New to SW setup

[iamdhagz]

Good day mga master dito sa RF. I have been reading stuffs dito sa forum and I can say madami talaga akong matututunan. I have decided to convert my 20G tanks to SW and this is my plan on my tank. I hope matulungan nyo ako dito sa setup ko

My plan is to do this setup:


after seeing members tank dito lalo na si sir immortalbreaker ito yung naisip kong Idea but on a tight budget ito yung naisip ko para less ang bibilhin ko for now.

Tanong ko lang mga sir.

1. Tama po ba yung setup ko to have one pump for return and just distributing the flow to my DIY skimmer?

2. Nakita ko itong thread na ito Mega-Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover and pwede ba ito sa FOWL na setup?

3. Pag ba bumili ako ng SW and LR sa cartimar. Can I place it agad sa Tank ko yung SW and LR or kailangan ko pang i cure yung LR for better result.

4. Advisable po ba bumili nung gamot for faster water cycle. I forgot the name pero I have seen fishdepot posted a picture of it.

5. ok lang po ba yung mga LED light bulbs na nabibili sa hardware as my lighting for my tank.

Salamat po sa mga sasagot. I am planning to do this probably this week as a gift to my son who is turn 2 na and he really likes the film nemo kaya naisip ko ito ang ibigay ko sa kanya.

[znerenz]

Welcome to RP

1. Tama po ba yung setup ko to have one pump for return and just distributing the flow to my DIY skimmer?
- Yes, you can have this setup

2. Nakita ko itong thread na ito http://reefphilippines.com/forums/viewt ... =14&t=6134 Mega-Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover and pwede ba ito sa FOWL na setup?
- Yes, it can work for a FOWLR setup. Although I must add that there's no single silver bullet in controlling nitrates and phosphates, this method although it claims to be is not an exception.

3. Pag ba bumili ako ng SW and LR sa cartimar. Can I place it agad sa Tank ko yung SW and LR or kailangan ko pang i cure yung LR for better result.
- If you are just starting the tank then yes, no need to cure. But if you are placing a LR to an established tank then it is recommended to cure your LR.

4. Advisable po ba bumili nung gamot for faster water cycle. I forgot the name pero I have seen fishdepot posted a picture of it.
- In this hobby, shortcuts are always bad. Anything that says "faster" should be taken with a grain of salt.

5. ok lang po ba yung mga LED light bulbs na nabibili sa hardware as my lighting for my tank.
- Depends on what you want to keep. If FOWLR, then they'd be sufficient. However it's a different story if you're planning to keep corals.

[iamdhagz]

Thanks for your Reply sir znerenz, Another dumb Question. Nalililito kasi ako sa mga napanuod ko and nabasa ko regarding sa curing ng live rock there is this wet and drying method.

As I can understand yung wet curing is ilalagay mo yung Live rocks in SW na may water flow to remove the unwated hitch hikers..

Question Kailangan po ba bago gawin ito eh nabrush and nasundot na yung mga holes ng LR to be sure... or in the long run of curing the rocks eh mawawala din naman yung mga hitch hikers?

kailangan po ba ng lights when in curing stage?

How about the drying method? Same process din po ba na need brush yung rocks then sundutin yung mga holes for unwated hikers? then sun dry?

How long I need to sun dry the live rocks? may nabasa kasi ako 2-3 days tama po ba? then after this method? At this point after curing the rock. pwede ko na po ba ilgay sa DT with live sand and Can I put the water?

If I buy SW sa cartimar? while Im in the process of curing the LR... should I have the lights and pump running while waiting sa pag cure gn LR? may nabasa kasi ako dpat I store sa isang dark container ang SW and place a pump for circulation and closed lid ? Thank you sa mga sasagot. Comments are very helpful and make my experience her as quickly and easy to untverstand

[symphiii@gmail.com]

bro IMHO yung mga bacteria nga yung purpose mo kaya ka bumili ng LIVEROCK eh. kung icucure mo din lang yung liverock mo sayang lang bakit liverock pa binili mo parang useless lang din sana dry rock nalang kinuha mo

[iamdhagz]

[znerenz]

Drying of liverock is for the purpose of "killing" the liverock, turning them back into calcium carbonates, i.e. rock. Some do this because they don't want any, as in ANY hitchhiker. However, if you are indeed planning of drying out your rocks first, then why buy liverock in the first place? Like symphiii said, just buy dry rocks then

Curing is the process of putting "life" in a rock, turning them into liverock. The process takes approximately 3 weeks or more, lesser if you seed it with a small liverock from an established system. You just place the rock in a dark container filled with tank water with good circulation and wait. If you know a reefer close to your place, hingin mo yung water from their WC

Curing is also recommended if you are going to use a liverock that has undergone a long travel time from its collection point to your place. Why? During transit, there would be some die-offs of the live critters that inhabit the liverock. So if you place it directly into an established tank, there is a chance that your tank will undergo a mini-cycle. Bigger volume tanks can handle this without any impact, smaller ones, not much.

[immortalbreaker]

Lol!

Special mention pa ko. Newbie pa lang din ako. Mas madaming experienced reefer dyan kesa sakin. Some here have been in the hobby for decades.

[immortalbreaker]

Some notes lang.

Kun mag planning phase ka pa lang, I'd recommend the following:

1. Coast to coast/Herbie over flow: I believe this also gives a degree of cooling effect since there is more water surface exposed to air. Yun sakin malaki yun drop ng water, kaya mas malaking water surface ang naka expose sa air. Sort of evaporative cooling, lalo na kung may naka tapat ng fan.

2. Multiple over flow, para iwas flood in-case ma clog yun isa and yun mga skimmer and reactors pwede mo dun i-tap sa overflow. Para less pump in the system. Problem kasi pag sa return mo i-tatap yung skimmer or reactors, ay magiging less ang water turn over from the sump to the display.

3. Yung airstone skimmer, na try ko na yan. Sasakit lang ulo mo kakapalit ng air-stone. Mag venturi type skimmer ka na lang. Mas ok sana reef octopus kun kaya ng budget.

4. Regarding cycling. Kung uulitin ko yun system ko, ganito gagawin ko:
-Use dry rocks para sure na walang hitch hiker
-Do fishless cycling. Put 1 pc un-cooked shrimp add a wavemaker for flow and leave the tank for 6-8weeks
-No lights during cycling para no algae bloom, Kun kaya takpan yun tank mas ok para total darkness
-After cycling, do 100% waterchange and don't add too much bio load all of a sudden para maka catch up yun biological filter

5. Yun ATS, ok siya. Hirap lang i put to practice yun concept. Just make sure.
-Use the recommended knitting screen. Rough up para kumapit yun algae.
-Use correct light spectrum. Kung LED deep reds, kun CFL warm white. Strong enough light din para mag develop yun green algae
-When cleaning, scrape only. Don't clean it with brush for the initial phase. When rinsing, don't rinse too much and use saltwater from waterchange.

6. Invest in RO water filter and use quality salt. I think Blue treasure salt is the minimum recommended now in the market. Don't use salt in blue bag sold in carti or the one sold at bio research. I've tried those. Sumakit lang ulo ko. Ok din DIY salt kun kaya mo gather yun mga recipe, Matrabaho lang.

[immortalbreaker]

plan muna lahat on paper bago execute, para less gastos at sakit ng ulo along the way.

[seth]

+1 on everyone's posts. Lalo sa careful planning. Iwas gastos yun.

Adding more inputs

If you are going to use liverocks, no need to add shrimp or any ammonia source to kickstart the cycle. Trust me you' re gonna have lots of it anyway. Lalo kung papatayin mo yung liverocks.

ATS would be fine. A macroalgae dominated refugium would be fine as well. Just like znerenz said, there is no silver bullet/cure all in this hobby. Let me be clear, having an ATS does not mean you can overstock or overfeed or leave the tank with no WCs. An ATS is not a zero-maitenance filtration method. As with any other filtration methods, you will still need to maintain it. And you still need to regularly maintain your tank as well. An unkempt tank will get back at you when the time comes, regardless of what you have, even if you have the most expensive or most efficient filtration setup.

A well built air driven skimmer can beat a venturi skimmer. But just like imortalbreaker said, it is such a pain in the butt to build, and building an effective air driven skimmer will cost you as much as you would buy a branded venturi. Might as well just buy a good venturi skimmer instead.


Don't depend too much on those magical bacterial additives in a vial. Naka-pag cycle at maintain naman yung mga sinaunang reefers dito at sa ibang bansa ng wala iyang mga yan. I don't see any reason why you can't successfully cycle or maintain a tank without those. Waiting for a couple of weeks is better than restarting all over again. Might as well just be patient and wait for the tank to sort itself out. You may or may not do WCs during cycle, you may turn on the skimmer or not, ultimately it will be up to you. Do whichever you think would be most convenient and most effective. Just don't add any animals during cycling.

[mindfreak]

if you decide to go on with an ATS then just make sure you should have a religious routine of cleaning it. simula kang magkakaproblema sa ATS if mapapabayaan mo na mag over growth mga algae. instead of it absorbing NO3, PO43, NH3 in an isolated environment baka ibalik niya ulit ito sa DT mo if you don't harvest it regularly. and just like what marty said, still need to do WC even if you had an ATS.