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Fishyfingers said:
Am I the only person that doesn't have a sump?
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No, I don't have a sump or room for it. I compensate with a hang on skimmer, a hang on power filter, and a canister filter, and lots of live rock with about 8% weekly water changes. The power filter pads have carbon in them and help aerate (agitate the surface) and take out small particles. They need replacing often. The protein skimmer aerates as well as takes out organic material before it decomposes. Plus I can see when it is full. The canister filter is more for redundancy and water flow. When I clean it, there is not usually too much detritus in it. But then again, I usually have low nitrates and phosphates. Having said that, I don't try sps corals, I keep my tank with a small bioload, and I feed small, but more often. My tank is only 7 months old, so I have little to show how it will do long term.

Look for a thread by Paul B. He doesn't have a sump and has had tanks for over 4 decades.

Read, read, and read posts on here. There are a lot of people with a lot off knowledge. And you will often see more than one way to do things. I believe there is a thread where someone argues against refugiums and sand as well.
 
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Welcome aboard Lisa!! I've been with R2R for about 2 weeks now, and everyone here are great and knowledgable people. The best quality forum I've been apart of so far!!;)
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
Mark Shelly said:
No, I don't have a sump or room for it. I compensate with a hang on skimmer, a hang on power filter, and a canister filter, and lots of live rock with about 8% weekly water changes. The power filter pads have carbon in them and help aerate (agitate the surface) and take out small particles. They need replacing often. The protein skimmer aerates as well as takes out organic material before it decomposes. Plus I can see when it is full. The canister filter is more for redundancy and water flow. When I clean it, there is not usually too much detritus in it. But then again, I usually have low nitrates and phosphates. Having said that, I don't try sps corals, I keep my tank with a small bioload, and I feed small, but more often. My tank is only 7 months old, so I have little to show how it will do long term.

Look for a thread by Paul B. He doesn't have a sump and has had tanks for over 4 decades.

Read, read, and read posts on here. There are a lot of people with a lot off knowledge. And you will often see more than one way to do things. I believe there is a thread where someone argues against refugiums and sand as well.
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I've currently got everything in my tank which I know takes up a lot of space and isnt particularly attractive but I'm happy to take my time and upgrade things slowly as I learn more.

I've been reading Paul Bs threads since you suggested it and I find him highly entertaining as well as knowledgable so looking forward to his book. I'm loving this forum although my other half is not so keen as the housework is being neglected! Messy house/happy fish I can work with!

Thanks so much for your response :)
 
Fishyfingers said:
Just a little hello from me the reef tank and forum Virgin.

I've had my tank for about 3 months now and still don't know a great deal. I have no idea what any of the abbreviations mean or the actual names of any fish or corals so I may drive everyone crazy with my constant questions and freak outs, apologies in advance.

My name is Lisa, I live in Brighton in the UK and am currently juggling a teenager, 2 toddlers, 2 hairless rats a cat and of course the aquarium.

Hope you're all as friendly as you appear and have lots of advice for such a novice!

Look forward to meeting you all!

Much love xx
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Welcome, I have a good beginner guide series that will help you out. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlyrWzDlRs-o8wXkbVMIZUd9eYVfo0P-T Best of luck!
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
WelcomeSmileyPool_zpsfcd4a308.gif


Tank looks nice.
 
Fishyfingers said:
I've currently got everything in my tank which I know takes up a lot of space and isnt particularly attractive but I'm happy to take my time and upgrade things slowly as I learn more.

I've been reading Paul Bs threads since you suggested it and I find him highly entertaining as well as knowledgable so looking forward to his book. I'm loving this forum although my other half is not so keen as the housework is being neglected! Messy house/happy fish I can work with!

Thanks so much for your response :)
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I can relate to that, lol!!:D
 
ReefBot Lab, Automated Water Tester
Welcome Lisa. It is normal for fish to pick at tube worms, especially in a tank. In the sea those tubes are buried under the sand or mud bottom so the fish can't get to them. The tube worms will not (unfortunately) live long in your tank anyway. They are filter feeders and even in an old dirty tank, they will have a hard time getting enough food, in your new tank, they will starve. (as will that starfish unless you feed it) Don't worry, it is a newbe mistake and the store who sold them to you I am sure knows better. When they leave their tubes it is because they are having a problem. I am not sure what it is because I am not a worm psychologist or play one on TV. But it is not a good sign as they can not live outside their tubes for long. The tubes are made out of mud and slime the worm secretes.
This is a very friendly forum and although I am on 6 or 7 of them, this is my favorite. People rarely yell at me or throw eggs at my house. :rolleyes:
As for a sump, you don't need one. I never had one as they were not invented when I started my tank. If I ever started another tank (not bloody likely) I would probably use a sump. :cool:
 
Tidal Gardens
Paul B said:
Welcome Lisa. It is normal for fish to pick at tube worms, especially in a tank. In the sea those tubes are buried under the sand or mud bottom so the fish can't get to them. The tube worms will not (unfortunately) live long in your tank anyway. They are filter feeders and even in an old dirty tank, they will have a hard time getting enough food, in your new tank, they will starve. (as will that starfish unless you feed it) Don't worry, it is a newbe mistake and the store who sold them to you I am sure knows better. When they leave their tubes it is because they are having a problem. I am not sure what it is because I am not a worm psychologist or play one on TV. But it is not a good sign as they can not live outside their tubes for long. The tubes are made out of mud and slime the worm secretes.
This is a very friendly forum and although I am on 6 or 7 of them, this is my favorite. People rarely yell at me or throw eggs at my house. :rolleyes:
As for a sump, you don't need one. I never had one as they were not invented when I started my tank. If I ever started another tank (not bloody likely) I would probably use a sump. :cool:
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Thanks so much for the response! Hmm not too happy with the staff at the fish shop now as they know how keen I am to avoid any deaths in the tank, well as many as humanly possible anyway :( is there anything I can feed the starfish and tubeworms to help them or would I be best to return them?
 
Welcome to R2R
+1 on feeding more meaty foods, if the Foxface is nipping at it, it may have some algae growing on the tube that hes picking at
 
Welcome to R2R.
I am not familiar with the starfish I see in your picture, however a lot of them like meaty things as well. A small piece of scallop placed near it and it might draw its attention.

I have a feather duster/tube worm too. Mine seems to like a product we have here called "Reef Chili". It's a powder you mix up with some water and squirt near corals for them to eat. I don't know if you can get it in the UK, but might be worth asking about.
 
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I think that is a red linkia starfish. If it is, they won't really take foods but you can try a small piece of clam. They cruise around and eat bio films. Again, your tank may be too new for that starfish to find enough food.
You can also try to feed the tubeworms but they normally eat tiny particles 24 hours a day. In the sea they do fine, but if you tried to feed them like that in a tank, you would screw up your water. Those two creatures are not really able to survive in your tank for long. You will be better with crabs and shrimp as they eat much larger foods and you can target feed them.
You could get a small arrow crab, they are cool and you can feed it small meaty things. They are easy to care for and comparatively safe in your tank with what you have.
 
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IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

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    Votes: 32 45.7%

  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%

  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%

  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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