Minimal equipment for fish-only system

[crrichey]

Hi everyone. I have a 60-gallon sitting in my room, and I thought that maybe I should use it as a fish-only setup (seeing as how I am too poor to afford good lighting and equipment for a reef tank). What sort of setup would you recomend for a fish-only setup? Sump or no sump, uv light or none, deep sand bed or shallow covering, faux corals or none?

[crrichey]

No one has an opinion or suggestion?

[moonpod]

For a FO I personally would use a wetdry, a big 'ol skimmer, a "tweener" sand bed, rocks, try to grow a lot of macros in the tank itself (fluorescent lighting), maybe ozone or UV. That's it. I would not use any in tank powerheads. Just get a return that runs about 10x hr and run it to two returns on either side of the tank.

[crrichey]

Well, that sounds a little oversimplified, but that does sound reasonable. So is the macro in the display to help offset the nitrate produced by the wet/dry filter, or is it mearly decorative? Eather way, I like the look of macro, I have some currently growing in my 29-gallon caribbean reef tank. What exactly is "tweener"? Does that mean shallow/ decorative?

How's this sound?

Filter: Bio-Rocker 300 Deluxe Kit Complete

Skimmer: Nautilus Skimmer TE

Return pump: Mag Drive Pump 950

Overflow: CS 100 overflow for glass or acrylic aquariums up to 175 gal. Flow rate 800 gph. 10" wide 1" bulkhead outflow.

Lighting: 2x48" NO fluorescent hood from homedepot. 1x6,500K bulb, 1xactinic 03.

[moonpod]

it functions to help export some nutrients, provide something that is alive in the tank other than the fish, if you get it growing very dense you'll still be able to maintain a copepod population despite the fish and yes, 2-4" or so is what I would deem good for that purpose.

[bergzy]

i too would:

- have a 10x tank turnover in the sump
- nice daylight ande actinic no lighting
- wet/dry filter
- good skimming (24/7)
- ozone to increase clarity and fry up organics
- fuge - definitely! for even more effective nutrient export and fish will like you more

option:

- one or two powerheads for circulation
- uv filter (if you have too much money!)

thats about it.

i am planning to use live rock for my fo tank though. just a preference, that's all!

[crrichey]

If I am going to have a fuge, why would I bother getting a uv filter?!?!?! I was planning on keeping a few large fish anyway, but it is always somthing to think about. I am going to use a little bit of liverock to seed this base rock that my lfs carries. It is very interesting in apperance. I am only going to use enought base rock to create a focal point in the aquarium, later on I plan on upgrading a few things and turning it into a reef tank, once I have the money.

[Frick-n-Frags]

For a FO, I would also have a wet-dry and a skimmer(or a good ole reverse UG and a HOB skimmer with no sump) but I would have a very thin layer(1", maybe 2" with the UG setup) of coarse aragonite in the main tank. Then I would use one of those siphon based gravel cleaners that sucks up the waste but not the gravel because the sandbed in the main tank will foul(and cement in the UG filter case) if not cleaned regularly.

I would maybe consider an ATS, but I think a pod fuge would just be trashed by cyano and become an ATS anyway

[Worm]

i guess i'm way too simplified
on my REEF tank, I only have a 180 reef ready tank with a 75 gallon sump/refugium and 2 Rio(yes, Rio) retturn pumps that feed 2 3/4" seaswirls. i have 2 400W MH's on the main tank and 2 48" NO over the refugium.

I do not have a skimmer, reactor or any other equipment.
I would think for a fish tank, you may want a skimmer, but, otherwise, keep it simple. The macro in the tank and possibly in the sump(depending on the kind of fish you will have..e.g. tangs) is a great idea.

[Agu]

First of all. I'd recommend drilling the tank, price isn't much different than a hob overflow.

Next I'd do a modified wet/dry. Instead of artificial media I'd recommend cheap rubble live rock.

In the tank I'd use a thin sand layer (unless you want fish that need deep sand like some wrasses) and I'd aquascape it with cheap base rock or dead rock. I'd recommend about #50 of rock. Aquascape so there's plenty of swimming room but there are still hiding places. Any leftover rock goes in the sump. Basically the plan is to turn dead rock into live rock and eventually have that be your main source of filtration.

Skimmer depends on how many and how messy your fish are going to be, but you'll probably need one.

You planned lights will be fine.

Doing it this way when you have money for lights you'll already have the live rock,

Agu

[moonpod]

JMO, a protein skimmer is indispensible. I know some people have success without them, but personally I am a BIG protein skimmer fan for ANY sort of marine tank. I do agree that in terms of plumbing keep it simple b/c you don't need to generate big flow and you won't have big heat generating lights so submersible pumps are probably fine.

[crrichey]

Thnx for all of the suggestions! The aquarium is tempered glass, so I don't think that it can be drilled, and I certainly don't want it broken!

[Agu]

Typically only the bottom is tempered, if you know the brand you can check with the manufacturer. If it can't be drilled I'd suggest using all hob equipment and skipping the sump.

jmo,

Agu

[crrichey]

I don't remember what brand it is anymore, is there a way to determine whether the side panels are tempered or not?

[crrichey]

BTW, what would you guys say the maximum total amount of Blue Chromis would be for a 60-gallon with a wet/dry filter plus a good skimmer and what not? I think a fairly large shoal would be cool in a 60-gallon. Maybe just them and a royal gramma would be all.