introduce myself

[eliotd]

Hi all, I hope you won't kick me out right off the bat in that I don't have a marine aqurium. I have had in the past -- years and years ago, a very simple fish-only that didn't last very long. Currently I have only a 29 gal freshwater aquarium with community fish. But It is very heavily planted and uses two hang-on filters and a wet/dry trickle filter. I have found that such an arrangement is loved by the plants. and the fish appear very healthy and especially colorful. The aquarium gives me much solice and pleasure.

I am currently reading a very old book on marine fish keeping, called, The Salt Water Aquarium Manual by Robert J. Valenti. I suppose it's way out of date, but I find things to learn in it. I warming up to getting back into marine fish keeping , but I'm taking my time and trying to creep up the learning curve before plunging in. I hope you will be patient with me.

What do you think about trickle filters for fresh water fish, anyway? Would a protein skimmer be overkill? What about a fresh water refugium? Woud it do anything to remove nitrates? Thanks for hearing me out.

 

[dustin_P74]

welcome to the site

 

[daugherty]

What do you think about trickle filters for fresh water fish, anyway? Would a protein skimmer be overkill? What about a fresh water refugium? Woud it do anything to remove nitrates? Thanks for hearing me out.

if this for for a salt tank than you at least need to have a skimmer it is one of the most important peices of equiptment. and the trickle filter will work but can lead to nitrate problems.(some people do and some dont).
i

 

[reeffreak]

Welcome to the site!

If you are asking if a protein skimmer works in freshwater than it doesn't.Saltwater is more sudsy and heavier giving the microbubbles more contact time.I don't see a problem in adding an area(refugium) to grow additional plants.Basically,a second aquarium attached to the main display.I've never use a trickle in freshwater but they both work the same in both.When you do/if decide to jump into marine aquaria,a sump/refugium w/protein skimmer is something you might want to consider over a trickle filter.They can lead to high nitrates if the bioballs are not cleaned on a regular basis.

Welcome!

 

[Keaton]

Welcome to the forum. Are considering getting back into saltwater?

 

[lightcs4]

Welcome to the site. Nobody is going to kick you out due to your tank. Ask questions and enjoy the site!

 

[Bifferwine]

Hi and welcome!

 

[eliotd]

A question for "reeffreak": if I were to clean the bioballs in my freshwater aquarium wet/dry filter, as you suggest to avoid nitrate problems, wouldn't that undo the benificial(aerobic) bactiria that the bioballs and the trickle filter are set up to create?

 

[eliotd]

question about cost of lighting

Why is the lighting for marine aquariums -- especially reef set-ups -- so expensive?

 

[eliotd]

protein skimmer for freshwater

reeffreak, aside from the technical question of how long the bubbles must be in contact with the water, assuming it could be done somehow -- perhaps with a greater area of contact between water and bubbles -- would a protein skimmer be benificial to a freshwater aquarium? Why would it be important to get rid of that "gunk" in salt water but not in fresh?

 

[freshreef]

hi and welcome! tank sound good i also have a fw tank. a book that i like that has helped me to get into salt water is "the new marine aquarium" you might want to check it out. glad to see you here!

 

[Smitty]

Hello and Welcome to the site.

 

[Bifferwine]

A protein skimmer will not work in a freshwater aquarium. You need the density of saltwater for it to work.

Also, reef tank lighting is expensive because corals are photosynthetic animals. You have to try to mimic the sun to get them to live in our tanks. And copying the light output of the sun is very difficult, and very costly.

 

[eliotd]

lighting for reef tanks

So, do hobyists in tropical climates sometimes set up outdoor aquariums and use natural sunlight?

 

[yote]

Welcome to the site.
The reason we want to pull the gunk out the water in out reef tanks,is because coral reefs are basically nutrient poor waters to to having no nutrients at all.Where dissolved nutrients actually encourage plant growth,it limits or kills corals.

 

[dustin_P74]

Re: question about cost of lighting

Why is the lighting for marine aquariums -- especially reef set-ups -- so expensive?

because some corals, anemones, and clams need a massive amount of light to live and it cant be just any old light, it has to be special light

 

[dustin_P74]

Re: lighting for reef tanks

So, do hobyists in tropical climates sometimes set up outdoor aquariums and use natural sunlight?

they can, even you can use the sun with your aquarium but you would still need a powerful set of lights to help supplement the sun because you wouldnt be getting as much and as powerful light from the sun that a coral reef gets

 

[reeffreak]

A question for "reeffreak": if I were to clean the bioballs in my freshwater aquarium wet/dry filter, as you suggest to avoid nitrate problems, wouldn't that undo the benificial(aerobic) bactiria that the bioballs and the trickle filter are set up to create?

In saltwater it's advise to clean 1/3 at a time a week apart so not to kill all the beneficial bacteria.Part of the reason I asked you to look into a sump/fuge with a skimmer and to skip trickle altogether was because we all use live rock as the biological filter.It does the same as bioballs except you never have to clean it(unless you have algae) and doesn't accumulate nitrate over time.Even some of the deepest parts of liverock void of o2 will provide a little NNR(natural nitrate reduction.)

I wasn't suggesting that you clean the bioballs in your freshwater.There probably a benefit of having a little nitrate for your freshwater plants.In saltwater,even small amounts of nitrate will only fuel nuisance algae growth.

 

[eliotd]

Thank you all for the fine advice.

A question for dustin: is there a scientific way to quantify what you mean by "massive" and "special"? Quantity of light, I believe, is measured my lumens and kind of light by its frequency distribution. So do you have data on requirements for these measures?

 

[Altohombre]

welcome to the site Eliot!