesscessary, and any other sort of stuff inside the fluval and aquaclear. if you have bio-balls in the wet dry, take em out, or only use a few, or clean them frequently. from my understanding, any media that isnt replaced or cleaned from time to time will harbor high nitrates. just use the canister and 500 for water circulation. an undergravel filter will serve as your bio-filtration if you decide not to use LR. but i'm sure others will let you know. good luck and have fun.

leddy

[Poseidon]

I'd skip the UG filter, unless you are careful you can put your tank into mini cycles everytime you clean the gravel. I don't see to many UG filters anymore on Saltwater tanks. I think the trend has moved away from them because they are touchy.

[Etown]

i dont think it would be overkill, as long as you dont use any media. take out the carbon, use it only when nesscessary, and any other sort of stuff inside the fluval and aquaclear. if you have bio-balls in the wet dry, take em out, or only use a few, or clean them frequently. from my understanding, any media that isnt replaced or cleaned from time to time will harbor high nitrates. just use the canister and 500 for water circulation. an undergravel filter will serve as your bio-filtration if you decide not to use LR. but i'm sure others will let you know. good luck and have fun.

leddy

is that correct? i always thot the more media the better... I mean the bacteria there is supposed to be good right?

Also, what kind of wet/dry would be best?


Mark

[irishjabba]

is that correct? i always thot the more media the better... I mean the bacteria there is supposed to be good right?

Also, what kind of wet/dry would be best?


Mark

I would use carbon or your preferred media in the canister/hang on tank filters, and bioballs in the wetdry (if you go that route). Generally, reef keepers are concerned with nitrate as at higher levels it can negatively affect the corals they keep. The large amount of bacteria you'd grow with a wetdry and undergravel would more than likely generated alot of nitrate when processing the fish waste.
However, for a fish only tank, you don't really need to worry about that, as fish have a very high tolerance for nitrate, and the regular water changes you do will keep it in acceptable ranges for the fish.

The setup you propose would be overkill, but it wouldn't hurt to run it all. It'll just cost more in energy bills for running all those pumps!
Ultimately, you could just run the fluval (with carbon in it), the skimmer, and a undergravel filter, and have a great tank. Though a wetdry would be preferrable in that it can help oxygenate the water more, but with a skimmer running (also oxygenating the tank) a undergravel would be fine. Also, with the undergravel, you won't have to mess with topping off the sump; less evaporation loss.

If you go with a wetdry, I'd recommend Amiracle...I really like the construction, and they're not super expensive.

But there's nothing wrong with undergravel filters in fish only salt tanks...I know too many aquarists that use them exclusively for they're bio filtration, and they never have any issues with "mini cycling" or ammonia spikes or anything. They work fine and have for years. Wet/drys are just another option for the same thing with two benefits: a place outside the tank to put delicate equipment like heaters or skimmers, plus added water volume to increase tank stability.

my two cents

Patrick

[tvan]

My two cents, a 30 gallon long. Lots of live rock,thorny oysters sponges,sea squirts and with a little light, a giant clam or two for nitrates. That's the filter.
HTH
Tom