I have successfully kept exotic freshwater fish for years now, and they all brought me much much joy. However I recently moved, and thought I would not have room for my aquarium. So I had to adopt out my fish at the time and store away the tank. Well I am all settled in now, and it turns out I have space for the tank, so now I am wanting back into the aquatics game. This time however, I am wanting to go into saltwater. With my years of exotic freshwater fishkeeping experience; and now roughly a week of reading forums and articles on the subjects of saltwater, reef tanks, and cuttlefish care, I feel fairly confident its time to do this.
I currently have a 50 gal tank with a eheim professional II canister filter and a UV sterilizer(which I heard somewhere is useless for a saltwater tank).
What I would LIKE to do, is set up a somewhat small soft coral reef tank. Once it is established, order a few Sepia bandensis eggs, and attempt to hatch them.
With all that said, my plans are to get the tank at least set up and starting its cycle within the month. I am thinking of adding a sump to the setup to increase water volume. If at all possible, id like to put the heater, skimmer, some live rock and live sand(which I will be cultivating myself) in the sump. As a side note, I will be building my own sump, as the stand for the tank is screwy and only allows 8 inches of space for width. So in other words, I dont exactly at the time know how many gallons my sump will hold. However, if I am clever enough and if its possible to build a two level sump (part of the sump above the other part of the sump) i can manage to make part of it roughly 10 inches wide, rather then 8.
Anyway, the point of the whole topic is to ask two main questions and get some input on my situation.
Question 1: If I have the skimmer, heater, live sand and live rock in my sump, do I still need the eheim filter; or am I allowed to bypass that all together?
Question 2: Other then the testing/maintenance stuff, lights, powerhead, and skimmer, am I overlooking any other equipment I need?
Oh, and I suppose what should I be looking for in a powerhead and skimmer with my setup?
As well as if anyone has any recommendations as to what I should try to add to the setup or avoid with the setup, please feel free to speak your mind.
Thanks in advance, Zeep.
And if any of this made no sense at all, I apologize. I am exhausted and need sleep, which im about to try to get right now. Any questions, comments, or concerns, please voice them and I'll respond as soon as I can.
I currently have a 50 gal tank with a eheim professional II canister filter and a UV sterilizer(which I heard somewhere is useless for a saltwater tank).
What I would LIKE to do, is set up a somewhat small soft coral reef tank. Once it is established, order a few Sepia bandensis eggs, and attempt to hatch them.
With all that said, my plans are to get the tank at least set up and starting its cycle within the month. I am thinking of adding a sump to the setup to increase water volume. If at all possible, id like to put the heater, skimmer, some live rock and live sand(which I will be cultivating myself) in the sump. As a side note, I will be building my own sump, as the stand for the tank is screwy and only allows 8 inches of space for width. So in other words, I dont exactly at the time know how many gallons my sump will hold. However, if I am clever enough and if its possible to build a two level sump (part of the sump above the other part of the sump) i can manage to make part of it roughly 10 inches wide, rather then 8.
Anyway, the point of the whole topic is to ask two main questions and get some input on my situation.
Question 1: If I have the skimmer, heater, live sand and live rock in my sump, do I still need the eheim filter; or am I allowed to bypass that all together?
Question 2: Other then the testing/maintenance stuff, lights, powerhead, and skimmer, am I overlooking any other equipment I need?
Oh, and I suppose what should I be looking for in a powerhead and skimmer with my setup?
As well as if anyone has any recommendations as to what I should try to add to the setup or avoid with the setup, please feel free to speak your mind.
Thanks in advance, Zeep.
And if any of this made no sense at all, I apologize. I am exhausted and need sleep, which im about to try to get right now. Any questions, comments, or concerns, please voice them and I'll respond as soon as I can.