Tank and pics

[eric@tampa]

If I were you the next piece of equipment I bought would be a ro/di system,it's one of the best investments that you will make.Check in the Sponsor section,lots to choose from.A lot of people have told you to slow down which is not a bad idea and they are not saying this to be mean...remeber only bad things happen fast in this hobby.Good luck and do lots of research,I spent over a year doing just that before my first tank.

 

[kclewis]

I give it another month and that nitrate factory on your tank is going to kill everything in it.

 

[Angel*Fish]

That's a little extreme don't you think?!

 

[Cuervo]

Tank is looking good man. Keep doing what you have been doing - keep an eye on your water params, keep up with your water changes.

Look at a decent HOB skimmer. I hated lugging water back and forth from the store, so I got an RO/DI early on, but that's just me.

 

[kclewis]

Not at all. It's just a matter of time. In my opinion it would be better off just using the skimmer and l.r. And removing the filter. Mark my word it will happen.

 

[Angel*Fish]

Not at all. It's just a matter of time. In my opinion it would be better off just using the skimmer and l.r. And removing the filter. Mark my word it will happen.

I hope no one marks your word - that is simply wrong. Sure the LR and skimmer are preferable, but the "nitrate factory" is not going to kill his fish. Considering that so much of the rock is holey rock, if he popped that biowheel off of there THAT might cause a crash.

 

[heckfire]

Why do you feel sorry for them when they have perfect water parameters...? I don't plan on doing a fuge. Also, im not having enough issues to feel that a skimmed is my tanks life or death. In fact many hobbyist I have "read up" on don't use a skimmed and my nitrates are 0. You say read up, as if there is only one method to read up on. What if I "read up" on someone who uses an hob and has great luck?

remember,, you are on a forum asking for advice and you must take the good with the bad,, i have been there and done that....you have enough livestock for a 90 gallon ,,without a skimmer or a fuge your not gonna go far, i promise, there are alot more issues to deal with besides nitrates,, your hob filter is made for fish only freshwater,, its gonna be a nightmare to maintain

 

[kclewis]

Angel would you scrap your setup for his?

 

[kclewis]

Sorry if I'm coming across as an *** but the hob filter is not meant for saltwater. If he had a bio ball tower he would have 20+ posts saying get rid of it. His hob is doing the same thing as a bio tower.

 

[heckfire]

I hope no one marks your word - that is simply wrong. Sure the LR and skimmer are preferable, but the "nitrate factory" is not going to kill his fish. Considering that so much of the rock is holey rock, if he popped that biowheel off of there THAT might cause a crash.

he is talking corals in a 40 gallon 2 month old tank with no skimmer, no fuge and a hob filter , you tell me how this is gonna work out

 

[steelerfan1]

Sorry if I'm coming across as an *** but the hob filter is not meant for saltwater. If he had a bio ball tower he would have 20+ posts saying get rid of it. His hob is doing the same thing as a bio tower.

kclewis,

i have no dog in this fight and am new here and will be filling my tank tomorrow.

i have seen some nice tanks with a hangon filter (ritten and greech off hand) and i will be using an ac110 for polyfilter and carbon.

any reason why this will be a bad idea for me?

thanks for your time.

 

[Angel*Fish]

Klewis, I don't think anyone is disputing that, but I had one for 2 years on a 30g without a skimmer and it worked fine. Not as fine if I'd wanted sps or an anemone. I couldn't figure out why my water quality wasn't perfect and it was frustrating. A skimmer was some exotic thing they had on one of the tanks at the LFS and I had all holey rock. Then I bought one teeny piece of extremely live Florida rock just before it was illegal. It was that little 4 inch piece of LR that fascinated me more than anything else in the tank. And I finally had an anemone (aiptasia) lol. And the rest is history as they say.

He's just starting out. If someone had posted that I was going to kill all my fish because of the biowheel, it would have sent me into a panic.

 

[heckfire]

Klewis, I don't think anyone is disputing that, but I had one for 2 years on a 30g without a skimmer and it worked fine. Not as fine if I'd wanted sps or an anemone. I couldn't figure out why my water quality wasn't perfect and it was frustrating. A skimmer was some exotic thing they had on one of the tanks at the LFS and I had all holey rock. Then I bought one teeny piece of extremely live Florida rock just before it was illegal. It was that little 4 inch piece of LR that fascinated me more than anything else in the tank. And I finally had an anemone (aiptasia) lol. And the rest is history as they say.

He's just starting out. If someone had posted that I was going to kill all my fish because of the biowheel, it would have sent me into a panic.

ok,, i will ask again,,he is talking corals in a 40 gallon 2 month old tank with no skimmer, no fuge and a hob filter , you tell me how this is gonna work out

 

[Peter T]

he is talking corals in a 40 gallon 2 month old tank with no skimmer, no fuge and a hob filter , you tell me how this is gonna work out

If I sound like I am being argumentative, I apologize as that is not what I intend. But if you look at all the smaller AIO reef tanks such as Biocubes, Nanocubes, and Aquapods, that is essentially what you just described. A filter mesh screen, bioballs, and no skimmers. Only difference is no HOB filter. I've seen some nice tanks using just the equipment provided and with the bioballs taken out.

While I do agree with the fact that an HOB filter isn't conducive to a reef tank; I think it is a little strong to say it WILL crash. You just need to do more water changes more often and have quite a bit of LR for filtration purposes. I would suggest SLOWLY taking out the filter material in your HOB and allow your LR to pick up the filtration purposes if you haven't done so already. As Sugar Magnolia said, run some chemi-pure for the polished water effect.

Well good luck man, not bad looking after 2 months!

edit: Angel*Fish, is that a Valentini puffer I see in your pic? If it is, how did it do with your coral?

 

[kclewis]

He should panic. With the $$$ already spent in livestock he could have a nice skimmer. The bio load from the fish will overwhelm the filter. Pretty sure he has already posted that he had dead chromis. If you don't want to listen to me listen to the other posts of slow down. I will ask you this angel. Do you think his tank has even cycled? I doubt it. In my opinion he should start adding some equipment to help prolong life not just tell him everything looks great. Add a skimmer add some good live rock. Ditch the holy rock. If you don't want to add a sump look into a hang on fuge. Have we even questioned his lights and if they are suitable for coral? When I read his post I see a tank that is in for BIG problems.

 

[Angel*Fish]

Read the thread, everyone has already told him he's going too fast and he says his next purchase is a skimmer (and corals - he didn't specify what kind). To the OP, best not to add anything for a while.
I don't know what all the discussion is about. No one is saying biowheels are wonderful. I simply objected to this statement

I give it another month and that nitrate factory on your tank is going to kill everything in it.

Is there a problem because I'm not trying to give him a hard time?

 

[Angel*Fish]

If I sound like I am being argumentative, I apologize as that is not what I intend. But if you look at all the smaller AIO reef tanks such as Biocubes, Nanocubes, and Aquapods, that is essentially what you just described. A filter mesh screen, bioballs, and no skimmers. Only difference is no HOB filter. I've seen some nice tanks using just the equipment provided and with the bioballs taken out.

While I do agree with the fact that an HOB filter isn't conducive to a reef tank; I think it is a little strong to say it WILL crash. You just need to do more water changes more often and have quite a bit of LR for filtration purposes. I would suggest SLOWLY taking out the filter material in your HOB and allow your LR to pick up the filtration purposes if you haven't done so already. As Sugar Magnolia said, run some chemi-pure for the polished water effect.

Well good luck man, not bad looking after 2 months!

edit: Angel*Fish, is that a Valentini puffer I see in your pic? If it is, how did it do with your coral?

Yes, he was fine. But he liked snails and was a holdover from a previous tank. I got rid of him.

I said it MIGHT cause a crash. But what I was really doing was trying to mirror klewis's overly emphatic statement and point out that you can't just take off the biowheel with its beneficial bacteria until you know you have enough rock to make up for it.

I think when you see a pristine reef tank in one of those cubes they have removed the wheel and bioballs, sometimes replacing with LR rubble as you mentioned.

 

[~RuSh~]

I give it another month and that nitrate factory on your tank is going to kill everything in it.

Not at all. It's just a matter of time. In my opinion it would be better off just using the skimmer and l.r. And removing the filter. Mark my word it will happen.

He should panic.

If this is the kind of 'advice' you're going to pass on, maybe you should just move on. Nothing like shattering the spirit of a new hobbyist. He's here, he's trying to learn. In fact I'm no more knowledgeable about salt than he is probably. If you want to help someone out, offer solid advice without the harassment. If he doesn't listen then there's nothing you can do. But being an a** doesn't do anyone any good. :thumbdown

 

[Pallan]

If this is the kind of 'advice' you're going to pass on, maybe you should just move on. Nothing like shattering the spirit of a new hobbyist. He's here, he's trying to learn. In fact I'm no more knowledgeable about salt than he is probably. If you want to help someone out, offer solid advice without the harassment. If he doesn't listen then there's nothing you can do. But being an a** doesn't do anyone any good. :thumbdown

well said.. all agree equipment is a benifit but seen plenty of gorgeous biocubes with minimal equipment... the HOB filter will suffice for now, as long as he maintains and does his water changes.. it will not be the cause of a crash IMO... are there better ways, most surely but its what he has now.. unless someone wants to pony up and ship him a skimmer

Tank looks good. take your time and enjoy the hobby do lots of research about whatever you buy, and plan for your future livestock purchases and equipment purchases alot of things cant be together or have very specific requirments.. good luck and continue to ask questions everyone here means well and has nothing but your best interest at heart. some are just more passionate then others

 

[potsky0122]

ah yes i remember my days of newbdom. i kinda get the feeling your gonna learn how to keep a reef the hard way. but that's okay, imo that's the best way. that's how i learned. i would reccoment adding more live rock and keeping up on your water changes, do it once a week, 5-10%. your tank hasn't cycled completely, "they" say that it takes up to 9 mos. for a tank to become fully settled. if that's a fire shrimp i see in ther i hear they eat corals sometimes as well as the sally lightfoot. btw what kind of lighting do you have on there?