andiok Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Hi and thank you to everyone in this awesome forum. Been cruising a lot around from more than 4months now. i think its almost time for me to start my reef tank. i have 3 fw tanks running, 2 of them planted but will be keeping only one with my 2-3 years old goldfish. like i said im a complete newbe so i will need help on this. im planing on keeping mostly lps but some sps will be fun to have stuff i have for this build: 15g tank, standart 24x12x12 which i think will be perfect for a nano. leds and drivers and fans all china from ebay. 4small gpu heatsinks (cant order from any online stores as they're located in usa and shipping is way to expensive + i have one of these heatsinks with 4led and 1fan and seems to be working ok) koralia 240 powerhead 100w heater hob filters rated from 20g-50g 15pounds of dead coral rocks (no sand id like to go bb but not 100% sure yet) ro/di water will get it from the store. planing to install a decent system at home later on. salt instant ocean from petsmart API Reef Aquarium Master Test Kit SUMP or NOT? i have a 10g i was planing to make as a sump but i saw a nice vid of a guy diy-ing an all in one tank. so i dont know which one is more effective. i dont mind drilling the tank and making a sump but the aio looks cool to and dont need a sump to hide. here is the vid please let me know if im missing anything and what yall think thanks Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Cool vid, great job on the AIO addition- I don't see a need for a sump. Any plans on adding an ATO to keep salinity stabile? A spin stream might be nice to add some random flow- I really like mine. Looking forward to watching it develop Link to comment
andiok Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 thx for the answer Sk8n but the aio build is not mine. my question for my 15G is to go like this aio or to add a sump. which one you think is more beneficial and efficient Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 thx for the answer Sk8n but the aio build is not mine. my question for my 15G is to go like this aio or to add a sump. which one you think is more beneficial and efficient You could go either way, the AIO might be easier to start out with but you can have more options with a sump. I am happy with my Nuvo 16 AIO. Link to comment
LikeButtuh Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 salt instant ocean from petsmart If you are planning on going reef, then you should change your salt to Instant Oceans Reef Crystals; I hope that's what you meant. Has a higher dose of the elements needed for reef tanks. Especially if you are considering SPS. Good luck! Link to comment
andiok Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 thx for the advise If you are planning on going reef, then you should change your salt to Instant Oceans Reef Crystals; I hope that's what you meant. Has a higher dose of the elements needed for reef tanks. Especially if you are considering SPS. Good luck! Link to comment
farkwar Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 As long as you have room for a skimmer, that would be cool. AlSo put some kind of wave maker on that outlet return, like a spinstream something. Link to comment
andiok Posted October 2, 2014 Author Share Posted October 2, 2014 As long as you have room for a skimmer, that would be cool. AlSo put some kind of wave maker on that outlet return, like a spinstream something. thx for the answer. you think a skimmer would be needed for this setup ? Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 thx for the answer. you think a skimmer would be needed for this setup ? Not initially- depending on how your water change schedule goes and how your livestock makes demands. You can make a big difference with nutrient reduction simple by staying up on weekly water changes- 5 gallons a week would be a good % of nutrient reduction and keeping your water parameters in ck. Link to comment
farkwar Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 A skimmer is needed on any tank that you're not changing out huge amounts of water on a regular regimented schedule. Picos dont need them because youre going to change 90% a week. Even an airstone skimmer is better than nothing. But a good skimmer is better, they are scalable. They work when your bioload is low like when your tank is new. But then can handle a heavy bioload in year 1 or year 2+ when your bioload is much greater. In other words, if youre changing water so frequently, that you cant produce any skimmate between water changes, you dont need one. Those tanks are very far and few between. Link to comment
acrab78 Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 thx for the answer Sk8n but the aio build is not mine. my question for my 15G is to go like this aio or to add a sump. which one you think is more beneficial and efficient If you want to do an all in one and like the size of the 15 gallon i would recommend you check out the 20 long and all in one system they make for it from one of the board sponsors. Can remember who it was but could find it for you if you need... It mounts on one of the sides and makes the 20 long an aio and keeps the same display or maybe more of the 15 gallon. Just an idea if you haven't bought the tank yet. Love the size of the fifteen also... Good luck! Link to comment
lynxer Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 You DO NOT need a skimmer of any kind! You DO NOT need to do 50% weekly water changes. After rock/sand you will likely be closer to 10 gallons of water. 10% -20% weekly will be more than enough. Granted you may have to do a few more as You get the tank established. A 5g bucket is your New best friend get aquainted! Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 As you can see there are many opinions and ways to have a successful tank. As your tank matures you will find what works for you. Get into a schedule with maintenance and stick to it. Keeping the environment as constant as possible is the key. With the nano tanks water changes are your friend for sure and can make a substantial change when parameters are off. Changing out a larger % won't hurt anything running a skimmer won't hurt anything- is it absolute- you'll have to be the judge as you add livestock and have more demands on keeping the water quality where you want it. Get some good test kits and stay up on parameters and above all don't get frustrated and have fun! Don't rush into things with this hobby. It will be good to see how your tank develops. Link to comment
andiok Posted October 2, 2014 Author Share Posted October 2, 2014 If you want to do an all in one and like the size of the 15 gallon i would recommend you check out the 20 long and all in one system they make for it from one of the board sponsors. Can remember who it was but could find it for you if you need... It mounts on one of the sides and makes the 20 long an aio and keeps the same display or maybe more of the 15 gallon. Just an idea if you haven't bought the tank yet. Love the size of the fifteen also... Good luck! pls if you find it post it. i also have a 27G which is 30ich long so i could probably go with that as an AIO build. thnx thx everyone for the answers. pls comment if you feel that there is something you want to input. Link to comment
acrab78 Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 pls if you find it post it. i also have a 27G which is 30ich long so i could probably go with that as an AIO build. thnx thx everyone for the answers. pls comment if you feel that there is something you want to input. http://www.badfishreefsystems.com/all-in-one-kits.html Dats its... :-) they do look pretty "bad" if you ask me... muhhueahahaha Link to comment
andiok Posted October 2, 2014 Author Share Posted October 2, 2014 http://www.badfishreefsystems.com/all-in-one-kits.html Dats its... :-) they do look pretty "bad" if you ask me... muhhueahahaha thx man. they look great, ill definitely do something like this. Link to comment
acrab78 Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Yeah I have zero experience with them nor have I seen them in person but remember how nice they looked anyways for a clean aio tank design. Link to comment
Halo_003 Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 From what I've heard, stay away from Badfish. Heard they took money and didn't send product after a while. Buy some acrylic, weld on and make your own. Link to comment
andiok Posted October 6, 2014 Author Share Posted October 6, 2014 From what I've heard, stay away from Badfish. Heard they took money and didn't send product after a while. Buy some acrylic, weld on and make your own. thx for the advice. i wasn't going to buy that stuff anyways, like i said in the beginning im making my own. just following their design though and as you say some acrylic and weld on make wonders. Link to comment
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