140g cube setup

[danh]

Hoping I can get some FOWLR feedback here.

I got a 140g cube that I am going to re-do the secondary seals on this week. I need to order some rock and whatever else I might need now. I've got some stuff already.

My wife wants a puffer and a clown trigger, so FOWLR. I think she wants more fake coral in it than live rock but i'm going to try to meet in the middle with that. Can someone explain the difference between using live rock, submerged media in the sump like Matrix, and using a wet/dry in this kind of a set up? I've got two eshopps sumps that I can use on it. I'll have to figure out how to connect them. I guess I need a big skimmer. I'm thinking about DIYing another algae scrubber as well. I'll probably end up with a Apex classic on this one too. Too much to buy timers and all and not get a cheaper apex.

I've got some cheap chinese LEDs that I was planning to put in to a fixture. Is that fine for FOWLR?

Is it safer to use treated tap water rather than RO in this set up? I say safer - I doubt anyway will say it's perfectly fine. I use carbon filtered and treated tap water to top of my 5g with corals at work and it's been doing fine. I use kalk and I have some crushed coral that sits in the bottom of my top off reservoir for ph purposes... I guess depending on the salt mix using treated tap water may have ph concerns? My water is really low ph normally just above 6. I guess with nothing to consume alk and ca using it to kalk to bugger my ato won't work?

Fish: clown trigger, puffer (probably porcupine), eel, maybe a lion of some kind, a couple of tangs, angel. Other than multiple tang warnings, anything else to be concerned with? Are there any corals I can put in with these fish? Even just some leathers or toadstools? Anemone?

 

[danh]

I see in holabird's thread that I need to go RODI. I guess at this point I'll have to bite the bullet and make a mixing station. I guess it was coming anyway.

 

[myreefclub0070]

Danh;1090931 wrote: I see in holabird's thread that I need to go RODI. I guess at this point I'll have to bite the bullet and make a mixing station. I guess it was coming anyway.

hay dan,
with all the money we invest in live stock, it just makes sense to eliminate any possibilities of something as simple as total contaminate in the water supply, i personal wouldn't setup a tank without using rodi water , not saying that some people don't getaway with it but when something does go wrong it's one more thing to eliminate.
if it was something that you can take the chance with there would be at least s one lfs that would give it a shot to save money but i can name one that doesn't have a water filtration system.

 

[danh]

Got it. RO it is... and I'll be making the station in my garage. Now that I'll have 3 saltwater tanks, I guess it's time.

 

[snowmansnow]

a 140 cube will be a really cool display.
as far as lighting goes you'll be fine with most anything if it is simply fish and live rock. Keep in mind that any fake coral you put in will need to be taken out and cleaned on a regular basis.

IMO buying dried pukani rock from BRS and shaping into into structures you want is a great way to aquascape. In a 140 you'd probably be fine with 65 lbs of it. It is very porous and a little lbs go a long way. Using live rock like this will also aid in filtration as you know.

Using matrix in the sump only gives more surface area for bacteria to grow to help break down waste in the water. Matrix is a great media IMO, but LR will be your main source of biological filtration. I'm not a wet / dry guy myself, and feel that if your other means are up to snuff it isn't needed at all.

By all means go ahead and pick up a RODI unit for your water. You probably know this, but if you are using tap water or another source with extra elements those elements will build up with every evap top off. Remember, only the water evaporates. Everything else is left behind each time, so the impurities can build up pretty quickly .

If you have sand then crushed coral probably isn't really affecting your ph in any way unless you have a LOT of it.

As far as the skimmer goes. You don't need a giant one. 140g won't be very hard to skim. If you're keeping to a tight budget I recommend something like an octopus. Pretty good skimmers for the price.
If you're wanting something you'll never want / need to upgrade then look at something like a Bubble King mini 200 (if space is an issue). I've had both.

Good luck!

 

[danh]

I bought Grant's Nyos skimmer and I've got an Eshopps s200 that's in the 93 reef. I'll figure out which one I want to keep where.

I really like my Pukani in my 93g, I was just hoping I could use some fake dry rock so I didn't have to wait a month + for it to cure. I also figured that if I didn't have enough in the display (meaning she wanted less) some Matrix would in the sump would compensate. Then I could use fake stuff in the tank, Matrix in the sump and not need to wait for anything to cure.

I've always used wet dries for FW and I know that Optimum's fish only display has one too.

The crushed coral was probably more of a thought for me if I was using tap water rather than RODI.

 

[grouper therapy]

I have a ro filter for v sale if you want it. Pm mw.

 

[thanhreef]

you can try MarinePure:

 

[danh]

Good call. I have read up on that.


So would a fake decoration main display and a sump full of that do? I'm talking 20g of water space half full of that. I saw a BRS demo with marine pure vs several other rocks. Pukani was the most porous natural rock, the reef saver type stuff wasn't porous at all and this stuff was like 3x better than pukani.
IDK that I'd go this way, just trying to figure the options.

 

[danh]

Any suggestions on the fish? Clown trigger and porcupine puffer are the reason for this tank. I have seen that puffers can be ok with some soft corals. What about the trigger?

 

[thanhreef]

I only see FOWLR at Nori Nori Restaurant and it looks so beautiful with a few fake corals

Fish Compatibility Guide
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[IMG]http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/compatibility_chart.cfm">http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/compatibility_chart.cfm</a>
[IMG]http://www.marinedepot.com/md_educationcenter_species.html">http://www.marinedepot.com/md_educationcenter_species.html</a>

 

[danh]

Those are kind of crazy. Marine Depot says you can't do triggers with live rock or sand?? You can't have sand in a tank with a trigger? It's an X, not a !.

 

[picoreefguy]

hey man looks like im late to the party. this tank looks like its gonna be pretty cool. imo matrix and marine pure are both great biomedia. i run both in my sump cause you can never have too much biomedia. as far as live rock or fake coral id go with live rock and then put a few pieces of fake coral on top to give some decoration. heck if you do it right you could have a tank full of those fake coral and have it look really good like premier did with one of their tanks. i cant comment on the triggers and sand though since ive never kept any myself. my buddy did have a 120 fowler with a couple triggers and had sand in it and didnt seem to have any issues so idk why you wouldnt be able to keep it in a tank with triggers.