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Innovative Marine Aquariums

Beginner with a few questions...


Mark2015

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Hi,

 

I'm gearing up to start my first marine reef tank. I've done a lot of reading around the subject, and have a couple of questions related to the practical experience of other owners.

 

First off, some details. The aquariums I'm considering are:

-Red Sea Max C-130 (c.34g)

-Aquaone Aquareef 195 (c.52g)

-Eheim Incpiria 200 (c.53g)

 

They're all within the footprint size that I have space for. I'm on the first story, but have a concrete slab floor (with engineered wood over it) so I'm comfortable that the weight of these tanks will not be an issue.

 

I'm going to set up with live rock and live sand. In terms of stock, once the tank is settled and stable, I'm thinking adding in some pieces of soft coral and a pair of clowns, and work with that for 6 months or so until I have a little more experience with it, then perhaps add in another 3-4 fish.

 

Any opinions on the above will be gratefully received! Feel free to correct me if you think I'm going wrong on any of it!

 

Now to the questions:

 

-How level is level for the floor?

Front to back, my spirit level is dead centre. Left to right, the bubble touches the line to right of centre. It takes a credit card and a couple of sheets of paper underneath to dead centre this. Is this floor level enough for the tank, or will I need to use a shim under the cabinet to dead centre the level in all directions? If so, what do people tend to use? Do cabinets come with built in adjusters in the feet?

 

-How likely is a catastrophic tank leak?

This is something that certainly plays on my mind, and is the main thing holding me back at this point. I'm looking for anecdotal knowledge here, and will make my own decisions in the end on this. Have you heard of many tanks cracking and causing major water damage? How worried should I be about this?

 

-Aside from the all-in-one units listed above, how much space am I likely to need for extra gear? Specifically I'm thinking of the bits and pieces needed for water changes. Do I need somewhere to store lots of pre-prepared water, or can this be done reasonably quickly?

 

-In terms of protecting the floor beneath the tank - what do you use, if anything (groundsheets etc)?

 

-Is a tank with a sump more likely to to bring overflow/leak dangers than one without?

 

That's all I have for the time being! Thanks in advance for any input you might have!

 

Mark

 

 

 

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-How level is level for the floor?

Front to back, my spirit level is dead centre. Left to right, the bubble touches the line to right of centre. It takes a credit card and a couple of sheets of paper underneath to dead centre this. Is this floor level enough for the tank, or will I need to use a shim under the cabinet to dead centre the level in all directions? If so, what do people tend to use? Do cabinets come with built in adjusters in the feet?

 

It doesn't sound too far off, but I'd still try to do your best to make it as level as possible. If an old credit card does it, you could use that.

 

-How likely is a catastrophic tank leak?

This is something that certainly plays on my mind, and is the main thing holding me back at this point. I'm looking for anecdotal knowledge here, and will make my own decisions in the end on this. Have you heard of many tanks cracking and causing major water damage? How worried should I be about this?

 

A leak is more likely than a catastrophic break. And a leak isn't all that likely.

 

-Aside from the all-in-one units listed above, how much space am I likely to need for extra gear? Specifically I'm thinking of the bits and pieces needed for water changes. Do I need somewhere to store lots of pre-prepared water, or can this be done reasonably quickly?

 

You'll need room for a five gallon bucket, food, some cleaning gear, food and supplements, test kits, either gallon bottles of distilled water or a RO/DI unit with storage container, and miscellaneous other equipment.

 

-In terms of protecting the floor beneath the tank - what do you use, if anything (groundsheets etc)?

 

Some people will use a mat (you still need to make sure that water doesn't get under the mat), but I think more people don't use anything. You could put down towels when doing maintenance to help with potential spills.

 

-Is a tank with a sump more likely to to bring overflow/leak dangers than one without?

 

A drilled tank (with properly placed returns, solid plumbing, and a sump with room for back flow) isn't likely to overflow. Some HOB overflows are more likely to cause a flood.
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Thanks for the reply Seabass.

 

Another question - can you get RO units that are easily attachable/detachable to a tap? I ask as there is absolutely no way I will be able to plumb one in (no free space, and very little access to water pipes/outlets). I really don't like the idea of having to make trips out to the LFS every week or two to buy water...

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On the sump leaking thinkimg thing: I have had HOB filters overflow leading to electrical short circuiting (even with drip loops, the water some how made it to the wall and then flowed down). I am way more comfortable with a sump because it is below the level of any sockets and there would have to be some crazy sci fi physics going on for it to do something similar.

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Thanks again Sea Bass, I hadn't seen those on my googling - so many bits and pieces to get to grips with!

 

With both the Red Sea and Aquareef that I've listed above, I've seen a lot of users talk about replacing the protein skimmers (usually to a Bubble Magus 3.5 or 5), and a few also that they've had flooding issues with the stock ones.

 

I haven't actually gotten my hands on a skimmer yet, so the question will be a bit academic, but do you know what the reason behind the flooding in the stock skimmers might be? And why the Bubble Magus upgrade solves this? - essentially, what is there to go wrong here, and how can I avoid it!

 

As an addendum, at what point does a tank cease to be a nano? If I go for the 52/53 gal options, should I sling my hook and head to a different forum??

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Not sure about the stock skimmers. I'd probably ask in the thread where the problem has been discussed.

 

As for a nano, most people feel that a 40 gallon tank or smaller is a nano. However, there is no need to find a different forum if you like this one. Nobody really cares if your tank is too large to be technically called a nano (except maybe for the tank of the month nomination).

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North Borders

I was in a similar boat as you regarding the RODI. I just got one off of BRS though. They come with faucet adapters where you can screw them right onto your faucet and run the RODI that way. Pretty handy, and no real plumbing required.

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