i have a question

[chickenofthesea]

Live fish require as much filtration as corals do if not more. Fish create a lot of waste. That is why everyone is telling you all the other "BS" as you put it. corals require better lighting but filtration requirements are very similar. So, good luck doing this "your way" since you seem to have a strong grasp of the basics of keep marine fish and you have everything "figured out". Then don't be surprised in a few weeks when you have it all "figured out" and your fish are all dying and you just lost a bunch of $ in fish that people here tell you "I told you so". You are being really rude and for no real reason. Good Luck!

 

[NC2WA]

Sorry if you feel I (we) came off with an unfavorable tone. That was not our intent. I know most of the people on this thread and can tell you (as well as most ppl on the forum) they are friendly and would bend over backwards to help a reefer.

It sounds like you know exactly what you want, which I admire. However, since you do not want any LR in the tank, you will probably experience the following:

-Water chemistry fluctuations (that is, keeping ammonia, nitrites, nitrates in acceptable levels)
-Depending on size of tank, prepare to perform water changes weekly if not every 2-3 days
-Fish loss (which is dependent of how well points 1 and 2 are executed)

 

[IPisces]

When we talk about live rock, we are not meaning coral and such. We are meaning that it is alive with the bacteria needed to maintain good water quality. Without the rock to house and grow this bacteria, the water will continually build up with ammonia and nitrites, which will kill fish.
If it is really just money, get dry rock. You can usually find it at about 2$ a lb. I started my 180 with it. Takes a little time to cycle, and then get fake coral or bleached dead coral to place on the rock for your decor. That way too, when you do decide to try coral your tank will be cycled and ready for it. And just like freshwater tanks, the tank should cycle before you put any fish in it. To cycle meaning to grow and maintain the bacteria which makes the rock and sand live.

 

[Krish]

The only way IMO to get by without any liverock or live sand is to run a wet/dry system of some sort to provide an environment for the necessary bacteria to grow and do its duty of providing biological filtration for the tank. The end result will be nitrates and therefore if you aren't on top of water changes etc, you will end up with algae issues down the road as nitrates = fuel/food for algae to grow.

I'm sure what you are trying to do has been done/attempted before and all everyone is doing is trying to prevent you from headaches done the road with threads like, "Why are my fish dying?" or "Why is my tank cloudy??" or "Why is everything covered in red, brown and green algae?" etc.

With that said, it's your tank and you can go about it whichever way you want. All the best.


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[gfoster1983]

ok so i am doing a canister filter and a backpack bio-wheel filter. i am going to be doing t-5 lights and i will have 2 circulation pumps going. i want to do a fake insert that hase the reef look like what you see on the show tanked if anyone watches that. they are cool looking and i like them. all the reaserch i have done is that they are less maintanance and fish like them. i have found some online that i like but i would like to see one in person to see if its what i like. i was originaly going to use the live sand but was just thinking i could go with playground sand but im thinking im going to go back to live reef sand. hopefully that is better detail for what im going to have going on.

 

[gfoster1983]

ok so i am doing a canister filter and a backpack bio-wheel filter. i am going to be doing t-5 lights and i will have 2 circulation pumps going. i want to do a fake insert that hase the reef look like what you see on the show tanked if anyone watches that. they are cool looking and i like them. all the reaserch i have done is that they are less maintanance and fish like them. i have found some online that i like but i would like to see one in person to see if its what i like. i was originaly going to use the live sand but was just thinking i could go with playground sand but im thinking im going to go back to live reef sand. hopefully that is better detail for what im going to have going on. the tank is 48 long 18 deep and 22 high so it calculates to about 75 gallons

 

[Krish]

Just keep in mind that a canister filter with a bio-wheel is the same as using a wet/dry filter because it is nothing more than a highly oxygenated area for aerobic bacteria to grow and no anaerobic zones for anaerobic bacteria to grow. As a result, the end product will be nitrates. As it accumulates over time it will make way for algae to grow everywhere. Some people don't mind the look of algae while others aren't very particular.


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[mfinn]

The only way IMO to get by without any liverock or live sand is to run a wet/dry system of some sort to provide an environment for the necessary bacteria to grow and do its duty of providing biological filtration for the tank.




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Yeah!!! what he said.

A bio-wheel and a canister filter is not enough.

As far as what you said about it being less maintainace, algae will grow on anything . Plus I don't know who told you fish like the fake coral insert, but in my years of experince the only thing fish like,,, is something they can eat.

Oh I guess there is one other pass time they like too.

You can use pretty much any interior decor you like as long as it is inert material. You just have to provide enough biological filtration.
I'd suggest you look into a small wet/dry

 

[Jozee]

If you do decide to cycle your sand/substrate, please let us know - I for one would be willing to give you some established substrate to seed yours and help speed things up for you a bit. And seriously - I didn't mean anything negative by my comments. It's just that saltwater aquarium-keeping is a fantastic hobby or passion or addiction or whatever else some of us call it - it really is; BUT it is considerably more advanced than freshwater - it can be a lot of work and can also be unbelievably expensive sometimes, especially when you're just setting up, because "surprises" always inevitably surface when you least expect it.

It can be really easy to get into a hobby without realizing how much of a time and $-commitment it can be. I bet very few of us knew up front just how much so.

Apologies if you took anything I said the wrong way or if I inadvertently insulted you

 

[kpiotrowski]

I have a few bags of fine grade aragonite sand about the same size as playground sand. c'mon over and get em for free and I will show you one of my "reefs" wich is low tech and low cost....much less than a nice coral insert. This way you can see an example of what you can actualy do for the same cost as an insert. At the very least the aragonite will help maintian your ph for the fish. playground sand will not.

just understand that everyone is trying to help you here....just as I am.