OCAU Aquarium Owners Club - Page 67

brycer · 4th October 2005, 12:23 PM

I did visit a marine place in Melbourne that was promoting tanks run on this method. Stonking big powerhead, skimmer and live rock. Seemed a little too good to be true especially for the 250-350l tanks they were using.

Deltoid · 4th October 2005, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brycer

I did visit a marine place in Melbourne that was promoting tanks run on this method. Stonking big powerhead, skimmer and live rock. Seemed a little too good to be true especially for the 250-350l tanks they were using.

It does work though, its basically what bens tank is run on and the vast majority of marine keepers.

I think the method taksan was talking about though doesn't actually use a skimmer. It relies completely on what natural filtration you have in the tank itself to keep it clean.

MUTMAN · 4th October 2005, 9:55 PM

current setup

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can someone tell me what these are please

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ben_qld · 5th October 2005, 6:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brycer

I did visit a marine place in Melbourne that was promoting tanks run on this method. Stonking big powerhead, skimmer and live rock. Seemed a little too good to be true especially for the 250-350l tanks they were using.

Thats all 90% of marine tanks use, + a sandbed

Ben

brycer · 5th October 2005, 8:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MUTMAN

can someone tell me what these are please

Well there are some clown loaches in the first photo and what looks like cardinal tetra's in the back right corner. The bigger cichlids look like juvenile lombardoi - which I hope they arent given how incompatible they are in temprament and water requirements compared to the cardinals?

brycer · 5th October 2005, 8:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ben_qld

Thats all 90% of marine tanks use, + a sandbed

Ben

And do they work in the long run or are they a tale of woe? I look at your set up in comparison and conclude you are running the rig that way to:

a) stock more fish and grow coral
b) have a plumbing fetish

(jk)

But back on topic - is that style of setup similar maintenance to yours?

Deltoid · 5th October 2005, 9:36 PM

The true berlin system tanks (no mechanical filtration other then powerheads for circulation) can work well if set up correctly.

There is more maintenance involved as you need to do waterchanges more often and you can't stock as many fish/corals as the bioload gets a bit high.

But with a sump/fuge (fuge = sump full of weeds and crap like bens) and a good skimmer incombination with the berlin system (live sand and live rock) you can stock more fish/corals and have less maintenance....usually. I'm sure for some people it all goes wrong.

brycer · 6th October 2005, 8:22 AM

Okay I think I will do a fair bit more research. Would like to have a marine tank one day. For a smallish tank - 200L you would only expect to stock 2-4 clown loach size fish?

ben_qld · 6th October 2005, 8:36 AM

For a 200L tank, you could have a fair few fish, as long as they were small fish. In my current 3x2x2 system which is about 330L tank + 80L sump, I have 2 clowns, 1 wrasse, 1 blennie, 1 goby, 1 damsel, 1 tang, 2 chromis + about 50 hermit crabs, about 50 snails, a heap of shrimp, + loads of corals.

Its all about balance, I built myself a oversized skimmer to handle the high load, and if you do it slowly, then its ok. Also, most of my fish are alage eaters, so they spend most of the day feeding off the rocks and grazing on alage, so I dont need to feed them much. Which lowers the load on the filtration system.

In a 200L tank, if you only wanted fish, ie water quality wouldnt have to be perfect then you could have 2 clowns, + about 3 or so other fish. with all fish being about 1 - 1.5 inches long. If you wanted to keep corals, then you would need to either upgrade your filtration system, or lower the fish load.

Just for some comparison, this tank below is run on the berlin system, ie heaps of live rock and circulation, and no other filtration. It has been up for a few years, is heavily fed, and has about 20+ large fish. Its a 5x2x2. And it hasnt had a water change for about 2+ yrs

Ben

Infest · 6th October 2005, 10:07 AM

nice tank bro, I want those fish!

Mike

Deltoid · 6th October 2005, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ben_qld

In a 200L tank, if you only wanted fish, ie water quality wouldnt have to be perfect then you could have 2 clowns, + about 3 or so other fish. with all fish being about 1 - 1.5 inches long. If you wanted to keep corals, then you would need to either upgrade your filtration system, or lower the fish load.

Dude, I have 2 clowns about that size and 1 other fish around the same size at the moment and thats a 80L.

You could fit more then 5 1-1.5in fish in a 200L tank.

Anakist · 6th October 2005, 8:04 PM

Can someone identify this: http://au.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ana...e0.jpg&.src=ph

It has the blue stripe of a MJ, but not the colouring...

James

Crusher · 8th October 2005, 2:00 PM

Anyone got any tips for reducing snail head (shell?) count?

My gravel is now simply crawling with snails... I am netting about 20 a day out of the tank (they crawl up the sides at night soits easy to catch them) plus regularly scooping eggs and newly hatched snails from the surface.

The snails were in the gravel when I bought the tank. There were a few then but they have been multiplying out of control

It is getting very frustrating.. my current strategy is to remove the juvenile and baby snails as they are apparent, and also net the adults and other ones that are easy to find and that arent hiding in the gravel and sand, so that eventually they will die off due to lack of new snails and adult breeding snails.

How long do aquatic snails normally live for? Any tips on how to effectuvely remove snails from a tank?

I am almost resorting to scooping the gravel out of the tank adn letting it dry so they snails die, then adding it back in, but that will throw my algae and bio balance right out.

Thanks
Dave

ben_qld · 8th October 2005, 2:13 PM

Simple. Eliminate their food source.

Snails eat algae, algae needs light. give your tank less light, and there will be less algae, and then the snails will have less to eat

Ben

Crusher · 8th October 2005, 2:37 PM

my tank currently gets abut 12 hours a day from a flourescent light, it has no direct sunlight. What would you suggest, dropping this down to say 4-6 hours?

4th October 2005, 12:23 PM	#991
brycer Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Melbourne Aust Posts: 2,404	I did visit a marine place in Melbourne that was promoting tanks run on this method. Stonking big powerhead, skimmer and live rock. Seemed a little too good to be true especially for the 250-350l tanks they were using. __________________ q9400 @ Stock\|Gigabyte 965P-DQ6 \|4GB Crucial DDR2 800\| Gigabyte GTX275\| X-Fi Ext Music\| Seagate 320gb 7900.10 SATA \| 2x WD 120Gb SATA RAID0\| OCZ 700W PSU \| Antec Sonata Case \| SyncMaster 2333

4th October 2005, 9:55 PM	#993
MUTMAN Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: brisvegas Posts: 2,054	current setup Click to view full-sized image! Hosted by UGBox Image Store can someone tell me what these are please Click to view full-sized image! Hosted by UGBox Image Store Click to view full-sized image! Hosted by UGBox Image Store

5th October 2005, 9:36 PM	#997
Deltoid Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Brisbane Posts: 9,462	The true berlin system tanks (no mechanical filtration other then powerheads for circulation) can work well if set up correctly. There is more maintenance involved as you need to do waterchanges more often and you can't stock as many fish/corals as the bioload gets a bit high. But with a sump/fuge (fuge = sump full of weeds and crap like bens) and a good skimmer incombination with the berlin system (live sand and live rock) you can stock more fish/corals and have less maintenance....usually. I'm sure for some people it all goes wrong. __________________ PSN:Deltoid-

6th October 2005, 8:22 AM	#998
brycer Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Melbourne Aust Posts: 2,404	Okay I think I will do a fair bit more research. Would like to have a marine tank one day. For a smallish tank - 200L you would only expect to stock 2-4 clown loach size fish? __________________ q9400 @ Stock\|Gigabyte 965P-DQ6 \|4GB Crucial DDR2 800\| Gigabyte GTX275\| X-Fi Ext Music\| Seagate 320gb 7900.10 SATA \| 2x WD 120Gb SATA RAID0\| OCZ 700W PSU \| Antec Sonata Case \| SyncMaster 2333

6th October 2005, 10:07 AM	#1000
Infest Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Northside, Brisbane Posts: 4,341	nice tank bro, I want those fish! Mike __________________ Successful OCAU Trades silver6, Ma Baker, kjmantis, good, Long Haired Git, locopano, HunterAOX, romp, Arg999, paThetic, TheAnswer(x2), 7nothing, Spizz(x2), Display Name, Rainey, ni9ht_5ta1k3r, HaZZaD, Lmac, oldmcdonald, khangu, kyo_sigid, DJ Fusion, Orgazmo, wheelydude_13, Memph, rip_ghost, cybermatic, DARREN, geekface, jpw007, cactus, officer waffles

6th October 2005, 8:36 AM	#999
ben_qld Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Brisbane Posts: 1,525	For a 200L tank, you could have a fair few fish, as long as they were small fish. In my current 3x2x2 system which is about 330L tank + 80L sump, I have 2 clowns, 1 wrasse, 1 blennie, 1 goby, 1 damsel, 1 tang, 2 chromis + about 50 hermit crabs, about 50 snails, a heap of shrimp, + loads of corals. Its all about balance, I built myself a oversized skimmer to handle the high load, and if you do it slowly, then its ok. Also, most of my fish are alage eaters, so they spend most of the day feeding off the rocks and grazing on alage, so I dont need to feed them much. Which lowers the load on the filtration system. In a 200L tank, if you only wanted fish, ie water quality wouldnt have to be perfect then you could have 2 clowns, + about 3 or so other fish. with all fish being about 1 - 1.5 inches long. If you wanted to keep corals, then you would need to either upgrade your filtration system, or lower the fish load. Just for some comparison, this tank below is run on the berlin system, ie heaps of live rock and circulation, and no other filtration. It has been up for a few years, is heavily fed, and has about 20+ large fish. Its a 5x2x2. And it hasnt had a water change for about 2+ yrs Ben

8th October 2005, 2:00 PM	#1003
Crusher Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Sydney Posts: 3,061	snails Anyone got any tips for reducing snail head (shell?) count? My gravel is now simply crawling with snails... I am netting about 20 a day out of the tank (they crawl up the sides at night soits easy to catch them) plus regularly scooping eggs and newly hatched snails from the surface. The snails were in the gravel when I bought the tank. There were a few then but they have been multiplying out of control It is getting very frustrating.. my current strategy is to remove the juvenile and baby snails as they are apparent, and also net the adults and other ones that are easy to find and that arent hiding in the gravel and sand, so that eventually they will die off due to lack of new snails and adult breeding snails. How long do aquatic snails normally live for? Any tips on how to effectuvely remove snails from a tank? I am almost resorting to scooping the gravel out of the tank adn letting it dry so they snails die, then adding it back in, but that will throw my algae and bio balance right out. Thanks Dave Last edited by Crusher; 8th October 2005 at 2:01 PM.

8th October 2005, 2:13 PM	#1004
ben_qld Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Brisbane Posts: 1,525	Simple. Eliminate their food source. Snails eat algae, algae needs light. give your tank less light, and there will be less algae, and then the snails will have less to eat Ben

8th October 2005, 2:37 PM	#1005
Crusher Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Sydney Posts: 3,061	my tank currently gets abut 12 hours a day from a flourescent light, it has no direct sunlight. What would you suggest, dropping this down to say 4-6 hours?