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Starting Octo tank could use your advice

rg21

Hatchling
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Joined
Aug 7, 2010
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1
Ok, im going to go ahead and give it a shot. Im starting small so I can refine my skills a bit and then go from there. I need some help on my initial shopping list, though, and i have a few questions. Im starting out with a 30 gal tank (going to be housing a dwarf) Thank you in advance for your reply.

I have the tank ready to go, i need to know what else i need to get a system up and running.

I am obviously buying a protein skimmer.
I will be using live sand/live rock for bio filteration
i have a canister filter that i could use, but im wondering:

If i have my protein skimmer, LS/LR, and an emperor 400, what else do i need to purchase? any recommendations?

also, what about the in-tank refugiums, would one of these be worth the purchase or would it not even do anything? thanks

rg21
 
FOR AN O. mercatoris (not other species) you can go much simpler if you choose. I have raised them in a 45 with overflow, sump and skimmer and in a 15 with a Skilter (adding an air stone and air pump, the built in areation for the skimmer is all but useless, other combination brands may hold up better but it is the only one that will fit my hex tank). A lot depends on what you will want to do with the tank if you later upgrade. The Skilter is a cascade style filter/skimmer combination and easily provides enough areation and skimming for two mercs. If you will keep the water level about 2" from the top of the tank, the simplest of covers will work well. If you can create a "lip" of about 3" around the top the center can stay open (WITH the lowered water level). If you will PM me your email addy, I will send a not ready for prime time Word doc I wrote when I was keeping primarily mercatoris that should answer a lot of your questions.

There are two older, long running threads on the mercs and the different environments are included in some of the discussions. Both threads are forward linked to the successful offspring of the original WC female and the resulting CB offspring of the CR hatchlings. GHolland's thread on Vary's had the best photos :biggrin2:, the other thread journals Trapper, my first octopus.
 

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