Can I? [followed by a set of common questions---with answer]

[Sk8r]

Can I---
1. use tapwater in setup. ----No.
2. use tapwater in an emergency when I can't make ro/di fast enough---yes. You'll have some algae issues, but only moderately.
3. start with corals instead of fish? ---Yes. But ask questions about the lighting.
4. get a fish yet---No. Not unless your tank is cycled and you have a live CUC working. THEN you can start a fish in quarantine.
5. Use this rock---if it's positively identified as limestone, yes. If it's been where lawn chemicals and weedkiller have gotten sprayed on it, no.. Find another rock.
6. use sea water ----No. unless you collected it from about a mile out to sea.
7. do without a sump---No, unless you're a nano, an all-in-one, or a fish-only, or are prepared to keep it really basic.
8. get a [fill in name of difficult-keeping or exotic whatever]---no. This is the novice forum. If you're asking in here, the best answer is no.
9. keep softies with stonies---Not the best idea. In the environment in which stonies thrive, softies will take over the universe. You'll be peeling them off the glass.
10. train my fish not to eat corals---No. You don't speak angel and he doesn't speak English.

 

[ericarenee]

I love Number 10 and 8 .. But disagree with number 7..

I Got Yelled at yesterday by someone who has a Gorgeous tank with all Hang on Equipment... MY Answer would Yes but with a unsightly mess on the back of your tank. BUt please do not do it ...(Just so he does not hunt me down today and yell again)

 

[Sk8r]

Yep, there are exceptions to everything but gravity---and even it's lighter at some spots on earth---but don't set your heart on being one. Remember, Murphy rules all fish tanks, and his first rule is: if anything can go wrong it will, and at the worst possible moment.

 

[cherryfox22]

Could you elaborate more on number 7? I really wanted to go sump less (had a sump flood before, don't want that to happen ever again), and just have a HOB skimmer and some other sort of HOB or canister filter, or maybe refugium.

What do you mean by "really basic?"

 

[ericarenee]

Yep, there are exceptions to everything but gravity---and even it's lighter at some spots on earth---but don't set your heart on being one. Remember, Murphy rules all fish tanks, and his first rule is: if anything can go wrong it will, and at the worst possible moment.

So True...

Could you elaborate more on number 7? I really wanted to go sump less (had a sump flood before, don't want that to happen ever again), and just have a HOB skimmer and some other sort of HOB or canister filter, or maybe refugium.

What do you mean by "really basic?"

How did your sump end up flooding your floor?
. Usually skimmers hanging on back will Overflow worse then a sump... Canister filters are a NO NO in my opinion as they are super high maintenance or become a Detritus Trapping Nutrient Factory...

 

[gone fishin]

#10:lol:

 

[Sk8r]

Sumps don't overflow if you set them up to have enough 'freeboard' (free space) to handle a power-out condition. Pump shuts down, an inch or so of draindown from the top tank goes into the sump, sump still has plenty of room left. Draindown stops because the water reached the 'break' created by the second wall of the downflow box upstairs. It's just---water can't overflow if you don't have the sump water level set too high. The only other thing that can overflow a sump is a runaway ATO pump --- autotopoff---which you can prevent by having a dual float switch, meaning an upper limit (high water) cutoff as well as a low-water trigger. Or by having a controller, which is more expensive, but also a nice thing.