Hello To You All! Newbie with Question, Please!

[Tommyb1508]

Hello to you all!

Newbie on here, Not sure how to start, but here goes!

My name is Tommy and I live in a small town just outside of Loch Lomond in a beautiful part of Scotland, UK.

I have been running a small modest tank now for nearly a year, and have had every bit of equipment possible to reduce phosphate and nitrates and algea etc, etc. Also have tried dosing everything in one form or another at one stage or another with good initial results.... But on longer periods of time remaining unchanged from their good intial reduced parameters, for what every reason.

And found your site via youTube and SantaMonica videos, and then find this site. Which is great, and have learnt a great deal from reading through most of the post, thanks!

I would just like to thank SantaMonica for the time he has given me!

I have placed an order for his very professional 100 units and i sure it will be a god send to me and my tank. I am not a pratical guy so this makes everything so much easier for me.

I have an approx volume with tank and sump after displacement of approx 116US Gallons tank size 48" (l) x 30" (w) x 26" (h)

I do not have a heavy stocking of fish now with returning, 3 big and healthy Tangs..... Blue, Lipstick and Kole on Monday of this week.

Bringing me onto my Question, Please!
Let me start off by saying sorry if i bore many of you or this topic is not what you want on your site!

As I mentioned above I have learnt a great deal from reading through most of the post but do require advice and help in the following:

Have been in long talks today with my wife regarding the way forward with our tank and introducing corals and which types to go for etc
The work involved insuring they have the best feed, water quality and dosing regime which are required with soft, sps etc.

Sharon (my better half!) likes the tank as it stands just now with sand, and live rock and Aquascaping. Some of the LR has good coverage of purple coralline algea and others not. and the majority of the other LR being coveredd in green algea, thats about it!

We would both like some colour in the tank aside from the fish we have at the minute but without the further commitment they would require. (Sorry if this is a poor excuse.. but with work comments getting more and more for us both, we would like the best from and for the tank with the time we have without pushing more onto the tank and then not being able to give the time that it requires...hope that made sense to you all!)

Sharon, My wife after searching the net has came across a few American Sites......(Why do you guys always have the answer to all my problems?...Is there nothing you dont have! Thats a compliment not a dig!!)

The sites are InstantReef and LivingColor both supply Artifical/Synthetic Corals.

I explained to Sharon that I was unsure but without having natural living corals would allow for a wider choice of fish, less need power powerful lighting and less requirement for dosing of calcium, mag, etc, etc.

But Not sure on the following thus reason for post if you could possible pass comments and advice or experiences!
Can a marine system manage without LR in the display tank.... as i thought this was for filtration?

If LR a requirement.... can the LR in tank be removed and part be p;aced into one of the sump sections?
I take it would require a lighting period?

Would your 100 unit work in this type of system SantaMonica? or not due to removal of LR?

Looking at the InstantReef site their designs seem to be narrow and allow for rocks to be stacked behind their display, not sure if this is to cut down on production/manufactor costs, or it's for the reason of keeping the LR withon the display?

Looking at LivingColor site they look a more polished looking company and product and their designs and colours don't look as cartoonish as LivingReef (if thats the correct wording to use!) Not meant to offend.... as it's hard to see a true repsentaion from pictures and website!

And they both have been operating for a very good number of years so many people have had the same idea as Sharon and I am having! and are make more than a healthy living from their product/s and service.

I have tried searching for British Supplier but nothing so it looks like it will need to be the same route as our scrubber and another import order.

Which in this instance is a little harder to convince Sharon as its hard to get a true picture of how things are without seeing them in the flesh. especially when it will have/be a more visual impact on the display than a functional piece of equipment!

It may even need to be a custom order than off the shelf pieces if costs are not too high and if the companies would consider carrying out such a small job for our small tank?

Hope you do have time to give your expert views in that you all have been reefing longer than my 1yr in the hobby and from your ideas thoughts designs you have all posted on here I am sure I will get an answer either way!

And if not then I am sorry to have bothered you on this matter as it is not what your site and your time is set up for.

Many Thanks and Kind Regards To You All!
Take Care and Be Safe
Cheers Tommy x

[SantaMonica]

The SM100 will certainly work on your tank, with or without rock, as long as you have an inch or so of sand on the bottom. But you need either sand or rock. Your tank is low and wide, and therefore has a lot of surface area for the sand, and, you don't have much of a fish bioload. After you've had things set up for a few months, and as long as nitrate remains zero, you can add more fish. The SM100, when fully grown-in, can handle 10 frozen food cubes per day. So whatever amount of fish you can have that will live on up to 10 cubes a day, you can have. At some point of more fish, you'd probably want to add rock, but I don't know how many fish that might be. It's more about feeding, than the fish.

If you do add rock, it can go anywhere, in the dark. The InstantReef one probably wants the rock behind the fake corals, because the fake corals are brighter.

Why not start with just sand, fish, and scrubber, and get it going for a while. This will give you time to decide on rock, etc.

[Tommyb1508]

Many Thanks SantaMonica,
Will take on baord your advice, thanks!

I have a present in the tank egg crate covering full base, with a covering of mixed grain size of live sand bed at an approx. depth of say 2". Ontop of this I have placed approx 30-45kilos of LR and Reef Plate, as mentioned tank has been running now for approx 1 yr, so hopefully seeded etc.

So if i understnd if we went to route of repalcing the LR Aquascape as it currently stand i could reuse some in the sump area to give tank some filtration and it does not require lighting, is the correct?

I have taken a few pictures this morning to give idea of setup, just hope i can work out how to post them!












I again thank =you for your feedback, if anyone has used these products or know of anyone that has used them and can give comment of which is best, more realistic, I would very much appreciated your comments.

I will try and post a more scrubber related post next time, honest.

As Always Many Thanks & Kind Regards
Tommy

[SantaMonica]

if we went to route of repalcing the LR Aquascape as it currently stand i could reuse some in the sump area to give tank some filtration and it does not require lighting, is the correct?

Correct. And the scrubber will keep everything algae-free.