saltwater 50 gallon questions

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
J

josh_canada

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 20, 2011
33
0
0
calgary, AB Canada
I will be setting up a peacock mantis shrimp tank. Please dont give me any of that they break tanks stuff, if so; I want proof not 'my buddy.. blah, blah'. Regardless, this will be my first sw tank, and mantis shrimp are some of the hardiest sw creatures, dubbed: "the cockroache of the sea". I was on a busy schedule, and didnt quite absorb all of my LFS' information. I understand powerheads are like fans that circulate water. From there on I am pretty much at a loss for the rest of the filtration. I know all about how much substrate, and how much LR I need, acclimation and tank care. Also, (unrealted) opinions on lighting timers, automatic fish feeders and those magnet-style algea scrapers, I figured they scratch glass?

Thanks
 
A lot of people seem to find that live rock and protein skimmers are sufficient filtration for salt water aquariums. Some people don't even use protein skimmers.

As for the magnet algae scrapers, they don't scratch glass. They're not even abrasive to the touch, if you run your finger down them they feel like cloth. Glass is actually pretty hard to scratch. You could run a blade down it with some force and not scratch it. Acrylic is a completely different story.
 
josh_canada;4811382; said:
thanks, but how exactly do i run a protein skimmer, and also what is a sump?

thanks
Click to expand...

A sump is a tub, or a tank, or anything that holds water, that sits somewhere outside the tank and is used to filter the water, but can also be used to house equipment, or just increase the volume of water. For freshwater, you'd have different compartments, the first would hold mechanical media, or filter floss to trap the solid particles, and the next compartment would hold biological media, like bioballs or scrubbies, to house beneficial bacteria. However, in salt water, live rock contains all the beneficial bacteria you need. Some people have saltwater aquariums using the Berlin method, where they just have live rock, and powerheads that circulate water over them so that the bacteria do all the work in removing waste.

A protein skimmer is a filter that removes organic matter from the water column. It collects it in a cup as a thick foam, of which you dispose. There are two kinds, the kind that sit in the water (it would sit in your sump), and the kind that doesn't sit in water, which gets plumbed into your tank or sump so that it takes water, cleans it, and puts it back.
 
Sounds like you should do some general research on saltwater setups. There are some good sites on the web that help with this. I'll say it if someone else won't, MFK is primarily a FW fish website, although we have a very good SW section you should check out.

Basic SW setups are fish only, fish only with live rock, and coral reef tanks (sounds like you understand at least some of that already). They are set up differently, and there are different ways to set up each of them as well. Protein skimmers aren't usually needed on lightly stocked tanks, but they greatly aid in filtration. A big concern with SW is a lot of flow in the tank, they generally need a lot more than FW, which is what the powerheads you mentioned are used for.

Good luck!
 
josh_canada;4811443; said:
lastly, with a protein skimmer running, how often should i change the water and how much?
Click to expand...

There's no way to "eyeball" these sort of things. It would be best if you got yourself a saltwater testing kit. When phophates and nitrates get high, do a water change. You could also make one of these: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=180385 to keep those levels continuously low, at which point I'd recommend 25% water changes every two weeks, to replenish essential elements.
 
josh- i hope i may be able to help you out a lil bit. firstly are you setting up a 50 gal just for the mantis or are you going to be stocking with fish as well? at any rate, please keep in mind that if you are going to keep inverts, then basically you are going to want to setup a reef tank without the extra lighting and high flow. these are things you can upgrade ltr if you decide to add any photosynthetic corals. imho, i would use a protein skimmer as it will help in removing dissolved organics from the water. additionally live rock and a deep sand bed (dsb) will aid in filtration. too keep it simple the rock handles the ammonia and nitrite and the dsb handles the nitrates. As far as water changes go, im a big believer that small frequent changes are much better than larger infrequent ones. for ex 10-15% weekly as opposed to 25-30% every other week...as with any aquatic system, stability is the key.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom