New Tank Setup Advice - FOWLR in AquaEuro 19G (Biocube Style)

[treminga]

Good morning All!

I purchased an AquaEuro Nano tank many years ago. Originally I was going to use it as a quarantine/hospital tank for my 72G Bowfront. That never happened due to a mishap as well as a move that never allowed me to really reset it up.

It has been several years since I was in the hobby and I now have my own house and a 16mo Son. I have always wanted to get back into it, but the wife has always been the barrier . Now when I take the son to aquariums or pet stores he is completely mesmerized by the fish area. This gave me a small window to push to setup this brand new (but old) tank for him/I.

My eventual goal is that this will lead to larger and larger tanks in the future. In the short terms though I am looking at setting this up as a FOWLR tank, possible a soft coral or two, nothing extensive.

I would say my limit to weekly maintenance is around 30 minutes a day for top offs, dumping of collection cups, feeding. With a weekly hour on the weekends for a real water change, etc. I just can't do the multiple hours a week.

I am looking for some advice as to ideal setup, limited stocking, etc.

Here are a few pictures of the unit I have:

A little about the water flow on this tank...
It comes with quite a few things- bio balls, stones, floss filter, etc. I am not married to at all.
Per this picture you can see the following water flow...
1.) Water enters in overflow.
2.) Passes through slower opening into chamber 2
3.) Passes over wall from chamber 2 into chamber 3
4.) Passes through chamber 3 into chamber 4 through lower vents
5.) Chamber 4 has two ports allowing for pushing water out into the main tank. This chamber is a bit odd since it is reversed "L" shaped. It actually travels under chamber 2 and 3. Pumps were supplied by the manufacturer to push the water out into the tank.

Here is a drawing on the outside of how the chambers are split up:

Lighting on the tank is as follows:
1x CF 36w Actinic Lighting
1x CF 36w 10K White Lighting
8x LED Blue Moon Lights

Unfortunately the lighting is all tied to one plug, so I will more then likely setup a second moon lighting inside the tank, and leave all other functions on and hooked to a timer. They have individual switches, but no way to automate it without hacking in some types of times internally. All lighting is tied to various fans built into the hood which should help with heat.

I am planning on the following two items off the bat:
API Saltwater Master Test kit
HDE LCD Digital Thermometer
Eheim Jager 125W heater - may be overkill, but rather that then the opposite

My local store has a great fish section and I can purchase RO water $0.65/gal and pre-mixed RO/Kent Salt Walter for $1.25/gal. For now I expect to fill the tank with their RO and Salt mix. Very knowledgeable staff so I trust them on this. They also made some great recommendations regarding media for the system.

Was going to also look into if the inTank Media Basket will fit in this setup, or try to build something similar. I found it here: http://www.amazon.com/Coralife-Biocube-29-Media-Basket/dp/B00B40NHH8/ref=pd_bxgy_199_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0HB0M3FD6K5A29R6ZPVA

I think my biggest questions are as follows:
1.) Do I need a skimmer, and what would work/fit and make sense?
2.) What media would be recommended, and change recommendations?
3.) The items listed above, are I off target or not?
4.) I expect maintenance, but like everyone out there, I want to minimize time as much as possible and still provide an excellent quality of life for whatever goes in.

Again, this is just to get my foot back in the door with the wife in terms of this hobby. I plan to leverage my Son as much as possible to manipulate my wife in this situation. I am fully aware this will max out with just a couple small fish, live rock and if I am lucky a few small polyp soft corals at max. Would like to strictly start out as FOWLR though.

Thanks, I am really looking forward to being a larger part of the community as I get this back up to speed. Here is a pic of my original tank about 1/2 a year in:

 

[Learn It]

1.) Do I need a skimmer, and what would work/fit and make sense?
- You will get different answers on this, however, no skimmer is necessary for a tank this size with your goals. It will simply cost more money, take up more room and add more maintenance.
2.) What media would be recommended, and change recommendations?
- Filter floss, carbon and GFO as needed. Clean/change floss as it gets dirty (1-2x per week). Change carbon as recommended (most people change every 1-2mo). GFO if your P04 are creeping up, or more importantly, algae is growing too quickly.
3.) The items listed above, are I off target or not?
- You seem on point with your goals/expectations.
4.) I expect maintenance, but like everyone out there, I want to minimize time as much as possible and still provide an excellent quality of life for whatever goes in.
- Only use RODI water and consider an ATO. They can be found for 80-100$ and greatly reduce time spent on the tank. Plan for 15-25% WC every 7-10 days.

 

[treminga]

Thanks Learn It!

Do you have a recommended brand for these media?

I was looking at an ATO for exactly your point- was thinking the Tunze Osmolator Nano or JBJ system.

Based on the flow of water would you put different media in different chambers, and if so, would you recommend an order?

In the past I never used ANY mechanical filtration at all except a floss filter, and I can't remember the type I used before, but I know it was a wildly popular one (6 years ago). Or should I just be using my large black filter I have pictured in there?

1.) Do I need a skimmer, and what would work/fit and make sense?
- You will get different answers on this, however, no skimmer is necessary for a tank this size with your goals. It will simply cost more money, take up more room and add more maintenance.
2.) What media would be recommended, and change recommendations?
- Filter floss, carbon and GFO as needed. Clean/change floss as it gets dirty (1-2x per week). Change carbon as recommended (most people change every 1-2mo). GFO if your P04 are creeping up, or more importantly, algae is growing too quickly.
3.) The items listed above, are I off target or not?
- You seem on point with your goals/expectations.
4.) I expect maintenance, but like everyone out there, I want to minimize time as much as possible and still provide an excellent quality of life for whatever goes in.
- Only use RODI water and consider an ATO. They can be found for 80-100$ and greatly reduce time spent on the tank. Plan for 15-25% WC every 7-10 days.

 

[JHawlz9989]

1.) Do I need a skimmer, and what would work/fit and make sense?
- I would encourage a skimmer., but as Learn It mentioned it certainly is not required. Yes, you have to get it set up and clean the cup once a week or so, but it does provide some cushion in the event that you miss a water change due to work/life responsibilities.
2.) What media would be recommended, and change recommendations?
- I like BRS ROX carbon through a reactor. I use more than required and that sort of helps me defer changing it out a bit longer. I try to replace mine once a month and use no other filter media. You can it as well, just passively in a bag in one of the chambers.
3.) The items listed above, are I off target or not?
- Generally on target. The digital thermometer is just informational as far as I'm concerned, since it presumably is not controlling your heater. I think the heater is fine - I have a 200w on my 20 gallon. As far as the test kit, I would say it's not super critical. You're only shooting for a FOWLR (currently), and if you start off with established live rock and let it stabilize for a couple of weeks, there's no risk of ammonia spikes in my opinion as long as you stock prudently. Others may disagree.
4.) I expect maintenance, but like everyone out there, I want to minimize time as much as possible and still provide an excellent quality of life for whatever goes in.
- Key here would be an ATO in my opinion. I have the full Tunze (forget what model - both the optic eye and float switch) and quality of life for me went up a lot when I didn't have to worry about salinity on a day-to-day basis, and health of corals definitely improved. I consider this to be a fundamental piece of equipment that you can take with you on every tank and always recoup some value if you need to sell it.

I would evaluate if you want to consistently find yourself going to the store to buy water or if you would prefer to mix some at home. Obviously the up front cost is much higher but I appreciate the flexibility you get being able to mix it up any time you want.

Josh