Setting up a 80 gal acrylic FOWLR

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Sarertnoc Kram

Sarertnoc Kram

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Apr 11, 2012
489
2
33
Las Vegas
I have a few things from my FW tanks that I think can be used.
Power head that pushes a really strong current not sure of the flow.
Two fluval canisters a 305 and a 205 and a HOB tetra 30/60 that I have in the garage.
The tank and stand and canopy with lights.

I want a marine setup as that is the direction I wanted to start out in but wanted to learn fw first.
What are a few more things I would need?


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Ultimately what do you want this tank be? What kind of stock are thinking about? answering those questions will make this thread more successful.

The most important part of sw is patience. It takes time to get things setup right.

HOB and canister filtes arent used much in sw. Most sw tanks are filterd by liverock and a protein skimmer, most people run around 2lbs of liverock per gallon of water. Now some people do run HOB or canister filters and have success. You just have to stay on top of cleaning the canister every week or every other week. If you put a small bioload on the tank you could get away with just liverock and good flow through the tank with weekly or biweekly water changes. If you do this you could the HOB filter and use it only for mechanical filtration and clean it with every water change. But if you want a heavy bioload you might want to look in to HOB skimmer or drilling the tank and put in a bulkhead or gl*******s kit. Since you have an acrylic tank it would be really easy. Then find a cheap 20-40g used tank to use as a sump, then pick up a return pump and you are good to go. Running a sump would give a lot of flexibility with stocking.

Something to also look at is your water quality out of the tap. If you have poor water quality you might want to look in to a RO or RO/DI unit to filter your water. This will help keep your tank free of unwanted algea.

That is probably enough info to get your gears turning. Ask more questions as they pop up and we will help.
 
I saw that towards the end of the post I wasn't sure if I can edit it but now I know that I can the tanks 80 gallon tall 4' x 24 CI about 1618 inch width of what I want to do is set I want to end up in salt water so I was thinking maybe dwarf lionfish to keep in there by himself with the liverock maybe a little bit of a cleanup crew and a sump eventually as far as some things and stuff like that I'll probably build it myself but I don't have the supplies to do it now if I was thinking with just the one or two inhabitants because it's such a large tank and the bioload I am sure will be low


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I want to use a PUR water filter to take out most of the hard stuff. Vegas water is about 7.8 out the tap I keep reading online and I am going to pick up a large 55 gal food grade container to mix with and have a steady supply of mixed water


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I'm pretty sure those pur water filters are just carbon. If they are it won't remove a lot, but will remove chlorine and chloramines. You really want want something that will remove a lot more than a simple carbon filter will.

RO or RO/DI isn't needed but will make your aquarium more stable and limit a lot of algae issues. That could make your tank a PITA. Just some advice.


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I use a PUR water filter for my setup and lately I have been having hair algae issues pretty bad. I dont have room for a RO/DI system so thats what I have to use. As far as stability as long as you watch your levels closely you will be fine. I have had to pick up a yellow tang, nassarius snails, cerith snails, sand sifting stars, emerald crabs and a sea hare to combat my hair algae problem as well as putting a scrubber in my sump and only running my DT lights for only 7.5 hours a day. As long as you dont mind doing all that you'll be fine but if you have room for an RO/DI unit its a definate recommendation.

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Yea rodi and sump I think I will purchase next as well as return pump and things like that. I have my community fish in there now but will be moved to a 60. I am reading most of the posts on here but our site is not very saltwater enthusiastic as freshwater


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