Newbie Equipment Questions

[ebertsj]

Hey Folks,

I'm new to Reefland Forum and have a few basic questions that I would love to ask you experts. First off, here is a list of my equipment:

17.5 gal Mr. Aqua Rimless Tank
24'' Silver Solar T5 HO 2 X 24W Catalina Lighting with 6500k bulbs (I realize these are freshwater planted tank lighting. I was messing around with the idea of a planted tank until my daughter convinced me that it would be cool to house "Nimo" in a tank.)
Eheim 2213 Canister Filter

I was curious as to what other equipment I would need to set up a salt water fish only or perhaps a reef aquarium. Budget isn't a huge deal but I'm a "best equipment for the money" kind of guy. Would I need a hood on top of the tank? Also, I'm not a huge fan of the spray bar and intake that comes with the Eheim. Are there other options that people replace these with? Is sand, sand? Or are some sands better than others? I know I can read more and learn and know that I need to cycle my tank before adding fish but I am basically interested on what additional equipment I will need.

Thanks in advance! I appreciate it!

[cls8s]

Get aragonite live sand. You'll only be about to house 3 Nemo fish successfully in a tank that size. I wouldn't get more than 1 though.

[Ryan seymore]

Hi first off welcome to ReefLand!!! Im sure you will find out soon enough how helpful
the people are on here. As far as equipment if you only doing a fish only
tank any kind of lighting will be enough if you not trying to grow anything
but id recomend having one actinic and one daylight just to create what
the lighting looks like in the ocean to keep you fishes happy.
As far as doing a coral "Reef" tank. lighting is a huge part so your
fixture would need to be changed. with reef you need roughly
3-6 watts per gallon of water in your aquarium to keep corals, clams, anemones, etc...
3 being at the very lowest and you might be able to keeps some low lighting corals
but the more you have the more you can keep and the happier your tank will be.
For the sand as long as its Live sand its really up to you just pick one you like and it
will do just fine but you will need no more than a 3 inch sand bed roughly a 20 pound bag.
Your filter will do fine with fish only if you go for reef id really look into getting a sump
or do a diy project and pick your own equipment for the gph rate you want to go for
5-10x the volume of water in your take so roughly 200 gph would work well.
If you keep the canister just cut the spray bar off with a pvc cutter and
get a pvc elbow to fit and glue it in the direction that you want your flow.
You will need live rock as well if you do Reef. 1-2 pound per gallon of watter.
19-38 pounds would work well and it acts as a natural filter for you tank
and will help keep your watter levels stable.
you will also need a water circulator pump and this is really your pick too
as long as it does around 150-200 gph it will work great for your tank.
you wont need a lid as long as your not keeping an eel or fish that like to jump alot
Hope this helps and if i missed anything im sure someone will point it out so
good luck to you and i hope it goes well!!!

Take care, Ryan

[chrisfont23]

+1 on Ryan's thread

Amazon has a sweet deal on an 18-24 in. Marineland Double Bright LED Light You might want to research the output, but it's worth a look if you are just starting on a tank your size. I had also run a canister filter on my reef tank when I started out. It's a little too much of a nitrate factory, and since I have removed it (and done other things) my water params have gotten better and livestock looked better. If corals are your end goal, aim for a power head that will give you roughly 20-30x flow per hour. So for a 17 g tank you need something like a Maxi Jet 900. Finally, AquaticLife sells a skimmer here that I run on my 29 gallon. It rocks and is only like $60. There are a few modifications I would suggest if you buy it. Good luck and post pics!

[chrisfont23]

Also... clownfish are best kept in pairs. If you keep fish, two is probably the max on fish for that tank or else you are going to be pushing the bioload limits. Cycle before adding anything. Basically:

- cycle (4-8 weeks)
- test, if OK I usually recommend a 1-2 weeks "stabilization period" to be extra cautious
- add CUC
- test again
- add fish

HTH