My 1st SW tank

[Avi]

Hi guys i thort i would introduce myself, My names Avi

 

I'm new to SW, iv been doing malawis for a couple years now but iv always wanted to have a reef so i got myself a 5G tank in my room at uni yesterday (shh security arn't alowed to know about it, doesnt help that my window is glowing from outside).

 

Tank size 400 x 220 x 390 mm

I have an in hood filter

900l/h powehead

coral sand

about 4kg live fiji rock

2 x 24w t5 compacts (about 10mm far from the water in the hood for maximum efficency)

25w heater

 

Considering scrapping the hood, making a retrofit unit for lights and adding a skimmer/external filter

 

Heres a pic of the tank

 

 

 

Questions:

 

Is the sand to deep i gets up to 2" at places

 

Is the aquascaping ok?

 

Which way should the powerhead be facing? slightly up down or horizontal

 

Is my lighting ok, i have 1 blue 1 daylight plus bulb

 

I have another mini 200l/h powerhead i could add to the bottom back to make a current over the sand, is it worth it?

 

Are bubbles a goog idea or not?

 

 

Any other comments are welcome, i am an absolute beginner to marine tanks

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

My malawi tank

 

[Scott Riemer]

Tank size 400 x 220 x 390 mm

I have an in hood filter

900l/h powehead

coral sand

about 4kg live fiji rock

2 x 24w t5 compacts (about 10mm far from the water in the hood for maximum efficency)

25w heater

 

 

Questions:

 

Is the sand to deep i gets up to 2" at places

 

Is the aquascaping ok?

 

Which way should the powerhead be facing? slightly up down or horizontal

 

Is my lighting ok, i have 1 blue 1 daylight plus bulb

 

I have another mini 200l/h powerhead i could add to the bottom back to make a current over the sand, is it worth it?

 

Are bubbles a goog idea or not?

Any other comments are welcome, i am an absolute beginner to marine tanks

Hello Avi, to N-R.com. I see you're in London.

 

Your sand looks very coarse. Most of us use a finer grain sand. Having said that, I think if you're going to stick with that, it's way too deep. You'll find detritus will get trapped in it. I would really consider going with a finer grain mostly to keep that from happening and also for any inverts you may add as a Clean-Up Crew(CUC).

 

You want the power head to cause disturbance at the surface for gas exchange. Which answers your other question about bubbles(or aeration). You don't need to add bubbles as long as you are getting good surface agitation for good gas exchange. Bubbles contribute to salt creep which looks bad and can damage equipment.

 

For that size tank, your lighting is adequate for softies and some LPS.

 

Extra current is almost always considered a good thing.

[clifford513]

to NR!

 

I would remove most of that sand and replace it with 1/2" to 1" of a finer sand. Security is going to find out