Aussie saltwater newbie

geohatrick

Well this is sort of going to be my build thread and where ill throw around ideas to anyone who is listening but basically its going to be my build thread. Its going to be a pretty simple tank. I just won on a certain auction site that will not be named a 3ft tank that holds 34gallons(130 liters) has a light, hood filter ect most of the stuff i wont be able to use as it was a freshwater tank. I want to put it in my room but am unsure as to how noisy a HOB protein skimmer will be so it might have to go in the guest room as that hardly gets used but i would prefer to have it in my room.

I plan on doing a 4inch deep sand bed with live rock and a hob protein skimmer. I will probably keep the filter that comes with it and fill it full of carbon for use in emergency's and can use the heater but that's about it. After i pick the tank up this week i will be looking at doing either NSW or ASW (natural or artificial saltwater) i am in Sydney(Australia) and have a boat but really don't know whats better so need to do some more research on that. Once i have got the water sorted i will add rock and scape it then build the sand around it to try and make it a bit more stable. There is still a lot more to it i know and have been reading as much as possible over the last few months... i will update as i purchase stuff and then ill be able to keep track of it all and give you guys a rough idea of how much it all cost me to set up and the pitfalls. I will be hopefully picking the tank up on Thursday if not then this weekend will take pictures when i get it not that it will be very exciting lol. One thing i do know about salt water is that it all takes time i will update as often as possible but dont expect something everyday lol.

Cheers Zac
p.s cost to date $220 for the tank,heater, hood, light(will get replaced),filter(need to see if i can get new media in it otherwise useless) i could have got a bigger tank for a similar price but just don't currently have the room and prices are in AUD.

next update will be when i get the tank home and purchase test kits and decide on water type. Still need to decide on fish only or reef (probably reef corals are so cheap here) also type of powerheads and how much live rock i am going to put in(probably more than needed).

geohatrick

i love the internet.... my salt water choice has been made i have read on a more local forum that there is a safe place to collect natural salt water only 15min drive from my house so i will be doing that. i also read the following articles and although none of them say any of the artificial saltwaters are bad they do say the bench mark really is natural saltwater so i will be going natural saltwater. cant improve on nature i guess lol.
Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: Inland Reef Aquaria Salt Study, Part I
Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: Inland Reef Aquaria Salt Study Part II
Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: The Toxicity of Synthetic Sea Salts and Natural Seawater to the Development of White Sea Urchin (Lytichinus pictus) Larvae

Cheers Zac

Pasfur

Nice start Zac. It sounds like you have things well planned. I look forward to following the thread.

If you need a skimmer, you may want to jump on this deal: Coralife 65 Skimmer Coralife Super Skimmer 65

geohatrick

thats an awesome deal and aussie to us is really good at the momement but it looks like they dont ship to australia i may have to send off an email to them.

Cheers Zac

geohatrick

what a let down they only ship to US to people with US issued credit cards and billing address's... the hunt now begins for a protein skimmer.

geohatrick

does anyone have thoughts on reef octopus brand i have found this hob protein skimmer that seems to be alright and is defiantly over sized.
Protein Skimmer & Overflow Box - Protein Skimmer Sell out & Sale Items - R O Module 350 External / BH-100 - Guppy’s Aquarium Products Online - Octopus Module 350 External / BH-100

geohatrick

I picked up the tank last night which is quite exciting going to give it a good hosing out today after work. Its bigger in real life than i thought it would be which is good i was worried i wouldnt be able to make a nice scape because it was going to be small.

I have decided on the substrate i am going to be using crushed marble which comes in a nice bright white colour which is cool and the grain size is 0.125 - 0.15 which i think is right for substrate for a dsb. Ill post a picture tomorrow after the sand is in the tank but wont have anymore updates till i work out what skimmer i want and get my powerheads and test kits.

Cheers Zac

Pasfur

This isn't a bad skimmer for you. I wouldn't put it on a very large tank, but 55 gallons or under and it should work out fine.

geohatrick

update sorry i didnt get a picture up i have purchased the substrate (cost a total of $30 for 50kg) which is 2 different grades of crushed marble the 00 and the dust which is 000. I also just completed and recieved my order of other bits and peices and have just put a second order which im expecting on tuesday. the things ive recieved so far are
HSD Bracket Set for 4T HSD-4T$18.00$18.001
T5 AQUARIUM LIGHT 4x39W H/O 910 Long Individual Reflectors HSD-4T-39W$125.00$125.001
Superbuffer-dKH 500G 00005$28.60$28.601
Liquid Calcium 236ml 00016$17.60$17.601Hydor Koralia's K Copy 3000L/H Power head 5 Watt Marine HYDC18$27.70$27.701
Refractometer 1.3Mag OR-1.3$39.99$39.99
Subtotal:$256.89
and what im waiting on is
1R O Module 350 External / BH-100 BH-100$160.00$160.001
Salifert KH/Alk TEST KITS SAL530$9.78$9.781
Magnetic Cleaner with Thermometer Medium WD-803$17.20$17.20
Subtotal:$186.98

geohatrick

total price on tank so far is $692 still need to get the rest of my test kits and live rock all fun and games.
Cheers Zac